Path: utzoo!hoptoad!ptsfa!ames!aurora!agate!ucbvax!rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!brandx.rutgers.edu!webber
From: webber@brandx.rutgers.edu (Webber)
Newsgroups: alt.hypertext
Subject: Re: Does this group really exist
Message-ID: <757@brandx.rutgers.edu>
Date: 24 Jan 88 12:39:19 GMT
References: <3468@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 33

In article <3468@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>, engst@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Adam C. Engst) writes:
> I'm curious, is anyone actually using this group?  I've been subscribed to it
> for several months now and haven't noticed any traffic at all.  Might this 
> perhaps be the first message?

According to our news software, your message is the twelfth message to
arrive here in this group.  I guess that makes me the unlucky thirteenth.

There are, of course, many groups where the hype (pie in the sky application)
of hypertext has been discussed.  To approach the nitty-gritty details
of hypertext, we seem to lack two things: a common implementation of hypertext
and a body of information to contemplate the hypertexting of.  

The first problem should be the simplest to solve.  Curses gives one a fairly
portable terminal interface that would allow text to be displayed in a manner
permitting portions of the text to be pointed to and actions taken as a result
thereof.  Conventions for referencing other text pieces and storage/retrieval
of same have been briefly discussed, but ultimately will be whatever the 
implementer decides to do.  One would expect the basic unit of text to
be what can comfortably be displayed on a normal terminal screen.  [Obviously
X windows or even GNU EMACS could be used as a basis for such an implementation
at the cost of significantly restricting the number of people who could run
the system.]

The second problem, that of discussing what it means to organize information
via a hypertext approach would appear to be much more difficult because
it requires finding some set of information that is relatively accessible
to a large portion of those interested.  Unix man pages would seem ideal
except for possible copyright problems.  Some of the RFCs being distributed
in comp.doc would seem promising.  Both of these ideas presume that a common
ground could be found in interest in computer system documentation.

----- BOB (webber@athos.rutgers.edu ; rutgers!athos.rutgers.edu!webber)