Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!ucbvax!ziploc!eps
From: eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions
Subject: Re: How can I access USENET articles database on my computer ?
Message-ID: <306@toaster.SFSU.EDU>
Date: 10 Feb 90 07:10:54 GMT
References: <8000@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> <8006@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> <859@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Reply-To: eps@cs.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott)
Distribution: usa
Organization: San Francisco State University
Lines: 15

In article <859@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> packer@chrpserv.gsfc.nasa.gov
	(Charles Packer) writes:
>The disadvantage of the NNTP method is that the message database is
>not available for perusal by means other than the news reader,
>since the files reside on a different computer than the user's.

The advantage of the NNTP method is that the message database is
not directly accessible; this allows an enormous quantity of
data to be stored in interesting ways, taking advantage of
archiving/compression methods where appropriate--and requiring no
changes to, or sophistication in, client software.  It may be
quite impossible to make "sense" of the actual article storage in
such a system.

					-=EPS=-