Conference rusure::nintendo

746.0. "Usenet" by BEING::EDP (Always mount a scratch monkey.) Wed May 06 1992 09:45

    I received mail asking me about Usenet in response to my mention of it
    in another note.  Usenet is a service carried via Internet; it has over
    2,000 "news groups" on subjects covering politics, UPI news, science
    fiction, games, sex, culture, math, physics, programming, and more. 
    More than 12 million people around the world have access to Usenet,
    including sites in Russia, Cuba, and East Germany.  The group
    rec.games.video may be of interest to participants of this conference.
    Instructions for accessing Usenet are below.
    
    
    				-- edp
    
    There are two programs for accessing Usenet from within Digital.  Vnews
    is for vanilla terminals.  Xrn is for DECwindows.  I will tell you how
    to set up both.  If you do not have DECwindows, just ignore the
    paragraphs below that are specific to Xrn.  The total size of the files
    when you are done is about 1500 blocks, including documentation.  It is
    a bit more while Vnews is linked, but you can delete the .OLB file
    afterwards.

    As an example, somewhere in my directory tree is a directory called
    News, which has some files common to both programs, including the data
    file that records what messages you have read (like a Notes seen map). 
    That directory has separate subdirectories for Vnews and Xrn.

    Somewhere in your directory tree, create a directory with any name you
    like and put in it the following command file.  Change your login
    command file to execute this command file, by putting the line "$
    @[directory]filename" in your login command file, where you fill in
    "directory" and "filename" as appropriate.  Nothing in the lines below
    needs to be changed for your account.

$ source = f$environment("procedure")
$ source = f$parse(source,,,"device")+f$parse(source,,,"directory")
$
$ define news_mail_dir	"''source'"
$
$ server	== "@''source'server"
$ server

    If you want, put a file in your new directory called SIGNATURE.MAI that
    contains lines you would like appended to any message you write -- your
    name, a cute saying, your network address, et cetera.

    Also in that directory, put this file, called SERVER.COM:

$ if p1 .eqs. "" then p1 = "nntpd"
$
$ define newsrc		news_mail_dir:news.rc-'p1'
$ define nntpserver	"''p1'::""0=nntp"""

    That file lets you change the news server you use.  If you use news
    from somewhere other than where I am (ZK), you should choose a server
    from the list at the bottom of this message.  Please do not just use
    NNTPD without checking the list.  Note that you could use different
    servers regularly, using one when another was down, but you need
    different data files for each server because they number their messages
    differently.

    You can get more information on servers and Vnews or Xrn from the Notes
    conferences, UFP::XRN (see topic 66 for kit information), CLO::VNEWS
    (topic 16 for kit information), and UPSAR::NEWS-BACKBONE (topic 95 for
    server information).

    From your new directory, create an Xrn subdirectory, put the commands
    below in a file, and execute it from your login command file.  You will
    need to change the definition of the "fullname" logical, but the rest
    of the commands should be unchanged.

$ source = f$environment("procedure")
$ source = f$parse(source,,,"device")+f$parse(source,,,"directory")
$
$ xrn == "$''source'dxrn"
$
$ define fullname	"Your Name Goes Here (Put a cute saying here.)"
$ define organization	"Digital Equipment Corporation"
$
$ if f$extract(3,2,f$getsyi("version")) .les. "2" then -
	define vaxcrtl 'xrn_dir'vaxcrtl

    Then copy UFP::SYS$KITS:[XRN]XRN.DOC,DXRN.EXE to that subdirectory.  As
    soon as you execute the command files, Xrn is ready to run; just type
    XRN.  (See below information on what to do when you first run a news
    program.)

    In the Vnews subdirectory, put the following commands in a file and
    execute them from your login file.  Again, change the definition for
    "name".  Also change the print queue, but leave everything else alone.

