Path: utzoo!utstat!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!dali.cs.montana.edu!mathisen
From: mathisen@dali.cs.montana.edu (Jaye Mathisen)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Why can't I include more?
Keywords: postnews inews
Message-ID: <2668@dali>
Date: 11 Oct 90 20:29:38 GMT
References: <154@wgate.UUCP>
Reply-To: osyjm@caesar.cs.montana.edu
Distribution: na
Organization: Montana State University, Dept. of Computer Science, Bozeman MT 59717
Lines: 19

In article <154@wgate.UUCP> jwh@wgate.UUCP (Joe Hughes) writes:
>
>Is there a feature/bug in inews that limits the number of included lines?  When
>I tried to post the following article using postnews:


It's a "feature" in inews.  The purpose is/was to keep people from sending
around duplicates of entire articles, and then adding one line such as
"Me Too"...  With the References: line, it's easy to go back and see
what the original article said, so why send it twice?

It also encourages people to edit out .sig's, and to only include "relevant"
parts of people's postings.  

Note that the easy way to avoid it is the method you suggested...

The mechanism that inews uses is rather stupid, and only works in the simplest
cases, but at least it makes people realize that they're potentially wasting
resources...