[news.groups] New groups coming in without newgroup?

bob@acornrc.UUCP (06/04/87)

In the past couple of days, messages destined for some apparently new
newsgroups have been coming in and getting junked because we haven't
gotten newgroup messages for them.  Are these for real?  They are:

	comp.lang.postscript
	comp.software-eng
	comp.protocols.iso
	comp.protocols.iso.dev-environ
	sci.lang.japan
	soc.culture.japan
	soc.culture.esperanto

(And who can tell me why esperanto is under soc.culture instead of sci.lang?)

-- 
Bob Weissman
Internet:	bob@acornrc.UUCP
UUCP:		...!{ ames | decwrl | oliveb | apple }!acornrc!bob
Arpanet:	bob%acornrc.UUCP@AMES.ARPA

mangoe@mimsy.UUCP (06/04/87)

Not only are articles showing up here, somehow we have these groups
appearing without any trace of newgroup in any obvious place; we also have a
plethora of junked articles.  As far as I can tell, these correspond in
every case to ARPA mailing lists.

C. Wingate

mlandau@diamond.bbn.com.UUCP (06/05/87)

A couple of weeks ago, a lot of the Arpanet (or other internet) sites that
use NNTP as their news transport system got together and decided to
propogate Arpanet mailing lists as newsgroups among themselves.  They (we)
created a new distribution called "inet", sent out newgroup messages for the
new groups to the inet distribution, and have started sending mailing list
messages via NNTP among the sites participating in the inet distribution.
Somehow, these messages are also getting propogated to sites outside the
inet distribution (perhaps because of the prevalence of "all" in sys files?)

Erik (Fair @ Berkeley), do you know what's going on, and what we ought to do 
to stop the leakage?  Is this a problem due to pre-2.11 sites whose software
doesn't understand distributions?  (I remember the need to upgrade to 2.11
being an issue when the inet distribution was first proposed...are there
some NNTP sites that are NOT yet running 2.11?)
-- 
 Matt Landau			    "Lead me not into temptation...
 mlandau@diamond.bbn.com	     		I can find it myself."

gnu@hoptoad.UUCP (06/05/87)

Some Arpanet sites have started a new distribution "inet" and are
passing around a bunch of the common mailing lists via NNTP, as
newsgroups.  This should reduce the load on the Arpanet and make it
easier for folks there to separate personal mail and mailing list mail,
as we Usenetters do with the mail/news distinction.  Erik Fair
(fair@berkeley.edu, or ucbvax!fair) is coordinating this process.

If your site is receiving messages in strange new groups that you've
never heard of (typically these messages go into the "junk" newsgroup),
AND the "Distribution:" line of the messages says "inet", send Erik a
message including the header of one sample article.  Probably there are
just a few Internet sites where these messages are "leaking" out by
accident, and examining the headers will quickly point out the culprit(s).
I also recommend notifying the news feed you received the messages from;
they should not be feeding you the "inet" distribution, and if they aren't
on the Internet, they shouldn't be receiving it from THEIR feed either.

If you *like* the messages you are seeing, you could send a message to the
person who maintains the mailing list (see news.lists for the periodically
posted List of Lists).  It's probably best to get on the list by email
until the "inet" distribution settles down and people figure out how
to gateway the stuff out to interested folks who aren't on the Internet.

I recommend that no matter what your site, if your sys file lines for
feeds have "all" specified, that you replace "all" with:

	net,comp,news,sci,rec,misc,soc,talk,world,

and whatever local distributions are relevant, e.g. for me it's

	na,usa,ba,ca

This is what will plug the leaks (or any future leaks that might occur.)
-- 
Copyright 1987 John Gilmore; you may redistribute only if your recipients may.
(This is an effort to bend Stargate to work with Usenet, not against it.)
{sun,ptsfa,lll-crg,ihnp4,ucbvax}!hoptoad!gnu	       gnu@ingres.berkeley.edu

fair@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (06/05/87)

So! Your site just got newgroups for 83 new newsgroups and you never
saw any discussion. Well, that's leakage from the Internet. The plan
is very simple: netnews is a terrific conferencing system, why use
mailing lists? So we're making newsgroups for every mailing list that
is in the ARPANET List of Lists, and gatewaying those lists to the
newsgroups at Berkeley (yours truly is coordinating the gateway).
This stuff is all going out with distribution "inet" (for Internet)
so that the general USENET doesn't see it (in theory).

