karl@triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) (02/25/89)
Two things for those getting at the uucp'able archives on osu-cis... First, as stated in the instructions file GNU.how-to-get, you cannot request multiple items using, e.g., % uucp osu-cis!/u/public/emacs/emacs-18.52-\* /some/local/directory The problem is that when YOUR uucp notices the shell metacharacters in the request, it does not merely queue up a request for some files; rather, it queues up a request for remote execution of uucp AT OSU-CIS. We don't allow this for obvious security reasons. Don't do this, as it will get you nowhere. At best, osu-cis will refuse to execute the requested command, and will then try to write mail back to you telling you what went wrong. As often as not, the host which is speaking UUCP with osu-cis is not a registered host, and hence the mail cannot be delivered even with smart-host routing. Second, we are running into a fairly large number of people who are forgetting that UUCP is not able to write new files into local directories which forbid write permission to `other.' You must ask that files be delivered in directories with mode 777 or the copy will fail. Note in your logs that it will not claim REMOTE ACCESS DENIED (which would mean that osu-cis was refusing service for some reason, usually a bad pathname), but rather simply ACCESS DENIED - your own system telling you that you blew it locally. Please keep these needs in mind when picking up things from osu-cis. Cheers, --Karl