HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: News Feed (LONG)
Date: 16 Nov 92 00:10:56 GMT
Distribution: houston
Organization: Taronga Park BBS

In article <VmeauB1w165w@medley.ssdl.com> bert@medley.ssdl.com writes:
>> Can you justify this with numbers?

>Gil already has.

He's calculated how long a full feed will take.

What I want to know is, how does he figure anyone really needs a full feed?

>Agreed.  Now how do we go about setting up the network.

Everyone gets together and comes up with a list of the groups they want.
Then they come up with a list of the groups they feel comfortable carrying.
Like... I can provide one full feed of comp.unix, that sort of thing.

>A full feed backbone

Why?

>A partial feed backbone whose sum is a full feed

This assumes the coverage of part 1 adds up to a full feed. If nobody wants
talk.politics.fijian then nobody need carry it.

>I do want to try it.  I do have some "faith" problems being a pessimist
>that some sites will relinquish autonomy enough to get it going.

Nobody has to relinquish autonomy. Anyone who wants to pay for it can get
as many groups as they want. The trick is to get rid of the mindset that
if you can't get a free full feed you shouldn't bother...
-- 
true(<<VV$@\\$'&O 9$O%'$LT$&$"V6"$&$<4$?'&$ #I&&?$=$<<@)24 24 scale 3 21 moveto
{dup 36 eq{pop not}{dup 7 and 4 sub exch 56 and 8 div 4 sub 2 index{rlineto}{
rmoveto}ifelse}ifelse}forall stroke pop showpage % Have you hugged your wolf...
From: jlb@hounix.org (Joel Breazeale)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: News Feed
Date: 15 Nov 92 20:10:40 GMT
Distribution: houston
Organization: Houston UNIX Users Group (HOUNIX), Houston, TX

In article <1992Nov11.170002.18453@sun44.synercom.hounix.org> medley@sun44.synercom.hounix.org (Bert Medley) writes:
>In article <X10LPQL@taronga.com> peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov07.161442.16666@limbic.ssdl.com> gil@limbic.ssdl.com (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) writes:
>
>But the main problem as Gil has stated (this is a 2nd post) is that to carry a 
>full feed requires more than 19 hours of modem time - 5+ to get the full feed,
>5+ to pass it on, and ~4 to provide 3-4 20% feeds to leaf sites.  This leaves
>the 4+ hours that are left to try to connect and carry e-mail.  All in all, 
>probably more than 24 hrs.
>
>The problem is the volume of news.  Many of the groups carry extraneous posts
>and recurring topics rather than taking the discussion offline.  The "me too"
>posts and their ilk cause a large noise to signal ratio that should be actively
>discouraged.  The recurring topics should be handled in a FAQ and the querant
>referred to same BY EMAIL.  Couple this with the abuses seen in alt and you
>get 25MB to 40MB of news per day.  A proactive effort would have to be enacted
>by USENET users to teach the newcomers what the net is about and how to use it.
>But even then ...
>
Actually...  The volume is the problem only if you are using UUCP.  If you are
using NNTP the volume problem is solved.  NNTP doesn't transmit the entire
article -- it offers the Message-ID and if the recipient hasn't seen it then
it'll say 'send it' else it will refuse it.

I brought a site up under NNTP and found it easy to handle.

Now...  Is it possible to build a SLIP network amongst the USENET sites in
Houston and use NNTP?  I've not used dialup SLIP, but I know nuchat is looking
into it.

>We could stop carrying alt, and perhaps misc, but that simply prolongs the 
>problem.
>
See above.  With the real messages being passed around only once the problem
will be postponed.  Compression would have to come in somewhere.

Reactions?

--Joel Breazeale
jlb@hounix.org 
Newsgroups: houston.general,comp.unix.xenix.misc,comp.editors
From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Xenix Troff/Nroff driver file for Epson printer
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 01:02:15 GMT

Anyone out there got one of these? The Epson docs don't include
proportional font width info.
-- 
true(<<VV$@\\$'&O 9$O%'$LT$&$"V6"$&$<4$?'&$ #I&&?$=$<<@)24 24 scale 3 21 moveto
{dup 36 eq{pop not}{dup 7 and 4 sub exch 56 and 8 div 4 sub 2 index{rlineto}{
rmoveto}ifelse}ifelse}forall stroke pop showpage % Have you hugged your wolf...
From: bab@se39.wg2.waii.com (Brian Button)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Getting onto FidoNet
Date: 23 Nov 92 15:51:25 GMT
Distribution: houston
Organization: Western Geophysical Exploration Products

