Sound Code on Bitnet

[JSOTTILE%LOYVAX.BITNET at cunyvm.cuny.edu]

From: ateng!chip at uunet.UU.NET (Chip Salzenberg)


>If there is so much "very sound" code on BITNET, why the heck can't the
>BITNET people fix their $&^* mailers?!
>---
>Chip Salzenberg                 UUCP: "{codas,uunet}!ateng!chip"
>A T Engineering                 My employer's opinions are a trade secret.
>       "Anything that works is better than anything that doesn't."
>

well, Bitnet is an IBM network (EDCDIC) and is not made up solely of VAX
nodes.  Most of the mailers that I have come in contact with are on IBM
machines.  VAX has to conform to IBM's RSCS standards.  RSCS mailers assume
that domain names have an alpha-numeric as their node name, so nodes like
16bits won't parse.  If you ask me, it was a poor design consideration.

Gateways between networks use these mailers and this makes the gateway
between ARPA and BITNET, etc, only about 95% correct.  Also, since BITNET
is not take as seriously as ARPAnet (BITNET is between colleges and
universities) and it does show.  That is not to say that BITNET is not a
network to be considered, but it is not so complex as ARPA, etc.

- john sottile
(jsottile at loyvax.bitnet)

* Cross Posted to Unix Wizards Discussion