newgroup wars
newgroup wars /n[y]oo'groop worz/ n. [Usenet] 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 {flamer}s, e.g.,
alt.weemba.
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