[279] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: pointless bickering
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ralph E. Droms)
Mon Mar 4 21:59:17 1991
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 91 21:48:45 EST
From: droms@sol.bucknell.edu (Ralph E. Droms)
To: com-priv@uu.psi.com
In-Reply-To: Edward Vielmetti's message of Mon, 04 Mar 91 20:25:30 EST <m0jDQmQ-0003k0C@crane.aa.ox.com>
Reply-To: droms@bucknell.edu
> automatic archiving and retrieval by mail
Several tools are available to do this. [...]
Perhaps. But, at least as important as the specific functions
provided by LISTSERV is the ubiquity and uniformity of LISTSERV
installations. That is, there is one style of LISTSERV server, and
that single style of service is available on many BITNET sites.
Ubiquity and uniformity explain the popularity and utility of telnet,
ftp and email. They're everywhere on the Internet, and they
interoperate based on the RFC standards. Other Internet services
won't be popular until they are installed on as many hosts and use as
common an interface as ftp or LISTSERV.
- Ralph
