chi-newsgroup-faq Subject: Chi newsgroups charter [last mod: 03/08/97] From: lisbon@vpnet.chi.il.us (Gerry Swetsky) Date: 1997/07/27 Message-Id: Newsgroups: chi.general,chi.mail,chi.eats,chi.forsale,chi.wanted,chi.media,chi.personals,chi.places,chi.jobs,chi.news.stats,chi.weather,chi.politics,chi.internet This posting describes the Chicagoland regional newsgroups (chi.*). It is designed to be an adjunct to the postings describing the net-wide newsgroups. This posting also describes the procedure for creating and destroying newsgroups in the chi hierarchy. This newsgroup hierarchy is focused to a local audience but does, in fact, get distributed worldwide. Please mail your suggestions for changes or enhancements to news@clout.chi.il.us or post them to chi.general for discussion. It should be pointed out that none of the chi newsgroups sanction postings of a commerical nature. This means that if the subject you're posting on is an offer for products or services from which you derive (or attempt to derive) a livelyhood from then it's prohibited in the chi newsgroups. There is some latitude in the case you are responding to a specific request for a product or service as long as the posting is to the point. (Yes, we know that chi.jobs has largely become the headhunters playground.) If you see a posting you belive to be commerical in nature, do not post a followup article to it. The proper response is to email your comments to the offending poster. We highly recommend doing so! To start, here are the brief descriptions of the newsgroups suitable for framing or inclusion in your $LIBDIR/newsgroups file. This information will be posted in a "chi" newsgroups checkgroups control message. The checkgroups control message will be sent out automatically, on a regular basis and when the "chi" newsgroup name space changes. ----- chi.eats Group for discussion of Chicagoland restaurants. chi.forsale Chicago area for-sale notices. chi.general General discussions, Chicago area, not forsale/wanted. chi.internet Discussion of Net offerings in Chicagoland. chi.jobs Jobs being offered throughout the Chicagoland area. chi.mail Discussion of Chicago area email issues. chi.media Discussions on Chicago-area Radio, Television and Print Media. chi.news.stats Group for automated site Netnews statistics postings. chi.personals Chicagoans seeking other Chicagoans. chi.places Group for announcements of Chicago area events. chi.politics Political issues at all levels in and around Chicago chi.test Group for test message that don't need to go International! chi.wanted Chicago area wanted (not for-sale) notices. chi.weather Chicagoland weather reports. ----- Additional description: chi.eats This is a dandy newsgroup for finding good restaurants or sharing your finds with the rest of the community. Other appropriate postings might include information on unusual grocers or food preparation equipment stores. chi.forsale This is likely to be your first choice newsgroup for anything you want to sell. It reaches a local audience, so people in New Jersey won't have to read about your car for sale. You should not cross-post a chi.forsale message to chi.general, or any other group than another *.forsale type group. This newsgroup is intended for Non-Commercial use only. chi.general This newsgroup is for miscellaneous local-interest postings that do not fit more appropriately into another group. It is not for postings looking to buy, sell, rent, or trade anything. chi.forsale and chi.wanted are perfectly fine newsgroups for such postings. chi.internet For the purpose of providing a platform for all users to discuss the pros and cons of their ISP services. The function of this newsgroup serving in similiar capacity to chi.eats and is meant to be totally non-commercial. (Created 06/16/95 by Charles Cook) chi.jobs This newsgroup is a great way for companies who are looking for, but not limited to, engineers, technicians, computing professional etc. to reach that market over a medium they use/promote. (Created 08-??-93 by Jim Rendant) chi.mail This newsgroup is for discussions related to Electronic Mail into, out of, and within the Chicagoland area. Issues related to the reliability of local mail, domains, etc. are welcome. chi.media Discussions on local personalities, radio formats, events, changes and generalized jaw-jacking on virtually any topic relating to Chicagoland media would be welcomed on this group. While radio was, and is, the primary reason for requesting the formation of this group, in the interests of inclusiveness, it is suggested that the group also include local television and print media as well. Chicago media is a unique, ever-changing and dynamic environment which deserves mainstream exposure in the "chi.*" news hierarchy. (Created 12-13-93 by William Pfeiffer) chi.news.stats This newsgroup is a place for automated postings, summarizing a given site's netnews traffic and similar automated statistics postings. Statistics for a specific site should have a Subject line of: Subject: Weekly USENET Report for SITE where SITE is the Usenet site name used in the Path header. chi.personals This newsgroup is the "Personals Section" of the "chi.