variable-length data structures with specifications for their structure and semantics are Good Actually because "zero-cost abstractions" are propaganda created by compiler engineers who see their work as a structural precursor to obsoletion of human labor
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What
happened was Fido started to cluster [new Fido BBS's distribution
matching areal population density] which was hardly a surprise.
Because they started clustering where people are and of course
there are more people in cities. Well it became obvious that when
I make three phone calls to St. Louis to deliver mail to systems
that are all within local calls of each other that something's got
to be done. So I worked out a scheme and a syntax to do routing.
The idea was as you plunked down
more nodes the region host would have more and more nodes but as
soon as they got enough to get in a clump that little clump would
split off and form a net and the region host load would drop a
little bit. And that's pretty much how it went.
I did
not flag it as a bad decision. I don't remember it as such. I
might have, I might not have. Well what happened was they ended
up building a heirarchy.
The procedure part is what everybody sort of wants to have.
How we qualify what you have to do to be in the nodelist. And its
not completely arbitrary. There's good solid reasons for it. Even
if occasionally the reasons were wrong. The intent was to eliminate
errors and technical problems. And all of the requirements are
technical only and there's not much of a problem with the procedural
But basicly the procedural stuff is great. Its what should be in
the document and what it used to be 99%. Policy 4 is about 2/3
bullshit policy and 1/3 solid procedure.
Tom ah yeah eventually the idea is to eliminate the preceived need
for them. And um the nodelist is the center of it. That's the
center of their power. Like the ability to kick people out of it
like out of the net that he doesn't like. That's complete perversion
and corruption of what the hell supposed to be going on with that
stuff. Oh the original idea and this was original idea this is from
March of 85 was that an inverse proportional relationship thing.
Well you know those who were close had more power. Those who were
far away had less. And it was arranged that it was so. You know
an NC in San Francisco has no effect on a guy in St. Louis.
Absolutely none. You know all the posts are on paper anyway. If
an NC was a total jerk you threw him out. Not much problem to get
rid of him you just sort of stopped using him. You just make your
own list you mail out to everyone else ignore the idiot screaming
over there This guy is the NC signed supporting sysops. its a done
deed. And that happens more than once and its a fine thing.
What happened was we ended up with this backdoor heirarchy put in
essentially by the St. Louis guys but not out of maliciousness but
just sort of out of everybody figured that we just had to get stuff
done.
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