Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies
From: gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: news.software.notes
Subject: Re: NOTES Gurus wanted!!
Message-ID: <30900006@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 1 Sep 89 20:02:00 GMT
References: <410004@teecs.UUCP>
Lines: 31
Nf-ID: #R:teecs.UUCP:410004:m.cs.uiuc.edu:30900006:000:1534
Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Sep  1 15:02:00 1989


I am considering making some improvements to the notesfile software.
Since Ray Essick has left the U of Illinois, and I'm not yet a guru,
only simple changes are planned.  

However, most of the changes you want are not planned.  In particular,
the ability to cross-post is NOT planned.  In a system where
cross-posting is automated, users tend to abuse the privilege, wasting
net bandwidth, and more importantly, intellectual bandwidth as people
see the same drivel over and over and over and over......  Ever see a
machine bring Ethernet to its knees by broadcasting?  Notesfiles are
intended to emulate the extremely successful PLATO notesfile
philosophy, where cross-posting has never been needed.

Some things that are tentatively planned are:

A reverse sequencer command (like esc-l -> backup one note)
Display number of unread (new) articles in a sequencer notesfile (perhaps)
Custom notes-save headers (/*...*/ is too long -- a pain)
Custom notes-save indent info. (nothing currently)
Perhaps original name of notesfile writer in saved response. 
	(In Article gillies@cs.uiuc.edu (Don Gillies) writes:
Ability to search a note for pattern matches (page through digests)
Keep notes from losing track of place (saving digest notes from middle)
? ability to support shift-1 through shift-9 to page through responses
  or a goto-response ability (maybe impossible due to non-standard keyboards)
search entire notesfile for text in a note


What's the difference between "specifying distribution for a new note"
and cross-posting?