Subj : The Nodelist Revisited
To   : Bill Birrell
From : Scott Little
Date : Sun Dec 29 2002 07:35 pm

 [ 29 Dec 02 00:10, Bill Birrell wrote to Scott Little ]

 BB>     If you are not prepared to be civil, then I for one am not
 BB> prepared to take you seriously

I'm heartbroken...

 BB> You have written patronising twaddle as if you were talking down to a
 BB> six-year-old.

I'm tired of covering the same ground over and over.  Actually, I'm tired of 
arguing about it, period.  Everyone's taken their sides, there's little point 
in it anymore.

If you want nicer responses, state your specific arguements.  Vague claims of 
impending doom are both insufficient and irritating.

 BB> That is not explaining your position in layman's terms and is

This is NET_DEV, not AOL_NEWBIES.

 BB>     Consider your audience carefully and remember that Jan's IQ
 BB> probably exceeds your own.

A high IQ means you get to win at Trivial Persuit, it doesn't necessarily make 
you a good programmer/software designer.

 BB>     Make a case for changing the content of the nodelist, not the

I will not be part of any effort to alter the St Louis format for things for 
which it was not designed.  Find some other sucker.

 BB> form, and you may gain the support you need. Stubbornly championing
 BB> one particular form (XML) makes it look as if you are simply limited
 BB> to working in that form, and obscures any good intentions for the net
 BB> that you may have.

I'm not "stubbornly championing one particular form" - I simply refuse to 
acknowledge stupid arguements from people who are afraid of XML because they 
don't know or understand it, or because the bar is too high for them.  
Mothering luddites who still need their security blanket/teddy bear is not my 
problem.

 BB>     Jan and I are concerned more about disenfranchising the present
 BB> population than you appear to be.

If you want me to counter your arguements politely, explain just how exactly 
this is going to happen.  Otherwise, get over it, because it's not going to 
happen.

 BB> Changing the distribution nodelist is all it would take.

Repeatedly: backwards compatibility will be built in at all levels.  All new 
software will be able to both import and export SLF format.  SLF nodelists will 
be generated until the end of time, no difference will be seen by those who use 
that format.

 BB> There are also unresolved ethical questions about whose dime is used
 BB> if you abandon PSTN connection as the mainstay of FidoNet (TM).

Who's advocating that?

 BB>     Catastrophic failure of internet components is not uncommon and

What components frequently fail?

 BB> If enough components fail the network can no longer route around the
 BB> damage.

What damage?

 BB>     Retaining the direct connection system has advantages as long as
 BB> the PSTN itself holds up. Total reliance on internet simply throws
 BB> those advantages away.

Again, who's arguing total reliance on the Internet?  WTF does that have to do 
with a new nodelist format?


-- Scott Little  [fidonet#3:712/848 / sysgod@sysgod.org]

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