usenet@gatech.UUCP (03/01/87)
*** old/software.n Mon Feb 16 10:37:56 1987
--- src/software.n Sat Feb 28 13:59:28 1987
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*** 5,7 ****
Original from: spaf@gatech (Gene Spafford)
! [Most recent change: 16 February 1987 by spaf@gatech.edu]
--- 5,7 ----
Original from: spaf@gatech (Gene Spafford)
! [Most recent change: 28 February 1987 by spaf@gatech.edu]
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*** 17,38 ****
-------
! Usenet came into being in early 1979 in North Carolina when Tom
! Truscott and Jim Ellis first thought of hooking two of their computers
! together (one at Duke University, one at UNC) to exchange mailing
! lists. Tom and Steve Bellovin put together the first version of the
! news software using shell scripts and installed it on those first two
! sites: "unc" and "duke." Steve later rewrote the scripts into C
! programs, but they were never released beyond "unc" and "duke." Shortly
! thereafter, Tom and Steve Daniel rewrote the programs for public
! distribution. This was the "A" news release. At the beginning of 1980
! the network consisted of those two sites and "phs" (another machine at
! Duke), and was described at the January Usenix conference.
! In 1981 at U. C. Berkeley, Mark Horton and Matt Glickman rewrote the news
! software to add functionality and to cope with the ever increasing
! volume of news -- "A" news was intended for under 100 sites and only a
! few articles per group per day. This rewrite was the "B" news
! version. The first public release was version 2.1 in 1982; the 1.*
! versions were all beta test. As the net grew, the news software was
! expanded and modified. The last version maintained and released
! primarily by Mark was 2.10.1
--- 17,40 ----
-------
! Usenet came into being in early 1979, shortly after the release of V7
! Unix with UUCP. Two Duke University grad students in North Carolina,
! Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, thought of hooking computers together to
! exchange information with the Unix community. Steve Bellovin, a grad
! student at the University of North Carolina, put together the first
! version of the news software using shell scripts and installed it on
! the first two sites: "unc" and "duke." At the beginning of 1980 the
! network consisted of those two sites and "phs" (another machine at
! Duke), and was described at the January Usenix conference. Steve
! Bellovin later rewrote the scripts into C programs, but they were never
! released beyond "unc" and "duke." Shortly thereafter, Steve Daniel
! rewrote the programs for public distribution. Tom Truscott made
! further modifications, and this became the "A" news release.
! In 1981 at U. C. Berkeley, grad students Mark Horton and Matt Glickman
! rewrote the news software to add functionality and to cope with the
! ever increasing volume of news -- "A" news was intended for under 100
! sites and only a few articles per group per day. This rewrite was the
! "B" news version. The first public release was version 2.1 in 1982;
! the 1.* versions were all beta test. As the net grew, the news
! software was expanded and modified. The last version maintained and
! released primarily by Mark was 2.10.1.
***************
*** 94,100 ****
network and Usenet were joined via gateways doing (sometimes imperfect)
! protocol translation. The interface for "notes" is similar to "rn"
! ("rn" may have been inspired somewhat by "notes") but implements
! different features, many of which are dictated by the internal
! organization of "notes." "notes" was written by Ray Essick and Rob
! Kolstad in 1980-1981 at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. The first public release of "notes" was at the
--- 96,101 ----
network and Usenet were joined via gateways doing (sometimes imperfect)
! protocol translation. The interface for "notes" is similar to "rn" but
! implements different features, many of which are dictated by its
! internal organization. "notes" was written in 1980-1981 by Ray Essick
! and Rob Kolstad, grad students at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. The first public release of "notes" was at the
***************
*** 101,103 ****
January 1982 Usenix conference. The current release of notes is
! version 1.7.0, January 1985.
--- 102,104 ----
January 1982 Usenix conference. The current release of notes is
! version 2.7.
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*** 149,154 ****
2.10.2 are considered "obsolete." The various maintainers of the
! Usenet software have never expressed any committment to maintain
! backwards compatability with "foreign" or obsolete news systems and are
unlikely to do so; it is the responsibility of the users to maintain
! compatability of such software if they wish to continue to interact
with the Usenet.
--- 150,155 ----
2.10.2 are considered "obsolete." The various maintainers of the
! Usenet software have never expressed any commitment to maintain
! backwards compatibility with "foreign" or obsolete news systems and are
unlikely to do so; it is the responsibility of the users to maintain
! compatibility of such software if they wish to continue to interact
with the Usenet.
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*** 177,178 ****
--- 178,180 ----
philabs philabs!usenet
+ pyramid pyramid!usenet
rutgers rutgers!usenet
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*** 183,185 ****
Sources for both news 2.11 and "rn" are also available in the
! mod.sources archives.. Eurpopean sites should request the sources from
their nearest backbone site.
--- 185,194 ----
Sources for both news 2.11 and "rn" are also available in the
! mod.sources archives. European sites should request the sources from
their nearest backbone site.
+
+ Acknowledgements
+ ----------------
+ The preparation of this article (and Usenet itself!) was greatly
+ enhanced by the contributions and assistance of the following persons:
+ Steve Bellovin, Ray Essick, Mark Horton, Brian Kantor, Phil Lapsley,
+ Bob Page, Tom Truscott, and Larry Wall. Thanks, guys.