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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!masscomp!trb
From: trb@masscomp.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Gary Perlman leaves the net in disgust
Message-ID: <612@masscomp.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 12-Feb-85 19:25:04 EST
Article-I.D.: masscomp.612
Posted: Tue Feb 12 19:25:04 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 13-Feb-85 04:40:08 EST
References: <156@wanginst.UUCP> <356@scc.UUCP> <437@down.FUN> <44@daisy.UUCP> <2332@nsc.UUCP>
Reply-To: trb@masscomp.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum)
Distribution: net
Organization: Masscomp - Westford, MA
Lines: 57
Summary: 

In article <2332@nsc.UUCP> chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) writes:

> Sigh. As people like Peter Honeyman drive people like Gary Perlman off the
> network, the network will end up with greater and greater percentages of
> people like Peter Honeyman. I suggest that you all look carefully at the
> positive contributions of Gary Perlman and Peter Honeyman and decide for
> themselves whether or not this is to be considered forward progress.

> chuq (just because you are 'famous' doesn't give you the right to be a jerk)

I would kill for a net full of honeys...

Boy, I haven't participated in a USENET flame session since my days as
a dashing young star on this dashing young network...

Chuqui is using a bit of fallacy here by asking us to compare the
positive contributions of Honey and Gary.  The point is how you feel
about the interaction in question, not their general contributions.

But as long as Chuqui asks, I will answer, since both Honey and Gary
are too cool to answer for themselves.  (I count both among my pals.)

Gary was a hacker at UCSD for a long time and he put out some neato
software to do statistical hacking and some software of questionable
practicality to do menu research.  Gary wrote a goofy shar lately,
which apparently honey pounced him for.

Honey was the king of allegra at BTL for a long time.  He was
responsible for allowing allegra to be used as the uucp gateway
to the world, before ihnp4 or anyone else.  Honey was at the center of
the honeydanber uucp project, which finally produced the only usable
version of uucp.  (hdb is now available from AT&T, by the way, too bad
there was no fanfare and the prices are outrageous, more on that in
some netnews I will soon write for net.bugs.uucp etc.)  Honey recently
wrote a path disambiguator for mail, and has written many cute hacks
in his day.

Anyway.  Honey is a sometimes caustic individual.  Sometimes people
feel his wrist should be slapped.  Slap slap, honey, you brute.
Gary is evidently sensitive to a caustic nature such as honey's.  Pet,
pet, nice Gary, Honey is a meanie.

I still like both honey and Gary.  I think (personal opinion here)
that honey has contributed more in the way of useful software and
services to USENET from my perspective.  So what?  That's not the
point.  If honey jumped down Gary's throat, then the question to ask
is, did Gary deserve it and was honey too harsh?  I think Gary
deserved it, and I don't think honey was too harsh.  That's because
I'm a generally tolerant person, your mileage may differ.

I am most appalled by Gary's bleeding-heart attitude about leaving the
net, and the bleeding heart support he's been getting from the
sensitive-male netter of the 80's.  It's enough to make a tall man
drown in his own barf.

	Andy Tannenbaum   Masscomp  Westford, MA   (617) 692-6200 x274
	New England Nursing Home for Network Stars