[comp.unix.misc] advantages of uucp over tcp/ip?

szeto@aludra.usc.edu (Johnny Szeto) (10/19/90)

Hi:

	Can someone give me an illustration what the advantages of
uucp over tcp/ip are?  I come across all these commands like cu, uux,
etc.  But why bother having them around if ftp and telnet are so much
easier to use with a single internet address?
	
	Also, when I try using nslookup to search for some internet
addresses the server simply reports that there is no such domain.
Most of these problematic addresses are those with suffix like uunet
and uu.com.  What is the problem?

	Thanks for answering my questions

Szeto.

rsb1@cbnewsk.att.com (richard.s.brown) (10/20/90)

In article <12621@chaph.usc.edu>, szeto@aludra.usc.edu (Johnny Szeto) writes:
> 
> 	Can someone give me an illustration what the advantages of
> uucp over tcp/ip are?  I come across all these commands like cu, uux,
> etc.  But why bother having them around if ftp and telnet are so much
> easier to use with a single internet address?

	I'll take a shot...

	The advantages of uucp over tcp/ip go something like this:

	1) UUCP queues jobs. If you want to copy a file (via 'rcp')
	   and the network happens to be down, you must try later.

	   If you want to run a remote execution (via rsh/remsh) and
	   the network is down, you must try again later.
	
	   UUCP queues the job and keeps trying until either the job
	   is complete or a time limit (several days) expires. We
	   actually run UUCP over TCP/IP for remote executions and
	   E-mail. (Yeah, I know, I don't need uucp for mail, but it
	   works well for us and I hate to fix something that isn't
	   broken.)

	2) UUCP is *CHEAP* to run. Just about any machine comes with
	   at leastl one extra RS-232 port. If I need to get to a machine
	   in Intercourse, PA and that machine does not have Internet
	   access, it's a lot easier (and cheaper) to get uucp set up
	   than to get TCP/IP set up.

	   This may comes as a shock to many people, but not all UNIX
	   machines have Internet access. Many machines at AT&T only
	   have UUCP access to the handful of machines with Internet
	   access.

	I hope this helps...

	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Rich Brown			{att!}vogon!rsb

	AT&T Network Systems			OR

	Lisle, IL			rsb@vogon.att.com