sources-request@mirror.UUCP (10/29/86)
Submitted by: seismo!rick (Rick Adams) Mod.sources: Volume 7, Issue 45 Archive-name: 2.11news/Part05 # To extract, sh this file # # news 2.11 documentation File 3 of 6 # if test ! -d doc then mkdir doc fi echo x - doc/howto.mn 1>&2 sed 's/.//' >doc/howto.mn <<'*-*-END-of-doc/howto.mn-*-*' -.\" Modified 9/29/85 by Matt Bishop (mab@riacs.arpa) -.\" to work with the TROFF news document macros. -.ds h0 "How to Read the Network News -.ds h1 -.ds h2 % -.ds f0 "\*(vr -.ds f1 -.ds f2 "September 22, 1986 -.de Qp \" quoted command as hanging char -.lp "\\f3\\$1\\f1" \\$2 -.. -.de Qc \" quoted command as hanging string -.lp "\\f3<\\s-2\\$1\\s0>\\f1" \\$2 -.. -.de Op \" option as hanging string -.lp "\\f3\\$1\\f1" \\$2 -.. -.mt -How to Read the Network News -.au -Mark R. Horton -.ai -AT&T Bell Laboratories -Columbus, OH 43213 -.au -Revised by Rick Adams for 2.11 -.bt -.hu -What is the Network News? -.pg -USENET (Users' Network) -is a bulletin board shared among many -computer systems around the world. -USENET is a logical network, -sitting on top of several physical networks, -including -.i UUCP , -.i BLICN , -.i BERKNET , -.i X.25 , -and the -.i ARPANET . -Sites on USENET include many universities, -private companies, and research organizations. -Most of the members of USENET are either -university computer science departments -or part of AT&T. -Currently, there are over 50,000 participants at over 2,000 USENET sites in -the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and Korea with more joining every day. -Most are running the -.ux -operating system. -.pg -The network news, -or simply -.i netnews , -is the set of programs that provide access to the news -and transfer it from one machine to the next. -Netnews was originally written at Duke University -and has been modified extensively by the University -of California at Berkeley and others. -Netnews allows articles to be posted for limited or very wide distribution. -This document contains a list of newsgroups -that were active at the time the document was written. -It exists -to assist you in determining which newsgroups you may -want to subscribe to. -When creating a new article, -the level of distribution can be controlled -by use of the -.cf Distribution -field. -This will prevent notices of apartments for rent in New Jersey -being broadcast to California -(or even Europe). -.pg -Any user can post an article, -which will be sent out to the network -to be read by persons interested in that topic. -You can specify which topics are of interest to you by putting them in a -.i "subscription list" . -Then, -whenever you ask to read news, -the news reading program will present all unread articles of interest. -There are also facilities for browsing through old news, -posting follow-up articles, -and sending direct electronic mail replies to the author of an article. -.pg -This paper is a tutorial, -aimed at the user who wants to read and possibly post news. -The system administrator who must install the software -should see the companion document -.i "USENET Version B Installation" . -.hu -Why USENET? -.pg -USENET is useful in a number of ways. -Someone wishing to announce a new program or product can reach a wide audience. -A user can ask \*(lqDoes anyone have an -.i x ?\*(rq -and will usually get several responses within a day or two. -Bug reports and their fixes can be made quickly available -without the usual overhead of sending out mass mailings. -Discussions involving many people at different locations -can take place without having to get everyone together. -.pg -Another facility with similar capabilities to -.i netnews -is the -.i "electronic mailing list" . -A mailing list is a collection of electronic mailing addresses of users -who are interested in a particular topic. -By sending electronic mail to the list, -all users on the list receive a copy of the article. -While the mailing list facility is quite useful, -USENET offers a number of advantages not present in mailing lists. -Getting yourself on a mailing list is not always easy. -You have to figure out who maintains the list and ask them to put you on it. -Often these people are out of town or busy, -and don't put you on the list for several days. -Sometimes you have to send mail to the entire mailing list, -hoping that one of the readers will tell you who maintains the list. -Once you are on the list, -you often find yourself in the middle of a discussion. -Netnews keeps old articles around until they expire (usually about two weeks) -so you can browse through old news to catch up on what you missed. -Similarly, -referring to an old article is easy, -without having to keep a personal file of all old mail to the list. -.pg -Another advantage is appreciated by the other users of the system. -There is less overhead in having only one copy of each message -sent to each machine, -rather than having separate copies sent -to each of several users on the same machine. -This cuts down on computer time to process the messages, -and on-line costs for telephone calls to transfer messages -from one machine to another (when phone lines are used). -Another advantage is in the disk space consumed. -When only one message is sent to each system, -only one copy of the message is kept on disk. -In a mailing list environment, -each user has a copy in a mailbox. -Of course, if the mailing list is small enough the overhead is less -than an international newsgroup. -.hu -How do I Read News? -.pg -In the USENET jargon, -interest topics are called -.i newsgroups . -A newsgroup list appears in a later section, -current as this paper was written. -You have your own -.i "subscription list" -of newsgroups to which you are said to -.i subscribe . -.pg -The simplest way to read news is to type the command: -.sd c -readnews -.ed -Other possibilities include: a full-screen-oriented news reading program, -.i vnews (1), -(described in the Appendix,) the -.i notesfile -system, which can also be used for news (described in a separate paper,) -and -.i rn , -a very popular news reading program distributed separately from this package. -Each newsgroup to which you subscribe will be presented, -one article at a time. -As each article is presented, -you will be shown the -.i header -(containing the name of the author, -the subject, -and the length of the article) -and you will be asked if you want more. -There are a number of possible choices you can make at this point. -The three most common -.qp y , ( -.qp n , -and -.qp q ) -are suggested by the program. -(To see a complete list of possible responses, -type -.qp ? -for help.) -You can type -.qp y -for \*(lqyes\*(rq -(or simply hit -.qc RETURN ) -and the rest of the message will be displayed. -(If the message is long, -it may stop before it runs off the top of the screen. -Type -.qc SPACE -or -.qc RETURN -to see more of the message. -Another choice you can make is -.qp n -for \*(lqno\*(rq. -This means you are not interested in the message \- -it will not be offered to you again. -A third option is -.qp q -for \*(lqquit\*(rq. -This causes a record to be made of which articles you read -(or refused) -and you will exit netnews. -When you have read all the news, -this happens automatically. -The -.qp q -command is mainly useful if you are in a hurry -and don't have time to read all the news right now. -(Many users put a -.i readnews (1) -or -.i checknews (1) -command in their -.i .profile -or -.i .login -files so that they will see new news each time they log in.) -.pg -If you are reading news for the first time, -you may find yourself swamped by the volume of unread news, -especially if the default subscription is -.ng all . -Don't let this bother you. -If you are getting newsgroups in which you have no interest, -you can change your subscription list -(see below). -Also, -bear in mind that what you see -is probably at least two weeks' accumulation of news. -If you want to just get rid of all old news and start anew, -type -.sd c -readnews \-K \-n all -.ed -which will throw away all old news, -recording that you have seen it all. -Or, -you can use the -.qp K -command to mark all articles in the current newsgroup as read. -.pg -Once you catch up with (or ignore) all the old news, -the news will come in daily at a more manageable rate. -(If the daily rate is still too much -you may wish to unsubscribe to some of the higher volume, less useful newsgroups.) -Finally, -note that while an article is printing, -you can hit -your interrupt character -(usually -.qc CONTROL-C -or -.qc DELETE ), -which will throw away the rest of the article. -.pg -Among the other commands you can type after seeing the header -of an article are: -.Qp x 13 -Exit -.i readnews . -This is different from -.qp q -in that the -.qp q -command -will update the record of which articles you have read, -but -.qp x -will pretend you never started -.i readnews . -.Qp N 13 -Go on to the next newsgroup. -The remaining articles in the current newsgroup are considered -.i unread , -and will be offered to you again the next time you read news. -.Qp "s \f2file\fP" 13 -The article is saved in a disk file with the given name. -In practice, -what usually happens is that an article is printed, -and then -.i readnews -goes on to print the header of the next article -before you get a chance to type anything. -So you usually want to write out the -.i previous -message -(the last one you have read in full); -in this case, -use the form -.qp s\- -.i filename . -.Qp e 13 -Erase the memory of having seen this article. -It will be offered to you again next time, -as though you had never seen it. -The variation -.qp e\- -(erase memory of the previously read article instead of -the current article) is useful for checking follow-ups to see -if anyone has already said what you wanted to say. -.Qp r 13 -Reply to the author of the message. -You will be placed in the editor, -with a set of headers derived from the message you are replying to. -Type in your message after the blank line. -If you wish to edit the header list -to add more recipients or send carbon copies, -for instance, -you can edit the header lines. -Anyone listed on a line beginning with -.hf To -or -.hf Cc -will receive a copy of your reply. -Note that the path used to receive a piece of news may not be the fastest -way to reply by mail. If speed is important and you know a faster way, -edit it in place of what the reply command supplied. -A mail command will then be started up, -addressed to the persons listed in the header. -You are then returned to -.i readnews . -The case -.qp r\- -is also useful to reply to the previous message. -Another variation on this is -.qp rd\- -which puts you in -.b $MAILER -(or -.i mail (1) -by default) -to type in your reply directly. -.Qp f 13 -Post a follow-up message to the same newsgroup. -This posts an article on this newsgroup -with the same title as the original article. -Use common sense when posting follow-ups. (Read Matt Bishop's paper -\*(lqHow to use USENET Effectively\*(rq for extended discussion of when -and when not to post -- many follow-up articles should have just been replies.) -You will be placed in the editor. Enter your message and exit. -The case -.qp f\- -is also useful to follow up the previous message. -In each case, -the editor you are placed in will be -.i vi (1) -unless you set -.b EDITOR -(in your environment) to some other editor. -You should enter the text of the follow-up after the blank line. -.Qp + 13 -The article is skipped for now. -The next time you read news, -you will be offered this article again. -.Qp \- 13 -Go back to the previous article. -This toggles, -so that two -.qp \- 's -get you the current article. -.Qp b 13 -Back up one article in the current group. -This is not necessarily the previous article. -.Qp U 13 -Unsubscribe from this newsgroup. -Your -.i \&.newsrc (5) -file will be edited to change the -.qp : -for that newsgroup to an -.qp ! -preventing you from being shown that newsgroup again. -.Qp ? 13 -If you type any unrecognized command, -a summary of valid commands will be printed. -.hu -Changing your Subscription List -.pg -If you take no special action you will subscribe to a default subscription list. -This default varies locally. -To find out your local default, -type -.sd c -readnews \-s -.ed -Typically this list will include all newsgroups ending in \*(lqgeneral\*(rq -or \*(lqannounce\*(rq, -such as -.ng general , -and -.ng news.announce . -(As distributed, -the default is -.ng general\f1,\fPall.announce . -Another popular default is -.ng all .) -You can change this by creating a file in your home directory named -.i .newsrc -which contains as its first line a line of the form: -.sd c -options \-n newsgroup,newsgroup,newsgroup ... -.ed -If your lines get too long, -you can continue them on subsequent lines -by beginning those lines with a space. -(The netnews system will put extra lines in this file -to record which articles you have read. -You should ignore these lines unless you want to edit them.) -For example, -if you are creating a subscription list for the first time, -and have already read news, -you will find some text already in your -.i .newsrc -file, -recording which articles you have read. -You should put your -.b options -line before the first line of the file.) -Thus, -.sd c -options \-n general,news.announce,comp.human-nets -.ed -will subscribe to those three newsgroups. -.pg -An -.qp ! -can be used to exclude certain newsgroups and the word -.ng all -can be used as a wild card, -representing any newsgroup. -You can also use -.ng all -as a prefix or suffix to match a class of newsgroups. -For example, -.sd c -options \-n all,!talk,!rec.humor,!all.unix -.ed -will result in a subscription to all newsgroups except for \*(lqtalk\*(rq group, -jokes, -and any -.ux -information. -The metacharacter -.qp . -is like -.qp / -to the shell, -and -.ng all -is like -.qp * . -.pg -A simpler way to subscribe to news is to subscribe to -.ng all , -and then use the -.qp U -.i readnews -command to unsubscribe to newsgroups you don't want to read. -This way you will see new newsgroups that are created, -get a chance to evaluate them, -and then unsubscribe to those that don't interest you. -.pg -The order of the newsgroups in your -.i .newsrc -(after the options line) -is the order in which newsgroups will be shown. -If you want something other than the default, -move the lines around until you are satisfied with the order. -Be careful to keep the options line as the first line in the file. -.hu -Submitting Articles -.pg -To submit a new news article type -.sd c -postnews -.ed -First, -it will ask you if this is a follow-up to an article. -Answer -.b yes -or -.b no . -If -.b yes , -you really should have done an -.qp f -from -.i readnews , -but it will try and figure out which article you are following up to. -It will ask for the newsgroup in which you read the article -and the article number. -If you can't remember, -go back to -.i readnews -and find out. -It is important that discussions are kept together. -It is very frustrating for someone to read a follow-up that says: -\&\*(lqI agree. -It's very dangerous to leave that program as distributed.\*(rq -and not have any idea what the poster was referring to. -.pg -If you answer -.b no , -.i postnews (1) -will ask you for the subject of the new article. -This should be as informative as possible. -For example, -.cf "'67 Porsche for sale in New Jersey" -is much better than -.cf "Car for sale" -or even -.cf "For sale" . -It will then ask which newsgroups you want the article posted in. -If you are unsure, -type -.qp ? -instead of a specific newsgroup -and it will show you the list of currently available groups. -Then, -you will be asked how far your article should be distributed. -It is important to keep this as small as possible -to accomplish the purpose of your article. -Remember that many newsgroups are read in Europe, -Australia, -and Asia in addition to the United States and Canada. -It does no good -(to use the previous example) -to post a -.cf "Car for sale in New Jersey" -article with a distribution of -.ng world . -There is almost no chance that a person in Sweden or Korea -would be interested in buying your car (even if it is a Porsche). -It is a waste of money and computer resources -to transmit the article that far. -For this specific case, -the appropriate distribution would be -.ng nj -or only in New Jersey. -If there were no local distribution available, -at least it should be confined to -.ng usa . -If you are unsure of the distributions available at your site, -type -.qp ? -instead of a distribution -and you will receive a list of distributions valid for your site. -If the distribution is -.ng world , -your article will be read (perhaps with disgust) -by thousands of people around the world. -.pg -Then you will be placed in the editor. -Enter the text of your article, -after the blank line, -and exit the editor. -The article will be posted to the newsgroups specified. -If you change your mind about the headers while you are still in the editor, -you can edit them as well. -Extra headers can also be added before the blank line. -.hu -Browsing through Old News -.pg -There are a number of command line options to the -.i readnews -command to help you find an old article you want to see again. -The -.op \-n -.i newsgroups -option restricts your search to certain newsgroups. -The -.op \-x -option arranges to ignore the record of articles read, -which is kept in your -.i \&.newsrc -file. -This will cause all articles in all newsgroups to which you -subscribe to be displayed, -even those which you have already seen. -It also causes -.i readnews -to not update the -.i \&.newsrc -file. -The -.op \-a -.i date -option asks for news received after the given -.i date . -Note that even with the -.op \-a -option, only articles you have not already seen will be printed, -unless you combine it with the -.op \-x -option. -(Articles are kept on file until they expire, -typically after two weeks.) -The -.op \-t -.i keywords -option restricts the query to articles mentioning one of the -.i keywords -in the title of the article. -Thus, -the command -.sd c -readnews \-n comp.unix \-x \-a last thursday \-t setuid -.ed -asks for all articles in newsgroup -.ng comp.unix -since last Thursday about the setuid feature. -(Be careful with the -.op \-t -option. -The above example will not find articles about -.cf suid , -nor will it find articles with no title or -whose author did not use the word -.cf setuid -in the title.) -.pg -Other useful options include the -.op \-l -option (which lists only the headers of articles \- -a useful form for browsing through lots of messages.) -The -.op \-p -option prints the messages without asking for any input; -this is similar to some older news programs on many -.ux -systems and is useful for directing output to a printer. -The -.op \-r -option produces articles in reverse order, -from newest to oldest. -.hu -User Interfaces -.pg -The -.i "user interface" -of a program is the view it presents to the user, -that is, -what it prints and what it allows you to type. -.i Readnews -has options allowing you to use different user interfaces. -The interface described above is called the \*(lqmsgs\*(rq interface -because it mimics the style of the Berkeley -.i msgs (1) -program. -(This program, -in turn, -mimics a program at MIT of the same name.) -The key element of the msgs interface is that after printing the header, -you are asked if you want the rest of the message. -.pg -Another interface is available with the -.op \-c -option. -In this case, -the entire message is printed, -header and body, -and you are prompted at the end of the message. -The command options are the same as the msgs interface, -but it is usually not necessary to use the -.qp \- -suffix on the -.qp r , -.qp s , -or -.qp f -commands. -This interface is called the \*(lq/bin/mail\*(rq -(pronounced \*(lqbin mail\*(lq) -interface, -because it mimics the -.ux -program of that name. -.pg -A third interface is the -.i Mail (1) -(pronounced \*(lqcap mail\*(rq) interface, -available with the -.op \-M -option. -This invokes the -.i Mail -program directly, -and allows you to read news with the same commands as you read mail. -(This interface may not work on your system \- -it requires a special version of -.i Mail -with a -.qp \-T -option.) -.pg -A fourth interface, is the MH news/mail program from Rand. -That program can be used directly to read network news. -.pg -A fifth interface, -.i vnews , -which works well on display terminals, is described in the Appendix. -.pg -A sixth possibility is the -.i notesfile -system, described in a separate paper. It is also display-oriented. -.pg -A seventh interface is -.i rn . -It is quite powerful and reminiscent of the EMACS text editor. -.pg -An eighth possibility is to use your favorite mail system as an interface. -There are a number of different mail reading programs, including -.i /bin/mail (1), -.i Mail , -.i msg (1), -and MH. -Any mail system with an option to specify an alternative mailbox -can be used to read news. -For example, -to use -.i Mail -without the -.qp \-M -option, -type -.sd c -readnews \-c "Mail \-f %" -.ed -The shell command in quotes is invoked as a child of -.i readnews. -The -.qp \-f -option to -.i Mail -names the alternative mailbox. -.i Readnews -will put the news in a temporary file, -and give the name of this file to the mailer in place of the -.qp % . -There is an important difference when using this kind of interface. -The mailers do not give any indication of which articles you read -and which ones you skipped. -.i Readnews -will assume you read -.i all -the articles, -even if you didn't, -and mark them all read. -By contrast, -the -.op \-M -option uses the -.op \-T -option to -.i Mail , -asking -.i Mail -to tell -.i readnews -which articles you read. -.hu -Getting News when you Log In -.pg -Most users like to be told when they first log in if there is any news. -This way they are reminded of news, -but are not interrupted by it during the day. -If you log in once in the morning, -you can think of getting the news as reading the morning newspaper. -It is common to put a -.i checknews -or -.i readnews -command in your -.i .profile -or -.i .login -file of commands that are executed when you log in. -.pg -Since there might not be any news, -and since the -.i readnews -command goes to a considerable amount of work to find all unread news -(assuming you are going to read it), -there is another command, -called -.i checknews , -which tells you if there is any news. -The -.i checknews -command is smaller and faster than -.i readnews , -and was designed especially for a login file. -There are also options to be silent if there is (or is not) news, -and to start up -.i readnews -automatically if there is news. -.pg -The options to -.i checknews -are: -.Op \-y 10 -Print \*(lqThere is news\*(rq if there is any unread news. -.Op \-v 10 -If -.op \-y -is also given, -instead of printing \*(lqThere is news\*(rq, -prints \*(lqNews: \fInewsgroup\fP ...\*(rq -giving the name of the first newsgroup containing unread news. -If -.ng general -is the first newsgroup presented, -this can be used to tell users whether the unread news is important. -.Op \-n 10 -Print \*(lqNo news\*(rq if there is no unread news. -.Op \-e 10 -If there is any unread news, -start up -.i readnews. -Any additional arguments after the -.op \-e -will be passed to readnews. -.pg -Thus, -.sd c -checknews \-yn -.ed -tells you whether there is any unread news. -.sd c -checknews \-e \-M -.ed -starts up -.i readnews -with the -.i Mail -interface if there is news, -and otherwise does nothing. -.sd c -checknews \-y -.ed -tells you if there is news, -and is silent if there is no news. -.hu -Creating New Newsgroups -.pg -New newsgroups are proposed by the users and created by site administrators. -To create a newsgroup, -first make sure this is the right thing to do. -Normally a suggestion is first posted to -.ng news.groups\f1,\fPwhatever.relatedgroup -for a world wide newsgroup -.ng whatever.relatedgroup "" ( -should be the group which you are proposing to subdivide.) -For example, -to propose creating -.ng rec.arts.tv.soaps , -post the original article to -.ng rec.arts.tv\f1,\fPnews.groups ). -Followups are made to -.ng news.groups -.i only . -(You can force this by putting the line: -.sd c -Followup-To: news.groups -.ed -in the headers of your original posting). -If it is established that there is general interest in such a group, -and a name is agreed on, -then ask your local netnews administrator to create the newsgroup. -(It can actually be created by any netnews administrator anywhere on the net, -within the scope of the newsgroup.) -Once the newsgroup is created and the first article has been posted, -the newsgroup is available for all interested persons to post to. -.hu -List of Newsgroups -.pg -This section lists the newsgroups that are currently active. -It is intended to help you decide what you want to subscribe to. -Note that the list is constantly changing. -Note also that this list only describes those groups available -on a network-wide basis. Since not all installations choose to receive all -newsgroups, it is recommended that each installation edit the list of local -newsgroups to be correct before distributing this document to their users. -If this is not possible, -a local appendix can be created. -.hu 2 -Local -.pg -Local groups are kept on the current machine only. -Local names can be identified by the lack of a prefix, -that is, there are no periods in local newsgroup names. -.lp general 10 -News to be read by everyone on the local machine. -For example: -\&\*(lqThe system will be down Monday morning for PM.\*(rq -Or, -\&\*(lqA new version of program -.i x -has been installed.\*(rq -This newsgroup is usually mandatory \- -you are required to subscribe to this newsgroup. -(The list of mandatory newsgroups varies locally.) -This requirement assures that important announcements reach all users. -(Formerly -.i msgs .) -.hu 2 -Network Wide -.pg -These are the groups as of the last editing of this manual. -The list is undoubtably already out of date. -A current list can be obtained by typing -.qp ? -to the \*(lqNewsgroups? \*(rq prompt in postnews. -.nf -.ta \w'comp.protocols.appletalk 'u -comp.ai Artificial intelligence discussions. -comp.ai.digest Arpanet Artificial Intelligence Digest. (Moderated) -comp.arch Computer architecture. -comp.bugs.2bsd Reports of UNIX* version 2BSD related bugs. -comp.bugs.4bsd Reports of UNIX version 4BSD related bugs. -comp.bugs.misc General bug reports and fixes. -comp.bugs.sys5 Reports of AT&T System 5 (and System 3) related bugs. -comp.cog-eng Cognitive engineering. -comp.compilers Compiler construction, etc. (Moderated) -comp.databases Database and data management issues and theory. -comp.dcom.lans Local area network hardware and software. -comp.dcom.modems Data communications hardware and software. -comp.dcom.telecom Telecommunications digest. (Moderated) -comp.doc Public-domain documentation. (Moderated) -comp.doc.techreports Announcements and lists of technical reports.(Moderated) -comp.edu Computer science education. -comp.emacs EMACS editors of different flavors. -comp.graphics Computer graphics, art, animation, image processing, -comp.graphics.digest Arpanet Digest on Computer Graphics. (Moderated) -comp.lang.ada The computer language Ada*. -comp.lang.apl The computer language APL. -comp.lang.c The computer language C. -comp.lang.c++ The object-oriented computer language C++. -comp.lang.forth The computer language Forth. -comp.lang.fortran The computer language FORTRAN. -comp.lang.lisp The computer language LISP. -comp.lang.misc Other computer languages. -comp.lang.modula2 The computer language Modula-2. -comp.lang.pascal The computer language Pascal. -comp.lang.prolog The computer language PROLOG. -comp.lang.smalltalk The computer language Smalltalk 80. -comp.laser-printers Laser printers, hardware and software. (Moderated) -comp.lsi Large scale integrated circuits. -comp.mail.headers Arpanet header-people mailnig list. -comp.mail.maps Various maps, including UUCP maps. (Moderated) -comp.mail.uucp Proposed uucp mail/network standards. -comp.newprod Announcements of new products (Moderated) -comp.org.decus DEC* Users' Society newsgroup. -comp.org.usenix USENIX Association events and announcements. -comp.os.cpm The CP/M operating system. -comp.os.eunice The SRI Eunice system. -comp.os.os9 The os9 operating system. (Moderated) -comp.os.vms DEC's VMS Operating System (Moderated) -comp.periphs Peripheral devices. -comp.protocols File Transfer Protocol discussions. (Moderated) -comp.protocols.appletalk Applebus hardware & software. (Moderated) -comp.protocols.kermit Information about the Kermit package. (Moderated) -comp.protocols.tcp-ip TCP and IP network protocols. (Moderated) -comp.sources.amiga Public Domain Software for the Amiga. (Moderated) -comp.sources.bugs Bugs and fixes for comp.sources postings (Moderated) -comp.sources.d Any discussion on comp.sources postings. -comp.sources.games Postings of recreational software (Moderated) -comp.sources.mac Public Domain Software for the Macintosh (Moderated) -comp.sources.unix Public Domain Software for Unix systems (Moderated) -comp.sources.wanted Requests for software, termcap entries, etc. -comp.std.c C language standards (Moderated) -comp.std.internat International standards -comp.std.mumps The X11.1 committee on Mumps (Moderated) -comp.std.unix The P1003 committee on UNIX (Moderated) -comp.sys.amiga Commodore Amiga computers -- info, uses, no programs. -comp.sys.apollo Apollo computer systems. (Moderated) -comp.sys.apple Apple computers. -comp.sys.atari.8bit 8 bit Atari computers. -comp.sys.atari.st 16 bit Atari computers. -comp.sys.att AT&T computers. -comp.sys.cbm Commodore computers. -comp.sys.dec DEC computers. -comp.sys.hp Hewlett/Packard computers -comp.sys.ibm.pc IBM personal computers. -comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest Arpanet Digest on the IBM PC family. (Moderated) -comp.sys.intel Intel computers. -comp.sys.m6809 Motorola 6809's. -comp.sys.m68k Motorola 68000, 68010, 68020 based computers -comp.sys.m68k.digest Arpanet Digest on 68000-based systems. (Moderated) -comp.sys.mac The Apple Macintosh & Lisa -comp.sys.mac.digest Arpanet Digest on Apple Macintosh computers (Moderated) -comp.sys.masscomp Masscomp computers. (Moderated) -comp.sys.misc Other types of computers. -comp.sys.nsc National Semiconductor Computers and chips. -comp.sys.pyramid Pyramid 90x computers. (Moderated) -comp.sys.ridge Ridge 32 computers and ROS. (Moderated) -comp.sys.sequent Sequent systems, (esp. Balance 8000). (Moderated) -comp.sys.sun Sun "workstation" computers (Moderated) -comp.sys.tandy Tandy/Radio Shack computers -comp.sys.ti Texas Instruments computers. -comp.sys.workstations Various workstation-type computers. (Moderated) -comp.terminals All sorts of terminals. -comp.text Text processing. -comp.unix UNIX* features and bugs. (Moderated) -comp.unix.questions General questions on UNIX. -comp.unix.wizards Expert discussions, bug reports, and fixes for UNIX. -misc.consumers Consumer interests, product reviews, etc. -misc.consumers.house Owning and maintaining a house. -misc.invest Investments and the handling of money. -misc.jobs Job announcements, requests, etc. -misc.kids Children, their behavior and activities. -misc.legal Legalities and the ethics of law. -misc.misc Various discussions too short-lived for other groups. -misc.psi ESP,PSI, etc (Moderated) -misc.taxes Tax laws and advice. -misc.test Testing of network software. Very boring. -misc.wanted Requests for things that are needed. -news.admin Comments directed to news administrators. -news.announce General announcements of interest to all. (Moderated) -news.announce.conferences Upcoming conferences (Moderated) -news.announce.newusers Explanatory postings for new users. (Moderated) -news.config Postings of system down times and interruptions. -news.groups Discussions and lists of newsgroups -news.lists News-related statistics and lists (Moderated) -news.misc Discussions of USENET itself. -news.newsites Postings of new site announcements. -news.software.b B news software. -news.software.notes Notesfile software from the Univ. of Illinois. -news.stargate Satellite transmission of news. -news.sysadmin Comments directed to system administrators. -rec.arts.books Books of all genres, shapes, and sizes. -rec.arts.comics The funnies, old and new. -rec.arts.drwho Dr. Who. -rec.arts.misc Other arts related topics. -rec.arts.movies Reviews and discussions of movies. -rec.arts.poems Poetry. -rec.arts.sf-lovers Science fiction lovers' newsgroup. -rec.arts.startrek Star Trek, the TV show and the movies. -rec.arts.tv The boob tube, its history, and past and current shows. -rec.arts.tv.soaps Postings about TV soap operas. -rec.audio High fidelity audio. -rec.autos Automobiles, automotive products and laws. -rec.autos.tech Technical aspects of automobiles, et. al. -rec.aviation Aviation rules, means, and methods. -rec.bicycles Bicycles, related products and laws. -rec.birds Hobbyists interested in bird watching. -rec.boats Hobbyists interested in boating. -rec.food.cooking Food, cooking, cookbooks, and recipes. -rec.food.drink Wines and spirits. -rec.food.recipes A "distributed cookbook" of recipes. (Moderated) -rec.food.veg Vegetarians. -rec.games.board Board games. -rec.games.bridge Hobbyists interested in bridge. -rec.games.chess Chess & computer chess. -rec.games.empire The computer game Empire. -rec.games.frp Fantasy Role Playing games. -rec.games.go Go. -rec.games.hack The computer game Hack. -rec.games.misc Other games and computer games. -rec.games.pbm Play by Mail games. -rec.games.rogue The computer game Rogue. -rec.games.trivia Trivia. -rec.games.video Video games. -rec.gardens Gardening, methods and results. -rec.guns Firearms (Moderated) -rec.ham-radio Amateur Radio practices, contests, events, rules, etc. -rec.ham-radio.packet Packet radio setups. -rec.humor Jokes and the like. May be somewhat offensive. -rec.humor.d The content of net.jokes articles -rec.mag Magazine summaries, tables of contents, etc. -rec.mag.otherrealms A science fiction and fantasy "magazine". (Moderated) -rec.misc Other Recreational/participant sports. -rec.motorcycles Motorcycles and related products and laws. -rec.music Reviews and discussion of things musical (Moderated) -rec.music.classical Classical music. -rec.music.folk Folks discussing folk music of various sorts -rec.music.gaffa Kate Bush lovers. (Moderated) -rec.music.gdead A group for (Grateful) Dead-heads -rec.music.misc Other music related topics. -rec.music.synth Synthesizers and computer music -rec.nude Hobbyists interested in naturist/nudist activities. -rec.pets Pets, pet care, and household animals in general. -rec.photo Hobbyists interested in photography. -rec.puzzles Puzzles, problems, and quizzes. -rec.railroad Real and model train fans' newsgroup. -rec.scuba Hobbyists interested in SCUBA diving. -rec.skiing Hobbyists interested in skiing. -rec.sport.baseball Professional baseball. -rec.sport.basketball Professional basketball. -rec.sport.football Professional football. -rec.sport.hockey Professional hockey. -rec.sport.misc Other spectator sports. -rec.travel Traveling all over the world. -rec.video Video and video components. -rec.woodworking Hobbyists interested in woodworking. -sci.astro Astronomy discussions and information. -sci.bio Biology and related sciences. -sci.crypt Different methods of data en/decryption. -sci.electronics Electronic design developments, ideas, and components. -sci.lang Natural languages. -sci.math Mathematical discussions and puzzles. -sci.math.stat Statistics discussion. -sci.math.symbolic Symbolic algebra discussion. -sci.med Medicine and its related products and regulations. -sci.misc General purpose scientific discussions. -sci.physics Physical laws, properties, etc. -sci.research Research and computer research. -sci.space Space, space programs, space related research, etc. -sci.space.shuttle The space shuttle and the STS program. -soc.college College, college activities, campus life, etc. -soc.comp Computers and Society (Moderated) -soc.culture.african Africa & things African -soc.culture.celtic Celtics culture. -soc.culture.greek Greeks culture. -soc.culture.indian India & things Indian -soc.culture.jewish Information and discussion about Judaism. -soc.human-nets Computer aided communications digest. (Moderated) -soc.misc Other Social topics -soc.motss Issues pertaining to homosexuality. -soc.net-people Announcements, requests, etc. about people on the net. -soc.risks Risks to the public from computers (Moderated) -soc.roots Genealogical matters. -soc.singles Newsgroup for single people, their activities, etc. -soc.women Women's rights, discrimination, etc. -talk.abortion Abortion. -talk.origins Evolution versus creationism (sometimes hot!). -talk.philosophy Philosophical discussions (Moderated) -talk.philosophy.misc Philosophical discussions. -talk.philosophy.tech Philosphy and technology (Moderated) -talk.politics Political problems, systems, solutions. (Moderated) -talk.politics.arms-d Arms discussion digest. (Moderated) -talk.politics.misc Political discussions. Could get hot. -talk.politics.theory Theory of politics and political systems. -talk.religion.christian The form and nature of Christianity (Moderated) -talk.religion.misc Religious, ethical, and moral implications of actions. -talk.rumors For the posting of rumors. -.fi -.bp -.hu -Appendix \- How to use vnews -.hu 2 -Overview -.pg -.i Vnews -is a program for reading USENET news. -It is based on -.i readnews -but has a CRT-oriented (full screen) user interface. -The command line options are identical. -The list of available commands is quite similar, -although since -.i vnews -is a -.i visual -interface, -most -.i vnews -commands do not have to be terminated by a newline. -.pg -.i Vnews -uses all but the last two lines of the screen to display the current article. -The next to the last line is the secondary prompt line, -and is used to input string arguments to commands. -The last line contains several fields. -The first field is the prompt field. -If -.i vnews -is at the end of an article, -the prompt is -.cf next? ; -otherwise the prompt is -.cf more? . -The second field is the newsgroup field, -which displays the current newsgroup, -the number of the current article, -and the number of the last article in the newsgroup. -The third field contains the current time, -and the last field contains the word -.cf mail -if you have mail. -When you receive new mail, -the bell on the terminal is rung and the word -.cf MAIL -appears in capital letters for 30 seconds. -.hu 2 -Commands -.pg -Most of the -.i readnews -commands have -.i vnews -counterparts and vice versa. -Some differences are: -.si -.lp \(bu 5 -It lacks a \*(lqdigest\*(rq command (to deal specially with collections -of articles bundled together). -This would be nice to have, -but it does not seem to be a major deficiency -since you can move around in the digest with -.i vnews -commands. -.lp \(bu 5 -To get to the previous group, -use the -.qp N -command with a -.qp \- -argument. -.lp \(bu 5 -.i Vnews -has commands for moving around in the article which -.i readnews -does not have since they aren't applicable. -.lp \(bu 5 -It has a \*(lqparent\*(rq command which will go to the article -that the current article is a follow-up to, -and a \*(lqwrite\*(rq -command that writes out the body of an article without the header. -.lp \(bu 5 -You can refer to the current article from the shell or -while writing a follow-up as -.b $A . -.lp \(bu 5 -The \*(lqdecrypt\*(rq command (for decoding possibly offensive -material) always does -.i rot13 -which seems to be the default standard but the -.i readnews -version of it occasionally gets confused. -.ei -.hu 2 -Commands that differ from -.bi readnews -.pg -Each -.i vnews -command may be preceded by a -.i count . -Some commands use the count; others ignore it. -If -.i count -is omitted, -it defaults to one. -Some commands prompt for an argument -on the second line from the bottom of the screen. -Standard -.ux -erase and kill processing is done on this argument. -The argument is terminated by a return. -An interrupt -.qc DELETE "" ( -or -.qc BREAK ) -gets you out of any partially entered command. -.Qc CR -A carriage return prints more of the current article, -or goes on to the next article if you are at the end of the current article. -A -.qc SPACE -is equivalent to -.qc CR . -.Qc CONTROL-B -Go backwards -.i count -pages. -.Qc CONTROL-F -Go forward -.i count -pages. -.Qc CONTROL-D -Go forwards half a page. -.Qc CONTROL-U -Go backwards half a page. -.Qc CONTROL-N -Go forwards -.i count -lines. -.Qc CONTROL-Z -Go backwards -.i count -lines. -.Qc CONTROL-L -Redraw the screen. -.qc CONTROL-L -may be typed at any time. -.Qp b -Back up one article in the current group. -.Qp l -Redisplay the article after you have sent a follow-up or reply. -.Qp n -Move on to the next item in a digest. -.qp \*(lq\&.\*(rq -is equivalent to -.qp n . -This is convenient if your terminal has a keypad. -.Qp p -Show the parent article -(the article that the current article is a follow-up to). -This doesn't work if the current article was posted by A-news or notesfiles. -To switch between the current and parent articles, -use the -.qp \- -command. -Unfortunately, -if you use several -.qp p -commands -to trace the discussion back further, -there is no command to return to the original level. -.Qp ug -Unsubscribe to the current group. -This is a two character command to ensure that it is not typed accidentally -and to leave room for other types of unsubscribes -.i e\f1.\fPg ., ( -unsubscribe to discussion). -.Qp v -Print the current version of the news software. -.Qp D -Decrypts a joke. -It only handles -.pa rot13 -jokes. -The -.qp D -command is a toggle; -typing another -.qp D -re-encrypts the joke. *-*-END-of-doc/howto.mn-*-* exit