<Isn't this the way things always happen....>
 
A few days ago here, I wrote in detail that the Well allows ftp and
telnet by its users.  That was true a week or so ago.
 
          *** The Well no longer allows ftp and telnet. ***
                 *** It may again in the future. ***
 
The reasoning for blocking ftp seems to be a fear of "someone ftp'ing
in a 15Mb file and using up all of the free disk space", according to
the support people.  They seem to be sort of overly cautious about
this.  The OS they're running (Dynix) has disk quota capability.  If
anyone here is a Unix sysadmin who has had experience allowing users
ftp execute permission with or without this problem, as a (non-Well)
sysadmin I'd be interested in hearing about it.  And/or write to the
Well's support people directly, at [log in to unmask] .
 
The reasoning for blocking outbound telnet access is even fuzzier.
They seem to be concerned that telnet will affect system performance.
Their link is a 56k IP, and they're running multiple processors (8?)
on their Sequent.
 
The prognosis currently is to turn telnet back on in a month or so,
and ftp back on later this year.  What the delay is apparently going
to do for them is let them move ftp and telnet facilities to a Sun
workstation.  I'm not sure what that will solve.
 
At any rate, the Well still does mail.
 
If anyone here has signed up for the Well in response to by
recommendation so they could get ftp and telnet, I apologize for the
bum steer.  If/when you desubscribe, *tell* them why you're leaving.
They don't seem to understand how much these facilities mean to some,
and they don't seem to realize they'll lose subscribers by messing
around like this.  As a non-profit, they can't (shouldn't, anyway)
afford to not use the facilities they own to their fullest potential.
 
Steve
 
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