Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!hal!nic.MR.NET!shamash!com50!jhereg!mark
From: mark@jhereg.Jhereg.MN.ORG (Mark H. Colburn)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc
Subject: Re: Wanted: a UNIX conferencing system.
Message-ID: <273@jhereg.Jhereg.MN.ORG>
Date: 19 Dec 88 17:31:48 GMT
References: <5609@saturn.ucsc.edu> <3620@phri.UUCP> <101@strider.UUCP>
Reply-To: mark@jhereg.MN.ORG (Mark H. Colburn)
Organization: NAPS International, St. Paul MN
Lines: 33

In article <101@strider.UUCP> scott@strider.UUCP (Scott MacQuarrie) writes:
>In article <3620@phri.UUCP>, roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes:
>> dennie@venus.ucsc.edu (Dennie Van Tassel - Computer Center) writes:
>> > I am looking for a UNIX conferencing system.
>> 
>I suggest a package called Cosys from the University of Guelph in Ontario,
>Canada. If you need more information let me know.

After having worked extensively with COSY from the University of Guelph,
I would not suggest it for any real conferencing activity.  I used to work
for McGraw-Hill, where one of my tasks was to maintain and enhance COSY
which was being used for both BIX (the Byte Information Exchange) and
a sister conferencing system for educators called MIX (Minnesota
Information Exchange).

The code is slow, inefficient, lacks proper documentation, exhibits
sever well know security holes and has a user interface which is extremely
non-intuitive.  The package was written at a University by students, and it 
shows.  It was also meant to handle around 100-200 users.  BIX currently has 
over 30,000, if I remember correctly, and they are constantly tweaking the 
code just so that it stays up.

One of the projects that I put together at McGraw-Hill was to spend 2
months cleaning the cosy code.  It included developing a Makefile for the
project, cleaning up the source code, fixing all of the broken locking
mechanisms, and tightening up security.

If I were you, I would look very carefully before getting this package.

-- 
Mark H. Colburn                  "They didn't understand a different kind of 
NAPS International                smack was needed, than the back of a hand, 
mark@jhereg.mn.org                something else was always needed."