I'm posting this for some friends who are the sysop's for The Womb
BBS. They are interested in becoming a FidoNet site and don't know how
to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

bab
--
|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| Brian Button          | email : button@wg2.waii.com                        |
| Design Engineer       |         71023.276@compuserve.com                   |
| Western Geophysical   | voice : (713)964-6221                              |
| 3600 Briarpark        |----------------------------------------------------|
| Houston, Texas  77042 |                  Opinions Be Mine!!                |
|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
Xref: sparky houston.general:1221 tx.jobs:384
From: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu (Paul S. Sears)
Newsgroups: uh.general,houston.general,tx.jobs
Subject: Entry level developer postions available with Oxford & Associates, Inc.
Date: 20 Nov 92 15:58:06 GMT
Reply-To: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu
Distribution: uh
Organization: University of Houston
NNTP-Posting-Host: thanatos.egr.uh.edu



Oxford and Associates, Inc. has entry level postions developing
on the NeXT platforms.  Experience needed using NeXT workstations,
and object orientated programming in C or Objective C and/or
Smalltalk.

Must be a permanent resident and have residency card or be a U.S.
citizen.

For more information, please call (713)789-1692 and
ask for Julie Mayes or fax queries to (713)789-1696.

--
Paul S. Sears                *  sears@uh.edu (NeXT Mail OK)
The University of Houston    *  suggestions@tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXT
Engineering Computing Center *  comments, complaints, questions)
NeXT System Administration   *  DoD#1967 '83 NightHawk 650SC 
          >>> SSI Diving Certification #755020059 <<<
"Programming is like sex: One mistake and you support it a lifetime."
From: bert@medley.ssdl.com (Bert Medley)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: News Feed (LONG)
Date: 15 Nov 92 15:38:30 GMT
Reply-To: bert@medley.ssdl.com
Distribution: houston
Organization: Medley's Homestyle Waffle

peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes:

> You think so? Why? Perhaps we need to do the numbers better, but I can't
> see any site taking more than a small fraction of the groups if they don't
> need to worry about responsiveness from their feed. Plus, how many root
> systems do you think we'll get?
> 
> Can you justify this with numbers?

Gil already has.

> 
> >> So give everyone all the groups they want. If they want something differen
> >> then change what you're feeding them. If that's done fast enough you won't
> >> get people getting everything "just in case".
> 
> >And if everyone wants all the news?
> 
> The people who want all the news, for whatever reason, can damn well pay
> for it and feed one or two sites.
> 

Agreed.  Now how do we go about setting up the network.  Someone (you?) 
mentioned a Usenet group to setup and/or manage the network connectivity 
and news flow paths.  I would suggest something along the lines of the 
following:

A full feed backbone
A partial feed backbone whose sum is a full feed
A partial feed network that is primarily leaf nodes but may also consist of
a smaller version of the primary partial feed backbone.

> Why are you being so negative, without even giving this a try?

I do want to try it.  I do have some "faith" problems being a pessimist
that some sites will relinquish autonomy enough to get it going.  I reiterate
*I do want to see it work*.  All we need is to get together and see if we
can work it out.  
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: Frank Sayre <sayre@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu>
Subject: Searching for client/server consulting firms in Houston
Organization: Vanderbilt University Computer Center
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:10:22 GMT

I'm looking for the names of consulting firms in Houston that
specialize in re-engineering corporate IS applications from 
PC-host to the client/server distributed model.

Standard technologies: UNIX/LAN Man/Novell/Pathworks servers 
where relational database, e-mail, comm servers reside; and
client platforms including Windows and DOS machines and Macs 
running client SQL query/update, e-mail applications, etc.

Is this technology being broadly adopted in Houston? In what 
industries? 

Am particularly interested in small to mid-size firms, whether 
established or start-up. Large firms (e.g. Andersen) are easier to 
identify from a distance.

Any info appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-Frank

============================================================
Frank C. Sayre
sayre@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: karl@NeoSoft.com (Karl Lehenbauer)
Subject: Re: News Feed
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 23:36:26 GMT

NeoSoft will sell anybody with a V.32 or PEP modem a full feed for $34.95
a month.  No restrictions are made on refeeding to downstream sites.  Plus
we have ClariNet.  Email us, info@NeoSoft.com, or call 713-438-4964 8-5 M-F.

We also have BBS and shell accounts.

