emv@a.cc.umich.edu (Ed Vielmetti) (03/12/89)
In article <2814479975@Stearns.Steinmetz> welty@steinmetz.ge.com (richard welty) writes: >states this (just like i can't recall anything remotely official >about the dash-dash-space convention for dividing the article body >from the signature.) the rn manual documents the '-- ' convention in its setting for the PAGESTOP variable. "If defined, contains a regular expression which matches article lines to be treated as form-feeds."
welty@steinmetz.ge.com (richard welty) (03/13/89)
In article <2814479975@Stearns.Steinmetz> welty@steinmetz.ge.com (richard welty) writes: ... wondering just where the `-- ' convention is specified ... In article <11844@mailgw.cc.umich.edu> emv@mailgw.cc.umich.edu (Ed Vielmetti) writes: >the rn manual documents the '-- ' convention in its setting for >the PAGESTOP variable. "If defined, contains a regular expression >which matches article lines to be treated as form-feeds." well, documentation in the rn manual hardly constitutes widely net-wide distribution, for the obvious reason that it only reaches sites with rn. likewise, if your quote above is correct, then it hardly specifies that `-- ' goes between the article body and the signature. richard -- richard welty 518-387-6346, GE R&D, K1-5C39, Niskayuna, New York welty@steinmetz.ge.com welty@crd.ge.com uunet!steinmetz!welty
wisner@shadooby.cc.umich.edu (Bill Wisner) (03/13/89)
(richard welty) >well, documentation in the rn manual hardly constitutes widely >net-wide distribution, for the obvious reason that it only reaches >sites with rn. If you don't have rn, you're either not UNIX or not sane. Both groups are obviously highly undesirable and so should therefore be ignored. QED.
karl@triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) (03/14/89)
wisner@shadooby.cc.umich.edu (Bill Wisner) writes:
If you don't have rn, you're either not UNIX or not sane. Both groups
are obviously highly undesirable and so should therefore be ignored.
Phooey, Bill. There are things other than (and arguably better than)
rn, including GNUS, Gnews, vn...
We have rn, and an awful lot of users read news with it, but GNUS is
gaining popularity at a high rate around here. Don't discount
non-rn'ers just because you've got an attitude about it.
--Karlwisner@shadooby.cc.umich.edu (Bill Wisner) (03/14/89)
Speaking of GNUS, anyone care to advertise for it?
barnett@crdgw1.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) (03/14/89)
In article <7289@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com>, I wrote about the concept of a primary newsgroup. In article <2814479975@Stearns.Steinmetz>, welty@steinmetz (richard welty) writes: > in any case, the convention is undependable >simply because currently people don't follow it. Sigh! I know. I would like the newsreaders to gently enforce the concept. Something like: You have cross-posted to 5 newsgroups. These are (1) alt.cyberpunk High-tech low-life. (2) bionet.molbio.embldatabank Info about the EMBL Nucleic acid database. (3) news.misc Discussions of USENET itself. (4) comp.binaries.ibm.pc Binary-only postings for IBM PC/MS-DOS. (5) talk.religion.newage Esoteric and minority religions & philosophies. Which one is the most appropriate newsgroup? [ 5 ] You have a large number of newsgroups in your article. Specify which ones you want to keep [ 1 2 3 4 5 ] ===== The responses would be the numbers of the newsgroup from the above list. The default for the second question is to NOT crosspost to the newsgroups other than the primary one. This would: indicate whether a newsgroup is appropriate for the posting. Provide a mechanism for selecting the best newsgroup for archives and follow-ups. Make people think (and work) if they insist on using 5 newsgroups in a follow-up article. Someone with a legitimate topic wouldn't mind verifying all of those newsgroups. But it might make the 5-second poster think before posting. -- Bruce G. Barnett barnett@ge-crd.ARPA, barnett@steinmetz.ge.com uunet!steinmetz!barnett
barnett@crdgw1.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) (03/14/89)
In article <13349@steinmetz.ge.com>, welty@steinmetz (richard welty) writes: >... wondering just where the `-- ' convention is specified ... It's in the sources to inews.c ---------------------- if (siglines > 4) fprintf(stderr,".signature not included (> 4 lines)\n"); else if (siglines == 0) fprintf(stderr,".signature not included (empty)\n"); else if (siglines > 0) { rewind(infp); fprintf(tmpfp, "-- \n"); /* To separate */ -------------------- Now, wasn't that obvious? :-) -- Bruce G. Barnett barnett@ge-crd.ARPA, barnett@steinmetz.ge.com uunet!steinmetz!barnett
welty@steinmetz.ge.com (richard welty) (03/16/89)
In article <38@crdgw1.crd.ge.com>, Bruce Barnett writes: *In article <13349@steinmetz.ge.com>, welty@steinmetz (richard welty) writes: *>... wondering just where the `-- ' convention is specified ... *It's in the sources to inews.c .. source code omitted ... *Now, wasn't that obvious? :-) quite. on the other hand, the last time i used remote rn (over a year ago), remote inews wasn't checking the length of signatures and wasn't inserting the `-- ' either. i seem to recall some mild flames were sent in my direction because i inadvertantly violated a convention of which i was totally unaware. in any case, i have now altered the slimebolics newsreader to insert the `-- ' automagyklly. if remote inews still doesn't do this, would whoever maintains it these days consider fixing it? richard who is only mildly confused these days -- richard welty 518-387-6346, GE R&D, K1-5C39, Niskayuna, New York welty@steinmetz.ge.com welty@crd.ge.com uunet!steinmetz!welty
jthomp@hemaneh.Central.Sun.COM (Jim Thompson Sun Dallas SWAN Engineer) (03/16/89)
In article <2814973363@Stearns.Steinmetz> welty@steinmetz.ge.com (richard welty) writes: >In article <38@crdgw1.crd.ge.com>, Bruce Barnett writes: >*In article <13349@steinmetz.ge.com>, welty@steinmetz (richard welty) writes: [discussion of inews and .signature files deleted.] > >on the other hand, the last time i used remote rn (over a year >ago), remote inews wasn't checking the length of signatures and >wasn't inserting the `-- ' either. i seem to recall some mild >flames were sent in my direction because i inadvertantly violated >a convention of which i was totally unaware. > >in any case, i have now altered the slimebolics newsreader >to insert the `-- ' automagyklly. if remote inews still >doesn't do this, would whoever maintains it these days >consider fixing it? Its fixed in the mini-inews included in the 1.5 version of nntp. A quote from the coments: /* * Itty-bitty inews for talking to remote server. * Simply accept input on stdin (or via a named file) and dump this * to the server; add a From: and Path: line if missing in the original. * Print meaningful errors from the server. * Limit .signature files to MAX_SIGNATURE lines. * No processing of command line options. * * Original by Steven Grady <grady@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, with thanks from * Phil Lapsley <phil@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>, who is now responsible for it. */ #define MAX_SIGNATURE 4 ..... if (count > MAX_SIGNATURE) { fprintf(stderr, "Warning: .signature files should be no longer than %d lines.\n", MAX_SIGNATURE); fprintf(stderr, "(Only %d lines of your .signature were posted.)\n", MAX_SIGNATURE); break; ... (Gawd, I hope that Phil doesn't sue me for posting 'his' code... :-) Jim Thompson jthomp@central.sun.com "I woudn't recommend sex, drugs, or insanity Network Engineering for everyone, but they've always worked for me." Sun Microsystems -- Hunter S. Thompson
david@ms.uky.edu (David Herron -- One of the vertebrae) (03/16/89)
Another data point -- inews inserts the '-- '
--
<-- David Herron; an MMDF guy <david@ms.uky.edu>
<-- ska: David le casse\*' {rutgers,uunet}!ukma!david, david@UKMA.BITNET
<--
<-- The problem with mnemonics is they mean different things to different people.nate@hobbes.intel.com (Nate Hess) (03/17/89)
In article <204@shadooby.cc.umich.edu>, wisner@shadooby (Bill Wisner) writes: >Speaking of GNUS, anyone care to advertise for it? Speaking of GNUS, Gnews, and the like, *is* there a new version of Gnews in the works? 2.0 came out in October, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of Matthew since the first of the new year, or so. Even bug reports seem to have disappeared into a black hole. Any news on Gnews? (I really like 2.0, and I would *love* to see 2.1!) Thanks, --woodstock -- "What I like is when you're looking and thinking and looking and thinking...and suddenly you wake up." - Hobbes woodstock@hobbes.intel.com ...!{decwrl|hplabs!oliveb}!intelca!mipos3!nate