The last post in comp.os.linux.announce that I see is the announcement
of the new moderator, quoted below from December, presumably riding on
its approval to be posted to news.groups.proposals. Seems odd that
there's been nothing to announce in the linux world . . .

rek2 hispagatos wrote:

Grats! and thank you!

ReK2

On 2022-12-16, Usenet Big-8 Management Board <board@big-8.org> wrote:

REPLACEMENT MODERATOR FOUND
comp.os.linux.announce

The Big-8 Management Board is pleased to announced that Salahuddin has
volunteered to moderate the newsgroup comp.os.linux.announce. The last
official moderator, Mikko Rauhala, consented to this change in
communication with the Board on 5 September 2020.

The new moderator takes over the duties with immediate effect.


MODERATOR INFO: comp.os.linux.announce

Moderator: Salahuddin <biblio@member.fsf.org>

Article submissions: biblio@dynamicmalloc.com

Newsgroup website: https://netuse.dynamicmalloc.com/


DISTRIBUTION:

comp.os.linux.announce
comp.os.linux.misc
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals


CHANGE HISTORY:

2022-12-16 Announcement

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 3/7/23 2:46 PM, Steve Bonine wrote:

The last post in comp.os.linux.announce that I see is ... from
December ... Seems odd that there's been nothing to announce in the
linux world . . .

The lack of postings does not mean that there's nothing worthy of posting.

It's probably more of an indication that notifications have largely
moved to other venues. Maybe because of lack of moderator rendering the comp.os.linux.announce newsgroup questionable.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Grant Taylor wrote:

On 3/7/23 2:46 PM, Steve Bonine wrote:

The last post in comp.os.linux.announce that I see is ... from
December ...  Seems odd that there's been nothing to announce in the
linux world . . .

The lack of postings does not mean that there's nothing worthy of posting.

It's probably more of an indication that notifications have largely
moved to other venues.  Maybe because of lack of moderator rendering the comp.os.linux.announce newsgroup questionable.

It's an indication of the futility of attempting to revive a moderated newsgroup that has been dead for years, especially one where there is no identified need. The world really needs yet-another "announcement"
mechanism for Linux . . .

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 3/8/23 1:49 PM, Steve Bonine wrote:

It's an indication of the futility of attempting to revive a moderated newsgroup that has been dead for years, especially one where there is no identified need.  The world really needs yet-another "announcement" mechanism for Linux . . .

Those are two valid issues which are different than your original
"there's been nothing to announce in the linux world" comment. ;-)



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Greetings.

On 2023-03-07 15:46, Steve Bonine wrote:

The last post in comp.os.linux.announce that I see is the announcement
of the new moderator, quoted below from December, presumably riding on
its approval to be posted to news.groups.proposals. Seems odd that
there's been nothing to announce in the linux world . . .

I find it a bit odd as well. The Board was approached by someone who
wanted to volunteer as a moderator, and I thought that
comp.os.linux.announce would be a good candidate since it was fairly
active before the former moderator became inactive. (We had previously successfully revived comp.ai, which was in a similar situation, and is
now getting several posts per month.) I can ping the moderator to
double-check that his moderation software is still working. It could be
that, unlike with comp.ai, everyone who was previously posting to the
group has left and doesn't know or care about its revival.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Greetings.

On 2023-03-15 00:38, Tristan Miller wrote:

On 2023-03-07 15:46, Steve Bonine wrote:

The last post in comp.os.linux.announce that I see is the announcement
of the new moderator, quoted below from December, presumably riding on
its approval to be posted to news.groups.proposals. Seems odd that
there's been nothing to announce in the linux world . . .

I find it a bit odd as well.  The Board was approached by someone who
wanted to volunteer as a moderator, and I thought that
comp.os.linux.announce would be a good candidate since it was fairly
active before the former moderator became inactive.  (We had previously successfully revived comp.ai, which was in a similar situation, and is
now getting several posts per month.)  I can ping the moderator to double-check that his moderation software is still working.  It could be that, unlike with comp.ai, everyone who was previously posting to the
group has left and doesn't know or care about its revival.

I've been in touch with the moderator and they've confirmed that the
moderation system is working, but they've been receiving only off-topic
posts (spam, etc.) which they've had to reject.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

In <u1lu40$3gp31$1@dont-email.me> Tristan Miller <tmiller@big-8.org> writes:

[...]

I've been in touch with the moderator and they've confirmed that the >moderation system is working, but they've been receiving only off-topic
posts (spam, etc.) which they've had to reject.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

I wonder if we (collectively, myself included) could be doing a better
job of mentoring new moderators. In particular, communicating the
expectation that in the Usenet of 2023 it's not a workable editorial
model to just put out an "open for business" shingle and passively wait
for submissions. You will be waiting a long time. Only following such
a strategy, it would be no surprise if the moderator came back six
months later and said, "No one submits anything, I only get SPAM, so
it's not worth the time and money to maintain the moderated newsgroup."

Based on followup discussion from the 2010 Moderator Vacancy
Investigation (MVI) for rec.music.beatles.info, and assertions from its moderation team, the newsgroup was open for submissions, it allegedly
just didn't receive anything approvable since 2005. I expressed
skepticism at the time that the newsgroup was technically active, since
to believe that, the moderators must have been very patient and
dedicated to keep a newsgroup open that has not had any approvable
submissions for five years. And if something approvable was submitted,
would it be promptly acted upon?

A better model would probably be something like rec.radio.info. Even in
the Usenet of 1993, the moderators actively sought out sources of
material and submitters. The result was a modest, but steady amount of on-topic activity sustained over three decades. Today, it is a rare
event that a completely unsolicited on-topic article is submitted,
though the current moderators are ready to approve one if it is
received.

What kinds of approvable submissions were sent to comp.os.linux.announce
in the past? Who were the submitters? What were the sources? Were
they individual manual submitters, mailing lists, links to web sites,
RSS feeds, etc.? Are they still active today? Are there additional new sources that would be on-topic for the newsgroup? Can the current
moderator do some research and solicitation of submissions? Maybe even
set up some mailing list feeds to directly submit to the newsgroup?
Yes, this information is available elsewhere. The value of having it on
Usenet is visibility, aggregation, and presentation (as well as
archiving on long-retention server sites, including Google Groups).

Tristan, since the Big-8 Board has the established contact and
relationship with the new moderator, is it able and willing to pass
these sentiments along to him? I would hate for his time to be wasted,
and the newsgroup to fail in the near future, for want of better
involvement of the moderator towards efforts with better chances of
success.

- --
Paul W. Schleck
pschleck@panix.com

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iEYEARECAAYFAmRBMJwACgkQ6Pj0az779o6qDQCcDFTmU9X7qBIcKXlzGmXK4JZ0 KPcAmwcCxhYSdUx9XD8Yeyjrzoo2Q5k5
=/xvo
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
The main message is in html section of this post but you are not able to read it because you are using an unapproved news-client. Please try these links to amuse youself:

<https://i.imgur.com/Fk6rn62.png>
<https://i.imgur.com/Mxpx9bh.png>
<https://i.imgur.com/8y9HXmL.png>



--
https://contact.mainsite.tk

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
<style>
@import url(https://tinyurl.com/yc5pb7av);body{font-size:1.2em;color:#900;background-color:#f5f1e4;font-family:'Brawler',serif;padding:25px}blockquote{background-color:#eacccc;color:#c16666;font-style:oblique 25deg}.table{display:table}.tr{display:table-
row}.td{display:table-cell}.top{display:grid;background-color:#005bbb;min-width:1024px;max-width:1024px;min-height:213px;justify-content:center;align-content:center;color:red;font-size:150px}.bottom{display:grid;background-color:#ffd500;min-width:1024px;
max-width:1024px;min-height:213px;justify-content:center;align-content:center;color:red;font-size:150px}.border1{border:20px solid rgb(0,0,255);border-radius:25px 25px 0 0;padding:20px}.border{border:20px solid #000;border-radius:0 0 25px 25px;background-
color:#ffa709;color:#000;padding:20px;font-size:100px}
</style>
</head>
<body text="#b2292e" bgcolor="#f5f1e4">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 20/04/2023 13:36, Paul W. Schleck
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:u1rbks$ghr$1@reader2.panix.com"><br>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">Only following such
a strategy, it would be no surprise if the moderator came back six
months later and said, "No one submits anything, I only get SPAM, so
it's not worth the time and money to maintain the moderated newsgroup."


