Subj : Re: a sync solution for fidonet
To   : August Abolins
From : Tony Langdon
Date : Sun Apr 07 2019 08:48 am

-=> On 04-05-19 20:15, August Abolins wrote to Tony Langdon <=-

 AA> If an IMAP-like solution could work with fidonet, what's the problem
 AA> with being "tied to the network"?   I guess I don't catch your meaning.

That means that the front end you're using is interacting with the back end
messagebase over the network (Internet usually) in real time.  This has 2
implications for me:

1.  It adds lots of minute delays (fractions of a second to seconds) between
each message which really slow down message reading.  It's much faster to
access a cached copy locally.  QWK works so well for me, because I'm readong
from a local message store.  Those little delays add up dramatically when
flipping through hundreds of messages.  Many web forums are even worse, with
post (or thread) loading delays as long as tens of seconds.

2.  For mobile use, the assumption that the network is always available is
certainly not true, once you head out of town here and off the major highways. 
A good messaging interface should be able to cope with connectivity as
intermittent as "wifi hopping" (again, QWK is ideally suited here), or
connectivity that randomly comes and goes as one moves between cells (QWK
doesn't always handle this situation as well - dropouts during transfers are
always an issue).


 TL> The modern reality is we are highly mobile nowadays, and some of us do
 TL> swap devices fery frequently, depending on needs at the time.

 AA> Maybe a mock demo would help describe your vision.

Who's going to write that?  I'm not a coder. :(  But yes, a demo would be good.


.... When in doubt, predict that the trend will continue.
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