Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: notesfiles
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpfcla!ajs
From: ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (ajs)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Sorry about those orphaned responses
Message-ID: <18800007@hpfcla.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 13-Aug-85 20:02:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: hpfcla.18800007
Posted: Tue Aug 13 20:02:00 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 19-Aug-85 23:23:20 EDT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 38
Nf-ID: #N:hpfcla:18800007:000:1877
Nf-From: hpfcla!ajs    Aug 13 16:02:00 1985

Regarding "orphaned responses" from HP:

> Posting-Version: notesfiles
> From: Anonymous@hpfcla.UUCP (Anonymous)
> Subject: Re: Orphaned Response
> Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Fort Collins, CO

My apologies for any such articles you see.  HP uses notes in a big way,
on over 100 systems.  For unknown reasons, our gateway generates
"orphans" to the news side more than it should.  Please bear with us
until such time as we distribute internally a better version of notes
(and the gateway software).  As you can imagine, it is not trivial to
make fixes to large software packages, and get new versions distributed.

> Whoever designed this misbegotten abortion of a news system (hint:
> "notes") should be taken out and maimed.

Now, that is unfair and uncalled for.  You see things on the news side
which never bother us on the notes side -- and vice versa, but you are
not aware of that.  Having used both systems a great deal, I can attest
that notes is the *better* human interface by far, certainly the
software of choice.

Both news and notes have bugs and shortcomings, obviously different
ones.  Shall I flame at various posters every time something annoying
(but acceptable with news) shows up on the notes side?  For example,
take the habit of quoting whole articles into responses, just because
news doesn't tie responses to "basenotes" (as notes does).

Or, consider the habit of cross-posting to many newsgroups at once.  On
the notes side, such articles show up in each different notesfile (and
consume redundant disc space).  Why?  Because a feature was added to
news at some point, but not to notes.  That doesn't necessarily make
notes inferior, just *different*.  How about a little peaceful co-
existence?

Alan Silverstein, Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Systems Division, Colorado
{ihnp4 | hplabs}!hpfcla!ajs, 303-226-3800 x3053, N 40 31'31" W 105 00'43"