On Thu, 15 Aug 2024, Sn!pe wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>
> [...]
>
>>
>> I feel like I am a very strange person sometimes. ;)
>>
>
> On anonymity:
>
> "Last night I saw upon the stair
> A little man who wasn't there
> He wasn't there again today
> Oh, how I wish he'd go away..."
> --Hughes Mearns
>
> (nothing personal meant)
>

Let me give you another classic...

"The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth."

- Lao Tzu (when asked about anonymity).

On Thu, 15 Aug 2024, yeti wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> writes:
>
>> I feel like I am a very strange person sometimes. ;)
>
> Being normal may be nice for a vector.
> I'm not a vector.
>

I often find people at the edges of the overton window way more
interesting than normal peolpe. That is why I don't vote. The discussions
are so trivial and well within the window that they bore me to tears.

On Wed, 7 Aug 2024 14:32:01 -0000 (UTC)
George Musk wrote:

> Just a thought experiment:
> if you could/had to make something like a NNTP 2.0 (with no need for
> backwards compatibility) and server and client software for it today, what
> would it be like?
> In terms of specifications, technologies used, user interface, etc.

Not for nothing, but Secure Scuttlebutt is a pretty cool "next gen
NNTP" option.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Scuttlebutt

--
AndyK

On 8/15/24 7:07 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Aug 2024 14:11:43 -0000 (UTC), Steven M. O'Neill wrote:
>
>> Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:
>>
>>>On 8/8/24 02:32, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>>>
>>>> It's a complete rethinking of the way distributed social media is
>>>> supposed to work.
>>>
>>>Usenet is not social media.
>>
>> ObDevilsAdvocate: Usenet is the original social medium.

+1

And it gives us maximum control over what we see or avoid. No pictures
or -- god forbid -- reels, but that's a good thing. The bad thing about
reels is that they're addictive time-wasters.

> Absolutely. And the centralization introduced by the web-based successors
> (at least the proprietary ones) is a definite step back.

What bothers me is that otherwise smart people have replaced usenet with
Facebook. Maybe X too, but I don't read that even if I have an account.
How hard can it be to do all three? The 'social media' make actual
conversation, as opposed to post-it notes, difficult. I "know" the
people I've known on usenet since 1995. I've met some of them IRL. FB
people, unless friends of friends, are unknown strangers, just groups of
words without names.

And don't get me started about Nextdoor...

--
Cheers, Bev
It's true that Smokey Bear deserves praise for his
campaign against forest fires, but nobody ever mentions
the park rangers he kills for their hats.

The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>And it gives us maximum control over what we see or avoid. No pictures
.. . .
>What bothers me is that otherwise smart people have replaced usenet with
>Facebook.

Normally, I can't stand images on websites! But I'm really
into those vintage Berlin pics, and I find a ton of them
on Facebook. I can scope them out there without having to
sign up. So, I'm totally cashing in on that! - As we Python
coders say, "practicality beats purity."

On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, Andy K. wrote:

> On Wed, 7 Aug 2024 14:32:01 -0000 (UTC)
> George Musk wrote:
>
>> Just a thought experiment:
>> if you could/had to make something like a NNTP 2.0 (with no need for
>> backwards compatibility) and server and client software for it today, what
>> would it be like?
>> In terms of specifications, technologies used, user interface, etc.
>
> Not for nothing, but Secure Scuttlebutt is a pretty cool "next gen
> NNTP" option.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Scuttlebutt
>

Long time since I heard about it, but doesn't it have scaling problems?

On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:

> On 8/15/24 7:07 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>> On Thu, 15 Aug 2024 14:11:43 -0000 (UTC), Steven M. O'Neill wrote:
>>
>>> Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 8/8/24 02:32, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It's a complete rethinking of the way distributed social media is
>>>>> supposed to work.
>>>>
>>>> Usenet is not social media.
>>>
>>> ObDevilsAdvocate: Usenet is the original social medium.
>
> +1
>
> And it gives us maximum control over what we see or avoid. No pictures or --
> god forbid -- reels, but that's a good thing. The bad thing about reels is
> that they're addictive time-wasters.
>
>> Absolutely. And the centralization introduced by the web-based successors
>> (at least the proprietary ones) is a definite step back.
>
> What bothers me is that otherwise smart people have replaced usenet with
> Facebook. Maybe X too, but I don't read that even if I have an account. How
> hard can it be to do all three? The 'social media' make actual conversation,
> as opposed to post-it notes, difficult. I "know" the people I've known on
> usenet since 1995. I've met some of them IRL. FB people, unless friends of
> friends, are unknown strangers, just groups of words without names.
>
> And don't get me started about Nextdoor...
>

What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I think
it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.

