[news.misc] A four-line-limit para-proposal

biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux) (07/31/87)

If inews rejects a .signature, I think it should cook one up itself,
if possible. Otherwise those articles go out unsigned. It might
produce something like

<name from /etc/passwd>		<loginname>@<machine-name>

The (complete internet) machine name can be provided compile-time, and if
the full name cannot be found in /etc/passwd, that's not so terrible.
I suppose finding the login name is never a problem.
-- 
						Biep.  (biep@cs.vu.nl via mcvax)
			My F-key has autorepeat

lyndon@ers.UUCP (Lyndon Nerenberg) (08/05/87)

In article <836@klipper.cs.vu.nl>, biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux) writes:
> If inews rejects a .signature, I think it should cook one up itself,
> if possible. Otherwise those articles go out unsigned. It might
> produce something like
> 
> <name from /etc/passwd>		<loginname>@<machine-name>

When I read this article, the second line on my terminal read:

From: biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux @ VU Informatica, Amsterdam)

...

MOVED by lyndon@ncc.UUCP THAT signatures be removed from the next
	release of Bnews.

If it's that damned important, you can type it in by hand. And don't
flame me that it takes "too much time" or any other such crap - I've
been entering "signatures" manually for several months without having
my fingers fall off.

Do all you people use rubber stamps to "sign" your correspondance?
And of those of you who do, how many are longer than four lines?
And do they contain "disclaimers"? And how much do you spend getting
a saying put on the stamp every month (week, year)?

--lyndon   ihnp4!alberta!ncc!lyndon

P.S. If you plan on "voting" about this, do it via EMAIL!

ekb@ho7cad.ATT.COM (#ERIC K. BUSTAD) (08/07/87)

In article <836@klipper.cs.vu.nl>, biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux) writes:
> If inews rejects a .signature, I think it should cook one up itself,
> if possible.

Actually it does, in a way.  The header to your article contained the
following lines:

> From: biep@cs.vu.nl (J. A. "Biep" Durieux)
> Organization: VU Informatica, Amsterdam

What more is needed?

= Eric

mangler@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (System Mangler) (08/10/87)

In article <145@ers.UUCP>, lyndon@ers.UUCP (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes:
> MOVED by lyndon@ncc.UUCP THAT signatures be removed from the next
>	release of Bnews.

I've always typed mine by hand, so I heartily approve.

It seems that most of the purpose of the signature is to suggest uucp
routes from well-known relays.	This is a property of the machine, not
of the individual poster.  Shouldn't this be something for the news
administrator to put in a configuration file, instead of each poster
being left to figure out a (typically rather poor) path for himself?
When routes change, it's easier for the administrator to edit one file
than to get everyone to update their .signature.

If signatures remain a part of Bnews, then at least they should have
hooks for inserting default information from files in /usr/lib/news.

If there is no signature, then this information should go in a header.

Don Speck   speck@vlsi.caltech.edu  {ll-xn,rutgers,amdahl}!cit-vax!speck

leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) (08/12/87)

You are forgetting that there are people who may be posting from a machine 
_other_ than the one they receive mail on. They would have to find a way to
disable any automatic "signature".

-- 
Leonard Erickson		...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]
"I used to be a hacker. Now I'm a 'microcomputer specialist'.
You know... I'd rather be a hacker."

robert@uop.UUCP (Glen Fiddich) (08/13/87)

In article <3539@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>, mangler@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (System Mangler) writes:
> In article <145@ers.UUCP>, lyndon@ers.UUCP (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes:
> Shouldn't this be something for the news
> administrator to put in a configuration file, instead of each poster
> being left to figure out a (typically rather poor) path for himself?
> When routes change, it's easier for the administrator to edit one file
> than to get everyone to update their .signature.

in theory this is true, but at this school, where students change
hands for the assistant admin jobs, you don't always get someone
who is "newsworthy" enough to figure out what to do next.