brian@sdcsvax.UUCP (Brian Kantor) (08/05/85)
I'm probably flaming in the wrong newsgroup, but doesn't this one take the cake: ... Posting-Version: notesfiles From: Anonymous@hpfcla.UUCP (Anonymous) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: Orphaned Response Message-ID: <35800001@hpfcmp.UUCP> Date: 27 Jul 85 02:08:00 GMT Date-Received: 2 Aug 85 23:31:51 GMT References: <524@wdl1.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Fort Collins, CO Lines: 12 Nf-ID: #R:wdl1:524:hpfcmp:35800001:37777777600:403 Nf-From: hpfcmp!Anonymous Jul 26 18:08:00 1985 ... As if Orphaned Responses weren't bad enough, now we get Anonymous Orphaned Responses! And with a references line to a previous article, its still orphaned! Severely heavy sigh. Whoever designed this misbegotten abortion of a news system (hint: "notes") should be taken out and maimed. Actually, on a saner note, what are the implications of writing a simple filtering front end to inews to discard this kind of noise? Or perhaps just moving it to net.orphaned.response? A Modest Proposal: Seems to me that some general mechanism for editing and redirecting news could be very helpful. It would be nice, for example, to be able to specify some of the following to clean up news: 1. All orphaned responses are returned to the sender's host's system administrator's mailbox with a request to clean up their news software. 2. Anything posted to net.flame and anywhere else is placed only in net.flame. 3. Anything posted to net.general and anywhere else is dropped from net.general. 4. Anything posted to more than 2 newsgroups is put in net.misc. 5. Anything posted in net.general from a bell site is put in nj.forsale. etc, etc, etc. True, I'm not completely serious about these particular proposals, but don't they give you furiously to think about what could be done with some sort of really nice semantic analyzer and a header recomposer? Or maybe just a thundering great awk script? Perhaps in my copious free time I'll try to come up with something. --- Brian Kantor UC San Diego decvax\ brian@ucsd.arpa akgua >--- sdcsvax --- brian ucbvax/ Kantor@Nosc "3 units and counting..." (sorry, Gene)
rees@apollo.uucp (Jim Rees) (08/06/85)
I have thought about a general mechanism for filtering articles as you describe, but haven't had the time or inclination to do anything about it. Meanwhile the hacks pile up in inews.c. Here is a list of sites guilty of sending out orphaned responses over the last two weeks. Some of these originated orphaned responses, and some just replied to them. Those that originated them (the biggest offender is HP; where is their SA?) should install the latest notes software, because they are running old buggy stuff. Those that just replied, and any one else who cares, should install the filter given at the end of this message. convexs datacube druak faust hpcnof hpfcla hpfclg hpfclm hpfclo hpfclp hpfclq hpfclt hpfcly hpfcmp hpfcms hpfcmt hpfcrs hpgrla hplvle ihu1g lll-crg mnetor phri pyuxd rti-sel smu sun utastro whuts wlcrjs Here is the filter to reject orphaned responses. This goes in inews.c. *************** *** 560,565 xxit(1); } if (is_ctl) { control(&header); localize("control"); --- 569,579 ----- xxit(0); } + if (!strcmp(header.title, "Re: Orphaned Response")) { + logerr("Rejected orphaned response"); + xxit(0); + } + if (is_ctl) { control(&header); localize("control");