bed_gdg@SHSU.BITNET ("George D. Greenwade") (02/28/91)
On Wed, 27 Feb 1991 09:37:04 CST, Piet van Oostrum <piet@cs.ruu.nl> asks:
> What is INFO-TeX? Is it a mailing list that mirrors comp.text.tex?
INFO-TeX@SHSU.BITNET is a BITNET/Internet list for the discussion of
TeX-related issues. Subscription to INFO-TeX is open to anyone, as are its
archives and file collections. At present it is not a "true" mirror of
comp.text.tex.
Presently, we are linked to the USENET newsgroup comp.text.tex with
post-only capability; eventually, we will have a dual linkage so that posts
to comp.text.tex appear on INFO-TeX, as well (this is not as trivial a
project/problem as it sounds!). The purpose of INFO-TeX and comp.text.tex
are virtually parallel -- to have an interactive exchange of ideas,
questions, comments, and topics regarding TeX and its ancillaries
(LaTeX/AMSTeX/BibTeX/drivers/styles/etc., etc., ad nauseum). As with
comp.text.tex, it differs from periodicals such as TeXhax and UKTeX as it
is not digested, nor should there be any significant lag time between a
post and a response.
The dual (or mirror) link which will eventually be in place will allow
BITNET/Internet users without USENET capability to fully interact with
USENET-exclusive users and vice versa (as well as those with news reading
capability from comp.text.tex without newsgroup posting capability -- my
understanding is that there are more than a few sites out there which meet
this description). Ultimately (hopefully by year end), this means that one
will need only read comp.text.tex or be subscribed to INFO-TeX, but not
both, as our dual gatewaying capability should be seamless (i.e., no
repeated postings). Presently, we are successfully porting in excess of 99%
of INFO-TeX's traffic to comp.text.tex (a few still never make it through
the gateway to comp.text.tex).
From looking at the traffic reports from FILESERV, it is apparent that over
half of the users of our file server are not INFO-TeX subscribers -- from
that, I can only infer that INFO-TeX has at least a marginal beneficial
impact servicing the readers of comp.text.tex. In fact, to reach the
broadest possible audience for your TeX-related posting, the most efficient
address presently in place is INFO-TeX@SHSU.BITNET as you hit both
BITNET/Internet subscribers of INFO-TeX *and* the readers of USENET's
comp.text.tex newsgroup.
A very significant benefit of posting via INFO-TeX is the fact that INFO-TeX
is an "archived" list. I have been searching for nearly a year and have
been unable to locate a site with comprehensive (actually, any)
comp.text.tex archives (if anyone knows of one, please let me know). Once
we have the dual link in place, SHSU will house the archives for
INFO-TeX/comp.text.tex; until then, all we have the capability to support is
INFO-TeX.
If you should have any questions, comments, or suggestions as to how we can
better service the wide audience of TeX users out there, please respond
to me privately at any of the addresses below.
Regards, George
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George D. Greenwade, Ph.D. Bitnet: BED_GDG@SHSU
Department of Economics and Business Analysis THEnet: SHSU::BED_GDG
P. O. Box 2118 Voice: (409) 294-1266
Sam Houston State University FAX: (409) 294-3612
Huntsville, TX 77341 Internet: bed_gdg%shsu.decnet@relay.the.net
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