Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 SMI; site sun.uucp Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!decwrl!sun!guy From: guy@sun.uucp (Guy Harris) Newsgroups: net.news Subject: Re: restricting cross postings Message-ID: <2502@sun.uucp> Date: Sat, 27-Jul-85 06:24:11 EDT Article-I.D.: sun.2502 Posted: Sat Jul 27 06:24:11 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 06:21:48 EDT References: <513@oliveb.UUCP> <1300010@ccvaxa> <431@othervax.UUCP> Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Lines: 24 > Introduce one level of indirection in the way news files are held - the > article is stored only in the first newsgroup posted to, and only a > reference to it stored in the other categories... > These references need not even be xmitted, as they can be generated > as news is received by a site. Thus cross-posting no longer has any > net costs associated with it. 2.10 (and, I think, 2.9) already *does* work that way (unless you're running under an OS like VMS that doesn't really like to have N directory entries pointing to one file header (it does permit it, but doesn't support reference counts)). If you post to net.lang.c and net.unix-wizards by listing both groups in the "Newsgroups:" header, the article text is stored in /net/lang/c/ and /net/unix-wizards/, which are two links to the same file. The article is transmitted once, and if the receiving site is running nice software it will store the article as two links to the same file and transmit it once. (I believe that, under Eunice/VMS, even though the article may have to be stored twice it will be transmitted only once.) If the receiving site is not running nice software, it should toss that software and replace it with something nice. (I think there may be old versions of B news and of "notes" which are not nice.) Guy Harris