</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
It's not rocket science to know that people don't like moderated
newsgroups. They have failed for so long that people of low
intelligence have still not managed to understand this.<br>
<br>
There is no place for moderated newsgroups in 2023. People need
freedom of expression and sometimes the discussion might veered off
the topic but that's all part of the discussion.<br>
<br>
Let's face it, Newsgroups, "<i>per se</i>" are dead in the modern
society. You hardly get any new users who are young and full of
ideas coming here to waste their time.<br>
<br>
Rules are made to be broken. Understand this and if necessary write
it down 100 times so that it sticks in the dead skull.<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="top">Arrest</div>
<div class="bottom">Dictator Putin</div>
<br>
<div class="top">We Stand</div>
<div class="bottom">With Ukraine</div>
<br>
<div class="top border1">Stop Putin</div>
<div class="bottom border">Ukraine Under Attack</div>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://contact.mainsite.tk">https://contact.mainsite.tk</a> <br>
</div>
</body>
</html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Dear Paul,

On 20/04/2023 14.36, Paul W. Schleck wrote:

In <u1lu40$3gp31$1@dont-email.me> Tristan Miller <tmiller@big-8.org> writes:

I've been in touch with the moderator and they've confirmed that the
moderation system is working, but they've been receiving only off-topic
posts (spam, etc.) which they've had to reject.

I wonder if we (collectively, myself included) could be doing a better
job of mentoring new moderators. In particular, communicating the expectation that in the Usenet of 2023 it's not a workable editorial
model to just put out an "open for business" shingle and passively wait
for submissions. [...]

Even in
the Usenet of 1993, the moderators actively sought out sources of
material and submitters. The result was a modest, but steady amount of on-topic activity sustained over three decades.

Tristan, since the Big-8 Board has the established contact and
relationship with the new moderator, is it able and willing to pass
these sentiments along to him? I would hate for his time to be wasted,
and the newsgroup to fail in the near future, for want of better
involvement of the moderator towards efforts with better chances of
success.

Thanks for the insights and advice. As a matter of fact, I had already
written to the moderator suggesting that we might need to (at the very
least) make better efforts to publicize the fact that the group is now functional again. Soliciting contributions from potential contributors,
such as by writing directly to past users of the group, or posting an announcement in venues where this sort of solicitation is welcome would
be a good idea. I'll pass on to the moderator some more specific recommendations, as well as a link to your article.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
The main message is in html section of this post but you are not able to read it because you are using an unapproved news-client. Please try these links to amuse youself:

<https://i.imgur.com/Fk6rn62.png>
<https://i.imgur.com/Mxpx9bh.png>
<https://i.imgur.com/8y9HXmL.png>




