On Sun, 25 Feb 2001 10:08:42 -0500, Ed Paynter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I thought you might appreciate another  justification for making the posting number available.

The problem with this is that the 'Posting' number changes whenever the archives
are edited and then re-indexed.  It is not a fixed value.  I know that some
people do not edit archives and thus their numbers may not change, but many
people do edit archives and this would make an incredible problem.  We have to
account for both kinds of usage.

To post a link to a previous message, the easiest thing to do is (after the
message is posted) simply do a search for it and once found, copy the complete
URL of that message and use it in your subsequent post or place it on your index
link page or whatever.