Work on our new, dedicated news server is nearly complete -- it is currently
up and receiving a full feed from sugar via NNTP.  With a gigabyte spool
and four dedicated Worldblazers, it should be able to handle quite a few
newsfeeds.
-- 
-- Email info@NeoSoft.com for info on getting interactive Internet access.
"Turn on your hot tub by email now.  Ask me how."
From: elrond@freeside.com (SysAdmin)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: Lunch Bunch this weekend?
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 13:03:00 -0600
Distribution: houston
Organization: Rivendell BBS / Hou, TX. / +1 713 941 2236

In <Bxy4ro.9HM@rice.edu> sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes) writes:
><sigh>  I had meant to post this much earlier this week, but never got
>around to it.

>Does anyone want to have a Lunch Bunch meeting this weekend?  Like as in
>Saturday, the 21st?  Same place (Two Pesos at I-59 and Kirby), same time
>(noonish)?  Unless anyone expresses any serious objections, let's have one.
>If nothing else, I'll be there to have some lunch.  :)

>Steven

Sounds good here, I've never been to one of these, but I'd like to sit in
and listen if you guys don't mind.

-- 
+-------------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
| God is Real...          | elrond@freeside.com | Pull up a dick and have |
| Unless declared integer |  Stephen L. Palmer  | a seat.         (Chong) |
+-------------------------+---------------------+-------------------------+
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Subject: Re: News Feed (LONG)
Reply-To: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Organization: Locutus
	<BxnxLq.Fo8@rice.edu>
Distribution: houston
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 04:04:13 GMT

On Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:25:02 GMT, Catherine Anne Foulston said:

> For the smallest site, a single person, what use is a full feed?  How
> much news can one person read, even if they do nothing else?

Hm.  You'd be surprised.  :-)

Actually, I manage to skim quite a few groups.  (Somewhere around 300
newsgroups, excluding the low-volume rice.* groups.  Unfortunately, I'm
hideously behind due to school, work, etc.  Of course, I don't expect that
I'm anywhere near normal.  Newsreading-wise, that is. :) A good
thread-based newsreader helps a LOT to do this.  Also, if a person is into
binaries or pictures groups, that can make the volume of a single person
feed mushroom.

Steven
From: jmaynard@oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu (Jay Maynard)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: News Feed (LONG)
Date: 18 Nov 1992 17:46:59 GMT
Distribution: houston
Organization: UT Health Science Center Houston

In article <1992Nov18.162237.12065@tamsun.tamu.edu> wrr3118@tamsun.tamu.edu (Rick Russell) writes:
>In article <1992Nov17.054616.23917@buster.stafford.tx.us> rli@buster.stafford.tx.us writes:
>>1.   I have a small system (486/25 with 900MB).  When I first
>This is obviously some strange usage of the word 'small' that I wasn't
>previously aware of.

On the scale of Usenet, especially as bloated as SysVR4 is getting, this is
getting to be towards the small end. Once upon a time, the 120 MB drive I
dedicated to news on splut would have held a couple of weeks' worth of data;
now it's a couple of days if I'm lucky.

-- 
Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can
jmaynard@oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu      | adequately be explained by stupidity.
           "Cat: Four legs and an attitude." -- Jim Reese
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Subject: Re: News Feed
Reply-To: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Organization: Locutus
	<1992Nov12.045923.10759@limbic.ssdl.com> <T24LAY8@taronga.com>
	<BxnwM1.FAG@rice.edu>
Distribution: houston
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 04:06:04 GMT

On Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:03:37 GMT, Catherine Anne Foulston said:

> Taking a full feed is more like subscribing to every magazine published,
> whether they interest you or not, just in case you might ever want to
> look at something in one of them.

I guess, then, you don't want to see how many magazines I subscribe to.  :)
From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: News Feed
Date: 15 Nov 92 15:42:50 GMT
Organization: Taronga Park BBS

In article <1992Nov15.062430.10863@limbic.ssdl.com> gil@limbic.ssdl.com (Gil Kloepfer Jr.) writes:
>news-wise	The netnews I've seen posted is at least 50% noise in almost
>		every group.  [...] I don't feel I should have to pay
>		for this garbage.

So what does it come down to... you're burned out on news? Happens to
a lot of people, and it's not a new problem.

>mail-wise	Everyone I know of that subscribed to UUNET and then
>		held-on to some local connections for convenience or
>		courtesy purposes ended up having to pay to route all
>		of a locale's mail through UUNET because the maps got
>		set-up wrong or some such thing (ask Buster and Steve).

Yeh. I've been on both sides of this (not my fault, UUNET uses the maps
for all routing even for subscribers (dumb) and another subscriber
decided to unilaterally lower his listed rate for his UUNET link...
self inflicted injury). You have to monitor high-cost links. Again,
this isn't a new problem... it's just that high-costs links are now
cheap enough that anyone can afford them.

