Re: free collaborative tools for low BW and losy connections

[Paul Nash <paul () nashnetworks ca>]

> Exactly. And there's no disconnect: usenet doesn't scale because each object is copied to all core nodes rather than 
> referenced, or copied-as-needed, or other.  This design of distributed messaging platform will eventually break as it 
> grows.  

Usenet scales far more gracefully than the current web.

Each node sends content to a few downstream nodes.  This makes it easy to scale; there is no central mega-node that 
gets overwhelmed, connectivity is to a nearby upstream where there is a reasonabe amount of bandwidth. Last time I ran 
a server, the sender could filter based on newsgroup or message size, so avoid swamping links.  Content was mostly text.

It is possible to use offline transmission — certain groups dumped onto mag tape and mailed, get pulled in at the 
destination.  BTDT.

More demand = more client nodes which in turn distribute to other nodes, so each node does not need to talk to a large 
number of others.

We did this about 30 years ago in South Africa; Rhodes university brought in most groups, I brought in alt.*.  We each 
distributed to a select number of nodes, who distributed again.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Usenet for the entire 
sub-continent (along with email) over 9600 bps dial-up circuits.

        paul