C/C++ Users Journal September, 2004
The electronic age did not begin with the World Wide Web, though it's often difficult to recall what happened way back before the Browser Wars. Even as Arpanet was slowly evolving into the modern Internet, a much more loosely connected network was thriving. I was at Bell Labs 30-odd years ago as the UNIX operating system was taking off. Part of that phenomenon was the UNIX mail system, which involved gazillions of computers calling each other up over phone lines to pass on messages from neighbor to neighbor. It was ad hoc, it was clunky, but it worked far more often than not.
Birds of a feather flock together, and invariably gossip. It took no time at all for that UNIX network to become host to a number of special-interest groups, each sharing information and opinions that only they could care about. At first, the groups organized around reflectors—you sent a message to Group Central and it was replicated to all members of the group. Then somebody got the idea of having Group Central maintain a repository of all reflected messages; and that was soon supplemented by search and retrieval utilities to help you hunt down old messages. Then there evolved tailored summaries that you could get in lieu of all unread messages, a godsend for people who just wanted to selectively sample the new stuff posted to a busy reflector. Before we knew it, the modern newsgroup was born. It wasn't long before thousands of newsgroups distilled out of the chaos. And they endure.
Today, I still participate in a number of reflectors. Mostly, these have limited membership, limited access, and limited traffic. In this era of overwhelming spam, and occasional poor Internet connections while I travel, the less e-mail I get every day the happier I am. But I prefer searching repositories and newsgroups, at my discretion, whenever I can. You can use a web browser to do all this stuff, but for the latter I prefer to work through a news server. I use Outlook Express as a viewing engine, and news servers from a couple of different ISPs for access. Whatever works.
I confess that I was late to this particular party. Up to about five years ago I avoided the public forums assiduously, and for a very good reason. I saw what a time eater they could be for many of my colleagues. Since I am rather less disciplined than most people suspect, I didn't want yet another vehicle for procrastination in my life. But Pete Becker kept telling me about these sessions that discussed Dinkumware's products, or at least issues and markets that matter very much to us. So I decided I'd better start monitoring them, if only out of self defense.
These days, I visit about a dozen newsgroups at least once a day. They cover C and C++ (comp.lang.c*), their standards (comp.std.c*), and Microsoft's C and C++ offerings (microsoft.public.vc* and microsoft.public.windowsce.embedded*). Participation in all these groups is open to anybody who can read some version of English and who can establish an Internet connection—hundreds of millions of people, in other words. Some groups are moderated, but most are open to anybody with something to say, sane or otherwise. Thus, it's a miracle to me that so many useful discussions actually manage to take place.
The quality is, of course, as varied as the political discourse you'll hear any weekend at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. Some of the best explainers in the world will patiently answer one technical question after another, a boon both to the daring soul who posted the question and the millions of lurkers who quietly soak up lore. Some of the best experts in C and C++ will openly debate subtle points or the merits of proposed new language additions. And some of the most officious, obnoxious, and/or pig-headed people will inject noise into practically every discussion. It's techie democracy in action.
I try to stay disciplined in the midst of this chaos. I rarely, if ever, initiate a new thread. "Speak only when spoken to" is my motto, or if I believe something really needs to be clarified. Make statements of fact as much as possible, preferably ones that can be independently verified, and resist the temptation to get sucked into purely emotional brawls. Stick with topics that are relevant to Dinkumware's products and markets. Argue with stubborn people only as a vehicle for preaching to the lurkers; don't get invested in changing minds that are demonstrably closed.
Lofty goals, even if I don't always achieve them. Nevertheless, I recommend that you develop a similar set for yourself, should you ever dare to click on that Reply to Group button. At the very least, become a lurker. You might learn something.
P.J. Plauger
Senior Contributing Editor
pjp@plauger.com