From: ADVAX::"MRL@NERUS.PFC.MIT.EDU" " " 1-FEB-1991 06:54:40.20 To: ARISIA::EVERHART CC: Subj: BULLETIN Received: by ADVAX.DECnet (utk-mail11 v1.5) ; Fri, 1 Feb 91 06:53:22 EST Received: from mcnc by ge-dab.GE.COM (5.61/GE-DAB 1.15) with UUCP id AA07227 for ; Fri, 1 Feb 91 06:46:44 -0500 From: MRL@NERUS.PFC.MIT.EDU Received: from NERUS.PFC.MIT.EDU by mcnc.mcnc.org (5.59/MCNC/6-11-90) id AA25895; Fri, 1 Feb 91 05:34:05 -0500 for ARISIA.DNET.ge.com!EVERHART Message-Id: Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 05:31 EST Subject: BULLETIN To: ARISIA::EVERHART X-Envelope-To: EVERHART@ARISIA.DNET.GE.COM X-Vms-To: IN%"EVERHART@ARISIA.DNET.GE.COM" NOTE: IF YOU NO LONGER WISH TO RECEIVE ON NEW BULLETIN RELEASES, OR YOU ARE GETTING MORE THAN ONE COPY OF THIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Greetings: BULLETIN now has the capability to read and post messages to USENET NEWS in a client mode. I realize that there are many NEWS readers, some with much more elegant interfaces. However, I elected to modify BULLETIN for the following reason: We have many decnet nodes, but only several are internet nodes. Our only access to a news server was via internet. In order for those non-internet nodes to read USENET, the only method that seemed available was to run a NEWS server program on one of our own internet nodes so that it could be accessible via decnet. I did not want to do that, as that requires storing the news groups on disk, and I do not have the room for that. I thus added the ability in BULLETIN (actually BULLCP) so that it acts as as a gateway between decnet and tcp for NEWS. This method does not require spawning any processes, since the detached process BULLCP is always present, so the access is very fast. Also, since BULLETIN uses a shared database to store info on the NEWS groups, it will periodically update it via BULLCP. Other client-only readers use a private database, which requires updating it every time the reader program is run, which is why they take a long time to start up. It is also possible to feed NEWS groups into a "real" BULLETIN folder, so that the messages are saved on disk. Presently, BULLETIN can be used with either MULTINET or CMU TCP/IP packages (and of course DECNET) for reading NEWS. Support for other packages can be added if I can find sites willing to beta test the interface for me. The source for the TCP interface is in C rather than FORTRAN because the MULTINET include files are in C. However, if you do not have C, I will be glad to send the object for it (or to even possibly rewrite the code in FORTRAN). If you would like a copy of this version, use the SEND BETA command instead of SEND ALL. Read the file NEWS.TXT for installation instructions. If you have any problems or questions, please let me know. MRL P.s. If you do not know what USENET NEWS, it's basically news messages which are passed between nodes. Originally it was limited to USENET, but that is no longer the case. Unlike internet mailing lists which use MAIL to send the messages to individuals, NEWS messages are not sent via MAIL. They are passed between nodes using a special protocol, NNTP. Users must use a NEWS reader package to read them. However, it is possible to read NEWS remotely over a network, and therefore avoiding having to actually store the messages. BULLETIN is setup to be used mainly in this client mode, i.e. it can read messages on another node via TCP or DECNET. This is useful, since the number of NEWS groups total over 1000, the disk space required for storage is very high. If you are interested in finding a server node that would allow you to read NEWS, and do not know of one (i.e. a USENET node), I know of no official way of doing so. However, one suggestion was to try connecting to BBN.COM via ANONYMOUS FTP and look through the directory uumap/comp.mail.maps to find a USENET node near you to contact.