dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (07/20/83)
I really dislike the recent trend of putting eight-line signatures, with addresses through every conceivable machine and on every conceivable network, at the end of every article people post. Surely most people have access to some path finding program like nmail these days. I usually read news at 1200 baud, and it's a royal pain to wade through the signature when it's longer than the article itself (and I've already seen the same signature 100 times). May I make two suggestions: 1. Do not give all kinds of paths unless it's important that people be able to reach you in reply to that article. If you're asking for information, fine; but not if you're just adding your three-line two-cents' worth to an ongoing discussion. 2. I would much rather see the name of the organization and/or city you are in than all the rest of the drivel. With the proliferation of sites I now often have no idea what part of the world people are in. I would prefer "Joe Smith, Denver" to "Joe Smith, {thismachine, thatmachine, someothermachine}!foo!bar!joe". If I want the path, I can always get it off the news headers anyway. Unless you're running 2.10 and all the information automatically goes into the header, the two things I won't get any other way are (1) who you are, and (2) where you are (and I don't mean where uucp can find you!). If 2.10 puts all that stuff in for you anyway, the best signature to add to your message is CONTROL-D. Dave Sherman Toronto
spaf@gatech.UUCP (07/21/83)
We had this discussion a few months ago. Part of the problem (if it is a problem for more than a few people) is that "postnews" automatically includes the contents of ~/.signature in any article one may post. For those of us who use machines connected to more than one network this can pose a slight problem since software for communication on those other networks also use the file ~/.signature for information. I include all 3 of my network addresses in my .signature file, along with a "signature" which is used by CSNet MMDF (that's the stuff about the "soapbox"). I used to include my US Mail address, but cut that out due to the fact that no one on the net is likely to send me US snail. If anyone can come up with a compact and esthetically pleasing way of shortening my .signature file *without* loss of information, I would be more than happy to entertain the suggestion. I read most of my news at 300 baud while I'm having my morning coffee and attempting to steel myself to the day ahead. I spend more time reading stupid articles, and articles whose title doesn't match the contents, or whose title is "orphaned response" or "none" than I do reading signatures. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Still, -- "The soapbox of Gene Spafford" CSNet: Spaf @ GATech Internet: Spaf.GATech @ UDel-Relay uucp: ...!{sb1,allegra}!gatech!spaf ...!duke!mcnc!msdc!gatech!spaf
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (07/24/83)
The .signature file is included WITH a distinguishing mark, with the plan that eventually readnews will have an option to suppress marked signatures. If you are that upset about having to read them, implement such an option now, and post it to the net.