From [email protected] Wed Mar 22 16:16:22 1995
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: Greg Lindahl 
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,comp.windows.misc,news.groups
Subject: RFD: comp.windows.misc moderation
Followup-To: news.groups
Date: 22 Mar 1995 15:33:02 -0500
Organization: Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia
Lines: 45
Sender: [email protected]
Approved: [email protected]
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Xref: gs2.UU.NET news.announce.newgroups:6475 comp.windows.misc:11618 news.groups:140783

                      FIRST REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION
                     MODERATION OF COMP.WINDOWS.MISC

comp.windows.misc is an existing newsgroup devoted to miscellaneous
windowing systems and platform-independent graphical user interfaces
(PIGUIs).

Subsequent to the formation of this group, Microsoft, Inc. released
(and later trademarked the name of) the somewhat popular Microsoft
Windows programming environment. This product has its own hierarchy of
groups (comp.os.ms-windows.*) for discussion. However, thousands of
Usenet readers have seen the newsgroup `comp.windows.misc' and thought
that the newsgroup was for miscellaneous Microsoft Windows
questions. A similar problem exists for newsgroups such as
`comp.windows.news', and `comp.lang.visual', which successfully used
moderation to reclaim their topic.

There have been many attempts to solve the problem: mention of
comp.windows.misc in the ms-windows FAQs; frequent posting of a
reminder that comp.windows.misc is not for Microsoft Windows, and
personal follow-up letters sent to all confused posters over a period
of 9+ months. None of these methods have reduced the traffic of
inappropriate postings, which have drowned out all hopes of
discussions about miscellaneous windowing systems and PIGUIs.

This is the first RFD for moderation of comp.windows.misc.  Please
reply to this post with your ideas, suggestions, comments,
criticism. This RFD will be reposted two weeks from the date of its
initial posting incorporating any good suggestions from the followup
postings. This discussion shall take place within news.groups; all
followups should be sent there.

After two weeks from the second RFD, provided that the response is
generally positive, the first of two CFV's (call for votes) will be
posted.

Vincent Broman ([email protected]) has volunteered to be the moderator
of comp.windows.misc. He proposes a moderation policy of returning
posts which are not related to the group's charter to their authors
via email. We would like to find backup moderators before the CFV
comes out.

Greg Lindahl
Miscellaneous Windowing System User since 1985
[ This RFD cribbed from the comp.lang.visual RFD... ]

From [email protected] Mon May  8 18:44:54 1995
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: [email protected] (Bill Aten)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,comp.windows.misc
Subject: CFV: comp.windows.misc moderation
Followup-To: poster
Date: 8 May 1995 12:41:58 -0400
Organization: Usenet Volunteer Votetakers
Lines: 144
Sender: [email protected]
Approved: [email protected]
Expires: 30 May 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: 
References: <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Xref: gs2.UU.NET news.announce.newgroups:6773 news.groups:148316 comp.windows.misc:12565

                         FIRST CALL FOR VOTES (of 2)
                moderated group comp.windows.misc (Moderated)

Newsgroups line:
comp.windows.misc	Misc. (non-Microsoft) windowing systems, PIGUIS. (Moderated)

Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 29 May 1995.

DISTRIBUTION

This CFV has been cross-posted to:
  news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, comp.lang.visual, comp.windows.misc,
  comp.windows.x.announce


MODERATOR INFORMATION

    Group name:          comp.windows.misc (Moderated)
    Moderator:           Vincent Broman 
    Backup Moderator:    Greg Lindahl   
    Submissions address: 
    Request address:     


This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party.  For voting questions
only, contact the votetaker, Bill Aten .  For questions about
the proposed group, contact the proponent, Greg Lindahl .


OFFICIAL SOURCES OF THE CFV

IMPORTANT:  If anyone gave you a pre-completed ballot which did not leave the
voting choice up to you, you should modify the vote to reflect your choice of
YES, NO or ABSTAIN next to the item in the ballot.  If you give anyone copies
of the CFV, the copies must be whole and unmodified.  Distributing pre-filled
in ballots or modified copies of this CFV is considered voting fraud.

The only official sources for copies of this CFV are the UseNet newsgroups to
which it is posted including news.announce.newgroups, and the e-mail server at
   
The CFV server will return a copy of the CFV to the sender.  Your message may
be left empty because any contents will be ignored.


CHARTER

This is the newsgroup charter as submitted by the proponent.

    comp.windows.misc
       This newsgroup is devoted to discussions of miscellaneous windowing
       systems and platform-independent graphical user interfaces (PIGUIs).
       The group is moderated in order to encourage Microsoft Windows-related
       questions to be posted elsewhere.


