On Wed,  19 Jun  1996 18:27:54 -0400  Craig A  Summerhill <[log in to unmask]>
said:
 
>About two years  ago (around the time  CREN was trying to  decide how to
>find and license  a unix product for  its members -- a  product Eric had
>repeatedly said  there was no need  for due presumably to  the bad taste
>unix leaves in his mouth),
 
Excuse me,  but could you please  get your facts straight?  About 2 years
ago was around  June 94, yes? Well,  I don't know where you  were in June
94, but  that's when LISTSERV for  unix was *released*. In  August 93, ie
about THREE years ago, L-Soft  formally released a paper announcing plans
to port LISTSERV  to unix. This wasn't anything new  really and it sounds
like you're talking about FOUR or more  years ago, at which time CREN was
NOT looking for a way to license a unix product for its members. The hard
reality is that when CREN was looking for a unix product for its members,
L-Soft  had official  plans  to port  LISTSERV to  unix  with a  concrete
schedule and business plan, and furthermore  these plans had been out for
several months.
 
>But  even then,  I never  saw LISTPROC  system admins  or list  managers
>taking the kind of cheap shots at the LISTSERV product
 
Well, I have been subscribed to this list myself and I must say that I am
starting to  wonder if  we are from  the same planet.  There has  been no
shortage of cheap  shots aimed either at LISTSERV or  at me. I distinctly
recall being  called "insecure  idiot" and "punch  card for  brains" (and
other derivatives) on  repeated occasions. The entire  repertoire of lame
mainframe jokes was  put to good use. The porting  technique I had chosen
for LISTSERV  (and thanks to  which, to  date, LISTSERV still  supports a
larger  number of  unixes  than the  commercial  ListProc) was  ridiculed
abundantly. A lot  of misinformation was posted about  LISTSERV by people
who, like you, claimed that they  were setting the record straight, and I
would then correct the inaccuracies and  the cheap shots would begin. No,
sorry, where have you been?
 
>And Eric, while you don't take  those kind of shots at LISTPROC yourself
>(at least not publicly), you certainly  do nothing to discourage them do
>you?
 
And *that*, of course, does not qualify  as a cheap shot? :-) To tell you
the truth, Craig, I don't think  highly of either ListProc or its author.
But even  if I did,  I don't see  any reason why  I should try  to police
people into being nice  to them, not unless the list  got out of control,
as is starting to  be the case now. The victims are  old enough to defend
themselves and, if I remember correctly, they aren't shy either.
 
>But  I  could sure  do  without  the  ego-driven LISTSERV  vs.  LISTPROC
>garbage.
 
So could I and,  I am sure, the majority of people  who are subscribed to
this list  to talk about the  topic of the list,  namely, *LISTSERV*, not
what CREN  decided 2 years ago  or whether the people  who write ListProc
are nice guys  or jerks. So, I  would be grateful if you  could take your
venting to private mail. Thank you.
 
  Eric