As for fb, I am hearing more and more people who decrease their amount of
fb:ing or just stopped using it altogether except planning childrens
activities or so.

On 8/17/24 12:45 PM, D wrote:
>
>
> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>> What bothers me is that otherwise smart people have replaced usenet with
>> Facebook. Maybe X too, but I don't read that even if I have an account. How
>> hard can it be to do all three? The 'social media' make actual conversation,
>> as opposed to post-it notes, difficult. I "know" the people I've known on
>> usenet since 1995. I've met some of them IRL. FB people, unless friends of
>> friends, are unknown strangers, just groups of words without names.
>>
>> And don't get me started about Nextdoor...
>>
>
> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I think
> it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.

It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than
facebook, but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful --
especially since the local newspaper now has ONE page of actual local
news if we're lucky. I would guess that half the participants have
never used a computer, just a phone, and have very little comprehension
of how the world actually works. I really didn't realize how stupid
people could be until I subscribed. It's all over the US, and will
probably invade Europe soon.

> As for fb, I am hearing more and more people who decrease their amount of
> fb:ing or just stopped using it altogether except planning childrens
> activities or so.

With filters and the Social Fixer extension for Firefox and Chrome I've
made it as much like usenet as possible. I only see posts from friends
(100 or so, mostly from usenet), friends of friends, and groups that I'm
interested in. No ads, no posts that FB thinks I might be interested in.

The good thing about usenet is that you 'meet' random people who are
probably interested in the same kinds of things that you are, aren't
stupid, and aren't a waste of time. Yeahyeahyeah, a lot of loons, but
they're easy to weed out and there aren't as many as there used to be.

'Reels' (short videos) have just started showing up, and they're
tempting time-wasters. I don't regret seeing Simone Biles' performances
though -- and I wouldn't have if somebody hadn't brought them to my
attention.

--
Cheers, Bev
"Not everyone can be above average so why
shouldn't we be the ones to suck?"
--Anonymous School Board Member

The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods

The website that was known for its "neighborhoods", such as
"Hollywood", "SiliconValley", and "RodeoDrive", used to be
GeoCities, launched 30 years ago!

In comp.misc The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/17/24 12:45 PM, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>>> What bothers me is that otherwise smart people have replaced usenet
>>> with Facebook. Maybe X too, but I don't read that even if I have
>>> an account. How hard can it be to do all three? The 'social
>>> media' make actual conversation, as opposed to post-it notes,
>>> difficult. I "know" the people I've known on usenet since 1995.
>>> I've met some of them IRL. FB people, unless friends of friends,
>>> are unknown strangers, just groups of words without names.
>>>
>>> And don't get me started about Nextdoor...
>>>
>>
>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I
>> think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>
> It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
> neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than
> facebook, but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful --
> especially since the local newspaper now has ONE page of actual local
> news if we're lucky.

I've also heard (but never signed up) that /some/ local 'nextdoor'
groups are also very "group think" and attack anyone who dares post
something that they interpret as "outside the group think bubble".

In part I never signed on because in my area, it is one where the
probability of "group think nazi's" being on nextdoor and policing the
group is over 50%. So I never bothered.

On 8/17/24 1:14 PM, Stefan Ram wrote:
> The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote or quoted:
>>It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods
>
> The website that was known for its "neighborhoods", such as
> "Hollywood", "SiliconValley", and "RodeoDrive", used to be
> GeoCities, launched 30 years ago!

That was My space, I think. I didn't have a space then. This is
different and is REALLY local. Perhaps 3 blocks x 10 blocks, depending
on how the streets run, but posts can go further. I know some of the
people in my "neighborhood".

--
Cheers, Bev
"Do not try to solve all life's problems at once -- learn to
dread each day as it comes." -- Donald Kaul

On 8/17/24 1:31 PM, Rich wrote:
> In comp.misc The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 8/17/24 12:45 PM, D wrote:
>>>
>>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I
>>> think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>>
>> It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
>> neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than
>> facebook, but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful --
>> especially since the local newspaper now has ONE page of actual local
>> news if we're lucky.
>
> I've also heard (but never signed up) that /some/ local 'nextdoor'
> groups are also very "group think" and attack anyone who dares post
> something that they interpret as "outside the group think bubble".
>
> In part I never signed on because in my area, it is one where the
> probability of "group think nazi's" being on nextdoor and policing the
> group is over 50%. So I never bothered.

I think stupidity and ignorance count for a lot of that. People are
heavily Democratic here, even if it's NOT in their best interests. I
think it's because the Dems are perceived as "nice" rather than mean
like the conservatives. I try and be civil because these people can
easily find out where I live, but sometimes I fail miserably.

The format encourages stupidity. It also doesn't publish posts in any
rational fashion. Perhaps 5 days later somebody's coyote warning gets
posted. And people are afraid of coyotes, which are not uncommon even
though this is a residential suburb -- we're half a mile from the
foothills. We also have bears who like the swimming pools, hot tubs and
garbage cans. Closest bear removal (tranquilize, heave into pickup,
take to mountains) was 2 blocks away.

--
Cheers, Bev
"Do not try to solve all life's problems at once -- learn to
dread each day as it comes." -- Donald Kaul

On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:

>>
>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I think
>> it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>
> It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
> neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than facebook,
> but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful -- especially since the
> local newspaper now has ONE page of actual local news if we're lucky. I
> would guess that half the participants have never used a computer, just a
> phone, and have very little comprehension of how the world actually works. I
> really didn't realize how stupid people could be until I subscribed. It's all
> over the US, and will probably invade Europe soon.

Ahh, I see. Seems very logical since the local press is almost gone. I
can really see the reason for it existing. As you say, I would not be
surprised at all if it pops up in europe soon.

As far as I know, in europe, facebook is currently filling that niche.

>> As for fb, I am hearing more and more people who decrease their amount of
>> fb:ing or just stopped using it altogether except planning childrens
>> activities or so.
>
> With filters and the Social Fixer extension for Firefox and Chrome I've made
> it as much like usenet as possible. I only see posts from friends (100 or
> so, mostly from usenet), friends of friends, and groups that I'm interested
> in. No ads, no posts that FB thinks I might be interested in.

Don't have it myself. My other vice, besides usenet, is mastodon, where
I reside on a nice and uncensored instance with a healthy mix of nazis,
libertarians, conservative cristians, people who just enjoy technology
or memes and so on. Just like I like it!

> The good thing about usenet is that you 'meet' random people who are probably
> interested in the same kinds of things that you are, aren't stupid, and
> aren't a waste of time. Yeahyeahyeah, a lot of loons, but they're easy to
> weed out and there aren't as many as there used to be.

One mans loon is another mans hero! ;)

> 'Reels' (short videos) have just started showing up, and they're tempting
> time-wasters. I don't regret seeing Simone Biles' performances though -- and
> I wouldn't have if somebody hadn't brought them to my attention.

D <nospam@example.net> writes:
> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>> And don't get me started about Nextdoor...
>
> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I
> think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.

It reached Europe years ago, just not all of it. The European countries
it operates in are the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Spain,
Sweden and Denmark.

--
https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/

On 8/18/24 2:04 AM, D wrote:
>
> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>
> Don't have it myself. My other vice, besides usenet, is mastodon, where
> I reside on a nice and uncensored instance with a healthy mix of nazis,
> libertarians, conservative cristians, people who just enjoy technology
> or memes and so on. Just like I like it!
>
>> The good thing about usenet is that you 'meet' random people who are probably
>> interested in the same kinds of things that you are, aren't stupid, and
>> aren't a waste of time. Yeahyeahyeah, a lot of loons, but they're easy to
>> weed out and there aren't as many as there used to be.
>
> One mans loon is another mans hero! ;)

As it should be!

--
Cheers, Bev
The beatings will continue until morale improves

In comp.misc D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>>>
>>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but
>>> I think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>>
>> It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
>> neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than
>> facebook, but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful --
>> especially since the local newspaper now has ONE page of actual
>> local news if we're lucky. I would guess that half the participants
>> have never used a computer, just a phone, and have very little
>> comprehension of how the world actually works. I really didn't
>> realize how stupid people could be until I subscribed. It's all
>> over the US, and will probably invade Europe soon.
>
> Ahh, I see. Seems very logical since the local press is almost gone.
> I can really see the reason for it existing. As you say, I would not
> be surprised at all if it pops up in europe soon.

Do keep in mind that you *do not* get the equivalent of the "local
press" (as in news papers). You don't get stories on what the local
government board is proposing (unless it also gores someone's ox, and
they then complain about their ox being gored by the local board on
nextdoor). Or other typical 'stories' you'd get from an actual local
newspaper (if it existed).

From what I've heard from folks around me that are members, what you
get is a local gossip channel, with an occasional bit of useful info
(coyote seen at X & Y streets yesterday at 06:30).

On 8/18/24 10:11 AM, Rich wrote:
> In comp.misc D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but
>>>> I think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>>>
>>> It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
>>> neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than
>>> facebook, but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful --
>>> especially since the local newspaper now has ONE page of actual
>>> local news if we're lucky. I would guess that half the participants
>>> have never used a computer, just a phone, and have very little
>>> comprehension of how the world actually works. I really didn't
>>> realize how stupid people could be until I subscribed. It's all
>>> over the US, and will probably invade Europe soon.
>>
>> Ahh, I see. Seems very logical since the local press is almost gone.
>> I can really see the reason for it existing. As you say, I would not
>> be surprised at all if it pops up in europe soon.
>
> Do keep in mind that you *do not* get the equivalent of the "local
> press" (as in news papers). You don't get stories on what the local
> government board is proposing (unless it also gores someone's ox, and
> they then complain about their ox being gored by the local board on
> nextdoor). Or other typical 'stories' you'd get from an actual local
> newspaper (if it existed).
>
> From what I've heard from folks around me that are members, what you
> get is a local gossip channel, with an occasional bit of useful info
> (coyote seen at X & Y streets yesterday at 06:30).
>

Exactly right, but that's more than the local fishwrap prints. 10-car
pileup on the freeway half a mile away? Nothing, but somebody posts
SOMETHING about it on ND. Abduction down the street? Bear? Nope, but
there is extensive newspaper coverage of a speech made by the mayor
regarding the latest attempt to discourage people from driving.

The fishwrap contains mostly yesterday's AP articles and sports news.
For something called a city newspaper to print mostly stories happening
50 or 5000 miles away is ludicrous. Moreover, the price for the print
version is staggering. If newspapers are dying it's because they're no
longer relevant or even accurate. Real shame, because I've read the
thing since I was 12. It used to be good.

--
Cheers, Bev
"It's no piece of cake, but it sure beats listening to Ted
Kennedy on the Senate floor."
- Jesse Helms describing heart surgery

On Sun, 18 Aug 2024, Richard Kettlewell wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> writes:
>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>>> And don't get me started about Nextdoor...
>>
>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but I
>> think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>
> It reached Europe years ago, just not all of it. The European countries
> it operates in are the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Spain,
> Sweden and Denmark.
>

Wow! I feel happy that I am so checked out of modern social media that I
was unaware! =) Great points for me! ;)

On Sun, 18 Aug 2024, Rich wrote:

> In comp.misc D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>> What is this nextdoor thing? I have heard about it on usenet, but
>>>> I think it must be some US thing that has not yet reached europe.
>>>
>>> It's sort of like facebook, but divided into neighborhoods (literal
>>> neighborhoods, maybe 1 mile or so in diameter). It's clunkier than
>>> facebook, but there's local stuff that makes it kind of useful --
>>> especially since the local newspaper now has ONE page of actual
>>> local news if we're lucky. I would guess that half the participants
>>> have never used a computer, just a phone, and have very little
>>> comprehension of how the world actually works. I really didn't
>>> realize how stupid people could be until I subscribed. It's all
>>> over the US, and will probably invade Europe soon.
>>
>> Ahh, I see. Seems very logical since the local press is almost gone.
>> I can really see the reason for it existing. As you say, I would not
>> be surprised at all if it pops up in europe soon.
>
> Do keep in mind that you *do not* get the equivalent of the "local
> press" (as in news papers). You don't get stories on what the local
> government board is proposing (unless it also gores someone's ox, and
> they then complain about their ox being gored by the local board on
> nextdoor). Or other typical 'stories' you'd get from an actual local
> newspaper (if it existed).
>
> From what I've heard from folks around me that are members, what you
> get is a local gossip channel, with an occasional bit of useful info
> (coyote seen at X & Y streets yesterday at 06:30).
>

Ahh... so not even that, they managed to solve. How sad. Seems like a
destillation of what is genuinely the worst aspects of neighbourhood life.

On Sat, 17 Aug 2024 21:43:50 +0200
D wrote:

> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, Andy K. wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 7 Aug 2024 14:32:01 -0000 (UTC)
> > George Musk wrote:
> >
> >> Just a thought experiment:
> >> if you could/had to make something like a NNTP 2.0 (with no need for
> >> backwards compatibility) and server and client software for it today, what
> >> would it be like?
> >> In terms of specifications, technologies used, user interface, etc.
> >
> > Not for nothing, but Secure Scuttlebutt is a pretty cool "next gen
> > NNTP" option.
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Scuttlebutt
> >
>
> Long time since I heard about it, but doesn't it have scaling problems?

Maybe, but mainly it has discoverability problem. Unless you already
know a community you want to join, it's these days almost impossible
to find some public server/group/whatever.

It doesn't help that there are two concepts now - servers (old) and
rooms (new), and there seems to be a different invite/join process for
each.

