[NNTP] Article number wording

[Ken Murchison]

There haven't been any direct responses to my proposed text change, so 
I'll repeat a variation of it here.  IMO, this doesn't break existing 
implementations, but urges that they switch over to using 64-bits.  When 
some server does eventually split back >32-bit article numbers, a 32-bit 
client is no worse off than if the server rolled over, since there is no 
documented standard for handling roll over.  The bottom line is that we 
won't see article numbers exceed 32-bits for several years, so starting 
the 64-bit ball rolling now seems like a safe, wise, and prudent move.


     arrive earlier.  The server SHOULD allocate the next sequential
     unused number to each new article.

-   Article numbers MUST lie between 1 and 4,294,967,295 inclusive.  The
-   client and server MAY use leading zeroes in specifying article
-   numbers, but MUST NOT use more than 16 digits.  In some situations,
-   the value zero replaces an article number to show some special
-   situation.
+   Article numbers MUST be positive integers.  Clients and servers
+   MUST support article numbers up to, and including 4,294,967,295
+   (2^32 - 1).  However, due to the exponential growth of Netnews
+   traffic, it is RECOMMENDED that clients and servers support article
+   numbers up to, and including 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (2^64 - 1).
+   The client and server MAY use leading zeroes in specifying article
+   numbers.  In some situations, the value zero replaces an article
+   number to show some special situation.

  6.1.  Group and article selection


-- 
Kenneth Murchison     Oceana Matrix Ltd.
Software Engineer     21 Princeton Place
716-662-8973 x26      Orchard Park, NY 14127
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