Eternal September (also September that never ended, perpetual September, or endless
September)[1] in the Jargon File is a Usenet slang expression, coined by Dave Fischer, for the
period beginning September 1993.[2] The use of these expressions implies the belief that standards of discourse and behavior on Usenet
have declined since 1993 due to an unending influx of new users.
Background
Usenet originated among universities. Every year, in September, a large number of new
university students got access to Usenet, and took some time to acclimate themselves to the network's standards of conduct and
netiquette. After a month or so, the new users would (it is supposed) learn to comport
themselves as normal Usenet users. September, thus, represented the network's largest regular influx of newbies.
“ Right now it's summer, and most schools are on vacation, and a
sizable percentage of other people are in the same state. So the net is quieter. Yet it's still growing. Will the return of all
these people, plus the usual growth, be the final straw for the net?”
- — Brad Templeton, posting to net.news,
July 12, 1984[3]
In 1993, the online service America Online began offering Usenet access to its tens of
thousands, later millions, of users. To many old-timers, these "AOLers" were far less prepared
to learn netiquette than university freshmen. This was, in part, because AOL took few pains to educate its users about Usenet
customs — or even that these new-found forums were not simply another piece of AOL's service. But it was also sheer numbers.
Whereas the regular September freshman influx would soon settle down, the sheer number of newbies
now threatened to overwhelm the existing Usenet culture's capacity to inculcate its social
norms.[4]
Since that time, the dramatic rise in the popularity of the Internet has led to a constant
stream of new users — in some people's view, drowning out the old Usenet entirely. Thus, from the point of view of the pre-1993
Usenet user, the regular "September" newbie influx never ended.
The term was first used by Dave Fischer in a January 26, 1994, post to alt.folklore.computers:[5]
“
It's moot now. September 1993 will go down in net.history as the September that never ended.
”
The gag is at times extended — for instance, the notional future date at which Usenet discourse will become sensible,
mature, and educated has been called "October 1, 1993". An attempt to hurry the arrival of that date is being made by the
proponents of Usenet II.
On February 9, 2005, AOL discontinued newsgroup access
through its service (this was announced on January 25, 2005[6][7]). September 1993 is thus, according to some, finally
over. Some feel that September ended a few years earlier, the first year that a majority of people on the Internet had been using
it for over a year and thus outnumbered the newbies.
References
External links
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