On Wed, 19 Jun 1996 18:27:54 -0400 Craig A Summerhill <[log in to unmask]>
said:
>About two years ago (around the time CREN was trying to decide how to
>find and license a unix product for its members -- a product Eric had
>repeatedly said there was no need for due presumably to the bad taste
>unix leaves in his mouth),
Excuse me, but could you please get your facts straight? About 2 years
ago was around June 94, yes? Well, I don't know where you were in June
94, but that's when LISTSERV for unix was *released*. In August 93, ie
about THREE years ago, L-Soft formally released a paper announcing plans
to port LISTSERV to unix. This wasn't anything new really and it sounds
like you're talking about FOUR or more years ago, at which time CREN was
NOT looking for a way to license a unix product for its members. The hard
reality is that when CREN was looking for a unix product for its members,
L-Soft had official plans to port LISTSERV to unix with a concrete
schedule and business plan, and furthermore these plans had been out for
several months.
>But even then, I never saw LISTPROC system admins or list managers
>taking the kind of cheap shots at the LISTSERV product
Well, I have been subscribed to this list myself and I must say that I am
starting to wonder if we are from the same planet. There has been no
shortage of cheap shots aimed either at LISTSERV or at me. I distinctly
recall being called "insecure idiot" and "punch card for brains" (and
other derivatives) on repeated occasions. The entire repertoire of lame
mainframe jokes was put to good use. The porting technique I had chosen
for LISTSERV (and thanks to which, to date, LISTSERV still supports a
larger number of unixes than the commercial ListProc) was ridiculed
abundantly. A lot of misinformation was posted about LISTSERV by people
who, like you, claimed that they were setting the record straight, and I
would then correct the inaccuracies and the cheap shots would begin. No,
sorry, where have you been?
>And Eric, while you don't take those kind of shots at LISTPROC yourself
>(at least not publicly), you certainly do nothing to discourage them do
>you?
And *that*, of course, does not qualify as a cheap shot? :-) To tell you
the truth, Craig, I don't think highly of either ListProc or its author.
But even if I did, I don't see any reason why I should try to police
people into being nice to them, not unless the list got out of control,
as is starting to be the case now. The victims are old enough to defend
themselves and, if I remember correctly, they aren't shy either.
>But I could sure do without the ego-driven LISTSERV vs. LISTPROC
>garbage.
So could I and, I am sure, the majority of people who are subscribed to
this list to talk about the topic of the list, namely, *LISTSERV*, not
what CREN decided 2 years ago or whether the people who write ListProc
are nice guys or jerks. So, I would be grateful if you could take your
venting to private mail. Thank you.
Eric
|