There Is No Cabal

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On Wikipedia, see the appropriate section at Wikipedia: Words of wisdom

There Is No Cabal is a phrase used on Usenet. Its common abbreviation, TINC, is used humorously to indicate that people should lighten up and not see a conspiracy around every corner, or alternatively as an ironic statement, indicating we know "the cabal" will deny there is a cabal. See backbone cabal, usenet cabal, and news.admin.net-abuse.usenet.

As Usenet has few technologically or legally enforced hierarchies, just about the only ones that formed were social hierarchies. People exerted power through force of will (often via intimidating flames), garnering authority and respect by contributing to the community (by being a maintainer of a FAQ, for example), or through sheer persistence, spending more time and writing more posts than anyone else (see Kibo, etc.).

Thus groups of people with authority and power gained and maintained it by what in a traditional society would be considered extralegal means; they were, in some sense, cabals. In another sense they were not cabals, since their power was little more than social authority.

See also

• Internet phenomenon
• Lumber Cartel

External links

• Entry for "TINC" at the Jargon File
• There Is No Cabal in Ursine's Jargon Wiki

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "There_Is_No_Cabal" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal, used under the GNU Free Documentation License