From: Nick Boalch (n.g.boalch@durham.ac.uk)
Date: Thu Dec 18 2003 - 15:47:09 CST
In the majority of cases I would support the inclusion of most of the GNKSA
items you flag at some point in USEAGE -- mostly in our putative section 3.5.
Below I refer to some items that I feel particularly strongly about, for
whatever reeason!
(Incidentally, I note some of the minor changes you've reported making to the
draft over the last couple of weeks impact on some of the sections flagged as
differing from GNKSA. If we're going to ge the GNKSA guy involved, it might be
helpful to have a completely up-to-date draft online?)
Charles Lindsey wrote:
[Quoting]
>> As a direct counterpart to this requirement, the software SHOULD offer
>> the user some means of selecting exactly which part of a Usenet posting
>> she wishes to followup to, and quote only that part initially. (A
>> special case of this is when a user wishes to react to what's in a
>> signature.)
>
> NEEDED in 3.5.
I would strongly support adding this -- it seems to me to be basic UI
functionality for an NUA.
>> It MUST allow the user to change the Subject at any
>> time while editing the main text of the article (see #4 above).
>
> Change of Subject NEEDS to be covered in 3.5.
Once again, important basic functionality.
>> If feasible, the software SHOULD try to guarantee that this address
>> actually belongs to the person using the software, and actually accepts
>> e-mail.
>
> But this is much more dubious in these days of munged addresses. USEAGE
> 3.1.1.2 tries to steer a middle course.
I would oppose alterations to that section, which I think deals with the whole
issue appropriately as it currently stands.
>> Any software that posts news SHOULD provide a command that the user can
>> invoke to cancel her own articles. It SHOULD also provide the option to
>> supersede the user's own articles. The software MUST guarantee that
>> the user cannot cancel or supersede other people's articles, as far as
>> possible.
>
> This NEEDS to be covered in 3.5.
While I would support the inclusion of the prescription that a posting agent
should allow users to cancel/supersede their articles, I strongly oppose
saying that software MUST NOT allow the user to cancel/supersede articles
posted by others -- simply because it's an essential (if at times unsavoury)
part of newsgroup moderation.
>>Note: So-called `online' newsreaders usually (but not necessarily)
>> post synchronously, while a number so-called `offline' newsreading
>> methods (especially the scheduled, batch-oriented ones) usually
>> employ asynchronous posting. However, offline newsreaders using
>> NNTP for news transport usually post synchronously, i.e. are in
>> direct interaction with the newsserver, hence get immediate
>> results, when posting.
>
> Eh? How can an "offline newsreader" be in "direct interaction with the
> newsserver"?
I suppose it means newsreaders intended to be used predominantly offline that
go online and interact with a server directly when instructed rather than
passing messages to some other posting agent. It does seem unclear.
>>Posting software MUST by default post only legible usenet articles. In
>>a different formulation: it MUST NOT encode or encrypt articles, unless
>>by explicit user demand. Hence, it MUST NOT even have the option to
>>encode or encrypt by default. Whenever some encoding/encryption will be
>>used, clear feedback showing that it's in effect MUST be provided to the
>>user, so she is permanently reminded of the fact that her article will
>>not be posted as composed. The worst DO NOT is the combination of
>>allowing default encoding without even taking the trouble of telling
>>(warning) the user about it.
>
> I think GNKSA needs to distinguish between encoding and encryption here.
Yes, I agree. I don't think places where the GNKSA is clearly confused should
necessitate alterations in our drafts.
Regards,
N.
-- Nick Boalch, Research Student School of Modern European Languages Tel: +44 (0) 191 334 5780 University of Durham Fax: +44 (0) 191 334 5770 New Elvet, Durham DH1 3JT, UK WWW: http://nick.frejol.org/