Twin Peaks Usenet Archive

Subject: Re: How does Re: work?
From: krs@uts.amdahl.com (Kris Stephens [Hail Eris!])
Date: 1991-01-17, 09:29
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Reply-to: krs@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Kris Stephens [Hail Eris!])

In article <91016.130810LJL4@psuvm.psu.edu> LJL4@psuvm.psu.edu (Lisa Laidlaw) writes:
> >Would someone explain to me how it could be that I receive posts that
> >are titled as replys to other titles, when I don't get the original?
> >[...]
> >
> >Do you know what I mean?  Not a great explanation, but is it possible
> >that I don't get all posts about TP?  Why might that happen?
> >
> >TX.  Lisa

Well, it works like this...  The netnews is forwarded from site-
to-site based on when an article arrived at a particular site,
what neighbor sites it "feeds", and the subscription and delivery
methods in place between each site.  (Sometimes it amazes me that
this network works at all -- there's no centralized control.)

One special way to set up a subscription is to feed locally-
written articles (that is, written by a user on "this system")
to a neighbor (or neighbors) and not forward any other articles,
because those neighbors are too well-connected to need the whole
shebang.  What happens, then, is this:

	site_A forwards article 1 to site_B (along with
	a whole batch)

	site_B!reader sees and follows-up to article 1,
	making article 2, which is on a local feed to
	from site_B to site_C.

	Contact is made fairly quickly between site_B and
	site_C, delivering the (local from site_B) article
	2 (the followup), but nothing else from the newsgroup,
	including article 1.

	site_C batches the followup to site_D (yours), but
	has never seen article 1 because it hasn't yet made
	contact with site_A.  site_C and site_A do make
	contact, say an hour later, and site_C acquires
	article 1, but that's long after it has already
	forwared the followup.

Thus, you'll get the followup from site_B!user without seeing
the original article until later.

What's this got to do with Pin Tweaks?  Not much, but BOB would
probably like the seeming disjunction.

...Kris
-- Kristopher Stephens, | (408-746-6047) | krs@uts.amdahl.com | KC6DFS Amdahl Corporation | | | [The opinions expressed above are mine, solely, and do not ] [necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Amdahl Corp. ]