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From: Big-8 Management Board <board@big-8.org>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.misc,news.announce.newgroups,news.groups.proposals
Subject: 2nd RFD: Remove comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc and comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc - LAST CALL FOR COMMENTS
Followup-To: news.groups.proposals
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2026 16:32:51 EDT
Organization: Usenet Big-8 Management Board
Approved: Moderator of news.announce.newgroups <newgroups-request@isc.org>, NGP Approval Key <ngp-approval-key@ngp.big-8.org>
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Xref: csiph.com comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc:7 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:24 comp.unix.misc:475 news.announce.newgroups:579 news.groups.proposals:4127

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to remove the following
unmoderated newsgroups.

comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc
comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc

The Big-8 Management Board plans to begin voting on this proposal
after five days.  Please offer any final discussion or comments before
the end of this waiting period.  Voting may take up to one week (seven
days); a result will be posted following the end of the voting period.


DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
comp.unix.misc
comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc
comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc


PROPONENT: Marco Moock <mmoock@big-8.org>


RATIONALE:

There are various groups in comp.unix.* that are not used regularly.

I propose to delete groups that are not used well and to direct the
people to more general groups like comp.unix.misc in case they want to
discuss the topics they special groups covered.
If people declare interest in using them, I suggest to not delete them.


DISCUSSION SO FAR:

For discussions relating to the 1st RFD, please see the summary in the
2nd RFD at
<news:MPG.4382d7422a8b57be989701@news.eternal-september.org>.

Discussions relating to the 2nd RFD took place in
news.groups.proposals and in news.groups. The discussion occurred
primarily in the threads in each group for "2nd RFD: Remove
comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc and comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc", but many
responses were generally applicable to all groups under consideration
for removal.

Arguments, suggestions, and observations put forward in response to
the 2nd RFD were:

- Removing unused groups will not increase participation in related
   groups, nor in Usenet as a whole. [sticks, Steve Bonine, Adam
   H. Kerman]

- Many sites won't list a group that has been rmgrouped, so group
   history will be inaccessible unless one knows the group existed and
   seeks out a provider that keeps the removed groups
   archived. [sticks, Steve Bonine]

- There is potential for inconsistency/confusion for users if some
   sites keep the group available and some don't. [Steve Bonine]

- There is no point to streamlining the list of newsgroups, as there
   are no new users coming in to Usenet who could usefully be funneled
   into a smaller list of groups. [Steve Bonine]

- It would be more useful to overhaul the whole Big-8, keeping only
   the active groups and combining unused or little-used groups with
   them. While this will not "save" Usenet, it would bring users
   together and encourage active discussions with more
   contributors. Something like this has happened in fr.* and nobody
   has asked to re-create the removed newsgroups. [Julien Élie]

- The topics of some groups are now obsolete. Other groups were split
   into sub-groups when the volume of discussion was much greater, and
   these could perhaps now be usefully recombined. [Dr Englebert
   Buxbaum]

- Large-scale consolidation of groups might work if users could be
   consolidated along with their subscribed groups, but it's more
   likely that they would just lose access to their old groups once the
   rmgroups were issued. Also, to have much effect, it would be
   necessary to remove a large majority of groups. [Matija Nalis]

- In a large-scale deletion, groups that are to be deleted could be
   left in place for a transitional period in order to redirect users
   to the best remaining group. [The True Melissa]

- The proposals overestimate the importance of the hierarchy
   administration, as the active newsgroups list merely tells news
   server administrators that, if they create a group on a given topic,
   they should use the canonical name given in the list.  [Adam
   H. Kerman]

- Hierarchy administration does benefit new operators installing
   Usenet servers, who ask for more accurate active files. [Todd
   M. McComb]

- Older Unix systems, possibly including those covered by the groups
   under discussion, may still be in use in the telephone industry or
   by individuals with old PCs. [David Chmelik]


GROUPS:

comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc
386BSD operating system.

History:
comp.unix.bsd.386bsd.misc is a unmoderated newsgroup which passed its
vote for creation by 285:87 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on
22 Feb 1995.  This groups supersedes the unmoderated groups in the
comp.os.386bsd hierarchy, which will all be removed on 26 May 1995.

Charter:
Discussion about 386bsd which does not fall into the area
of coverage of any of the other 386bsd groups.  Things
posted here should not be crossposted to the other 386bsd
groups.

Rationale:
Last on-topic message from 2010.
This operating system isn't developed anymore.
If there is need for discussion, more general groups can be used.


comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc
BSD/OS operating system.

History:
comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc is a unmoderated newsgroup which passed its
vote for creation by 305:69 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on
22 Feb 1995.

Charter:
Discussion about BSD/OS which does not fall into the area
of coverage of any of the other bsdi groups.  Things posted
here should not be crossposted to the other bsdi groups.

Rationale:
Last on-topic discussion in 2015
This operating system isn't developed anymore.
If there is need for discussion, more general groups can be used.


PROCEDURE:

Those who wish to comment on this request to remove this newsgroup
should subscribe to news:news.groups.proposals and participate in the
relevant threads in that newsgroup.

To this end, the followup header of this RFD has been set to
news.groups.proposals.

All discussion of active proposals should be posted to
news.groups.proposals.

If desired by the readership of closely affected groups, the
discussion may be crossposted to those groups, but care must be taken
to ensure that all discussion appears in news.groups.proposals as
well.

For more information on the newsgroup removal process, please see
https://www.big-8.org/wiki/Removing_newsgroups


HISTORY OF THIS RFD:

2025-10-10: 1st RFD (remove)
2025-11-15: 2nd RFD (remove)
2026-03-20: Final RFD / Last Call for Comments

-- 
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org