[294] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: pointless bickering
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (James B. Van Bokkelen)
Tue Mar 5 10:59:45 1991
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 91 10:40:53 -0500
To: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
From: jbvb@ftp.com (James B. Van Bokkelen)
Reply-To: jbvb@ftp.com
Cc: bob@aecom.yu.edu, com-priv@psi.com
The usability issue with LISTSERV vs. Netnews is probably the relative
scales. You can set up a LISTSERV list for a small audience, you can
identify and control the audience, it doesn't need much effort. An
attempt to set up a Netnews group with wide geographic access requires
calling for votes, dealing with flames about wasted bandwith and the
color of your socks, dealing with news software, worrying about
propagation, etc.
For large lists, Netnews is better for the net, but for small ones,
LISTSERV's entry threshold is much lower. LISTSERV is also a lot less
ongoing effort than dealing with "foo-request" mail, and doesn't have
that "using a lit match to try to find a gas leak" aspect that having
write access to an important mail relay's sendmail.cf implies...
James B. VanBokkelen 26 Princess St., Wakefield, MA 01880
FTP Software Inc. voice: (617) 246-0900 fax: (617) 246-0901