If you're on the ARPA Internet somewhere and you got the newgroup
messages, relax, you were supposed to get them. If you don't want
them, contact your netnews feed, and ask them to fix their "sys" file
so you don't get them. This was all discussed on the nntp-manangers
mailing list (archives available for public FTP from ucbarpa.berkeley.edu
in pub/NNTP-Managers.arch, right now about 150K).

If you're not on the ARPA Internet, but you DO want this stuff, find
someone on the Internet and ask them to send you the distribution "inet".

For those of you out on USENET far away from the nearest Internet node,
I will send out the list of mailing list to newsgroup gateways.  If
enough of the USENET decides that they want a group, I can trivially
remove the distribution so you can all get it (or not). I do plan on
coordinating this with the backbone group so that they don't get
inundated.

The plan I have for the "inet" distribution is to track the ARPANET
List of Lists as closely as possible. When a mailing list goes
moderated, so will its "inet" equivalent. If a list disappears (and
they do from time to time, usually due to lack of interest) so also
will the "inet" group disappear. And when new mailing lists appear, so
will an "inet" distribution newsgroups.

The win for those of you who are site postmasters should be obvious:
mailing list administration for those groups that are gatewayed into
newsgroups goes away. No more bouncing mail. No more adding/deleting
users from a centrally maintained list. Less network traffic (one
message copy per Organization/LAN comes in by netnews; can be as many
as one per user/host pair with a mailing list).

	NNTP service with a :-)

	Erik E. Fair	ucbvax!fair	fair@ucbarpa.berkeley.edu

bob@acornrc.UUCP (06/05/87)

In article <6341@garnet.BBN.COM>, mlandau@Diamond.BBN.COM (Matt Landau) writes:
> propogate Arpanet mailing lists as newsgroups among themselves.  They (we)
> created a new distribution called "inet", sent out newgroup messages for the
> new groups to the inet distribution, and have started sending mailing list
> 
> Erik (Fair @ Berkeley), do you know what's going on, and what we ought to do 
> to stop the leakage?  Is this a problem due to pre-2.11 sites whose software

The newgroup control messages may have been sent to distribution "inet",
but the articles themselves have more mundane distributions like "world",
"usa", etc.  This explains the mystery.

On the other hand, why is "stopping the leakage" the right thing to do rather
than issuing correct newgroup messages?  Personally, I welcome (at least)
comp.software-eng and comp.lang.postscript as useful new groups and have
established them locally.

-- 
Bob Weissman
Internet:	bob@acornrc.UUCP
UUCP:		...!{ ames | decwrl | oliveb | apple }!acornrc!bob
Arpanet:	bob%acornrc.UUCP@AMES.ARPA

bandy@amdcad.UUCP (06/05/87)

A good number of the articles that I'm getting (via ames) either have no
Distribution: header at all or have a "usa" distribution.  This means that
ames is correct in sending the articles but someone or someone's software
should be inserting a distribution of "inet".
	andy
-- 
Andrew Scott Beals, {lll-crg,decwrl,allegra}!amdcad!bandy +1 408 749 3683

Karl.Kleinpaste@cbstr1.att.com (06/05/87)

Posting-Front-End: GNU Emacs 18.44.1 of Mon May 18 1987 on cbstr1 (usg-unix-v)


mlandau@Diamond.BBN.COM writes:
   to stop the leakage?  Is this a problem due to pre-2.11 sites whose software
   doesn't understand distributions?

If it matters, we're getting the articles, but not the newgroups, and
we run 2.11.

Karl

jef@unisoft.uucp (Jef Poskanzer) (06/05/87)

In the referenced article, gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) wrote:
>If your site is receiving messages in strange new groups that you've
>never heard of (typically these messages go into the "junk" newsgroup),
>AND the "Distribution:" line of the messages says "inet", send Erik a
>message including the header of one sample article.

