NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/alt/amateur/661

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-25 | 8.9 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Ronda Hauben)
Newsgroups: alt.amateur-comp
Subject: Welcome alt.amateur-comp:Draft for Comment
Date: 26 Jan 1993 02:20:15 GMT
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draft for comment:


WELCOME TO THE alt.amateur-comp NEWSGROUP

     The alt.amateur-comp newsgroup is a newsgroup for discussion
of subjects and articles that appear in the Amateur Computerist
newsletter, to provide a place for the distribution of the
newsletter when a new edition appears, to give writers a
place to publish drafts of their articles or ideas for articles
so they can get feedback and comments, and to encourage
discussion of topics and subjects related to those covered
in the newsletter.

     The Amateur Computerist newsletter derives its name
from those who love computers, but also, for amateur as
opposed to professional. Both the newsletter and the
newsgroup are for those who want to share the expertise
they have, as opposed to those who want to hoard
knowledge for their own personal profit in the sense of
the "computer priesthood" referred to by Ted Nelson
in his book "Computer Lib" (1974).

     The Amateur Computerist has also taken the name amateur in
opposition to commercial, of those who do computering for the love
of it, not for the love of money.

     As Floyd Hoke-Miller wrote in the first issue of the
Amateur Computerist: "From the Great Wall to the Great Pyramid,
from the hieroglyphics to the screen of the computer, mankind is
still progressing. So make the new born science, that has given
us the computer for the amateur and not as a perogative of the
professional to be shrouded in secrecy from humanity, the choice
of the individual, not the election of a minority.... Therefore I
implore all to plan and to participate....I still see the mind of
man the greatest computer of all -- So Let Us Continue to Make
Use of It to the Advantage of the Masses..."(Dawn of a New Era",
vol I, no. 1)

     In another article, in vol 1 no 2, the same writer explained
why the amateur was so special. He wrote: " The amateur is
dedicated to the love of computers for the sake of the common
cause. The professional is dedicated to money and self
aggrandizement." (from "Pass the Profits, Please: A Treatise on
the Shorter Hour Contention" by Floyd Hoke-Miller, vol 1 no. 2)

     The first issue was published February 11, 1988 and was
dedicated to the Flint sit down pioneers who began the United
Automobile Workers Union, (the UAW). Articles like "Dawn of a New
Era" and "Pass the Profits Please" appeared in the newsletter
from labor pioneers who welcomed the computer and the
Amateur Computerist. They believed that the upcoming
generation of workers would have to win their share of the
"technological kitty" that results from automation in large
scale industry.

     The Amateur Computerist is dedicated to support for
grassroots efforts like the "computers for the people
movement" that gave birth to the personal computer in the
1970s and 1980s. Hard efforts of many people over hundreds of
years led to the production of a working computer in the 1940s
and then a personal computer that people could afford in the
1970s. This history has been serialized in several issues of the
newsletter.  The Amateur Computerist takes its name from the
spirit and tradition of the early computer hackers who called
themselves the Amateur Computerist Society and who built the
first personal computers.

     The Amateur Computerist was born out of the battle to
continue programming classes for workers at the Ford Rouge Factory
in Dearborn, MI after Ford and UAW officials ended the classes in
February, 1987. The Amateur Computerist is a combination of
hobbiest/amateur subjects and labor oriented subjects.

     In our first issue, we wrote:

     "This newsletter is to inform people of developments in the
effort to advance computer education. Workers at the Ford Rouge
Plant in Dearborn, MI, were denied computer programming classes.
There was an effort by administrators of the UAW-Ford program at
the Dearborn Engine Plant to kill interest in computers and
computer programming. We want to keep interest alive because
computers are the future. We want to disperse information to
users about computers. Since the computer is still in the early
stage of development, the ideas and experiences of users need to
be shared and built on if this technology is to advance. To this
end, this newsletter is dedicated to all people interested in
learning about computers. We welcome articles, programs, reviews,
etc. We want this newsletter to help people use their computers
in ways that will be useful and fun." (February 11, 1988, vol
I,no 1)

     In Spring 1992, an electronic version of the printed edition
first appeared. With our Fall 1992 Special Supplement "The
Wonderful World of Usenet News", we begin to document the
progressive impact of democratic developments like Usenet News
and the Internet.

     The alt.amateur-comp newsgroup makes possible an important
link between the printed media and the electronic media.
You are invited to participate and post in this newsgroup
introducing or commenting on subjects of interest to Amateur
Computerists and to workers. Such posts or discussion will help to
suggest ideas for articles for the Amateur Computerist. Also, you
are encouraged to post a draft of an article and request
feedback, or discuss articles that have been published.

     Following are some of the categories of articles that have
appeared in the Amateur Computerist over the past 5 years:

1)The History of Computers

2)News and Views from the Shop Floor

3)How Technology Affects Society

4)The Debate over whether Legislated Shorter Hours of Labor
Encourages Technological Development and Automation

5)News of Strikes

6)Problem Corner for Computer Related Problems and Proposed
Solutions

7)"How To" Articles

8)Books Reviews of Computer Related Books

9)"Try This" Programs

10)Interviews with Pioneers of the Telecommunications and
Computer Revolution

11)Poems relating to labor or to computers

12)Editorials about the UAW and Auto Industry Management
and Government

13)Letters to the Editor

14)Cartoons or graphics relating to computers or labor

15)Open Access - Guest Editorials

16)Round Table Discussions

17)Updates about the cancellation of programming classes
at Ford

     The Amateur Computerist is published 4 times a year in
electronic and printed form. The electronic form is available
when published in alt.amateur-comp newsgroup or via subscription.

     We welcome submissions for the newsletter or posts and
discussion for the newsgroup. (If you are submitting an article
for publication in a future issue, send email copies stating
in the Subject:Submission to [e-mail] and
cc: [e-mail]). We try to publish as
many of the submissions as we can in the print edition, but
sometimes it takes a while for an article to appear. In the
meantime, we encourage people to post articles, drafts of
articles, ideas, questions, etc. and encourage responses to
these posts. .

     Recent back issues of the Amateur Computerist are available
via anonymous ftp from
       wuarchive.wustl.edu
It is stored in directory
       /doc/misc/acn

     Vol 4 no 2 included an index of articles published in all
previous issues.

     To subscribe to the electronic edition, send email to
[e-mail] or [e-mail]

     In the "Dedication" in the first issue, we wrote:

     "The `Amateur Computerist' is an effort to encourage
     discussion on the problem of Automation. Microcomputers
     are now an important fact of life. They are new. The
     first microcomputer design was announced to the public only
     14 years ago. (It was the Mark-8 by Jonathan Titus featured
     on the cover of the July, 1974 issue of Radio Electronics.)
     Today, personal computers are everywhere. They are affecting
     and changing homes, factories, offices, etc. They are
     revolutionizing all fields of knowledge. Therefore, it is
     crucial that computers not be kept from people -- that
     knowledge about computers be available to amateurs as well
     as professionals." ("Dedication," vol 1, no. 1)

     The articles in the first issue suggest how computers will
help bring a better world. The articles included:
     Introduction
     Dawn of a New Era
     Dedication
     World of Telecommunications
     Future Belongs to Programmers
     Try this
     Commodore Tips and Tricks
     Why Learn Programming

     The alt.amateur-comp newsgroup is dedicated to the fruits of
the computer and communications revolution being available for
public purposes. We support free and public access to
telecommunications technology.