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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!convex!sneaky!gordon
From: gordon@sneaky
Newsgroups: net.news.notes
Subject: Re: mod.computers.* vs. notes
Message-ID: <-39585725@sneaky>
Date: Wed, 6-Nov-85 01:49:00 EST
Article-I.D.: sneaky.-39585725
Posted: Wed Nov  6 01:49:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Nov-85 08:05:21 EST
References: <395857@sneaky>
Lines: 44
Nf-ID: #R:sneaky:-39585727:sneaky:-39585725:000:2257
Nf-From: sneaky!gordon    Nov  6 00:49:00 1985


/* Written  7:27 am  Nov  4, 1985 by ndm20!tp in sneaky:net.news.notes */
Are you sure that a shortname site must use the alias  feature on any
name  that  is  longer  than 14  characters?   I don't  use the alias
feature at all.  I am a shortname site connected to  a longname site.
As long as I pass all the  notes utilities  the long  name, all works
well.  
...
Terry Poot
Nathan D. Maier Consulting Engineers
...
/* End of text from sneaky:net.news.notes */

You are correct that it is possible to get around using the alias feature
on names that are simply chopped at 14 characters.  However, this seems to me
to cause more hassle than maintaining the alias file.  If you feed nfxmit
a list of notes groups with the full names to send anything, you have
to edit the file every time a new group is created with any length name.  
If I feed nfxmit wildcards like net.*, then I have to edit my alias file 
every time a new group longer than 14 characters is created.  (Of course, by 
the time Eric Fair gets finished, neither file will fit on a single disk 
drive.  When are you going to come up with single names longer than 64k,
Eric?)

If maintaining a complete list of all groups works for you, fine, but it's 
not the way lots of administrators do it. The aliases don't break your method
and it makes other methods work right.  Do you allow your longnames 
connection to request your system to send it stuff with remote execution of 
nfxmit?  Does your connection know it can't use wildcards in such requests?  

I agree with your point that the solution is to rename the groups.
The proper procedures weren't followed, either, and I have yet to see
a list of the names of all 18 or whatever atrocities that were created.
When is someone going to post a list of the $^%#$^%#^$% things?

If I could figure out a procedure that would deliberately "cross-pollinate"
every one of Eric's groups into every other one of Eric's groups on both
the news and notes side of things, I'd be tempted to post it.  Unfortunately,
everything I can think of just screws the notes users.  Also, it annoys
people who are already overly but justifiably annoyed with stupid group names, 
so I'm not going to.

				Gordon Burditt
				...!convex!ctvax!trsvax!sneaky!gordon