Jan Murphy wrote in a message to Bill Shaughnessy:
JM> There are several other factors you haven't considered.
JM> 1) serial cards (w/external modems) 2) phone lines
JM> 3) fossils
JM> 4) modem initializations and setups
JM> 5) weird BIOS problems 6) ? Two sysops can both be running
JM> barefoot 1.73a setups and yet the systems will not be
JM> exactly alike.
 >         In summary Willie, Michele asked a question concerning
 > the possible existence of two different versions of OPUS
 > 1.73a.  She has been a steady contributor to this echo,
 > in fact the major contributor for some time.  She obviously
 > knows OPUS quite well, and if she asks the question she
 > did, there has to be a reason for it.  I responded to her
 > question because, based on my own experience, I have fact
 > based reasons to suspect the existence of two versions of
 > OPUS 1.73a.  Do you have a factual basis on which to dispute
 > this?
Jan:
     Thanks for adding to the list of items to be considered when faced with 
a problem of connectivity between a few systems.  For the record, the many 
sources of trouble were considered, and discarded as being inappropriate 
under the circumstances.  If you carefully read, or reread my very recent 
response to Mel Pheasant, you will see what I mean.
     What has happened here is that I presented a manifestation of a problem, 
and some individuals have attempted to convert that manifestation to the 
problem itself.  The next-to-last sentence in the quotation immediately 
preceding reads in part as follows:
        "..based on my own experience, I have fact based reasons to suspect 
the existence of two versions of OPUS 1.73a....."
     That statement is the true problem.  Connectivity is only one of two 
manifestations that I used as justification.  The connectivity problem, which 
by the way is close to being resolved, is not the usual connectivity problem 
that we all face from time to time.  The problem in this instance was not the 
failure to connect system to system, but rather why two isolated OPUS systems 
would connect to and exchange mail with a definitely incompatible PCBoard 
system.
JM> I don't mean to put down Michele in any way, as she has
JM> obviously worked quite hard at setting up her Opus system. 
JM> However, unless my time sense has gone walkabout, she's
JM> still a fairly 'young' Opus sysop.  -- On the other hand,
JM> she may feel quite 'grizzled' by now. 
     Jan, when one talks in terms of seniority, it is very important to 
understand just what seniority means.  There are, for example, two entirely 
different ways in which to evaluate 20 years of experience.  On the one hand, 
it could be comprised of 1 year's experience repeated 20 times.  On the other 
hand, it could be comprised of 20 years of experience, with each individual 
year being distinctly different than the other 19.
JM> We have a similar case here where we can connect with two
JM> 'identical' versions of D'Bridge and yet only one of them
JM> can dump off mail to us.  By your logic, the 'problem' has
JM> to be with one of the D'Broke systems since our Opus is the
JM> same each way.  The fact of the matter is that we haven't
JM> had the time and wherewithal to track down what the problem
JM> is, since we haven't had a copy of D'bridge ourselves to run
JM> extensive tests with.
     To the extent that connectivity of systems is a problem, there might be 
a significant difference here.  In my case, we have (had) PCBoard, which is a 
commercial product and also subject to tightly controlled distribution.  When 
it got around to William Wilson attempting to connect to and exchange mail 
with my PCBoard system, we already knew there was a very serious connectivity 
problem between PCBoard and OPUS (which made PCBoard an OPUS problem), and 
one which had considerable exposition in this echo.  D'Bridge was well before 
my time as a sysop, so I don't know if it was/is the same kind of a problem.
JM> I agree that there's a problem, but without chasing down all
JM> the other variables, it's premature to speculate about weird
JM> flavors of Opus. 
     I don't see any problem with weird flavors of OPUS, unless they affect a 
sysop directly.  If you are not having any difficulty, there is no need to 
worry about the flavor you're running.  If you are having problems, the 
flavor really doesn't matter as long as you are aware of the fact that what 
is working for sysop John Doe might not work for you. If a sysop is not aware 
of the strong possibility of several flavors, then he does have a very real 
problem.
                   Bill
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