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Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!columbia!rutgers!clyde!cbatt!ukma!david
From: david@ukma.ms.uky.csnet (David Herron, NPR Lover)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.headers
Subject: Re: I hate smail
Message-ID: <5483@ukma.ms.uky.csnet>
Date: Sat, 10-Jan-87 12:01:57 EST
Article-I.D.: ukma.5483
Posted: Sat Jan 10 12:01:57 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 13-Jan-87 06:56:18 EST
References: <14227@amdcad.UUCP> <32@auspyr.UUCP>
Sender: root@ukma.ms.uky.csnet
Reply-To: david@ukma.ms.uky.csnet (David Herron, NPR Lover)
Organization: U of Kentucky, Mathematical Sciences
Lines: 29

In article <32@auspyr.UUCP> joe@auspyr.UUCP (Joe Angelo) writes:
>Quite often I have large pieces of mail shipped all over the country.
>From Boston to Miami to Denver to Canada [back] to Miami then to San Jose.
>Even though I specify a direct path (quick and fast), all it takes is
>one smail site to reroute the message BACK across the country ... and two
>weeks later my 99K mail gets to me.

No, the problem is not with smail.  The problem is with the data which
is being given to pathalias.

The map is a description of a directed graph with weights on each edge.
All pathalias does is compute a least-cost-spanning-tree of the graph.
Since everybody which generates map data has different methodologies for
assigning the weights then it's no wonder that paths can be screwy...

Another point to consider is that in some cases it is CHEAPER to make
the cross country transfer ... communications technology has made
geographic considerations less and less and less important.  A company
(AT&T for instance) may advertise it's internal network in the map
allowing everybody else on the net to use them.  Then because of the
weights assigned to that internal link (DIRECT or HOURLY both seem
to be reasonable weights) pathalias will very likely decide to
route a buncha stuff over that link....

-- 
David Herron,  cbosgd!ukma!david, david@UKMA.BITNET, david@ms.uky.csnet
(I'm also "postmaster", "news", "netnews", "uucp", "mmdf", and ...)

"Don't put your money in South Africa -- Give it to me!" -- Cerebus