Newsgroups: news.software.b
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Problems with expire in CNews
Message-ID: <1991Apr26.151644.26463@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 1991 15:16:44 GMT
References: <1991Apr23.170825.8303@m.cs.uiuc.edu> <1991Apr23.212341.5125@zoo.toronto.edu> <1991Apr24.160705.29971@m.cs.uiuc.edu> <1991Apr24.180649.14798@zoo.toronto.edu> <1991Apr25.001832.19898@s1.msi.umn.edu>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <1991Apr25.001832.19898@s1.msi.umn.edu> molenda@s1.msi.umn.edu (Jason Molenda) writes:
>> An earlier line which
>>also covers that group will cause its line to be ignored.  
>
>I've known about this for a long time and I know it is documented and
>everything, but am I the only person who thinks it's a huge hole inviting
>mistakes by new and old sysadmins alike? ...

I thought about the issue somewhat.  The trouble is that it's useful to be
able to state a general rule and then establish exceptions, and any other
definition of which rule dominates is more complicated, harder to understand,
and more mistake-prone.
-- 
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry