karl@grebyn.COM (Karl A. Nyberg) (01/16/88)
[This was going to be private mail, but since it was raised publicly, and since I'd like to put it to rest, I thought I'd better send it to everybody. Please direct further discussion to info-ada-REQUEST@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu, and NOT the entire list. We CAN increase the S/N ratio. Thank you.] > I honestly don't think the inception of the "Info-Ada Digest" has reduced > traffic one iota. It has consistently come out with one or two messages per > issue, while adding overhead to produce it as a digest in the first place. First off, in addition to digesting, all mail is held until 3:30 am before being sent out, which allows use of the arpanet when it is much quieter, rather than during the daytime. All messages received up until that time are collected and sent out as one. The "overhead" to produce the digest is miniscule. If I remember correctly, the overhead for BOTH info-ada and info-hams (another mailing list being digested on SIMTEL20)) takes on the order of less than a minute (wall clock) (again at 3:30 in the morning). > If any reduction of traffic has occurred, it is only because the actual > number of messages appearing on the mailing list has reduced to about half > its previous level. Wrong conclusion. For the most recent issue, 3 messages (including yours) would amount to some potential 3*N connections versus N (where N has something to do with the number of unique host addresses on the INFO-ADA mailing list). That is a distinct savings any time there is more than one message per day. (See below.) > Is everybody so excited about the Digest they've stopped posting on the > list, or are the mechanics of producing the Digest somehow snarfing half > the messages? For some statistics on which to base such assertions, here's the number of messages in the digest issues this year: Issue # of Messages Savings due to Digest 1 4 * 2 1 3 2 * 4 1 5 4 * 6 4 * 7 2 * 8 1 9 3 * 10 1 11 1 12 3 * 13 2 * 14 1 15 1 16 3 * --------------------------------- 34 9 (> 50% of the time) That's an AVERAGE of two messages per day. (I'm not going to argue benefit or content - there are administrative messages and flames in the digests just like there were in the regular traffic, as counted below.) An analysis of the traffic since starting up recently on AJPO.SEI.CMU.EDU shows the following quantities of messages for the months of October through December: 55 Oct 51 Nov 48 Dec An AVERAGE of just less than two messages per day. That seems to correlate pretty well with the amount of traffic that is being found in the digested version so far this year. I think that indicates your assertion in your question above about the drawback of distring is totally unfounded. If you wish to disuss the benefits/drawbacks of digesting (?), PLEASE do it on an informed, rather than an emotional, basis. -- Karl -- Karl A. Nyberg Grebyn Corporation karl@grebyn.com P. O. Box 1144 nyberg@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu Vienna, VA 22180 {decuac,umd5,vrdxhq}!grebyn!karl 703-281-2194