Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pro-exchange.cts.com!rich
From: rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: TCP/IP  UUCP  (was:Re: Amiga Bashers)
Message-ID: <22586.apple.info-apple@pro-exchange>
Date: 24 Sep 90 21:51:12 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 40

In-Reply-To: message from unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU

> One question about ProLine that I have is this though: Does every
> ProLine site in the country have to call up that one gateway (thus
> messages get out/in daily or hourly or whatever but potentially HUGE phone
> bills) or do messages 'jump' from one node to the next (thus possibly
> days or WEEKS until a message gets out/in)???

First of all, your "understanding" is incorrect in several respects.  There is
not "one" gateway, there are several.

No, each ProLine site does not have to connect directly to a gateway site,
since the ProLine network consists of interconnected sites.  If traffic is to
be received through a gateway, at least one site must connect to it, though,
and then feed other sites, which in turn feed others.

As to potentially huge phone bills, well, I'm not sure how connections to a
particular site or sites are related to that.  The phone bills are dictated
by the amount of traffic being moved, and the speed at which it's moved, as
well as the cost of the phone service you're using.  (AT&T, PC Pursuit, local
calls, etc.)  These are all dial-up lines, and the cost is determined by how
much time is spent using them, as with any other dial-up arrangement.  (You are
not under the impression that *ANY* of this is "free", are you?") 

Yes, messages (and files) 'jump' from one node to the next.  It does not,
however, follow that it will take days or WEEKS [your emphasis] for a message
to get through, any more than the same thing would be true of the Internet.

There will always be a "time lag", but it's dictated by the frequency of
connections and the number of hops required, in either case.

Lastly, it's not necessary, in all cases, to connect through a gateway system.
Several ProLine sites connect directly to *NIX machines without the "gateway"
software running on them.  It does require some cooperation from the site
administrator, and the use of some shell scripting.  This is primarily used
for newsgroup articles, and I don't know if the current implementation is, or
can be modified to be, capable of handling mail messages.

This is not "uucp", though, which I don't believe can be correctly implemented
with the machines/environment used to run the ProLine systems.