karl@triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) (05/27/88)
A week or so ago, I sent out a `sendsys' request with the following headers: Path: tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu!karl From: karl@cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) Newsgroups: gnu.test.ctl Subject: sendsys Message-ID: <13514@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 17 May 88 13:09:28 GMT Control: sendsys Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Distribution: gnu Lines: 4 Approved: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu The purpose was to find out how far the relatively new gnu.* distribution was getting. I got back a lot of valid responses, but I also got back a small mountain of responses for sites which do not accept the `gnu' distribution. For example, From news@polya.stanford.edu Tue May 17 10:03:55 1988 From: USENET News System <news@polya.stanford.edu> Date: 17 May 88 14:01:51 GMT To: karl@cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu Subject: response to your sendsys request Responding-System: polya.STANFORD.EDU ME:all:: labrea:csd,su,!su.roger-or-andy,ba,ca,usa,na,net,world,alt,soc,misc,sci,rec,talk,news,comp,to.labrea:L:/usr/lib/news/sendnews -a rnews@labrea maps:comp.mail.maps:F:/usr/local/lib/news/maps/comp.mail.maps/Batch From mcvax!datlog.co.uk!news@uunet.UU.NET Mon May 23 14:33:21 1988 From: Usenet Administrator <mcvax!datlog.co.uk!news@uunet.UU.NET> Date: 20 May 88 22:28:45 GMT To: karl@cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu Subject: response to your sendsys request Responding-System: dlvax2.datlog.co.uk dlvax2:all::true dlvax1/dlvax1:all,!local,to.dlvax1:F stc/tcom:all,!local,!general,!announce,!system,!vsw,!dl,to.stc:F maps:world,uk.news.map,to.maps::/usr/lib/maps/UNSHAR sol:world,dl,\ comp.sys.ibm.pc,\ comp.sources.unix,\ comp.sources.misc,\ mod.sources,\ mod.protocols.kermit,\ !local,general,announce,to.sol:F torch/torch:all,\ !rec.music,!sci.physics,!mod.politics,\ !rec.arts.sf-lovers,!comp.sys.atari.8bit,!comp.sys.atari.st,\ !comp.sys.ibm.pc,!mod.computers.vax,\ !local,!general,!announce,!system,!vsw,!dl,to.torch:F # slxsys/slxsys:all,!local,!general,!announce,!system,!vsw,!dl,to.slxsys:F As you can plainly see, neither of these two sites contained any mention of `gnu,' and both have extensive lists of what they do and don't accept, hence I wasn't caught by matching against the `all' wildcard. Is the news propagation that badly broken that Distribution: headers become rather irrelevant in many cases? Is this just a case of intermediate sites with old software inadvertently passing on the message when they should not have? --Karl
page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) (05/28/88)
They get everything (see 'all') that anyone cares to send them, but they don't pass everything along. Thus, the two sites you mentioned get gnu.* but don't feed anyone (including their feeds). Anything they post to gnu.* will not leave their site. ..Bob -- Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept. page@swan.ulowell.edu ulowell!page Go Celts! Go Bruins!
weening@polya.Stanford.EDU (Joe Weening) (05/28/88)
In article <14466@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> karl@triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) writes: [description of a `sendsys' message to find out how far the gnu dis- tribution is getting, followed by two example sys files including: ] > From news@polya.stanford.edu Tue May 17 10:03:55 1988 > From: USENET News System <news@polya.stanford.edu> > Date: 17 May 88 14:01:51 GMT > To: karl@cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu > Subject: response to your sendsys request > Responding-System: polya.STANFORD.EDU > > ME:all:: > labrea:csd,su,!su.roger-or-andy,ba,ca,usa,na,net,world,alt,soc,misc,sci,rec,talk,news,comp,to.labrea:L:/usr/lib/news/sendnews -a rnews@labrea > maps:comp.mail.maps:F:/usr/local/lib/news/maps/comp.mail.maps/Batch As I understand it, the "ME" line indicates what we accept; the "labrea" line indicates what we send to labrea. The above sys file is in fact broken since it allowed us to receive gnu messages but not forward them. The only effect, though, is that postings from local users would not leave the local host. We still got all the incoming traffic including your sendsys message. I noticed this problem a few days after you sent out the sendsys message, so we now have a sys file that sends out gnu and other distributions that we have started receiving. Not all of the other hosts at Stanford have been fixed yet, though. Anyone reading this might want to check their sys files to see if they are correct.