Re: where to go for old mac questions (i know this is an apple group)

[macvaya@mindspring.remove.this.com (Cali Ruchala)]

In article <andl4o$6nl$1@venus.itns.co.za>, Stephen Shaw
<botstarver@readersdigest.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 27 Sep 2002 19:58:57 GMT, Mike Pfaiffer wrote:
> 
> >       I kind of agree with what you day about group additions. If
> > divided along microprocessor family the discussions might be more focused.
> > Traditionally the // users have had no problem with /// users or those
> > using // emulators. They all run 6502 code and access the hardware in a
> > similar way.
> >
> >       The speed bump is when the issue of the Lisa and other very early
> > Macs pop up. I own a plus, IIcx (needs a new power supply), IIsi, and a
> > fried LC. I've asked questions from Mac people. The response was "Junk the
> > old machine and buy a G3". I can relate to what Mac people are saying about
> > finding better information here.


True. I have one IIgs and a fleet of Quadras and other vintage
Macs. I haven't posted here before, mostly because I'm still 
exploring just what my IIgs can do, but reading this group is
one of the highlights of my day. Don't change, anybody. :-)

There's some extended message board I happened across today called
"the 68k liberation army" which looks both cute and super-helpful,
with people doing more things with their 68ks than I thought possible.
Plus there's always archaic-apples.com, which isn't really mac-o-centric 
or q-&-a based, but it's the kind of library I wish I had growing up as 
a kid. If someone's looking for 68k help, I found a ton of cool 
places today in about four or five minutes of searching on google.
It's not usenet, but it's still pretty nice for 68k users.


> >       As we've all discussed before, I really think the 68k Mac folks
> > need their own newsgroup. Not because we are exclusionary here, but because
> > it would produce a more focused dialogue. In addition these people would
> > develop their own FAQs (which I wouldn't mind reading). If a problem is
> > common to both sets of machines (// and Mac) there is always the
> > crossposting capabilities of the newsreaders. It would also let me ask
> > my question about connecting my HP IIIp to my Macs and get an
> > appropriate response. ;-)
> >
> 
> I agree with you, if we start mixing questions about IIs and Macs in a
> newsgroup
> I think it will turn into a recipe for chaos especially if the threads get
> mixed
> or off topic subjects creep into a thread.


I agree, but I don't think a 68k newsgroup will be anything
but chaotic. I notice you guys get a lot of "How do I get
firewire working on a Tibook?" questions, and "mac" isn't even
in the newsgroup name. comp.sys.mac.68k comes before 
comp.sys.mac.system alphabetically. I suppose you'd get less
of it here, though. ;-)


> >       Back to the original question. Doesn't Google archive newsgroups
> > back to the early '80s? Perhaps searching the archives might be useful.


This is probably good for some problems, but not helpful for others.
I don't think there will be a lot in the archive about something like,
"what's the highest OS that a performa xxx can run?" if the model
was discontinued before OS-whatever came out. The problem with that
archive going back to the 80s is, well, it goes back to the 80s, when
some of the older machines in trouble probably didn't have problems
with dead batteries or bad power supplies.


Cheers,


Cali Ruchala