Xref: utzoo news.admin:14527 news.software.b:7844
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!rex!ukma!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!paul.rutgers.edu!njin!princeton!phoenix!vnend
From: vnend@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (D. W. James)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.software.b
Subject: Re: Really funny jokes being missed
Message-ID: <9748@idunno.Princeton.EDU>
Date: 20 May 91 23:54:04 GMT
References: <1991May18.211109.20401@zoo.toronto.edu> <1991May20.093018@mccall.com> <EMV.91May20135904@crane.aa.ox.com>
Sender: news@idunno.Princeton.EDU
Followup-To: news.admin
Organization: Princeton University
Lines: 35

In article <EMV.91May20135904@crane.aa.ox.com> emv@msen.com (Ed Vielmetti) writes:
)In article <1991May20.093018@mccall.com> tp@mccall.com (Terry Poot) writes:
 
)   >The standard is almost useless if it isn't conformed to by everybody.
)   >Dropping all non-conforming articles makes it perfectly clear what the
)   >problem is -- the RFCs aren't being followed.
 
)   Have you ever heard of a defacto standard? The defacto standard for dates
)   in usenet messages has for sometime been that set of dates recognized by
)   B news, which has apparently been more generous than the RFC. The C news
)   change now drops messages that have always been acceptable to every news
)   system on the net.
 
)One of the reasons for no longer accepting and trying to parse mangled
)dates is that the date parser needed to cope with the multitude of
)slightly off date formats is complicated and slow.  C News has much
)faster date munching routines, but they don't understand every
)possible conceivable date that there is.
 
)In this case, the tradeoff is between
)passing old news (bad for everyone) vs. dropping malformed articles
)has software that puts out mangled dates will be properly coercing
)into fixing them, and the net as a whole will be more happy.
)--Ed

	~sigh~

	Does anyone remember "Be generous in what you get, and exact in what
you send?"

--
Vnend, Lottery winner #316                 Ignorance is the mother of adventure.  
vnend@princeton.edu, vnend@pucc.bitnet, or {backbone}!princeton!nudity!vnend        
        Anonymous posting service (NO FLAMES!):vnend@ms.uky.edu                          
"Q appears, turns the Borg ship into a daytime soap, and cancels it." Frank