Actually, it's not quite that simple.  I've appended the relevant header
lines from the recent messages in unisoft's junk group.  As you can see,
there's not an inet among 'em.
---
Jef

 Jef Poskanzer  unisoft!jef@ucbvax.Berkeley.Edu  ...ucbvax!unisoft!jef
"We Americans, we're a simple people... but piss us off, and we'll bomb
                   your cities." -- Robin Williams

- - - - - - - - - -

Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!rutgers!uwvax!oddjob!sphinx!pre1
Newsgroups: comp.sys.zenith
Message-ID: <1877@sphinx.uchicago.edu>
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!gatech!gitpyr!allen
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Message-ID: <3677@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!sri-spam!rutgers!super.upenn.edu!operations.dccs.upenn.edu!shaffer
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <1272@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>
Sender: root@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!ames!husc6!sri-unix!teknowledge-vaxc!mkhaw
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <13312@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!ames!husc6!diamond.bbn.com!mlandau
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <6288@garnet.BBN.COM>
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!cit-vax!oberon!pollux.usc.edu!garg
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <2508@pollux.usc.edu>
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!ames!think!husc6!mit-eddie!gatech!seismo!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!lord+
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <oUkzRKy00UoNydw0HX@andrew.cmu.edu>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!rutgers!super.upenn.edu!operations.dccs.upenn.edu!shaffer
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <1279@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>
Sender: root@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!rutgers!super.upenn.edu!operations.dccs.upenn.edu!shaffer
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso
Message-ID: <1280@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>
Sender: root@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!rutgers!super.upenn.edu!operations.dccs.upenn.edu!shaffer
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.dev-environ
Message-ID: <1281@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>
Sender: root@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!sri-spam!rutgers!uwvax!rhesus!uwmacc!edwards
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <1582@uwmacc.UUCP>
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!sri-spam!rutgers!seismo!rochester!ken
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <28263@rochester.ARPA>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!sri-spam!rutgers!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!sphinx!fla7
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <1891@sphinx.uchicago.edu>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!lll-tis!ames!sdcsvax!ucbvax!ernie.Berkeley.EDU!seltzer
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Message-ID: <19232@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: world


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!lll-tis!ames!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!sphinx!bur5
Newsgroups: soc.culture.esperanto
Message-ID: <1894@sphinx.uchicago.edu>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!lll-tis!ames!husc6!seismo!gatech!gitpyr!ofut
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <3684@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!mordor!lll-tis!ames!husc6!seismo!mcnc!unc!steele
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <518@unc.cs.unc.edu>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!rutgers!super.upenn.edu!operations.dccs.upenn.edu!shaffer
Newsgroups: comp.simulation.military
Message-ID: <1286@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>
Sender: root@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!ames!sri-spam!jeffr
Newsgroups: comp.simulation.military
Message-ID: <10323@sri-spam.istc.sri.com>
Distribution: usa


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!rutgers!gatech!mcnc!unc!rentsch
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <528@unc.cs.unc.edu>


Path: unisoft!lll-lcc!lll-tis!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!jade!violet.berkeley.edu!dbcooper
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Message-ID: <3861@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: usenet@jade.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: usa

jerry@oliveb.UUCP (Jerry F Aguirre) (06/06/87)

Distribution:


In article <19249@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> fair@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Erik E. Fair) writes:
>This stuff is all going out with distribution "inet" (for Internet)
>so that the general USENET doesn't see it (in theory).

Except it is not!  They either have a distribution of "usa" or even
"world" or they have no distribution at all.

I have no objection to getting the groups, the more the merrier.  But,
getting only the leakage is a real drip.  Here are some samples:

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6486 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!gatech!gitpyr!allen
From: allen@gitpyr.gatech.EDU (P. Allen Jensen)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript
Subject: POSTSCRIPT Language definition
Keywords: POSTSCRIPT,DOCUMENTATION
Message-ID: <3677@gitpyr.gatech.EDU>
Date: 2 Jun 87 14:20:28 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology
Lines: 5

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6487 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!husc6!sri-unix!teknowledge-vaxc!mkhaw
From: mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Michael Khaw)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Lets start
Keywords: Hello, lets get started
Message-ID: <13312@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Date: 2 Jun 87 23:53:09 GMT
References: <1272@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>
Reply-To: mkhaw@teknowledge-vaxc.UUCP (Michael Khaw)
Distribution: usa

