Newsgroups: news.software.b
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Cnews active min field (WAS Re: Cnews setuid(geteuid))
Message-ID: <1989Jun25.174800.13276@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <10931@ibmpcug.UUCP> <1989Jun20.213129.8095@utzoo.uucp> <10947@ibmpcug.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 89 17:48:00 GMT

In article <10947@ibmpcug.UUCP> Ronald.Khoo@ibmpcug.CO.UK writes:
>Uh..  I must'a missed something here - You recommend lwall's rn don't you?
>So do I - and I'm sure that it does use the min field - at least it seems
>to notice if I change a few by hand :-)

On the other hand, it doesn't do anything unpleasant if you just leave them
all at zero.  We do.

>If you have time, I wouldn't mind a quick two-line explanation of how you
>would replace the min field's function.

The basic problem with the min field is that it doesn't supply enough
information.  The implicit assumption is that the min..max range is
densely populated with articles, so no further information need be
supplied.  This just isn't so, given the possibility of articles with
far-in-future explicit expiration dates.  Any sensible news reader has
to be prepared to go in and read the directory itself to find out what
articles are really present.  Given that, what use is min?
-- 
NASA is to spaceflight as the  |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
US government is to freedom.   | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu