Jan Faerber wrote:
> ALT => Alternative (USENET newsgroup prefix)
The alt hierarchy is, contrary to popular belief, not:
1. for the discussion of "alternative" subjects (counter-culture,
alternative medicine, etc); nor
2. for "alternative" discussion of normal subjects (rapping about
knitware, beat poetry about car maintainance, etc).
It was created as a place to operate an alternative system of Usenet
management. The original "big 8" hierarchies[1] have very long and
involved procedures for creating new groups and dissolving old ones, so
alt was created to allow a more laissez-faire process.
____
[1] comp, sci, misc, news, rec, soc, talk and humanities
--
Toby A Inkster BSc (Hons) ARCS
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