Path: utzoo!attcan!lsuc!teecs!belkin
From: belkin@teecs.UUCP (Hershel Belkin)
Newsgroups: news.software.notes
Subject: Re: NOTES Gurus wanted!!
Message-ID: <410005@teecs.UUCP>
Date: 5 Sep 89 03:45:10 GMT
References: <410004@teecs.UUCP>
Organization: Litton Systems, Toronto ONT
Lines: 45

/ teecs:news.software.notes / gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu /  4:02 pm  Sep  1, 1989 /

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

Seems to me there's a vast difference:  If I write a note to "can.general"
for example (which is intended to be distributed only within Canada), my
system will send it out without a "Distribution" header line, which I
believe will imply "world" distribution!  (I'm somewhat new to the net,
so if I'm wrong, please enlighten me!) 

Right now, if I "respond" to an existing note, it copies the "Distribution"
header line of the basenote, so everything is OK, but not so for a new
basenote in the same notesfile!

Another point of concern (at leat for me :-) is that there does not seem
to be a method for excluding notes from specified "newsgroups".  Since
notes automatically creates a notesfile for any new group, an article
posted to "comp.misc" and cross-posted (not using notes :-) to 
"boston.general" will cause the creation of "boston.general".  OK for the
first time it happens...I can spot it in nfmaint, kill the notesfile.
But now I'd like to ass "boston.general" as a group I never want to
see again!!  Any way?  Any plans?

I agree with the point about cross-posting, with one exception:  I was
not talking about "automatic" cross-posting.  But I think that notes
would be improved if it allowed the user to specify/edit the 
"Newsgroups" line.  These are my two reasons:

 1. A note comes in cross-posted to 6 groups; you wish to respond
    but you feel that 4 or 5 of the groups were inappropriate --
    why continue that traffic load?  If you could (easily) edit
    the "Newsgroups" line, you could respond only to those groups
    you feel are appropriate.

 2. There are some times when the same information genuinely is of
    interest to more than one newsgroup -- take for example a 
    question concerning interfacing a brand X unix box with a 
    brand Y Xenix box:  it seems appropriate to post to
    "comp.sys.brandX, comp.sys.brandY, comp.sys.xenix ...

I would greatly enjoy discussing some of these issues further.  I hope
that the discussion will pry loose some notes users, and help me to
decide whether I should stay with notes (which I like), or look for
something else to access usenet.