Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.bugs.uucp
Subject: Re: UUCP filenames
Message-ID: <3132@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 5-Aug-83 16:04:06 EDT
Article-I.D.:    utzoo.3132
Posted: Fri Aug  5 16:04:06 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Aug-83 16:04:06 EDT
References: <89@vortex.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 26

There is one serious problem with Lauren's D-file naming scheme, and
I dearly hope Lauren is not going to imbed it into any production
version of uucp.  The problem is, it makes the collision problem WORSE.
(Since this was the biggest objection to the old naming scheme, this
seems a backward step.)  With Lauren's scheme, outgoing files and
incoming files on a given site have (potentially) the same names!
A file named "D.vortex..." on vortex may be either an outgoing file
waiting for transmission or an incoming file waiting for disposal,
and only the quasirandom sequence numbering prevents collisions.
This may not be too serious a problem for a leaf node, but for a
site that does heavy relaying it's a disaster.  Please DON'T DO IT!

More generally, some of the naming problems could be solved by working
with the character position now used only for grade letters, but only
if it is a network-wide standard.  Could we PLEASE have an end to
surprise unilateral changes to things that affect compatibility across
the whole network?!?  There have already been some very unfortunate
precedents set.  If we keep on this way, we'll soon be split into a
set of incompatible subnets that break each other's uucps when they
try to talk to each other.   Please, people, show some consideration:
think for a moment about compatibility and about the problems other
people will have before you implement your latest bright idea, no matter
how wonderful it is.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry