[354] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: NOT JUST COWS - Summary of personal messages to Bill Drew
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael S. Hart)
Thu May 28 10:27:37 1992
Date: Thu, 28 May 1992 09:23:04 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU>
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU>
In-Reply-To: Message of Wed,
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
re: keeping lots of email
The solution we have arrived at is for each user to cut their mail file
in half and download the older half at times determined by the size of
the mail files. This can be enforced by disk size requirements, and is
also somewhat enforced by a limit to the number of unread messages the
user is allowed to let stack up.
The solution works quite well in my case, as I have written a batch file
that allows me to read through ALL the email messages I have ever received
(other than ones mysteriously lost) on a local machine. This way I have a
reference file for questions referring to past events, and can forward the
past mail to those concerned.
The same system works equally well for saving copies of outgoing messages.
As was said, the price of saving a piece of email is very inexpensive, and
saving one on a personal computer is probably costing well under one cent
per message.
(I am running a local DOS machine and save email under similar filenames.
Thus a command LIST EMAIL*.* allows me to scroll through the files until
I get near the dates I want (each filename is dated and contains a third
or half a megabyte of email) and then run a search for the name of those
senders I want, or other keywords. Very inexpensive, very fast. When I
find the file I want, I just cut and paste if I want to forward it.
=====================================================
Thank you for your interest,
Michael S. Hart, Professor of Electronic Text
Executive Director of Project Gutenberg Etext
Illinois Benedictine College, Lisle, IL 60532
No official connection to U of Illinois--UIUC
