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newgroup wars


newgroup wars: /n[y]oo'groop worz/ [USENET] n. The salvos of
   dueling `newgroup' and `rmgroup' messages sometimes
   exchanged by persons on opposite sides of a dispute over whether a
   newsgroup should be created net-wide, or (even more
   frequently) whether an obsolete one should be removed.  These
   usually settle out within a week or two as it becomes clear whether
   the group has a natural constituency (usually, it doesn't).  At
   times, especially in the completely anarchic alt hierarchy, the
   names of newsgroups themselves become a form of comment or humor;
   e.g., the spinoff of alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork from
   alt.tv.muppets in early 1990, or any number of specialized
   abuse groups named after particularly notorious flamers, e.g.,
   alt.weemba.