Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1a 7/7/83; site rlgvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!seismo!rlgvax!jeff From: jeff@rlgvax.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler) Newsgroups: net.news Subject: Signatures Message-ID: <882@rlgvax.UUCP> Date: Sat, 23-Jul-83 16:18:09 EDT Article-I.D.: rlgvax.882 Posted: Sat Jul 23 16:18:09 1983 Date-Received: Sat, 23-Jul-83 22:17:42 EDT Organization: CCI Office Systems Group, Reston, VA Lines: 28 I was grateful to learn of the .signature feature. I do not know what to make of the complaint about signatures being too long. Having not said 'n' to the article, and then read it to the end, can one begrudge a little white space? While I think some signatures are too whimsical and long-winded for my taste, that is just a matter of personality. So I cannot see any harm in any of the signatures I have seen on the net. If someone finds the return address information these provide to be unnecessary, they must fall into one of two extremes--either their knowledge of the various nets, their interconnections, conventions and idiosyncrasies transcends anything I have ever encountered, or else they are rather inexperienced and naive about the difficulties of sending netmail. I think everyone should include a signature, because the header does not tell me enough, and if the article is worth sending (another topic, entirely) it is well worth knowing how to get in touch with the sender. Headers are often mangled by the time they reach us, and even when not, they only state the path by which mail *did* reach us. This path may well be impossible to reverse ("demand" one-way and "polled" the other) or go through sites which forward news but not mail. Rarely do I see the header on a news item give a path which at all resembles the best one back. Jeffrey Kegler CCI Office Systems Division (formerly RLG) ...{allegra,seismo,mcnc,lime,we13,brl-bmd}!rlgvax!jeff P.S. Apparently the .signature feature does not work here, though it is in the source code. My apologies to those receiving this article on the importance of signatures without a signature.