Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!ut-sally!husc6!husc4!primer_b From: primer_b@husc4.harvard.edu (jeremy primer) Newsgroups: comp.emacs Subject: Re: Backup files and auto-deletion Message-ID: <956@husc6.UUCP> Date: Tue, 6-Jan-87 14:19:52 EST Article-I.D.: husc6.956 Posted: Tue Jan 6 14:19:52 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 6-Jan-87 22:46:20 EST References: <8701061644.AA01017@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Sender: news@husc6.UUCP Reply-To: primer@husc4.harvard.edu (jeremy primer) Organization: Harvard Math Department Lines: 32 Summary: the heat is on In article <8701061644.AA01017@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> shap@ucbvax.berkeley.edu@sfdww.UUCP writes some reasonable stuff, but concludes with this diatribe: >By and large, the superusers aren't out to get people, but they have >a real problem, and rms has as usual gone off half-cocked blasting them to >hell for incompetence. Richard, I get sick of that and so does >everyone else, and it doesn't help your product any. When will you learn >that a product doesn't stand on merit - it stands on marketing first, then >merit? Not everyone has infinite diskspace on which to hold infinite >backups, nor infinite time to solicit individual input on what to delete. > >Jon Shapiro The "product" is so good by now that it doesn't hurt much either. If there is no room on a machine for multiple backups, you can always change site-init.el to change the way inexperienced users use GNU Emacs. Dealing with experienced users will, of course, be more difficult :-). rms clearly UNlearned the addage about "marketing first" a long time ago, if he ever had learned it. He's not marketing any of GNU. It's common sense that when a system manager deletes users' files, a conflict or problem is likely to arise. I'm glad rms pointed out that the cron files to do automatic deletion (which have appeared here this week) may be seen as an abuse of superuser privileges at some sites. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeremy Primer primer@husc4.harvard.EDU Department of Mathematics primer%husc4@harvard.ARPA 1 Oxford Street primer@harvsc4.BITNET Cambridge, MA 02138 ...!harvard!husc4!primer