Difference between Usenet hardware groups

What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

But ... I don't want to upset people whose newsreader doesn't
suppress posts they've already read in another group.

Thanks.

Dix


--

This post is crossposted for a completely different reason.
So please don't get upset!

"Dixie UK" wrote in message
...

What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

You will find the same in your public library, viz. several books
on the same topic, say home-built PCs. There may be obvious
differences between them, as between newsgroups: but these
differences obey no rule, and to see the differences you have to
read the stuff. If any general difference can be specified, each
of us has to do that for ourselves, in our own minds.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

On 11/10/2008 in message
Dixie UK wrote:

What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

It's a matter of quality really, the last group you mention is clearly the
best because it is UK centric :-)
That aside if you are in the UK it's probably best for you as there will
be references to UK suppliers, prices and specifications.

--
Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK
This is as bad as it can get, but don't bet on it

In message , Dixie UK
writes
What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

If you don't know the readership of the newsgroup you shouldn't post to
it at all.


--
Bernard Peek
London, UK. DBA, Manager, Trainer & Author.

"Dixie UK" wrote...
What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

But ... I don't want to upset people whose newsreader doesn't
suppress posts they've already read in another group.

alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt is the most active. You can crosspost to
uk.comp.homebuilt if they are active with a different readership.

On 2008-10-11, Dixie UK wrote:
What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

But ... I don't want to upset people whose newsreader doesn't
suppress posts they've already read in another group.

You should try to find the charter for a group if you are not sure
what the purpose of a particular group is. Most groups have one,
although in the case of alt.* groups it may be somewhat informal
or only a single line description carried by your news server. If
you consult the charters you will find that alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
is the only _PC_ group that you have listed.

In general is it considered bad form to cross post between local
and regional and global newsgroups for two reasons. Firstly local
groups have far more implicit context - if you post to uk.comp.homebuilt
it is assumed that you are UK based, whereas this needs stating
explicitly on other groups, and turns of phrase or referencing e.g.
TV programmes may be appropriate on a local group but not elsewhere.
Bear in mind this affects not just you, but anyone that responds
to your posts.

Secondly, if a message includes local groups then respondents not
in that locality are probably using a server that does not carry
the local groups. This can cause all sorts of problems if it isn't
noticed before the post is attempted - depending on the reader the
message may be unsubmittable until the missing groups are removed
from the Newgroups: header, with no indication as to which of the
groups are causing the problem.

As to cross posting more generally, most newsreaders keep track of
posts by message-id and will only show the messages as unread (or
at all) in the first group you encounter and read them. This is
the source of all those flames about multi-posting (posting an
identical message to different groups) instead of cross posting
(posting the same only once, but to multiple groups), since
multi-posting breaks this behaviour.

--
Andrew Smallshaw

"Dixie UK" wrote in message
...
What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

But ... I don't want to upset people whose newsreader doesn't
suppress posts they've already read in another group.

Thanks.

Dix




I usually post my questions to just one group
....If I don't get any good advice...I try a different group.

Best to read the questions and replies before posting...
it only takes a few minutes to see if the group is appropriate

On Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:00:03 -0500
"philo" wrote:

Best to read the questions and replies before posting...

And check on Google Groups to make sure the question hasn't been asked
a hundred times already.

On Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:36:52 +0100, Dixie UK
wrote:

What's the difference bewteen these PC hardware newsgroups:

alt.comp.hardware
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt
and even:
uk.comp.homebuilt

I get tempted to crosspost questions because I don't know how one
these group's readership is different from another.

But ... I don't want to upset people whose newsreader doesn't
suppress posts they've already read in another group.

Thanks.

Dix


Consider the topic you'd post. If it's a generalized
question then you shouldn't need to post to other than one
group, alt.comp.hardware. If it's a somewhat generalized
question and the system is self/home-built, then
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt and
alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt.

If the question involves tracking down a specific part or
shop to handle a problem then a more localized group like
uk.comp.homebuilt (or other uk groups if they apply) would
tend to know more about not just availability of parts in
that region but market costs.

If the question is rather specific to a certain brand, even
model of hardware, there may be an even more specific group
not mentioned above. For example video and sound cards from
nVidia, ATI, or Creative have their own groups IIRC.

If a question seems obscure enough that it's not likely any
readers of only one group would know the answer (given a few
days, seldom is an obscure question answered completely
within the same day or even longer), it becomes more
reasonable to cross-post upwards in the usenet hierarchy or
overlapping groups or more general ones.

It seems unlikely that any general question best targeted to
the above groups would need be posted to all of them listed.
That's what tends to irritate some, when there are too many
people involved in basic questions it tends to waste too
many people's time and even worse it often makes the trolls
come out of the woodwork and turn basic conversations into
off-topic flaming and several people taking the thread on
different tangents that make it excessively long to wade
through. Often long thread length results from the topic
originator not replying back to the thread so the topic
can't be more narrowed with questions meant to isolate or
define it further.

You might also try using google groups to search for recent
topics that are very similar to yours and even if those
topics don't cover your interest specifically, if the group
is showing interest in discussing and knowledge about
similar topics it would seem the best place to start first.

The main difference is activity. Some are more active than others, more
postings, more answers, except for the uk.xxx, that is UK centric.

The second difference is college kids. Some groups, like this one, are
frequented by the college crowd who want to show how smart they are, bark
orders, and remind everyone else they are idiots.

--g