[Info-vax] Leaving all Google Groups?

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Den 2023-12-04 kl. 14:45, skrev Simon Clubley:
> On 2023-12-01, Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk> wrote:
>> On 12/1/2023 6:38 AM, Neil Rieck wrote:
>>> I joined https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms back in 2006 so
>>> 17-years is a pretty good run. But the ongoing SPAM attack that
>>> started Oct-1 tells me that this NNTP newsgroup thing has outlived
>>> its usefulness.
>>
>> comp.os.vms usenet group on NNTP servers seems fine.
>>
> 
> Yes. Neil seems to keep confusing NNTP servers and the Usenet ecosystem
> with the Google interface he is clearly using.
> 
>> INFO-VAX mail-list is probably going to be fine.
>>
>> comp.os.vms Google Groups group may be toast.
>>
>> Which is bad as some people use Google Groups for
>> reading and posting - and many people use it for searching
>> old posts.
>>
> 
> I wonder if using a site: filter for https://comp.os.vms.narkive.com/
> in your search engine along with what you are looking for would help ?
> Presumably the spam would be ignored during a search because it would
> not contain any of the keywords you are looking for.
> 
>>> 1) I've been flagging at least 200 messages each day as SPAM. I also
>>> requested help from Google through the feedback tool (almost every
>>> day) but did not receive a single response. This makes me wonder if
>>> they have done a risk/reward analysis then decided to let this
>>> product die on the vine.
>>
>> Everybody is saying that Google Groups is running on auto pilot with
>> no human at the steering wheel.
>>
>>> 2) I lodged a complaint via https://support.google.com/ where a
>>> non-Google employee suggested I create a new group with the requisite
>>> privacy settings. I did that then attempted to create
>>> "comp.os.openvms" but it came up as "composopenvms".  Perhaps the
>>> lack of dots helps to distinguish the old flavor newsgroup from the
>>> new.  This makes me wonder if messages post here are being seen my
>>> the traditional news readers. Anyway, you are free to use
>>> https://groups.google.com/g/composopenvms if you wish.
> 
> NO BLOODY WAY!!!!
> 
> This is _entirely_ the wrong approach and would mean everyone would
> have to register with Google and use the Google web interface for posting
> as messages posted there would not show up in NNTP newsfeeds.
> 
> NO BLOODY WAY!!!!
> 
> This BTW is an excellent example of people who use the Google interface
> to Usenet confusing it with how Usenet itself works.
> 
>>>
>>> 3) As an alternative, I suggest we all unsubscribe from all Google
>>> Groups then continue our conversations on reddit where we will be
>>> free to continue our conversation under the OpenVMS sub-reddit. Click
>>> here to see what I mean: https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenVMS/ Some
>>> people might not know that reddit (the first social media company?)
>>> was created in 2005 with the intent of dealing with SPAM. In return
>>> for free use, the odd reddit message might contain a advert from one
>>> of their corporate adverts, but this is nothing like navigating the
>>> SPAM we see at comp.os.vms
>>
> 
> NO BLOODY WAY!!!!
> 
> Once again, no NNTP interface and prone to being permanently banned by
> some immature power-hungry control freak just because you didn't use the
> currently acceptable phrases this month or some similar nonsense excuse.
> 
> Sod that!!!
> 
>> I am not sure that I see the point.
>>
>> Today we have:
>>
>> c.o.v @ GG --- c.o.v @ few NNTP servers --- I-V maillist
>> w few users    w some users                 w few users
>>
>> and:
>> * GG users
>> * NNTP server admins
>> * maillist gateway admin
>> has a problem with the spam from GG.
>>
>> But I don't see:
>>
>> c.o.v @ GG --- c.o.v @ few NNTP servers --- I-V maillist
>> w no users     w some users                 w few users
>>
>> X @ GG or Reddit
>> w few users
>>
>> as having any point without a connection.
>>
>> Arne
>>
> 
> NNTP is the correct approach. We just need to have Google's interface
> to it to be permanently dropped.
> 
> Simon.
> 

Or move any VMS related discussions to the VSI Forum.
And ditch NNTP and Usenet alltogether.