RATIONALE

This is the rationale for the proposal as submitted by the proponent.

    Comp.windows.misc predates Microsoft Windows, but has been overwhelmed
    with Microsoft-related postings, which would be more proper in the
    comp.os.ms-windows.* hierarchy.  Comp.lang.visual recently went
    moderated for the same reason.


HOW TO VOTE

Erase everything above the "BEGINNING OF BALLOT" line and erase everything
below the "END OF BALLOT" line.  Do not erase anything between these lines,
and do not change the group name.  In other words, remove everything except
the ballot.  It will be greatly appreciated by the votetaker if you do NOT
forward the entire CFV back to me--this mail is archived.

Give your name on the line that asks for it.  To vote, place a YES in the
brackets to vote for it, or place a NO in the brackets to vote against it.
If you don't want to vote on the group, place an ABSTAIN in the brackets.
If you leave the bracket blank, your vote will be rejected for failure to
cast a vote.  Don't worry about the spacing of the columns or any quote
characters (">") that your reply inserts.

Then MAIL the ballot to:  
Just Replying to this message should work, but check the "To:" line.

Quick voting checklist:
1) Fill in the ballot form below.  Don't forget to include your Real Name.
2) Delete everything but the ballot in your reply to this CFV.
3) Make sure your reply goes to .

===== BEGINNING OF BALLOT: Delete everything BEFORE this line ================

Please DO NOT alter, modify, or delete any of the information in this ballot.
Provide your name where asked, and insert your vote inside the bracket(s).

comp.windows.misc Moderation Ballot
 (Do not remove this marker!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Give your Real Name here (on this line) -->:
(If you do not give your real name, your vote may be rejected.)

[Your Vote]  Group
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[     YES ]  example.yes.vote
[      NO ]  example.no.vote
[ ABSTAIN ]  example.abstention

[         ]  comp.windows.misc (Moderated)
===== END OF BALLOT: Delete everything AFTER this line =======================


IMPORTANT VOTING PROCEDURE NOTES

Anything other than the official ballot may be rejected by the automatic vote
counting program.  The votetaker will respond to your received ballots with
an automated acknowledgement by e-mail.  If you do not receive one within
several days, try again.  It's your responsibility to make sure your vote is
registered correctly.

Only one vote per person, no more than one vote per account.  Addresses and
votes of all voters will be published in the final voting results list.

If you later change your mind, you may vote again.  To erase your vote and
eliminate your address and vote from the final results listing, vote again
using the CANCEL example shown above.  Just be aware that duplicate votes
will be resolved in favor of the most recent valid vote.

Anonymous votes will not be accepted.  Votes mailed by WWW/HTML/CGI forms are
considered anonymous votes (the vote must be mailed directly from the
voter to the votetaker).

Neither ABSTAIN nor CANCEL messages are counted as votes; they serve
only to cancel any previous vote.  Abstentions are noted in the final
vote list, whereas CANCEL removes your vote from that list entirely
(this is the only difference between the two).

In cases where voting fraud is determined to have occurred, it is standard
operating procedure to delete ALL votes submitted by the violator.

There will be a five-day period following the voting period during which
the published vote list may be corrected and any irregularities addressed.
The requirements for group creation are 100 more YES votes than NO votes,
and 2/3 of all counted votes must be YES.

When in doubt, ask the votetaker.

From [email protected] Thu May 25 18:43:24 1995
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: [email protected] (Bill Aten)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,comp.windows.misc
Subject: 2nd CFV: comp.windows.misc moderation
Supersedes: 
Followup-To: poster
Date: 23 May 1995 15:59:37 -0400
Organization: Usenet Volunteer Votetakers
Lines: 157
Sender: [email protected]
Approved: [email protected]
Expires: 30 May 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: 
References: <[email protected]> 
Reply-To: [email protected]
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Xref: gs2.UU.NET news.announce.newgroups:6880 news.groups:150944 comp.windows.misc:12875

                         LAST CALL FOR VOTES (of 2)
                moderated group comp.windows.misc (Moderated)

Newsgroups line:
comp.windows.misc	Misc. (non-Microsoft) windowing systems, PIGUIS. (Moderated)


Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 29 May 1995.

This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party.  For voting questions
only, contact the votetaker, Bill Aten .  For questions about
the proposed group, contact the proponent, Greg Lindahl .


RATIONALE

This is the rationale for the proposal as submitted by the proponent.

    Comp.windows.misc predates Microsoft Windows, but has been overwhelmed
    with Microsoft-related postings, which would be more proper in the
    comp.os.ms-windows.* hierarchy.  Comp.lang.visual recently went
    moderated for the same reason.


