The Big 7 (later the Big 8) are a group of newsgroup hierarchies established after the Great Renaming, a restructuring of Usenet that took place in 1987. These hierarchies are managed by the Big 8 Management Board. Groups are added through a process of nomination, discussion, and voting. A newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. ... A hierarchy (in Greek hieros = sacred, arkho = rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things. ... The Great Renaming was a restructuring of Usenet newsgroups that took place in 1987. ... Usenet is a distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The original seven hierarchies were comp.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, and talk.*. They were open and free for anyone to participate in (except for the moderated newsgroups), though they were subject to a few general rules governing their naming and distribution. Moderation is the process of eliminating or lessening extremes. ...

In the mid-1990s, when Usenet traffic grew significantly, humanities.* was introduced, and with the seven hierarchies created by the Renaming, comprises today's so-called "Big 8". See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from 2000 and 2001. ...

Hierarchies

The hierarchy is a major class of newsgroups in Usenet, containing all newsgroups whose name begins with , organized hierarchically. ... A Lego RCX Computer is an example of an embedded computer used to control mechanical devices. ... News is new information or current events. ... Highlights The so-called iTunes Law, which Apple has called state-sponsored piracy, is approved by the French Parliament (coat of arms pictured). ... Tigers playing in the water. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Recreation. ... The hierarchy is a major class of newsgroups in Usenet, containing all newsgroups whose name begins with , organized hierarchically. ... For the periodical, see Science (journal) Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable means. ... Human relationships within an ethnically diverse society. ... Look up Controversy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also

• Alt.* hierarchy