UOWRAK@UOFMCC.BITNET.UUCP (03/24/87)
=== FLAME ON === There have been some unfortunate pejorative remarks about VMSmail and its inadequacies or otherwise recently. I recall a "brain-damaged" comment, and a suggestion that those of us who actually use VMSmail be allowed to suffer. I am a heavy user of VMSmail, and a modest user of All-in-One mail. I am of the opinion that, while All-in-One provides some nifty things like multiple classes of delivery, its filing system is no better than the one in VMSmail, and a lot more work to use. I am really very pleased and satisfied with VMSmail because of its filing system; VMSmail is fast, cheap, easy-to-use, and convenient. In the University environment, thc quality of "cheapness" is the single most important constraint I have to live with. I am happy with VMSmail -- it does the job I require at a price I can afford. I would rather see DEC upgrade other parts of VMS first. So, don't call a piece of software I like "brain-damaged" or tell me to suffer with it. === FLAME OFF === And please do not use the digest format any more. Roger Kingsley, Computer Services, U. of Winnipeg
ROODE%BIONET@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU.UUCP (04/11/87)
Regarding mail packages for VMS and the recent message from UOWRAK@UOFMCC.BITNET implying that when people criticized VMSMail they were praising ALL-IN-ONE. This is incorrect. I believe them both to be inferior in several key respects, and although I will not take a long time to identify everyone, here are a few things lacking from one or both of them, that every good mail system should have: 1. Queued mail delivery. The sender should not have to wait while every recipient receives his mail. If a network node happens to be down when mail is sent, the mail should still be delivered when next the network node is back up. 2. Bulletin Boards. Users should be able to effectively share certain common mailboxes for the purposes of posting electronic bulletin board type announcements. This saves a lot fo disk space! 3. Distribution lists. The sender should be able to send mail to 'QA-DEPT' etc without naming all members of the group. It should be up to the mail system to resolve the distribution list down into users to receive the message. One source I know of for a VMS Mail system that has these and other friendlier features it MM32 from SRI International. Recently I was the recpient of a telephone marketing survey from Digital which inquired, interestingly enough, about my opinion of the use of these features in both of the two DEC mail products, i.e. in new products known as VMS MAIL PLUS and ALL-IN-ONE PLUS. So, DEC realizes these deficiencies. Unfortunately, a lot of you out there in VMS land have never seen anything better, so you have difficulty visualizing. DEC's survey refered to item 1 as 'Store and Forward Mail' -------