Original Message Date: 28 Jul 92  08:04:27
From: Mark Lynch on 1:11/0
To: Tom Jennings on 1:1/1
Subj: Format Changes
^AMSGID: 1:11/0 6907d508
Tom,

    Since you seemed to anticipate this kind of feedback, it probably چ
won't carry much weight, but I was irritated enough this time to be چ
motivated anyway.

    How about settling down on the FidoNews distribution format?  Fun is چ
fun and all, but I'm really tired of being forced to change my چ
configuration, however trivially, every time some new fashionable archiver چ
strikes you.  This last transition back to LHARC further shows me that you چ
aren't interested in the latest chic archivers so much as your own چ
convenience.  Whatever the reasoning, it all strikes me as very fickle and چ
very amateur.

    Yes, I know my installation could be more robust and flexible and then چ
I wouldn't be impacted at all by your instability, but that's not the چ
point.  Professional data processing has long known the value of "If it چ
ain't broke, don't fix it".  That philosophy can also be carried to چ
inappropriate extremes, but I think there's a lesson there for _you_ چ
specifically.

    Choose a format and stick to it.  "Stick to it" means _years_, not چ
weeks or months.  And then next time you do change, I think you should چ
have a better reason than your own convenience (no CTTY on LHARC?  WHO چ
CARES?  Get some _real_ remote control software).  In my opinion, the چ
convenience of over 10,000 operators outweighs your own so quit jerking us چ
around.

                                     MDLYNCH

Original Message Date: 29 Jul 92  11:40:41
From: Tom Jennings on 1:125/111
To: Mark Lynch on 1:11/0
Subj: re: Format Changes
^AINTL 1:11/0 1:125/111
>     How about settling down on the FidoNews distribution 
> format?  Fun is fun and all, but I'm really tired of being 
> forced to change my configuration, however trivially, every 
> time some new fashionable archiver strikes you.  This last 
 
If you had been reading FidoNews, you would have found it was not a 
joke, or trivial. It was due to software problems. Believe me, I 
didn't do it for fun.

>     Yes, I know my installation could be more robust and 
> flexible and then I wouldn't be impacted at all by your 
> instability, but that's not the point.  Professional data 
 
Well, there's your solution, right?!

>     Choose a format and stick to it.  "Stick to it" means 
> _years_, not weeks or months.  And then next time you do 
> change, I think you should have a better reason than your 
> own convenience (no CTTY on LHARC?  WHO CARES?  Get some 
> _real_ remote control software).  In my opinion, the 
> convenience of over 10,000 operators outweighs your own so 
> quit jerking us around.
 
"years"?! FidoNet is hardly "years" old. Compression method was 
dictated *to me* nto vice versa -- the method available on nearlyall 
machines, in a non-proprietary format. Only LZH and ZIP are available 
on IBM, Macs, Atari, CP/M, etc...

"get some _real_ software"... Gimme a break!
 
I irritate you, you irritate me... we're even.
 
FidoNet is filled with whiners who do nothing and offer no 
solutions... thanks for sharing.