A replacement for about-to-be-closed NGs
Mark McGinty
To those of us who, for whatever reason, are still using "unsupported"
technologies, these news groups are a valuable resource. The quasi-related
forums to which Microsoft has invited us are hardly replacements, posts
about
'classic' technologies will be OT, and I'm sure pretty much everyone who
posts questions about them would rather see responses more meaningful than,
"consider upgrading to [something that is still supported]."
In hopes of filling the void that will be left by these pending closures,
I've added a section to a forum I created a couple of years ago,
www.deprecatethis.com. I created it after reading that the Windows API was
to be
deprecated. I think the sentiment applies here as well, so I'm offering it
as a
replacement -- of course it isn't a news group, but at least the questions
we used to post in these newsgroups will be on-topic. Another plus is that
the site admin (that would be me) will be highly receptive to suggestions,
making this a chance to shape a new community.
To be honest at this moment www.deprecatethis.com isn't much of a forum --
the software
(Yet Another Forum) is decent, but it isn't quite a hot-bed of discussion.
About
the only thing that has attracted any attention is a script I wrote to work
around the Send To->Mail Recipient problem in x64 with Office/Outlook
installed. That script is the only thing anyone (besides myself) has posted
about.
But maybe all that will change, I've created forums for classic ADO, classic
ASP and VB6; any suggestions/requests for additional
forums are welcome. (Reasonable suggestions will be implemented promptly.)
I understand the preference for NNTP over web-based forums, but
unfortunately I lack the means to host an NNTP server, this is all I have to
offer, so... Please consider yourself invited to join.
-Mark McGinty
btw, if sending this post makes me a spammer, I apologize for the offense.
Ordinarily I wouldn't have done this but these NGs are going away soon, a
window is closing, so I figured what do I have to lose?
David Kaye
>In hopes of filling the void that will be left by these pending closures,
>I've added a section to a forum I created a couple of years ago, [....]
FORUMS ARE NOT GOING AWAY ! ! ! !
For those folks who are seeing these newsgroups via a Web page, let me inform
you that there's a HUGE world out there called Usenet, and it's on Usenet
where all this traffic takes place. Microsoft is only taking Usenet and
putting it on a web page. These support forums exist completely outside of
Microsoft. These unmoderated newsgroups are NOT going away as long as there
are servers out there that pass content to them. Just because the Microsoft
name is on them does NOT mean that they belong to Microsoft. They don't.
One (free) news server (source of the forums) you might be interested in using
is called Eternal September. They can provide you with Usenet feeds.
URL: http://www.eternal-september.org
Just use a client program such as Outlook Express (Express version only) or
Mozilla Thunderbird:
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/
Karl E. Peterson
> "Mark McGinty" <mmcgi...@sSpUaCmKSdeprecatethis.com> wrote:
>
>> In hopes of filling the void that will be left by these pending closures,
>> I've added a section to a forum I created a couple of years ago, [....]
>
> FORUMS ARE NOT GOING AWAY ! ! ! !
>
> For those folks who are seeing these newsgroups via a Web page, let me inform
> you that there's a HUGE world out there called Usenet, and it's on Usenet
> where all this traffic takes place. Microsoft is only taking Usenet and
> putting it on a web page. These support forums exist completely outside of
> Microsoft. These unmoderated newsgroups are NOT going away as long as there
> are servers out there that pass content to them. Just because the Microsoft
> name is on them does NOT mean that they belong to Microsoft. They don't.
Nice rant. Full of "it", of course, but well placed rage I must say.
> One (free) news server (source of the forums) you might be interested in
> using is called Eternal September. They can provide you with Usenet feeds.
> URL: http://www.eternal-september.org
Why don't you check that server, to see how many of the groups
Microsoft has already "closed" (last December) are still there? Here's
a list, in case you're unfamiliar with that event:
I can offer you more, if you'd like?
--
.NET: It's About Trust! http://vfred.mvps.org
Customer Hatred Knows No Bounds at MSFT
ClassicVB Users Regroup! comp.lang.basic.visual.misc
Free usenet access at http://www.eternal-september.org
Bob Barrows
--
HTH,
Bob Barrows
Karl E. Peterson
> So why can we still post to these "closed" newsgroups?
msnews is still up and running. Do this...
C:\>telnet msnews.microsoft.com 119{enter}
200 NNTP Service 6.0.3790.3959 Version: 6.0.3790.3959 Posting Allowed
list newsgroups{enter}
...
quit
C:\>
And, even after msnews actually removes the groups from their servers,
it may take awhile for that to propogate out.
I have heard, though, since posting my initial response, that the
admins on eternal-september.org may reject the rmgroup requests from
that Jules yahoo. This would be a pleasant change from the past! :-)
Schmidt
"Karl E. Peterson" <ka...@exmvps.org> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:epXrdQc...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> And, even after msnews actually removes the groups
> from their servers, it may take awhile for that to propogate out.