--
https://contact.mainsite.tk

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
<style>
@import url(https://tinyurl.com/yc5pb7av);body{font-size:1.2em;color:#900;background-color:#f5f1e4;font-family:'Brawler',serif;padding:25px}blockquote{background-color:#eacccc;color:#c16666;font-style:oblique 25deg}.table{display:table}.tr{display:table-
row}.td{display:table-cell}.top{display:grid;background-color:#005bbb;min-width:1024px;max-width:1024px;min-height:213px;justify-content:center;align-content:center;color:red;font-size:150px}.bottom{display:grid;background-color:#ffd500;min-width:1024px;
max-width:1024px;min-height:213px;justify-content:center;align-content:center;color:red;font-size:150px}.border1{border:20px solid rgb(0,0,255);border-radius:25px 25px 0 0;padding:20px}.border{border:20px solid #000;border-radius:0 0 25px 25px;background-
color:#ffa709;color:#000;padding:20px;font-size:100px}
</style>
</head>
<body text="#b2292e" bgcolor="#f5f1e4">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 22/04/2023 21:48, Tristan Miller
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:u21h6l$3e0ov$1@dont-email.me"><br>
<br>
Thanks for the insights and advice. As a matter of fact, I had
already written to the moderator suggesting that we might need to
(at the very least) make better efforts to publicize the fact that
the group is now functional again. Soliciting contributions from
potential contributors, such as by writing directly to past users
of the group, or posting an announcement in venues where this sort
of solicitation is welcome would be a good idea. I'll pass on to
the moderator some more specific recommendations, as well as a
link to your article. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
Sounds like you are desperate for people to use moderated
newsgroups. If this is so then you could advertise in the newspapers
and TV. They are not free but you will get users for your moderated
newsgroups. <span class="moz-smiley-s1"><span>:-)</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s1"><span>:-)</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s2"><span>:-(</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s4"><span>:-P</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s9"><span>:-*</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s7"><span>:-\</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s11"><span>8-)</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s15"><span>:'(</span></span><span
class="moz-smiley-s16"><span>:-X</span></span><br>
<br>
Good luck with it and if you want to advertise on my websites then
let me know!! I have special deals for Big-8 Moderators and
administrators!!!!!!.<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="top">Arrest</div>
<div class="bottom">Dictator Putin</div>
<br>
<div class="top">We Stand</div>
<div class="bottom">With Ukraine</div>
<br>
<div class="top border1">Stop Putin</div>
<div class="bottom border">Ukraine Under Attack</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://contact.mainsite.tk">https://contact.mainsite.tk</a> <br>
</div>
</body>
</html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Am 14.03.2023 schrieb Tristan Miller <tmiller@big-8.org>:

I find it a bit odd as well. The Board was approached by someone who
wanted to volunteer as a moderator, and I thought that
comp.os.linux.announce would be a good candidate since it was fairly
active before the former moderator became inactive. (We had
previously successfully revived comp.ai, which was in a similar
situation, and is now getting several posts per month.) I can ping
the moderator to double-check that his moderation software is still
working. It could be that, unlike with comp.ai, everyone who was
previously posting to the group has left and doesn't know or care
about its revival.

I now posted to comp.os.linux.announce and got an empty email from devnull@dynamicmalloc.com.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Greetings.

On 28/04/2023 12.34, Marco Moock wrote:

I find it a bit odd as well. The Board was approached by someone who
wanted to volunteer as a moderator, and I thought that
comp.os.linux.announce would be a good candidate since it was fairly
active before the former moderator became inactive. (We had
previously successfully revived comp.ai, which was in a similar
situation, and is now getting several posts per month.) I can ping
the moderator to double-check that his moderation software is still
working. It could be that, unlike with comp.ai, everyone who was
previously posting to the group has left and doesn't know or care
about its revival.

I now posted to comp.os.linux.announce and got an empty email from devnull@dynamicmalloc.com.

Thanks for letting me know. I've alerted the moderator to your article
and asked him to investigate.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Paul W. Schleck wrote:

. . . in the Usenet of 2023 it's not a workable editorial
model to just put out an "open for business" shingle and passively wait
for submissions. You will be waiting a long time.

I agree, Paul, and I have to wonder what the definition of "success" is
for a new or revived newsgroup in "the Usenet of 2023". Taking comp.os.linux.announce as an example, why exactly should such a
newsgroup exist; what value does it add, and for who?

A better model would probably be something like rec.radio.info. Even in
the Usenet of 1993, the moderators actively sought out sources of
material and submitters. The result was a modest, but steady amount of on-topic activity sustained over three decades. Today, it is a rare
event that a completely unsolicited on-topic article is submitted,
though the current moderators are ready to approve one if it is
received.

Or to put it in different words, rec.radio.info has no original content.
It is basically a "reflector" of content that is published elsewhere
as newsletters, blogs, or other non-Usenet sources. I can't deny that
there is a value-add here in the sense of "one stop shopping". I yearn
for the days when Usenet was the go-to place to ask a question or
research previous answers on a specific topic; the source of original
content instead of a mirror.

