Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!rick
From: rick@seismo.CSS.GOV (Rick Adams)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: smail wants you to register a domain (using Path: for replies)
Summary: But whats the point of a d. file
Message-ID: <44403@beno.seismo.CSS.GOV>
Date: 25 Aug 88 18:15:32 GMT
References: <70@volition.dec.com> <71@volition.dec.com> <935@cbnews.ATT.COM> <946@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Organization: Center for Seismic Studies, Arlington, VA
Lines: 27

I claim that no one knows what the d. files are for *including you* because
every six months their purpose changes. What happened to the
transition of moving all u. files into d. files? What happened to
not allowing domained addressed in the u. files? All these were "policy"
at one time. This months policy is to use them for your own INTERNAL
database, yet inflict it upon the rest of us.

The fundamental question is "Why should anyone else care if the sites are
in the UUCP zone or not?" If its running right, then no one
should be able to tell.

If you need a list of your own internal sites, keep one. Don't do
something assinine like partitioning the uucp maps into an
arbitrary division for YOUR convenience. Its a nuisance for the rest of 
us.

There are 400 uunet sites I need to keep track of. I didn't do this
by creating a new set of map file prefixes. I keep a list of the
sites I need to worry about and if I need to look at their
map entry, I just look in the standard place.

It's simple and it works.

Everything you claim to need the d. files for can be done with the
old u.files.

--rick