davecb@yunexus.UUCP (David Collier-Brown) (09/06/89)
cme@cloud9.Stratus.COM (Carl Ellison) writes: > re. DEDICATED, DIRECT, HOURLY, POLLED, .... >It sure does seem ad hoc. >Has anyone considered enriching the format definition [...] Time for my semi-annual rant about versioning (:-)) again. Seriously, though, one can radically change the system if and only if there is an information-preserving transformation from the old system to the new. If not, you have to introduce an incompatable change and a managment mechanism for that (version numbers). Let us define a new set { DEDICATED, DIRECT, HOURLY, POLLED, ...} that corresponds to a set of expected delays. That is a compatable change (even a reversable one), and could be changed on any site independantly. A project for your spare time... On the other hand, how about a set {DEDICATED, LOCAL_NET, DEMAND_DIALED, AVAILABLE_AT_EXTRA_COST, MAIL_TAPE ...} that corresponds to a set of cost-speed pairs. That's an incompatable change, and needs a new map line, like #V costs 2.1 to say you're using an incompatable metric, and people using the old metric need to insert a sed script that back-translates the costs into your map- unpacker. The former is easy: the latter can be a pain to the other sites if the inventor doesn't provide a "full toolkit" along with her invention. --dave -- David Collier-Brown, | davecb@yunexus, ...!yunexus!davecb or 72 Abitibi Ave., | {toronto area...}lethe!dave Willowdale, Ontario, | Joyce C-B: CANADA. 416-223-8968 | He's so smart he's dumb.