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6489 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!husc6!diamond.bbn.com!mlandau
From: mlandau@Diamond.BBN.COM (Matt Landau)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Lets start
Summary: pressure of commercialism
Message-ID: <6288@garnet.BBN.COM>
Date: 3 Jun 87 03:36:48 GMT
References: <1272@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu> <13312@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Reply-To: mlandau@Diamond.BBN.COM (Matt Landau)
Distribution: usa

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6490 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!cit-vax!oberon!pollux.usc.edu!garg
From: garg@pollux.usc.edu (Pankaj Garg)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Lets start
Summary: The "Softness" of Software systems
Keywords: Software Maintenance
Message-ID: <2508@pollux.usc.edu>
Date: 3 Jun 87 07:23:56 GMT
References: <1272@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu> <13312@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Reply-To: garg@pollux.usc.edu.UUCP (Pankaj Garg)
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Lines: 49

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6491 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!think!husc6!mit-eddie!gatech!seismo!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!lord+
From: lord+@andrew.cmu.edu (Tom Lord)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Lets start
Message-ID: <oUkzRKy00UoNydw0HX@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 3 Jun 87 10:15:50 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University
Lines: 53
Posted: Wed Jun  3 06:15:50 1987
In-Reply-To: <1272@super.upenn.edu.upenn.edu>

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6492 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!ll-xn!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!sphinx!fla7
From: fla7@sphinx.uchicago.edu (William Flachsbart)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: software design
Summary: requirements, needs, obligations
Keywords: software design
Message-ID: <1891@sphinx.uchicago.edu>
Date: 3 Jun 87 17:52:58 GMT
Reply-To: fla7@sphinx.UUCP (William Flachsbart)
Followup-To: comp.software-eng
Organization: U Chicago Computation Center
Lines: 57

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6493 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!sdcsvax!ucbvax!ernie.Berkeley.EDU!seltzer
From: seltzer@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Linda Seltzer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Traditional Music
Message-ID: <19232@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 3 Jun 87 15:30:51 GMT
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: seltzer@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Linda Seltzer)
Distribution: world
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 36

==> /usr/spool/news/junk/6494 <==
Path: oliveb!ames!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!sphinx!bur5
From: bur5@sphinx.uchicago.edu (catherine monica burke)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.esperanto
Subject: Esperanto
Summary: Where?
Keywords: Learn.
Message-ID: <1894@sphinx.uchicago.edu>
Date: 3 Jun 87 21:29:49 GMT
Reply-To: bur5@sphinx.UUCP (catherine monica burke)
Organization: Tarot Industries, "Protecting your future interests."
Lines: 13

There wereced

Th

barnett@vdsvax.UUCP (06/08/87)

We are getting the new groups from uunet.
-- 
Bruce G. Barnett  (barnett@ge-crd.ARPA) (barnett@steinmetz.UUCP)
-- 
"The difference between a Buddha and an ordinary man is that one knows
the difference and the other does not."

page@ulowell.UUCP (06/08/87)

jerry@oliveb.UUCP (Jerry F Aguirre) wrote:
>I have no objection to getting the groups, the more the merrier.

Many Usenet-only (read: non-Internet) admins that I've spoken to
about this agree with Jerry; more news is OK, and that maybe
a portion of the Internet "news" can be gatewayed to Usenet.
Many non-Internet sites get the stuff via e-mail right now anyway.

I suppose "portion" might mean "can be released to non-DOD/ARPA sites,"
although isn't that what the 'ddn' distribution is for?

..Bob
-- 
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept.   page@ulowell.{uucp,edu,csnet} 

news@rlvd.UUCP (06/09/87)

In article <6341@garnet.BBN.COM> mlandau@Diamond.BBN.COM (Matt Landau) writes:

> ...are there some NNTP sites that are NOT yet running 2.11?)


   Yes. Us for example.

Ian "Motorcycle Maaaaan"  Gunn         UK JANET : ian@uk.ac.rl.vd
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory             UUCP : ..!mcvax!ukc!rlvd!ian 
Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX             ARPA : @ucl.cs.arpa:ian@vd.rl.ac.uk
England.	                         'phone : (0235) 21900 ext: 5707