94 Snoozenet
The software came to be called “news,” because the intent was that people
(usually graduate students) at most Unix sites (usually universities) would
announce their latest collection of hacks and patches. Mostly, this was the
source code to the news software itself, propagating the virus. Over time
the term “netnews” came into use, and from that came “Usenet,” and its
legions of mutilations (such as “Abusenet,” “Lusenet,” “Snoozenet,” and
“Net of a Million Lies.”^1 )The network grew like kudzu—more sites, more people, and more mes-
sages. The basic problem with Usenet was that of scaling. Every time a
new site came on the network, every message posted by everybody at that
site was automatically copied to every other computer on the network. One
computer in New Hampshire was rumored to have a five-digit monthly
phone bill before DEC wised up and shut it down.The exorbitant costs were easily disguised as overhead, bulking up the
massive spending on computers in the 1980s. Around that time, a group of
hackers devised a protocol for transmitting Usenet over the Internet, which
was completely subsidized by the federal deficit. Capacity increased and
Usenet truly came to resemble a million monkeys typing endlessly all over
the globe. In early 1994, there were an estimated 140,000 sites with 4.6
million users generating 43,000 messages a day.Defenders of the Usenet say that it is a grand compact based on coopera-
tion. What they don’t say is that it is also based on name-calling, harass-
ment, and letter-bombs.Death by EmailHow does a network based on anarchy police itself? Mob rule and public
lynchings. Observe:
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 92 13:11 EDT
From: [email protected]
Subject: Splitting BandyHairs on LuseNet
To: VOID, FEATURE-ENTENMANNS, UNIX-HATERSThe news.admin newsgroup has recently been paralyzed (not to say it
was ever otherwise) by an extended flamefest involving one
[email protected], who may be known to some of you.(^1) From A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (Tom Doherty Associates, 1992).