On Mon, 27 Apr 1998, Juntung Wu (JT) wrote:

> Sorry for being a bit "too naive" perhaps, but I still don't get the point
> of setting up an Usenet gateway.
>
> For a start, there is the huge security risk (SPAM mail, loops) and so
> forth. Secondly, Usenet has been increasing deserted (forced out by SPAM).
> Thirdly, if anyone is genuinely interested in reading the e-mails
> he/she/it could simply subscribe to the mailing list. There are far less
> people with only UUCP and not PPP & POP access these days...

   The chief advantage of reading listmail via a Usenet newsreader is that
the messages do NOT go into your personal mailbox, filling it up, but
instead goes to a central bulletin board where you can access it at will.
One copy of the message for the institution instead of multiple copies,
one per mail box.  That makes it more economical for the institution.

   Another possible reason is that the newsreaders often offer a more user
friendly interface, e.g., threading of messages with like subjects, than
do the mailing list mailers.  Even when the mailers do offer some of the
desired features many subscribers don't know enough about their mailers to
know how to implement them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Judith Hopkins, Listowner of Autocat
     [log in to unmask]
     My home page: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~ulcjh
     AUTOCAT home page:
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/cts/autocat/