jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) (03/31/91)
Archive-name: news/faq/mit-faq-collection/1991-03-29
Archive-directory: pit-manager.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/ [18.72.1.58]
Original-posting-by: jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens)
Original-subject: Re: CFD for"comp.faq"
Reposted-by: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti, MSEN)
In article <1978@tharr.UUCP> gtoal@tharr.UUCP (Graham Toal) writes:
It's recently been pointed out to me that there's an archive site which collects
all the faq files from various groups (and like a trottel I've already forgotten
where it is :-) )
Pit-manager.mit.edu (18.72.1.58). Accessible via anonymous ftp in
/pub/usenet, or via mail server (mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu --
send "help" for more information).
-- perhaps making that archive site more popularly known would
do instead of another group?
I've been trying, believe me :-). However, I'm not convinced that my
archive server is the best solution and that it should exist in
isolation. On the other hand, I'm not convinced that an FAQ newsgroup
is the right way to go either.
The biggest advantage that I can see to an FAQ newsgroup is that news
admins can set their explist to honor Expires: header lines in that
newsgroup even if they don't honor them anywhere else. Many news
sites have a maximum article lifetime set because people abuse
Expires: and/or because of lack of space. If admins honored Expires:
in the FAQ newsgroup (by adding just one line to their expire
configuration file), people would know that the FAQs would always be
findable in that newsgroup.
But I don't consider that the best solution. The *best* solution, in
my opinion, would be for Expires: to be respected, so that people
could find the FAQs in the appropriate newsgroups. Unfortunately, as
long as people cannot trust Expires: because of inappropriate usage of
it, this isn't going to happen.
Jonathan Kamens USnail:
MIT Project Athena 11 Ashford Terrace
jik@Athena.MIT.EDU Allston, MA 02134
Office: 617-253-8085 Home: 617-782-0710