*" news hierarchy. It's for people of Chicago and the surrounding Suburbs to meet each other. (Created 09-09-94 by Robert Hendelman) chi.places This is a good place to announce meetings, Ham fests, concerts, etc. Minutes or reviews might also be appropriate here. chi.politics Created for the purpose of providing a public forum for all users to discuss political issues of all levels and how those issues impact the local Chicago area. (Created 06/16/95 by Charles Cook) chi.test This is a group for posting test messages to make sure that propagation is taking place within the "chi.*" news hierarchy. Most test messages should be either sent to a local newsgroup on the tester's machine, or should go to a specific "to.site" newsgroup to test connectivity with a specific site. chi.wanted This is likely to be your first choice newsgroup for anything you want to buy. It reaches a local audience, so people in New Jersey won't have to read about your wanting a new dinette set. You should not cross-post a chi.wanted message to chi.general, or any other group than another *.wanted type group. This newsgroup is intended for Non-Commercial use only. chi.weather This group is fed weather reports, forecasts, and other items of meteorological interest from the National Weather Service through a bizarre collection of equipment. It is believed that the Chicagoland news community is still small enough (and rational enough) that elaborate voting schemes are not necessary to control the newsgroup name space. On the other hand, it is generally felt that the total anarchy of the "alt" hierarchy leaves much to be desired. With that in mind, the following procedures are proposed. Newsgroup Creation Procedure ---------------------------- The person wishing to create a new newsgroup should go through the following steps. 1. Think again. 2. Propose the newsgroup in an article posted to the group "chi.general". (At this time, it is felt that there is insufficient volume to warrant any kind of "chi.news" group or hierarchy.) The proposing article shall include: - The proposed name (or names) for the new group. - The proposed "one-liner" for for the LIB/newsgroups file. - A brief description of the purpose for the new group, intended audience, reason for local distribution, and reason no exising newsgroup is appropriate. 3. Discussion should take place in chi.general, to reach consensus. (con-sen-sus n. general agreement in opinion) 4. If agreement is reached on the desirability for the new group, and on its name after a discussion period of at least two weeks, the person who originally proposed the group shall send a message to news@clout.chi.il.us. The message shall state that a discussion has been held in chi.general and that a new newsgroup is being created. The message shall include the group name and brief description agreed upon for the LIB/newsgroups file, so that the automated "chi" checkgroups message can be updated. A control for the purpose of the creation of the new group will be sent by a member of the CHI NEWS SIG Committee. Newsgroup Deletion Procedure ---------------------------- This procedure provides a "sunset" for newsgroups that are not as popular as anticipated or which have out-lived their usefulness. It is not intended to be used for newsgroups in active use. A person who believes he/she has discovered a dormant "chi" newsgroup should go through the following steps. 1. Think again. Has the group seen no traffic (perhaps other than "keep-alive" traffic) in the past few months? Is the newsgroup of a seasonal nature? Can the newsgroup reasonably be thought to be dead? 2. Propose that the newsgroup is dead in an article posted to chi.general. In the article, describe why you think it's dead and not coming back in the near/foreseeable future. 3. Discussion should take place in chi.general. 4. If no one provides a reasonable argument that the group is still alive (or will be soon) within two weeks, the group can be declared dead. 5. The newsgroup slayer shall send a message to news@clout.chi.il.us. The message shall state that the newsgroup has been declared dead, and that the automated "chi" checkgroups message should be updated. 6. The newsgroup slayer shall issue the control message for group deletion. If that person does not have the knowledge of the correct way to do so, the message to news@clout.chi.il.us can include a request that the control article be sent, as well. Bogus Newsgroups ---------------- The following are bogus newsgroups which somehow found their way into the chi hierarchy. Please delete them at your site. Please request your news administrator delete these newsgroups. chi.ai No proposal chi.flame.gerry-swetsky No proposal chi.jobs.offered No consensys chi.news No proposal chi.swetsky.bleep.bleep.bleep No proposal chi.uniforum No proposal