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In article <RoFRRB20w165w@mantis.co.uk>,
mathew@mantis.co.uk (mathew) writes:
> randy@psg.com (Randy Bush) writes:
> > mathew@mantis.co.uk (mathew) writes:
> > > It causes UUCP systems using slow modems on noisy lines to waste ...
> >            ^ broken

Randy, you well know that huge UUCP files cause problems on most systems,
and I think that calling such systems broken is unduly harsh.  Few UUCP
implementations can restart from the middle of a file, and those that can,
do so via extensions to the protocol.

> No, not broken.  *All* UUCP systems on bad lines will handle large
> postings less well than they handle small ones.

All UUCP systems?  Even those that can restart from the middle of a file?

> Consider a 2400 baud UUCP site (there are plenty around still)
> collecting a 5MB article.  It has to keep its link working for over
> 4 hours.  If the line fails for some reason, it has to dial in again
> and start transferring the article again from the beginning.

You could get both ends of the link to upgrade to a UUCP implementation
that can continue from the middle of a partially transferred file.
For Unix systems, I suggest the latest version of Taylor-UUCP.

Alternatively, you could design and implement a different encapsulation
instead of rnews.  There is no law that each UUCP job must contain an
integral number of news articles.

> > If one limited the world to the lowest common denominator of broken
> > tools, we would still be using stone wheels.
> If you're saying that everyone using UUCP should just fuck off and
> disconnect from the net, might I ask who the hell you think you are?

Mathew, it seems to me that you have a tendency to take comments of the
form "if your tools are less capable than the tools used by many other
sites, then you will have problems, and you should either accept the
problems or fix the tools" and misinterpret them as "if your tools are
less capable than the tools used by many other sites, then you should
disconnect from the net".  Now, if anybody had actually told you to get
off the net, then you would be right to be annoyed, but I do not think
that that is the situation here.

--apb
Alan Barrett, Dept. of Electronic Eng., Univ. of Natal, Durban, South Africa
RFC822: barrett@ee.und.ac.za                    Bang: m2xenix!undeed!barrett