CHARTER

This is the newsgroup charter as submitted by the proponent.

    comp.windows.misc
       This newsgroup is devoted to discussions of miscellaneous windowing
       systems and platform-independent graphical user interfaces (PIGUIs).
       The group is moderated in order to encourage Microsoft Windows-related
       questions to be posted elsewhere.


MODERATOR INFORMATION

    Group name:          comp.windows.misc (Moderated)
    Moderator:           Vincent Broman 
    Backup Moderator:    Greg Lindahl   
    Submissions address: 
    Request address:     


DISTRIBUTION

This CFV has been cross-posted to:
  news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, comp.lang.visual, comp.windows.misc,
  comp.windows.x.announce


OFFICIAL SOURCES OF THE CFV

IMPORTANT:  If anyone gave you a pre-completed ballot which did not leave the
voting choice up to you, you should modify the vote to reflect your choice of
YES, NO or ABSTAIN next to the item in the ballot.  If you give anyone copies
of the CFV, the copies must be whole and unmodified.  Distributing pre-filled
in ballots or modified copies of this CFV is considered voting fraud.

The only official sources for copies of this CFV are the UseNet newsgroups to
which it is posted including news.announce.newgroups, and the e-mail server at
   
The CFV server will return a copy of the CFV to the sender.  Your message may
be left empty because any contents will be ignored.


HOW TO VOTE

Erase everything above the "BEGINNING OF BALLOT" line and erase everything
below the "END OF BALLOT" line.  Do not erase anything between these lines,
and do not change the group name.  In other words, remove everything except
the ballot.  It will be greatly appreciated by the votetaker if you do NOT
forward the entire CFV back to me--this mail is archived.

Give your name on the line that asks for it.  To vote, place a YES in the
brackets to vote for it, or place a NO in the brackets to vote against it.
If you don't want to vote on the group, place an ABSTAIN in the brackets.
If you leave the bracket blank, your vote will be rejected for failure to
cast a vote.  Don't worry about the spacing of the columns or any quote
characters (">") that your reply inserts.

Then MAIL the ballot to:  
Just Replying to this message should work, but check the "To:" line.

Quick voting checklist:
1) Fill in the ballot form below.  Don't forget to include your Real Name.
2) Delete everything but the ballot in your reply to this CFV.
3) Make sure your reply goes to .

===== BEGINNING OF BALLOT: Delete everything BEFORE this line ================

*** PLEASE ***
    DO NOT alter, modify, or delete any of the information in this ballot!

comp.windows.misc Moderation Ballot
 (Do not remove this marker!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Examples showing how to indicate your vote (DO NOT vote in this section):

[     YES ]  example.yes.vote
[      NO ]  example.no.vote
[ ABSTAIN ]  example.abstention
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In order to properly record your vote, please provide your REAL NAME and
indicate your desired vote in the following section:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Give your Real Name here (on this line) -->:
(If you do not give your real name, your vote may be rejected.)

---------------

Insert your vote inside the brackets for each newsgroup listed below:

 Your Vote   Group
 ---------   -----
[         ]  comp.windows.misc (Moderated)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

===== END OF BALLOT: Delete everything AFTER this line =======================


IMPORTANT VOTING PROCEDURE NOTES

Anything other than the official ballot may be rejected by the automatic vote
counting program.  The votetaker will respond to your received ballots with
an automated acknowledgement by e-mail.  If you do not receive one within
several days, try again.  It's your responsibility to make sure your vote is
registered correctly.

Only one vote per person, no more than one vote per account.  Addresses and
votes of all voters will be published in the final voting results list.

If you later change your mind, you may vote again.  To erase your vote and
eliminate your address and vote from the final results listing, vote again
using the CANCEL example shown above.  Just be aware that duplicate votes
will be resolved in favor of the most recent valid vote.

Anonymous votes will not be accepted.  Votes mailed by WWW/HTML/CGI forms are
considered anonymous votes (the vote must be mailed directly from the
voter to the votetaker).

Neither ABSTAIN nor CANCEL messages are counted as votes; they serve
only to cancel any previous vote.  Abstentions are noted in the final
vote list, whereas CANCEL removes your vote from that list entirely
(this is the only difference between the two).

In cases where voting fraud is determined to have occurred, it is standard
operating procedure to delete ALL votes submitted by the violator.

There will be a five-day period following the voting period during which
the published vote list may be corrected and any irregularities addressed.
The requirements for group creation are 100 more YES votes than NO votes,
and 2/3 of all counted votes must be YES.

When in doubt, ask the votetaker.