Xref: utzoo ont.uucp:359 tor.news:116
Newsgroups: ont.uucp,tor.news
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: genat down with disk troubles (Lsuc problems too)
Message-ID: <1988Jan16.192746.2003@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1988Jan5.011219.2676@utstat.uucp>, <1988Jan6.000342.19591@lsuc.uucp>
Date: Sat, 16-Jan-88 19:27:41 EST

> So, despite Henry being a co-author of C news and utzoo being a
> machine that really needed help, he wasn't even running it?

I was running a lot of parts of it, but not the whole thing.  In particular,
I wasn't running C rnews.  This was partly sheer inertia, partly reluctance
to mess with working software without need, and partly lack of real need --
until quite recently, the antique B rnews we ran was more or less coping
with the load.  Oh yes, and partly being decidedly busy.  I am relieved to
have made the switch -- it was long overdue -- but it was a significant
effort at a time when I had too many other things to do.  The growing
backlog forced my hand.

Also, calling me "co-author" is perhaps a bit strong; Geoff did most of the
hard parts.  I've done more of the interfacing to the outside world, but
that's for other reasons (e.g. I talk more!).

> The message that I have from clewis is that C news is rather
> difficult to install... But unless/until you guys can
> repackage it so it installs more easily... our Official Statement
> to the world is: don't install C news unless you have lots
> and lots of expert hacker time to spare.

Chris seems to have had an unusually difficult time of it, based on the
reports we hear.  However, note the following in README.FIRST as sent
out with the alpha release:

	If you don't have time to explore its idiosyncrasies and babysit its
	problems, you should not even try to put it up.

You wuz warned.
-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry