NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/ott/general/1699

Text File | 1993-01-28 | 2.6 KB | 47 lines

Newsgroups: ott.general
Path: sparky!uunet!uunet.ca!infotax!dave
From: [e-mail] (David Blackwood)
Subject: Re: Freenet & Datapac
Organization: Revenue Canada, Taxation; Office Communications Division
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 12:33:11 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <colinm.727837252@cunews> <[e-mail]> <colinm.727993956@cunews>
Lines: 36

In article <colinm.727993956@cunews> [e-mail] (Colin McFadyen) writes:
>As stated many times before, the 2400 bps modems here at CU don't do
>any type of compression or error correction.  That's why it has to
>be disabled on the originating modem.  Part of the user education
>of connecting to FreeNet will have to include telling the user not
>to use compression as well as 2400 8,N,1.  I know you think that
>this is a big deal and that users won't understand, but give them
>some credit, it's really not that difficult.

I have a modem that supports both data compression and error correction.
I can successfully connect to virtually any modem on the market at any
speed that it supports from 300 bps on up without having to intentionally
disable these two features.  Every other modem except the Gandalfs ignore
any attempt to negotiate unsupported features and wait for the correct
tones to sync up at a speed, etc. that they do support.  The Gandalf
modems simply drop carrier whenever a calling modems attempts to
do this.  To use a modem that reacts differently from most other modems
on the market on a service that is intended to attract a broad range of
users including those not technically inclined, is unreasonable.  To
expect technically knowledgeable people to know how to fix this (and to
correctly reset their modems afterward) may be acceptable but is
certainly unnecessary.  The FreeNet cannot be in the business of
educating people in the use of technology, we don't have the resources.
We have to make it so simple and reliable that people don't need that
level of education.  We also don't want to be in the business of
providing paper information on how to use an electronic service, and we
can't provide electronic information if people can't connect to us
without advance knowledge and training.

The library doesn't teach people how to read, but they do provide a
range of reading material to satisfy all levels of reading ability.
--
D. J. Blackwood            Room 1139, 400 Cumberland Street
Systems Integration Manager    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  K1A 0L8
Office Communications Division    voice: [phone], fax: [phone]
Revenue Canada, Taxation    email: uunet.ca!revcan!dave, [e-mail]