I love SSB conceptually, since it's basically like Usenet in its UUCP
beginnings (nodes syncing among each other periodically), but it has
teething problems.

--
AndyK

On Mon, 19 Aug 2024, Andy K. wrote:

> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024 21:43:50 +0200
> D wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024, Andy K. wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, 7 Aug 2024 14:32:01 -0000 (UTC)
>>> George Musk wrote:
>>>
>>>> Just a thought experiment:
>>>> if you could/had to make something like a NNTP 2.0 (with no need for
>>>> backwards compatibility) and server and client software for it today, what
>>>> would it be like?
>>>> In terms of specifications, technologies used, user interface, etc.
>>>
>>> Not for nothing, but Secure Scuttlebutt is a pretty cool "next gen
>>> NNTP" option.
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Scuttlebutt
>>>
>>
>> Long time since I heard about it, but doesn't it have scaling problems?
>
> Maybe, but mainly it has discoverability problem. Unless you already
> know a community you want to join, it's these days almost impossible
> to find some public server/group/whatever.
>
> It doesn't help that there are two concepts now - servers (old) and
> rooms (new), and there seems to be a different invite/join process for
> each.
>
> I love SSB conceptually, since it's basically like Usenet in its UUCP
> beginnings (nodes syncing among each other periodically), but it has
> teething problems.
>

Ahh got it. Maybe time to bring those improvisational UUCP networks back
to life then? Why opt for the copy, when you can get the original! ;)

D <nospam@example.net> writes:

> Ahh got it. Maybe time to bring those improvisational UUCP networks
> back to life then? Why opt for the copy, when you can get the
> original! ;)

\o/

I'd join that game.

--
I do not bite, I just want to play.

On Mon, 19 Aug 2024, yeti wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> writes:
>
>> Ahh got it. Maybe time to bring those improvisational UUCP networks
>> back to life then? Why opt for the copy, when you can get the
>> original! ;)
>
> \o/
>
> I'd join that game.
>

Out of curiousity, how did they do discovery in those ancient times? Was
it word of mouth, or did they have something more sophisticated?

D <nospam@example.net> writes:

> Out of curiousity, how did they do discovery in those ancient times?
> Was it word of mouth, or did they have something more sophisticated?

<https://tldp.org/LDP/nag/node192.html>

I've no idea how uptodate this information still is.

My UUCP (over port 540 over Tor) experiments only connected some own
guinea pigs and I wired every neighbour into the config of every other
one. So a full graph. That sure won't fit "playing" with lots of
neighbours well.

When nobody wanted to join and(!) because of the config complexity, I
switched to playing with SMTP directly over Tor, but that turned out to
be as lonely as my previous UUCP experiments.

UUCP can use a phonebook like file and route mail based on that. I
think we would need that if we want to connect more than a minuscule
amount of neighbours.

When UUCP is mentioned 3 times in a thread, typically someone else will
show up and paste a standard text snippet about NNCP into the thread.

Maybe NNCP really has some tricks UUCP now should learn, but I don't use
Go, so I was not in the mood for a closer look yet.

--
xkcd - The blag of the webcomic - Randall 2019-08-26
Chapter 19: How to Send a File
<https://blog.xkcd.com/2019/08/26/how-to-send-a-file/>

On Mon, 19 Aug 2024, yeti wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> writes:
>
>> Out of curiousity, how did they do discovery in those ancient times?
>> Was it word of mouth, or did they have something more sophisticated?
>
> <https://tldp.org/LDP/nag/node192.html>
>
> I've no idea how uptodate this information still is.
>
> My UUCP (over port 540 over Tor) experiments only connected some own
> guinea pigs and I wired every neighbour into the config of every other
> one. So a full graph. That sure won't fit "playing" with lots of
> neighbours well.
>
> When nobody wanted to join and(!) because of the config complexity, I
> switched to playing with SMTP directly over Tor, but that turned out to
> be as lonely as my previous UUCP experiments.
>
> UUCP can use a phonebook like file and route mail based on that. I
> think we would need that if we want to connect more than a minuscule
> amount of neighbours.
>
>
> When UUCP is mentioned 3 times in a thread, typically someone else will
> show up and paste a standard text snippet about NNCP into the thread.
>
> Maybe NNCP really has some tricks UUCP now should learn, but I don't use
> Go, so I was not in the mood for a closer look yet.
>

Interesting! Thank you very much for the information. With todays compute
power, I wouldn't discount the phone book method entirely. I think it
scales better than one might think. On the other hand, keeping it up to
date and distributing it might be more of a challenge perhaps.