In article <3u6moi$sn2@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, foo <bar@aol.com> wrote: > >I have noticed that some postings are disappearing faster than others. Why >is that and who decides? > Its the size of the article. You see, the articles are stored on disk. An article is encoded in things known as 'bits' which are written on the disk. A disk is a rotating platter. As anyone knows centrifugal force will force anything off of a rotating surface. As time goes on, the article moves closer and closer to the edge of the disk, and finally, it flies right off. Of course, the larger articles (more bits == more weight) tend to fly off faster. Unix systems have something known as a "sticky bit" which can help articles remain longer if it is set. Remember, USENET was originally set up by Unix people, and they knew what they were doing. On the other hand, some systems have their own rules, and you might get a better (or at least more correct) answer by asking the people who administer your machine.
(From the "Rest" of RHF)