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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!pyramid!pesnta!epimass!jbuck
From: jbuck@epimass.UUCP (Joe Buck)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.news.adm
Subject: news bugs vs notes bugs (was: The most expensive bug...)
Message-ID: <232@epimass.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-May-86 13:19:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: epimass.232
Posted: Thu May 22 13:19:28 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 24-May-86 05:59:38 EDT
References: <221@epimass.UUCP> <553@gould9.UUCP> <3505@bbncc5.UUCP> <187@fai.UUCP>
Reply-To: jbuck@epimass.UUCP (Joe Buck)
Distribution: net
Organization: Entropic Processing, Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 30
Xref: linus net.news:4067 net.news.adm:696

> Someone sez:
>>When people bash notesfiles by whining that they gave us "Orphaned
>>Response," I wonder why nobody recalls who gave us entire articles of
>>quoted text and "REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE," or postings to
>>net.general about lost earrings in the West Parking Lot.

In article <187@fai.UUCP> ronc@fai.UUCP (Ronald O. Christian) replies:
>Now now, those are caused by uneducated users, not by bugs in the
>software, as are the Orphans.

I contend that the "REPLACE THIS LINE" problem is caused by a
misdesign in postnews.  If you manage to exit the editor, and you've
changed the file at all, postnews will immediately send it.  I'm
certain that most people who send this type of article managed to
exit the editor by accident, know that they screwed up, and can't get
the article back.  postnews should print a prompt after exiting the
editor, like rn's Pnews does, saying something like

Send, abort, edit, or list?

I wouldn't be surprised if this eliminated 95% of that type of junk.

Unfortunately, the problem with software solutions is to get people
to install the new software.  Sites that have rn could get rid of
postnews and have everyone use Pnews though.

-- 
- Joe Buck 	{ihnp4!pesnta,oliveb,csi}!epimass!jbuck
  Entropic Processing, Inc., Cupertino, California
  Better living through entropy!