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Subject:Re: TECHWR-L available as newsgroup???? From:Glen Accardo <glen -at- SOFTINT -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 14 Nov 1994 09:24:47 -0600
> >I wasn't aware that TECHWR-L was available as a newsgroup. Which hierarchy
> >is it in? sci.? comp.? misc.? alt.? I can't find it in either AOL or my
> >local BBS (which gets newsgroups from Hologate).
> I believe that it is a newsgroup primarily on bitnet. Some usenet
> mail services offer the bitnet groups under a bitnet. hierarchy. Most
> do not.
At USL, our network administrator "gatewayed" many mailing lists to
newsgroups. Since many people were subscribed to certain lists, newsgroups
allowed us to have ONE copy of each message for EVERYONE to read. USL
subscribed, and I think still subscribes, to techwr-l. All the mail sent
to a special account at USL from techwr-l gets shovelled into bit.techwrl.
The advantage is that all the technical writing classes have access to the
list, but only one subscription is necessary. Also, the gazillion messages
from techwr aren't intermingled with the few personal messages requiring
more immediate attention. News readers are as good for reading bulk
information as a good mail reader.
The down side, for some mailing lists at least, is that only subscribers
can post. Depending on the news reader, your message to techwr-l may come
out as "Apparantly From: blah blah blah", but really from some cryptic
server address. Both are usually solvable problems.
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glen accardo glen -at- softint -dot- com
Software Interfaces, Inc. (713) 492-0707 x122
Houston, TX 77084