On Fri, 24 Apr 1992 20:08:19 CDT, Natalie Maynor <Maynor@MSstate> wrote:
>
>I've had double subscriptions to various lists to test the two systems
>on many occasions.  For me, LISTSERV mail via Internet is much faster than
>via BITNET 99.99% of the time.  By much faster, I mean that it is almost
>always minutes faster, often hours faster, and many times DAYS faster.
>
Of course it is.  To use an analogy, LISTSERV is a "public-transit bus".
 
If your ticket reads 'BITNET' or 'Internet-site-with-a-known-BITNET-alias',
then your E-mail can travel on the bus, which holds many passengers,
and places the least load on the roads (the BITNET links).  Of course,
each passenger is slightly inconvenienced as the bus makes stops
to drop-off other passengers.
 
If your ticket reads 'Internet-site', then LISTSERV gives your E-mail a ride
on the bus only as far as the nearest BITNET-to-Internet gateway,
and then calls the "limousine-service" to deliver the E-mail to your door,
at, of course, a higher cost.
 
For your node (MSSTATE), its BITNET link is connected **directly** to the
University of Georgia, and UGA **is** one of the major BITNET-to-Internet
gateways.  So, most E-mail to you will take the bus to UGA, and then either
continue on the bus to your node, or take the limousine to your node.
 
How the limousine can be "days" faster than the bus on the **same**
(since your BITNET link is actually a BITNET-over-Internet link) road
is a question which I can't answer!