Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!psuvax1!vu-vlsi!dsinc!syd
From: syd@dsinc.UUCP (Syd Weinstein)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Map expiration dates
Message-ID: <306@dsinc.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jan 88 15:15:00 GMT
References: <2323@cxsea.UUCP> <7815@rutgers.rutgers.edu> <579@nusdhub.UUCP> <300@fig.bbn.com>
Reply-To: syd@dsinc.UUCP (Syd Weinstein)
Organization: Datacomp Systems, Inc., Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Lines: 40
Keywords: self-mapping, auto-routing

In <579@nusdhub.UUCP> usenet@nusdhub.UUCP (USENET News Admin) suggests
an automatic routing scheme based on news paths.

I also would like to disagree with this scheme.  My complaints relate
to two points.  Use of the map files for other than automatic routing
and speed of delivery.

1.  Many times I have accessed the directory with the maps and done a
grep on a company name to see if they have a site on the net.  I have
yet to know their site name, and perhaps I am trying to contact someone
there for the first time.  It would be a real waste if I had to call
the company, then ask them their system node name and relative path.

Imagine calling a large company and getting their switchboard operator,
now ask her their system node name or even perhaps whom do you ask the
system node name.

I might not even know the exact address and phone of the company, nor
which division or location is their net postmaster.

2.  News and mail do take different paths.  At dsinc, we use one node
for our news feed and another node for our main mail feeds.  This
prevents us from getting our news when we post outbound mail.  Those
with HDB uucp have the grading feature, but not all sites do.  Thus if
we post an outbound mail message, I don't necessarly want to receive
the news on the same phone call.  I would like my mail to go out asap,
but the news to appear mostly off hours.  The mapping scheme here
doesnt take into account the off hours idea of news, nor sites we dont
exchange news with.

Also in relation to news and mail, there are many sites in the maps
that don't get news at all.  We were in the maps for three-five years 
before we got the news.  We have several sites off of us that are in
the maps that do not get news.  You news based mapping algorithm would
never find those sites.
-- 
=====================================================================
Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP
Datacomp Systems, Inc.				Voice: (215) 947-9900
{allegra,bellcore,bpa,vu-vlsi}!dsinc!syd	FAX:   (215) 938-0235