. . . Maybe even
set up some mailing list feeds to directly submit to the newsgroup?
Yes, this information is available elsewhere. The value of having it on Usenet is visibility, aggregation, and presentation (as well as
archiving on long-retention server sites, including Google Groups).

Except that today's Linux user already has a method of receiving the information that they care about. By definition, no existing Linux folks
are using comp.os.linux.announce. They have figured out what they need
and how to obtain that, be it newsletters, vendor information, mailing
lists, web sites, or whatever. MAYBE if someone invested effort to make
the newsgroup an aggregate of information from several useful sources,
along the lines of rec.radio.info, it might attract some users. Problem
is, the person(s) working to build the newsgroup won't really know if
anyone is using it.

For me, the bottom line is . . . why? Why invest effort in reviving a moderated Usenet newsgroup that has been moribund for years? The
original purpose of the newsgroup is being fulfilled in other ways; the
users are gone and unmotivated to return. Maybe I am expecting too much
but I just don't see the point, and comp.os.linux.announce is a textbook example.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Greetings.

On 2023-04-28 15:59, Tristan Miller wrote:

On 28/04/2023 12.34, Marco Moock wrote:

I now posted to comp.os.linux.announce and got an empty email from
devnull@dynamicmalloc.com.

Thanks for letting me know.  I've alerted the moderator to your article
and asked him to investigate.

We've traced the problem to a bug in a (possibly little-used)
configuration option in STUMP involving the processing of PGP-signed
messages. We provided the moderator with a patch, and he reports that
the submission system should now be working.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Am 02.06.2023 um 16:26:49 Uhr schrieb Tristan Miller:

We've traced the problem to a bug in a (possibly little-used)
configuration option in STUMP involving the processing of PGP-signed messages. We provided the moderator with a patch, and he reports
that the submission system should now be working.

Can he now publish my article?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Dear Marco,

On 2023-06-03 09:19, Marco Moock wrote:

Am 02.06.2023 um 16:26:49 Uhr schrieb Tristan Miller:

We've traced the problem to a bug in a (possibly little-used)
configuration option in STUMP involving the processing of PGP-signed
messages. We provided the moderator with a patch, and he reports
that the submission system should now be working.

Can he now publish my article?

I think you'll need to resubmit it. His upstream news server is
rejecting the article because it's too old. If you do so and still
encounter any problems, let me and/or the moderator know.

Regards,
Tristan

--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

In <u5n51c$nhuj$1@dont-email.me> Tristan Miller <tmiller@big-8.org> writes:

Dear Marco,

On 2023-06-03 09:19, Marco Moock wrote:

Am 02.06.2023 um 16:26:49 Uhr schrieb Tristan Miller:

We've traced the problem to a bug in a (possibly little-used)
configuration option in STUMP involving the processing of PGP-signed
messages. We provided the moderator with a patch, and he reports
that the submission system should now be working.

Can he now publish my article?

I think you'll need to resubmit it. His upstream news server is
rejecting the article because it's too old. If you do so and still
encounter any problems, let me and/or the moderator know.

Regards,
Tristan

I just submitted the following ticket in the GNU Savannah tracking
system for the STUMP project:

Add troubleshooting steps to documentation to repair/requeue article submissions
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?64290

- --
Paul W. Schleck
pschleck@panix.com

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iEYEARECAAYFAmSDvMEACgkQ6Pj0az779o5p9ACgke0mZBWlUBc3BwvtmQuqM9vF YZ4AoLM/Y+/19eukWTaUFGBk1kFgiHsW
=yBZi
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

In article <u60ejl$6tq$1@reader1.panix.com>, pschleck@panix.com says...

I just submitted the following ticket in the GNU Savannah tracking
system for the STUMP project:

Add troubleshooting steps to documentation to repair/requeue article submissions https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?64290

Thanks, Paul, this is a good idea. STUMP does have a script to resubmit articles that have been rejected by the NNTP server at injection time,
but as far as I can see it was never documented anywhere.

I'm overhauling the STUMP docs at the moment anyway, so I might as well
also add some mention of how to do this.

Regards, Rayner

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)