> This is my first letter as a unicyclist. Unfortunately,
> it doesn't have much to do with unicycling. Why isn't there a
> rec.unicycling or alt.unicycling and what would it take to make one?
> Just curious.
Well, I've been meaning to bring up the topic, so I guess now I will. The list
grew out of a failed vote on rec.unicycling several years ago. Terry Jones
then took the list of yes voters and started the list. I don't have the exact
vote count anymore, but I was surprised about how many no votes there were.
My theory is that that since it came on the heels of the rec.bicycles, people
felt that the cycling group issue had been settled and didn't want to add
more. I will gladly accept alternate theories though.
Making alt.unicycling is not too hard. You make a posting of intent and then
pretty much just start it up. I am not inclined to do this, though, because
you don't get into as many machines when you are in the alt hierarchy, and it
is harder to then become a rec group later.
Rec.unicycling would be a better idea, because it would get more exposure.
The problem is the approval process. To get a rec group, we would have to
put it up for a vote on usenet. We need 100 more yeas than nays, and 2/3 of
the votes must be yeas.
I now throw the issue out for discussion on the mailing list. Tell me (or
the list), how you would vote for a group. Assume there would be a gateway
between a rec group and the existing newsgroup, so you can still get the
information if you don't have news access. Discussion is welcome, but I also
want a count estimate, so if you have an opinion you can just post "I would
vote [yes|no] for rec.unicycling".
BTW, we currently have 109 people on the mailing list. We have been around
that number for several months now. Some people join, and some quit or
get dropped for bouncing messages. If everyone on the list voted yes, we
could stand 9 no votes from elsewhere.
Beirne
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