>Howard Gerber just went through a rather uncomfortable experience trying
>to do this.

Well, I was willing to set up a feed for Howard but all my mail to him
seemed to end up in a black hole.

As for commercial sites, FICC gets news and we've found it extremely
valuable. I've also recently had discussions with our customers about
how they'd set up a link like this. The problem comes with feeds to
third parties. It's hard to justify them.
-- 
true(<<VV$@\\$'&O 9$O%'$LT$&$"V6"$&$<4$?'&$ #I&&?$=$<<@)24 24 scale 3 21 moveto
{dup 36 eq{pop not}{dup 7 and 4 sub exch 56 and 8 div 4 sub 2 index{rlineto}{
rmoveto}ifelse}ifelse}forall stroke pop showpage % Have you hugged your wolf...
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: wrr3118@tamsun.tamu.edu (Rick Russell)
Subject: Questions about netnews distribution
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Distribution: tx 
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 22:49:49 GMT

I've been following this discussion with some interest, and I should
warn you that I know absolutely nothing about UUCP or USENET (got my
introduction to news on the Internet).

So, perhaps someone can tell me why it's necessary for any single site
to carry a full feed of netnews? What with modems and phone lines, I
don't see why anybody has to hold all the news. As long as a (large?)
group of machines each carried a 'hunk' of newsgroups (say, one
machine carrying alt.*, another carry comp.*, another carrying rec.*,
etc.), each downstream news site could call up multiple feeders.

Example: If I wanted to read 30 newsgroups, from the alt, rec, and
comp hierarchies, I could just call up the 3 systems which feed that
news. Perhaps multiple systems could carry the same newsgroups, and my
well-configured autodialer would just call each in succession until it
got all the newsgroups it needed.

As long as all the feeder sites were local calls, I could see maybe 20
machines each carrying only 5MB of news (trivial disk space by today's
standards), and feeding only the sites that require news from their
part of the hierarchy. That would allow for effetively 'full' news
feeds to the destination sites (i.e. they can get any news they want)
and a large amount of mirroring, so the information would be spread
out relatively evenly among the 20 modems (or more) on the 20 systems.
I'm sure there are more than 20 systems out there that could hold 5 or
10 MB of news...

Is there a reason it's not done this way?
-- 
#      Rick Russell | TAMU Meteorology | wrr3118@tamsun.tamu.edu       # 
#      This netnews message has been brought to you by the number 3!   #
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Subject: Lunch Bunch this weekend?
Reply-To: sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes)
Organization: Locutus
Distribution: houston
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 04:35:47 GMT

<sigh>  I had meant to post this much earlier this week, but never got
around to it.

Does anyone want to have a Lunch Bunch meeting this weekend?  Like as in
Saturday, the 21st?  Same place (Two Pesos at I-59 and Kirby), same time
(noonish)?  Unless anyone expresses any serious objections, let's have one.
If nothing else, I'll be there to have some lunch.  :)

Steven
Newsgroups: houston.general
From: karl@NeoSoft.com (Karl Lehenbauer)
Subject: Re: News Feed
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:55:14 GMT

In article <gSlCrAlFBh107h@freeside.com> elrond@freeside.com (SysAdmin) writes:
>Got this one back...
>Subject: failed mail
> COMMAND: /bin/lmail 'info'

I'm very sorry.  The alias file got messed up and I was slow on the uptake
to go fix it.  Email to info@neosoft.com or call us at (713) 438-4964
8-5 M-F for information, and/or to get a BBS, Internet or Newsfeed account.

Our new, dedicated newsfeed machine is now ready to begin delivering news
to anyone for $34.95 a month.  You call us.  If you want a partial feed,
we'll try to work something out.
-- 
-- Email info@NeoSoft.com for info on getting interactive Internet access.
"Turn on your hot tub by email now.  Ask me how."
From: craig@adikia.sccsi.com (Craig Groeschel)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: linux anyone?
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 18:25:04 CST
Distribution: houston
Organization: Craig Groeschel's system, Houston, TX

Are there any linux hackers out there?  I hope to go from
dos/Waffle to linux/cnews/trn ASAP.

I've been snarfing files from tsx-11.mit.edu.  Are there any sites
in Houston that have linux files?  One bbs on the July list
mentioned linux, but it has since gone private.  If there are any,
please let me know.

On the other hand, if you would like the files I have, and you have
a fast modem (V.32+, WB preferred), let me know.

