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From: preece@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.notes
Subject: Re: Flames from an ex-notesfile site - (nf)
Message-ID: <2889@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 19-Sep-83 22:46:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.2889
Posted: Mon Sep 19 22:46:27 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 20-Sep-83 17:09:07 EDT
Lines: 31

#R:pur-phy:-93400:uicsl:8700001:000:1425
uicsl!preece    Sep 19 09:35:00 1983

But when you say that one of vnews's deficiencies is 'No grouping of
discussions,' you're saying it's totally inadequate. Notes is the
least structured interface I can imagine using. Every hardware
company in the world is pumping out Unix micros. What is the
non-hierarchical news interface going to do when there are ten times
as many sites in the net? I just barely cope with the current load,
even WITH the notesfile structure.

The complaints I'll go along with, but I can understand the author
not having much enthusiasm for maintaining notes as a hobby. 

As to moded command languages (one of the all time most popular
religious issues), you have a moded command language whether you
like it or not, if you have different kinds of display. Certain
commands simply make no sense on the index page (e.g., send mail to
the author of this note). I haven't had any complaints about the
structure of the command language; where the use of a command letter
differs between contexts, it usually does the obvious thing in each
case (e.g., w means write a response if you're looking at a note,
write a note if you're looking at an index).

I'd like to have more information on the index page about which notes
and responses you've seen. I remember asking for that on the Plato
notes system 8 years ago. But I'd settle for having the date of the
latest response shown on the index page.

scott preece
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece