[net.news.adm] Distribution bug?

reid@Glacier.ARPA (01/06/85)

My /usr/lib/news/errlog shows this:

Jan  5 07:04	<69@vice.UUCP>	inews: Unknown newsgroup 'tek.general' removed
Jan  5 07:04	<69@vice.UUCP>	inews: Unknown newsgroup 'or.general' removed
Jan  5 20:44	<682@pyuxqq.UUCP>	inews: Unknown newsgroup 'nj.wanted' removed

Here are the article headers, each prefixed by its history entry. Note that
"tek.general", "or.general", and "nj.wanted" are not mentioned anywhere in
the articles.

2 questions:
    (1) How did these messages get to Glacier in the first place? Our feed
at decwrl does not feed us any "tek" , "or", or "nj" groups.
    (2) Why did not these unusual distributions show up in the article
itself, but only in the error log?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
<69@vice.UUCP>	5 Jan 85 15:04:21 GMT	net.rec.ski/94 
Relay-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site Glacier.ARPA
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 (Tek) 9/28/84 based on 9/17/84; site vice.UUCP
Path: Glacier!decwrl!decvax!tektronix!tekcrl!vice!shauns
From: shauns@vice.UUCP (Shaun Simpkins)
Newsgroups: net.rec.ski
Subject: Novice X-C Skiers attention!
Message-ID: <69@vice.UUCP>
Date: 5 Jan 85 05:49:03 GMT
Date-Received: 5 Jan 85 15:04:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 63


<682@pyuxqq.UUCP>	Jan  5 20:44	net.wanted/644 
Relay-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site Glacier.ARPA
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site pyuxqq.UUCP
Path: Glacier!decwrl!decvax!harpo!whuxlm!whuxl!houxm!mhuxj!mhuxr!ulysses!gamma!pyuxww!pyuxqq!pat
From: pat@pyuxqq.UUCP (Pat M. Iurilli)
Newsgroups: net.wanted
Subject: Old Lionel Trains Wanted
Message-ID: <682@pyuxqq.UUCP>
Date: 5 Jan 85 14:35:16 GMT
Date-Received: 6 Jan 85 04:44:28 GMT
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 5
-- 
	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA

chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuqui Q. Koala) (01/07/85)

 
>My /usr/lib/news/errlog shows this:
>
>Jan  5 07:04	<69@vice.UUCP>	inews: Unknown newsgroup 'tek.general' removed
>Jan  5 07:04	<69@vice.UUCP>	inews: Unknown newsgroup 'or.general' removed
>Jan  5 20:44	<682@pyuxqq.UUCP>	inews: Unknown newsgroup 'nj.wanted' removed
>
>Here are the article headers, each prefixed by its history entry. Note that
>"tek.general", "or.general", and "nj.wanted" are not mentioned anywhere in
>the articles.
>
>2 questions:
>    (1) How did these messages get to Glacier in the first place? Our feed
>at decwrl does not feed us any "tek" , "or", or "nj" groups.
>    (2) Why did not these unusual distributions show up in the article
>itself, but only in the error log?

(1) in releases prior to 2.10.2 inews does not strip unsupported newsgroups
from the headers, so it is possible to see a Newsgroup line such as
"net.wanted,nj.wanted" passed around california (because the existence of
'net' overrides the existence of 'nj' and forces the wider distribution).
Hence, you'll see articles from places such as or, tek, or nj even though
you don't get them directly because they tag along on the net groups.

(2) In release 2.10.2, inews becomes smart enough that any newsgroup it
doesn't know about isn't passed along to the next site, and isn't stored.
Your site is stripping the 'nj.wanted' so the next site doesn't need to
bother with it. By the time you see the article, it has been fixed, so the
only place the bad newsgroup will show up is the error log. When  the sites
upstream of you upgrade and start stripping (or, God forbid, the world
converts to a decent version of news like 2.10.2) you'll stop seeing the
error messages as well.

chuq
-- 
From the ministry of silly talks:		Chuq Von Rospach
{allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui  nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA

Now look here Mister "I'm not just a word processor"...