Seen on comp.os.linux: "We don't need no steenking MS-DOS."
[except for games]
--cg

"Do not play this piece fast. It is never right to play Ragtime fast." Joplin
Craig Groeschel  (nuchat!adikia!craig)
From: st1t0@rosie.uh.edu (CARL SEILER)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: Getting onto FidoNet
Date: 23 Nov 1992 23:44 CST
Organization: University of Houston
Distribution: houston
NNTP-Posting-Host: rosie.uh.edu
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <BAB.92Nov23105125@se39.wg2.waii.com>, bab@se39.wg2.waii.com (Brian Button) writes...
>I'm posting this for some friends who are the sysop's for The Womb
>BBS. They are interested in becoming a FidoNet site and don't know how
>to proceed. Any advice would be appreciated.

First, make sure your front end is working correctly.  Get a copy of the 
current nodelist from a local fidonet board (about 500k compressed).  Send
a note to the local net coordinator at 1:106/0 using a fake node address such
as -1:-1/-1 or something that is not currently in the nodelist, and ask
the coordinator for a node number.  The coordinator will send you information
on how to get a node number via return netmail.  Your board must have its
mailer running to get a node number.

If you don't have a front end running, you'll need to get one that will work
with your BBS program.  Currently the most popular are Binkleyterm, Frontdoor,
and a few others.  Opus has no need for a front end, and it is said to run
"barefoot."  You'll need to obtain one of these to be Fido-ready.

Why don't you leave me mail at this address or my BBS 748-7353 explaining 
what stage you folks are at, and I can give you better specific instructions.

Carl 
Sysop of 1:106/10.0

P.S. I've been in FidoNet for four years.  There may be others willing to 
give you help here, too, though, with even more experience.  Just let me 
know how I can help.


Carl Seiler                         |  Department of Econonmics
Graduate Student                    |  University of Houston
ST1T0@jetson.uh.edu                 |
Neither I nor anyone else is responsible for what I post.  It may be generally
considered hogwash, nonsense, and dribble.


Newsgroups: houston.general
From: cathyf@is.rice.edu (Catherine Anne Foulston)
Subject: Re: News Feed
Organization: Rice University
Distribution: houston
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 21:57:40 GMT

In article <By1sq4.BFC@rice.edu> sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes) writes:
>On Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:03:37 GMT, Catherine Anne Foulston said:

>> Taking a full feed is more like subscribing to every magazine published,
>> whether they interest you or not, just in case you might ever want to
>> look at something in one of them.

>I guess, then, you don't want to see how many magazines I subscribe to.  :)

Well, I didn't say there was anything wrong with it.  I sure don't
read all of every issue of all the magazines I get, and they're all
things that I'm interested in.  There may, however, be more efficient
ways to accomplish the same thing.  :-)

In my case, I probably ought to go to the library for some of the
things I want to read.  I don't know what the netnews equivalent of
going to the library might be.  Unless libraries were to begin
carrying newsfeeds with public terminals to access them...

	Cathy
-- 
Cathy Foulston + Rice University + Network & Systems Support + cathyf@rice.edu
From: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu (Paul S. Sears)
Newsgroups: houston.general
Subject: Re: Lunch Bunch this weekend?
Date: 20 Nov 1992 23:38:34 GMT
Organization: University of Houston
Distribution: houston
Reply-To: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: thanatos.egr.uh.edu

In article <Ub9CrAjFBh107h@freeside.com> elrond@freeside.com (SysAdmin)  
writes:
#In <Bxy4ro.9HM@rice.edu> sbyrnes@rice.edu (Steven Byrnes) writes:
#><sigh>  I had meant to post this much earlier this week, but never got
#>around to it.
#
#>Does anyone want to have a Lunch Bunch meeting this weekend?  Like as in
#>Saturday, the 21st?  Same place (Two Pesos at I-59 and Kirby), same time
#>(noonish)?  Unless anyone expresses any serious objections, let's have  
one.
#>If nothing else, I'll be there to have some lunch.  :)
#
#>Steven
#
#Sounds good here, I've never been to one of these, but I'd like to sit in
#and listen if you guys don't mind.
#
#-- 
#| God is Real...          | elrond@freeside.com | Pull up a dick and have 

Looks like I will be there too!!!  (Not that anyone really cares...) :-)

--
Paul S. Sears                *  sears@uh.edu (NeXT Mail OK)
The University of Houston    *  suggestions@tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXT
Engineering Computing Center *  comments, complaints, questions)
NeXT System Administration   *  DoD#1967 '83 NightHawk 650SC 
          >>> SSI Diving Certification #755020059 <<<
"Programming is like sex: One mistake and you support it a lifetime."