# Did the purge ever happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 6, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063 "2001-08-06T03:00:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/1 "2001-08-06T03:00:40Z")
A month or so ago, The Powers That Be decided to purge all 1999-and-before threads. A bunch were “saved” with a bump, and the board’s sped up since then. All’s cool. Then, tonight, **MarkXXX** bumped a few [interesting](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=5431) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=9202) that hadn’t been posted to since 1999. Why weren’t they purged? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/2 "2001-08-06T03:32:08Z")
They managed to hide in the basements and attics of threads started in 2000 and beyond. Also, some of them weren’t wearing stars on their clothes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/3 "2001-08-06T03:47:41Z")
No purge; the RAM add helped enough to not warrant the effort, from what I read. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/4 "2001-08-06T06:23:41Z")
I have, however, taken the liberty to binge, though. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/5 "2001-08-06T14:57:03Z")
I thought they just split them not purge them? ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/6 "2001-08-07T01:20:44Z")
Yup. AFAIK, they announced the purge, then changed their minds without really publicizing. Maybe they had the split in mind and realized how much more effective it’d be. My hunch is that they thought purging would help, but not much, so they were never too crazy about the idea. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/7 "2001-08-07T02:22:05Z")
They were going to purge, but put that on hold, then announced that they would split, but when they upgraded the hardware, things ran so well that they decided they didn’t need to trim anything. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/8 "2001-08-07T10:20:34Z")
> [@](#): > > things ran so well that they decided they didn’t need to trim anything. Yet, of course. They’ll probably go for one of these options if things ever get desperate enough again. Hey, they do whatever they need to. I’m happy either way. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/9 "2001-08-07T11:47:24Z")
Amen to that! ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/10 "2001-08-07T13:43:54Z")
Okay. Thanks for the replies. I’ve been away a few weeks, work and stuff, so I’m pleased to see the improvements on the board. But, what was the “split”? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-purge-ever-happen/75063/11 "2001-08-07T14:15:14Z")
Montfort, just read the posts by jdavis in this thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=79327](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=79327)