Eric Thomas <ERIC@FRECP11>
Mon, 8 Feb 88 20:34:00 SET
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It was suggested to me (in private mail) that the default GET quota of 20
files & 256kb a day is too low. I cannot resend the original mail since it's
in french and I've never particularly enjoyed translations, but the main
arguments are:
- With a limit of 256k/day, it becomes impossible to retrieve notebooks of
lists like PHYSICS, where the smallest notebook is 300k.
- With a limit of 20 files a day, it may take up to 1 week to retrieve a
complete discussion or program from a list like MINIX-L.
My comments are the following:
- A list where the smallest notebook is 300k in size is being archived with
the WRONG options (EARNTECH LOG8801 is 3600 lines totalling 128k). Of
course, the end user has no control on this; but I think that if users start
complaining to the list owners, they will eventually change the setting of
the list for the greater benefit of the whole community.
- People tend to retrieve (large) notebooks just to find a particular piece of
information that they know has been discussed in the list. That's what the
database functions are for, and they are not subjected to the GET quota.
Furthermore, a DATABASE output is usually pretty small since you order only
what you really need.
- A list where each posting is archived in a separate file of 20-30 records
is, again, improperly configured. By dint of bitching the list owner, users
will eventually get him to use sensible archiving options. Furthermore, you
can get yourself one week worth of notebook with a simple database job, even
though this would represents 50 individual files of 30 records.
- Users don't need to be able to order more data a day than they'll be able to
read.
I personally think that the default options will force both list owners and
end-users to behave more intelligently, by using sensible "Notebook=" keywords
and by making more extensive use of the database functions, which usually
allow you to avoid retrieving 1M of notebooks to locate just one particular
item you're interested in. Of course, retrieving the 1M of data might be
legitimate if you've just signed up to a list and what to know what has been
said in the previous months, but then you can order one notebook a day, or ask
the postmaster to GIVE everything to you.
It was suggested to change the default values to roughly double what they now
are (say, 50 files - 512k). I'd be interested in hearing your comments.
Eric
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