Xref: utzoo news.admin:3561 news.groups:5490
Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!juniper!yelorose
From: yelorose@juniper.uucp (Bob Mosley III)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.groups
Subject: Re: Problem sites, Problem sysadmins
Message-ID: <4969@juniper.uucp>
Date: 27 Sep 88 17:59:30 GMT
References:  <3147@utastro.UUCP> <699@mace.cc.purdue.edu> <1581NMBCU@CUNYVM> <828@acer.stl.stc.co.uk> <2067@looking.UUCP> <4910@juniper.uucp> <5422@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>
Reply-To: yelorose@juniper.UUCP (Bob Mosley III)
Organization: Austin UNIX Users' Group, Austin, TX
Lines: 49

In article <5422@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> bch@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Byron C. Howes) writes:
>
>Still, the obvious way to deal with a problem site is to cut them off
>the net.  The place to apply pressure is to those sites who exchange
>mail and news with the offending site.  I daresay that an instransigent
>sysadmin is going to pay attention when his news and mail feeds threaten
>to cut him off.
>
>I would have thought this was obvious.
> 

....actually, this solution IS pretty obvious.

....then again, the easy way out it not often the best way out.

CIP: Once upon a time, I used to be a Bitnet Relay Junkie, and one of the
problems most of the relay ops faced on a nightly basis was that of the
CUNY link (City University of New York?). As it was explained to us, CUNY
used some sort of group account method for computer access, and that in
order to kill a problem user off of the relay ("Banning"), the entire 
account woudl have to be killed. The only other alternative would be to
shut CUNY off of the relay altogether.

This would have effectively disconnected the entire Eastern seaboard from
the relay.

...now, as for what this has to do with Portal, it's obvious now that 
Portal can be considered a major hub of sorts in the net, and that to punt
this system off without setting up alternative netpaths would in effect 
cripple a section of the net (I'd have to look at the paths to and from
Portal to determine the damage from a blind strike as opposed to a surgical
procedure :-)). As with CUNY, to remove Portal by snapping one's fingers
would cause more problems that it would solve.

...now, I'm not advocating ignoring the problem by a long shot! I'm merely
suggesting that the problem be looked at not with the intent to "reabilitate"
the problem users, which is obviously not going to happen anytime soon with
the Portal Admin's "Laisez-Faire" attitudes. Other measures are going to 
have to be taken.

...to quote a friend on Talk.Bizarre (where we get more garbage from Portal
than any other group): "Removing Portal is like a removing a cancer. In order
to get rid of it, some healthy tissue must be sacrificed as well." Grantedm
there may be serious and polite users on Portal, but when the Portal admin
won't act on a situation such as this, then they will have to be sacrificed
for the good of the net.


							OM