32 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
32 lines
1.6 KiB
Plaintext
NTE is a shared text editor designed for use on the Mbone. It is not a
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word processor (it is not clear that word processing is a useful task
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to share) and it is not a whiteboard - if you want a whiteboard, wb
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from LBL is a much better whiteboard.
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Using NTE can be very interactive - unless you lock a block of text,
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anyone else in your session can edit that text or delete it. This is
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intentional. Many people can (if they wish) edit the same document
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simultaneously. Many people can even edit the same block of text
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simultaneously, but if more than one person tries to edit the same
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line at one time, a conflict will occur, which results in only one of
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the changes being preserved.
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In general, it is up to you how you use NTE. You must develop human
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protocols to be able to collaborate, even in face-to-face meetings,
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and NTE is no exception. It will work well if you cooperate, and not
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if you don't. It only provides mimimal protection against disruptive
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participants.
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NTE tries hard to ensure you don't get confused by unexpected events
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caused by other users - it always tells you who did what if it can.
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However, it can't do the impossible, and sometimes network conditions
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may mean that a change arrives somewhat delayed. If this happens, NTE
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will reach a consistent result, but this may not be what you expected.
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Thus we recommend using NTE as part of a multimedia conference in
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which it is a support tool, rather than as the only channel of
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communication.
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NTE was originally written by Mark Handley as part of the MICE and
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MERCI projects. Further contributions have been made by Jim Knowler
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and Kristian Hasler as part of the MECCANO and PIPVIC projects.
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