Subj : Why use a Point, and recommendations
To   : Dan Clough
From : August Abolins
Date : Sun Jun 04 2023 08:43:00

** On Saturday 03.06.23 - 21:33, you wrote to me:

 AA>> Pointing can be faster.  With OXP, the command to poll
 AA>> are three keystrokes:  N A <CR>

 DC> Well, that's not a huge concern of mine.  Doesn't take me
 DC> much more than that to login to the BBS and grab a QWK
 DC> packet.

I was "used to" doing the Syncterm + Multimail and/or Sempoint  
method too.  The feeling was "OK.. this is BBSing and that's  
the way things get done".  But OPX provided a different  
(primarily faster and including better message management)  
experience that I was looking for.


 DC> So, I did give it a look a couple days ago.  I didn't get
 DC> very far. [...] Really strange stuff there.  Could I learn
 DC> it with some time/study/reading? Sure.  But there isn't
 DC> anything that makes that worth my while, at this point.

Sorry to hear that.  It's been a while (4 years now?) since I  
first launched OPX.  My first version was many interations  
prior to the current version. I don't recall anything "less  
intuitive" about it. However, I *did* have the advantantage of  
a USER's GUIDE that a fellow OXP User/Tester wrote. That guide  
might still be helpful to a certain degree. I'd recommend you  
take a look at it.  See  https://openxp.uk/doc/


 AA>> For me, it's the database-like storage of messages
 AA>> following a poll.  Unlike QWK were you have to keep track
 AA>> of each [...]

 DC> Yes, understood, but if you run a BBS, you already have
 DC> all that.  I can see this being a decent option for a non-
 DC> Sysop though.

Right. Most sysops would see no point, pun intended, ;)    
...since they've already vested a lot of time in managing a bbs.

But OXP is not just an FTN reader.  It can so NNTP, POP, IMAP  
and has modest built in GPG support too.


 DC> That doesn't fit how I'm used to doing things.  It may
 DC> suit others very well, I'm sure, but for me....  can't
 DC> find any reason to switch to this from BBS/QWK.  A big
 DC> part of that is the learning curve on how to use it; I
 DC> just don't have the time or desire for that, at least
 DC> right now.

At the beginning, I had convinced myself that the only way I  
(as a user) was going to participate in BBS messaging was via a  
Windows GUI.  I was revisiting Sempoint, for example. But  
honestly, the console UI of OXP gradually grew on me and it  
truly emerged as the best experience for me. There is an  
resistance to anything new and different.


 DC> Thanks for the response to my question(s), though, it's
 DC> appreciated.

OK.
-- 
  ../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
 * Origin: The ONLY point that matters! --> . <-- (2:221/1.58)

.