On Thu, 4 Jan 2001 10:48:47 +0000 (GMT) Philip Hazel wrote:
> I have been giving some thought to the choice between the "ACL" and
> "AND/OR" syntax for checking incoming recipients. The following seem to
> me to be relevant to the choice:
> 1. Which will be easier for the beginner? (Experienced people will cope
> either way.)
it is probably more natural for the genuine beginner to be
confronted to the more classic AND and OR structure, since this
kind of structure has a more widespread usage as the ACL kind
(to my knowledge at least).
> 2. Is one easier to implement than the other? Would one be faster than
> the other?
don't know :-)
> 3. Does one offer more or better facilities than the other?
This is a difficult question. But as soon as the config gets
a little more complex, the AND and OR kind of structure gets
very difficult to maintain, legibility is difficult, and is
prone to errors. I think the ACL structure, maybe not as
'natural' as the other one, reveals its strengths in those
more complex configs: better legibility and maintenance.
> 4. Is there overwhelming user support for one or the other?
mmhhh... from the public reactions on this list, ACL got
better marks so far :-)
My vote for ACL.
(...)
> My current feeling is that the "ACL" offers significant advantages.
> (Probably, it should be called a "recipient control list".)
mmhh... not sure if this is a good idea, it also controls
the senders, doesn't it? so senders-recipient control list is
not good either... let's keep it at ACL, since after all
it does exactly control the access (in a broad sense).
> --
> Philip Hazel University of Cambridge Computing Service,
> ph10@??? Cambridge, England. Phone: +44 1223 334714.
Bernard Stern, SWITCH
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