>
> I have heard, though, since posting my initial response, that the
> admins on eternal-september.org may reject the rmgroup requests from
> that Jules yahoo. This would be a pleasant change from the past! :-)
The following is based on information I've read in
a german admin-group, which we are following now
for some time...:
The "hoster" (founder, admin, ...) of eternal-september.org
is known in usenet as "Ray Banana". An appropriate discussion
with regards to "honouring rmgroup-messages" - already took
place in the public reachable group:
eternal-september.support
Here's the snippet in question:
Message-ID: <857hng8...@banana.shacknet.nu>
# From: Ray Banana <ray...@banana.shacknet.nu>
# Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 04:57:13 +0200
# [...]
# Thus spake grant <sam...@example.invalid>
# [...]
# > When Juli�n �lie issues rmgroup control articles, will
# > eternal-september honour them?
#
# Given the current settings of E-S's control.ctl, no.
That's not a *very* explicit statement (with regards to
"how long"), but given all the other hosters (at least in
"german usenet") who later on agreed and stated explicitely, to:
"*not* take immediate action"
regarding Juli�n �lies rmgroup-messages, I'd say that this
statement has to be seen/read "in the same spirit" - meaning:
the micorosoft.public.* hierarchie will remain available
for at least some months more on an already
(in the meantime) larger amount of UseNet-Servers.
One needs to switch his NewsReader to one of them
of course, to win at least some more months, until a new
"long-term-home" for the group in question was found(ed).
Olaf
Karl E. Peterson
> "Karl E. Peterson" <ka...@exmvps.org> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:epXrdQc...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> And, even after msnews actually removes the groups
>> from their servers, it may take awhile for that to propogate out.
>>
>> I have heard, though, since posting my initial response, that the
>> admins on eternal-september.org may reject the rmgroup requests from
>> that Jules yahoo. This would be a pleasant change from the past! :-)
>
> The following is based on information I've read in
> a german admin-group, which we are following now
> for some time...:
>
> The "hoster" (founder, admin, ...) of eternal-september.org
> is known in usenet as "Ray Banana". An appropriate discussion
> with regards to "honouring rmgroup-messages" - already took
> place in the public reachable group:
> eternal-september.support
>
> Here's the snippet in question:
>
> Message-ID: <857hng8...@banana.shacknet.nu>
> # From: Ray Banana <ray...@banana.shacknet.nu>
> # Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 04:57:13 +0200
> # [...]
> # Thus spake grant <sam...@example.invalid>
> # [...]
> # > eternal-september honour them?
> #
> # Given the current settings of E-S's control.ctl, no.
>
> That's not a *very* explicit statement (with regards to
> "how long"), but given all the other hosters (at least in
> "german usenet") who later on agreed and stated explicitely, to:
> "*not* take immediate action"
> statement has to be seen/read "in the same spirit" - meaning:
> the micorosoft.public.* hierarchie will remain available
> for at least some months more on an already
> (in the meantime) larger amount of UseNet-Servers.
Very encouraging news! :-)
> One needs to switch his NewsReader to one of them
> of course, to win at least some more months, until a new
> "long-term-home" for the group in question was found(ed).
It is also very encouraging to see traffic *way* up in
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc over the weekend! :-)
Karl E. Peterson
> "Karl E. Peterson" <ka...@exmvps.org> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:epXrdQc...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> And, even after msnews actually removes the groups
>> from their servers, it may take awhile for that to propogate out.
>>
>> I have heard, though, since posting my initial response, that the
>> admins on eternal-september.org may reject the rmgroup requests from
>> that Jules yahoo. This would be a pleasant change from the past! :-)
>
> The following is based on information I've read in
> a german admin-group, which we are following now
> for some time...:
>
> The "hoster" (founder, admin, ...) of eternal-september.org
> is known in usenet as "Ray Banana". An appropriate discussion
> with regards to "honouring rmgroup-messages" - already took
> place in the public reachable group:
> eternal-september.support
>
> Here's the snippet in question:
>
> Message-ID: <857hng8...@banana.shacknet.nu>
> # From: Ray Banana <ray...@banana.shacknet.nu>
> # Date: Fri, 07 May 2010 04:57:13 +0200
> # [...]
> # Thus spake grant <sam...@example.invalid>
> # [...]
> # > eternal-september honour them?
> #
> # Given the current settings of E-S's control.ctl, no.
>
> That's not a *very* explicit statement (with regards to
> "how long"), but given all the other hosters (at least in
> "german usenet") who later on agreed and stated explicitely, to:
> "*not* take immediate action"
> statement has to be seen/read "in the same spirit" - meaning:
> the micorosoft.public.* hierarchie will remain available
> for at least some months more on an already
> (in the meantime) larger amount of UseNet-Servers.
Very encouraging news! :-)
> One needs to switch his NewsReader to one of them
> of course, to win at least some more months, until a new
> "long-term-home" for the group in question was found(ed).
It is also very encouraging to see traffic *way* up in
comp.lang.basic.visual.misc over the weekend! :-)