Great Renaming

from Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)

Great Renaming
 n.

   The {flag day} in 1987 on which all of the non-local groups on the
   {Usenet} had their names changed from the net.- format to the current
   multiple-hierarchies scheme. Used esp. in discussing the history of
   newsgroup names. "The oldest sources group is comp.sources.misc;
   before the Great Renaming, it was net.sources." There is a Great
   Renaming FAQ on the Web.

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

Great Renaming

   <Usenet, history> The {flag day} in 1986 on which all of the
   non-local groups on the {Usenet} had their names changed from
   the net.- format to the current multiple-hierarchies scheme.
   Used especially in discussing the history of newsgroup names.
   "The oldest sources group is comp.sources.misc; before the
   Great Renaming, it was net.sources."

   FAQ (http://vrx.net/usenet/history/rename.html).

   [{Jargon File}]

   (2000-07-14)