Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!sunic!bmc!kuling!jand
From: jand@kuling.UUCP (Jan Dj{rv)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: HP Elm vs. Usenet Elm
Message-ID: <1337@kuling.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jan 90 08:12:57 GMT
References: <151@tiamat.fsc.com>
Reply-To: jand@kuling.UUCP (Jan Dj{rv)
Organization: Dept. of Computer Systems, Uppsala University, Sweden
Lines: 36

In article <151@tiamat.fsc.com> jim@tiamat.fsc.com (Jim O'Connor) writes:
:> Subject: Re: Dave Taylor Defends Elm!
:> Perhaps people as they install 7.0 and try it can post here what they 
:> think of the new HP-Elm, when compared to the latest version from the 
:> Usenet group?
:> 
:> 						-- Dave Taylor
:
:Just to through in my two cents worth - I used the HP version of Elm for
:about 30 seconds, realized it was not 2.1 or 2.2, checked the man page to
:read about it, discovered that the man page listed HP as the author, with
:no mention of Dave Taylor or anyone else who has contributed to it, and
:instantly through it away.  We are now using Elm 2.2 again.
:

We will probably not use HP-elm here either. Just the fact that the alias
database is incompatible means that most people that has USENET elm won't
use HP elm. But the great advantage is of course that the source is
available, and USENET elm is a piece of software that keeps developing.

There are also some differences in commands which is painful, but HP-elm
hasn't the ability to list your aliases, you have to use a different
command (elmalias) for that, which is really BAD, IMHO.

The only elm available on non Hp:s is USENET elm so when running
in a clustered enviroment whitch includes non-HP:s, HP-elm is out
of the question.

I also don't like that Dave Taylor isn't mentioned, but he worked for HP
when he developed elm, and the HP-elm is based on 2.0 which is the version
that existed when he left (as he explains in a previous posting), so while
it is essentially correct that HP is the author, it isn't the whole truth.

My $0.02: Throw away HP-elm, and wait untill they are merged (if ever...).

	Jan D