That would depend on your perspective and your own experiences, I expect. I found the moderated sci.* and comp.* groups more pleasant for asking questions and

That would depend on your perspective and your own experiences, I expect. I found the moderated sci.* and comp.* groups more pleasant for asking questions and giving answers. The alt.* hierarchy had its moments, but mostly it was an exercise in tolerance. Some groups were largely self-moderating, others had such a poor SNR that there was no point putting the time in. The RIAA/MPAA/BSA raids were only really relevant if you were into pirating copyrighted material.