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NOTICE: This version of the NSF Unidata web site (archive.unidata.ucar.edu) is no longer being updated.
Current content can be found at unidata.ucar.edu.
To learn about what's going on, see About the Archive Site.
Bill and Ugo, Thanks for the answer...it worked just as I needed it too. I haven't used/seen "NaN" since I last programmed in Fortran a few years back :) Bill, Why I prefer news servers over mail lists (my opinions, of course). Note, I'm not suggestion getting a new group added to usenet, but rather running a news server on the box that manages the mail list, for example: - Easier to manage, or, same flow of info without the cluttered inbox. To me, an empty inbox is a happy inbox (I'm in the minority there though, at least where I work!). I find it much more convenient to have everything stored in a news reader, searchable by title or body, as opposed to a folder on my computer or the web based archive. - On-demand information...this kind of goes with the above. Let's same I'm working on a project using VisAD. The mailing list is useful. Now I move on to something else. Do I unsubscribe until I have more questions? Have a filter set up to put everything into another folder? With a news server, any time I have a question I can connect, get all the traffic since the last time, do a quick search for related topics, and post if necessary. - Self-archiving. Don't expire the messages off the nntp server and you've got a complete archive! Eventually, the web-based list archive will grow too large (especially for those of us who still have slow (28.8) dial up at home) and require pruning or some other care. If I've already got 99% of the headers in a newsreader on my machine at home, I can find topics of interest more quickly than if I have to load a large HTML page for each search. - "Flexibility is the key to airpower" as they tell us in the Air Force. Let's say you wanted to break out the list by topic...visad.Newbie, visad.Developer, visad.visualization.questions, visad.visualization.examples, whatever. It's easier to do that with newsgroups than mailing lists. - All traffic instantly available...no mail delays. If everyone connects to the same nntp server to retrieve and post, everyone is instantly sync'ed...no delays. I don't know if this is a big advantage, but it would keep everyone on the same sheet of music. As far as the Java3D group example goes...I don't why that would be (inertia?). I do know that product-specific groups work great...they are my preferred way of getting help. I connect to servers (as I use the various products) run by Borland/Inprise, Symantec/Webgain, the php folks, Pair networks (web hosting), Wise (installers) and have found them to be truly valuable and convenient... Not that I'm complaining about the mailing list, mind you....it was just a thought! Thanks again, p ------------------------ Paul Gifford, Capt, USAF NOAA/NGDC 325 S Broadway EGC2 Boulder CO 80303 303-497-6556 voice 303-497-6513 fax Bill Hibbard wrote: > > Its a thought. On the other hand, the Java3D folks set up a > new group but their mailing list is still much more active than > their new group. What are the advatages of a news group? > > Cheers, > Bill > ---------------------------------------------------------- > Bill Hibbard, SSEC, 1225 W. Dayton St., Madison, WI 53706 > hibbard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 608-263-4427 fax: 608-263-6738 > http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/vis.html
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