tcm@srhqla.SR.COM (Tim Meighan) (07/07/89)
OK, I admit this has very little to do with IBM-PCs at this point, but I have to put in my two cents worth. I'll keep it short. On a cable, it is much better to have a DB-25-S connector (what some netters call "female") because even though the little springy socket-type pins are more delicate than the plug pins, that has nothing to do with the durability of the housing. A SOCKET housing is largely a solid plastic block with a metal casing around it. You can drop one of these on the floor and walk on it (accidently, of course) and it will probably still be OK. On a PLUG connector, those wonderful sturdy "male" pins are, after all, sticking out into space with nothing to protect them but a flimsy metal sleeve. Step on one of these by accident (or on purpose, if you've been having a particularly tough time getting your machines to talk to each other), and the housing will be hideously mangled, along with several of the pins it is "protecting." I've had a lot of experience in this matter. (Oops, there goes another cable, darn it!) Tim Meighan Network Operations Silent Radio "I miss the Pizza Huts, Dairy Queens, and Seven-Elevens . . ."