$ source = f$environment("procedure")
$ source = f$parse(source,,,"device")+f$parse(source,,,"directory")
$
$ define	name		"Always mount a scratch monkey."
$ define	newsdir		"''source'"
$ define	news_print	"print/queue=ansi_ps40"
$
$ set command	newsdir:vnews
$ vnews		== "vnews/head=(from,newsgroups,subject,lines,organization)"

    With your default set to the Vnews subdirectory, execute the following
    commands (you may wish to read GET-VNEWS before executing it):

	COPY CLOVAX::DISK$USER1:[COBURN.VNEWS_DIST]GET-VNEWS.COM *
	@GET-VNEWS

    Both programs are now ready to run.  The first time you run either of
    these news programs, you will be presented with a list of newsgroups. 
    You need to select which groups you want to subscribe to (read from
    regularly) and which you do not.  Rather than go through the program's
    method of selection, I recommend you use an editor.  To do this, leave
    the program.  In Xrn, select the Quit button, and then select it again. 
    In Vnews, I don't remember the appropriate option to get out of the
    group selection mode, but it will probably be indicated in the prompt. 
    Once out of group selection mode, use Q to exit the program.

    After leaving the program, there should be a file called NEWS.RC-NNTPD
    (or "NEWS.RC-server" if you have selected another server) in your
    NEWS_MAIL_DIR directory.  Edit this.  It will contain a bunch of
    newsgroup names, followed by colons or exclamation points.  A colon
    means you are subscribed to that group, an exclamation point means you
    are not.  After you have used news for a while, numbers will be after
    the punctuation, indicating which messages you have seen in each group.

    I recommend you first change all colons to exclamation points using a
    general command/process in the editor and then you go through the list
    manually subscribing to interesting-looking groups by changing their
    exclamation points to colons.  Be sure to subscribe to
    news.announce.newusers and news.newusers.questions for a while if you
    have not used Usenet elsewhere.

    After you have edited the file, go back into one of the news programs
    and start reading.  In Xrn, the buttons have messages that appear that
    tell you what they do.  In Vnews, "h" is for help.

    Finally, here is a list of servers to choose from.  This list comes
    from a note written on 19 March 1992.  To get later information, check
    notes in UPSAR::NEWS-BACKBONE topic 95.  Using the location codes in
    the first column, locate the site closest to you, and replace "nntpd"
    in the command files I gave above with the node name that appears in
    the second column.

 Where         NODE      EASYnet     Internet address

Maynard        deceds    24.265
Maynard        engage    24.153      engage.pko.dec.com
Littleton      nntpd     55.376      nntp.lkg.dec.com
Littleton      sousa     29.176      sousa.ltn.dec.com
Marlborough    ryn       21.158      ryn.mro4.dec.com
Merrimack      e2big     31.1008     e2big.mko.dec.com
Westfield      sniff     18.176      sniff.wfo.dec.com
New York       datum     32.557      datum.nyo.dec.com
Washington     decuac    36.51       decuac.dec.com
Detroit        lemans    34.133      lemans.det.dec.com
Colo. Springs  shodha     8.720      shodha.cxn.dec.com
Albuquerque    decabo    16.964      decabo.abo.dec.com
Seattle        rust      10.176      rust.zso.dec.com
Palo Alto      usenet    10.352      usenet.pa.dec.com
Santa Clara    oct17     30.59       oct17.dfe.dec.com
Reading        hollie    42.203      hollie.rdg.dec.com
Basingstoke    decuk     41.6        decuk.uvo.dec.com
Valbonne       uninet    51.407      uninet.vbo.dec.com
Munich         cssec4    49.668      cssec4.unt.dec.com
Stockholm      loke      50.424      loke.soo.dec.com
Tokyo          tkou02    58.764      tkou02.jit.dec.com
Yokohama       jrdzzz    58.641      jrdzzz.jrd.dec.com


				-- edp

    "East Germany". Where's that? :-)
    
    I suppose you mean the "ex-DDR".
    
    Rob (sorry edp!)