why so many PHP newsgroups??

Why are there so many nearly identical PHP newsgroups?

comp.lang.php
alt.comp.lang.php
alt.php

Is there any difference among these three?
which should I use for what sort of posts?

thanks...

--
Jeffrey D. Silverman | jeffrey AT jhu DOT edu
Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD
Website | http://www.wse.jhu.edu/newtnotes/

"Jeffrey Silverman" <jeffrey@jhu.edu> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.07.08.15.58.00.653704@jhu.edu...
> Why are there so many nearly identical PHP newsgroups?
>
> comp.lang.php
> alt.comp.lang.php
> alt.php
>
> Is there any difference among these three?
> which should I use for what sort of posts?
>
> thanks...

comp.lang.php is the main one .. a while back they decided to open it, and
replace alt.* ... but all it's done is confuse people .....

"RATIONALE: comp.lang.php
An alt.php newsgroup currently exists and is well used, and there is also an
alt.comp.lang.php group in existence. Not all servers carry alt.*
newsgroups, however, essentially splitting the PHP Usenet community. Almost
all news servers carry the comp.lang.* groups, which would make the group
more accessible to users, in addition to unifying the two "Usenet PHP
factions." Furthermore, every respected programming language has a group
under comp.lang.*.
PHP has matured into a respected (and powerful) language widely in use. As
such, a group in the comp.lang.* hierarchy seems appropriate at this time.
Finally, posts in comp.lang.* groups are retained longer than posts in alt.*
groups on many servers, another reason that a switch to a comp.lang.* group
would benefit the PHP community."