On 2/9/01 9:36 PM, "Russ Allbery" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> (even moderately so) -- my mom can use email, and use web, but it would
>> take some doing to get her up and running on a newsclient.
>
> That surprises me. What is she using to read e-mail?
AOL. Like, oh, about 13% of my subscribers do...
> I think that people who argue a difference between web boards and NNTP are
> missing something really significant. Why pick one or the other? A
> Usenet news server makes a really nice backend database behind a web
> board, NNTP is a dead-simple protocol to put into a PHP script or the
> like, and then the people who really like news can just bypass the web
> front end and read directly from the underlying server.
Very good point. Do-able, although I'm not sure I'd put in the work, not if
there are reasonable web-only solutions instead. But it's a very interesting
architecture.
> (I actually ran systems that
>> were bi-directional web<=>email and web<=>nntp for a good while, and
>> finally shut off the NNTP because it was more work than worth for the
>> usage, which was tiny)
>
> Were you gatewaying, or were you front-ending a Usenet news server with
> web software?
I was using Web Crossing, which was a web forum system with an embedded NNTP
server. Sort of a floor wax and a dessert topping -- and it was like sailing
a battleship in a bathtub. You could do what you wanted, if you had enough
time and energy to figure it out...
--
Chuq Von Rospach, Internet Gnome <http://www.chuqui.com>
[<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> = <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> = <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]
Yes, yes, I've finally finished my home page. Lucky you.
Q: Did God really create the world in seven days?
A: He did it in six days and nights while living on cola and candy
bars. On the seventh day he went home and found out his girlfriend
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