>
>As per the suggestions of some, here is the closest thing to an RFD
>(request for discussion) on setting up a gateway to Netnews. With a
>gateway, there is no formal RFD. There are 5 steps to take which are
>described here. The first step has been taken, no objections from me or the
>Listserv administrator. We are now involved in steps 2, 3, and 4. Actually,
>step 3 does not apply since there is no museum related discussion group on
>Netnews (at least none that I am aware of). The proposed name of the group
>is bit.listserv.museum-l.
>
>For all concerned, if you do not have access to Netnews, you will continue
>to receive e-mail postings. Some people associated with Universities prefer
>to read Netnews rather than e-mail postings. With a gateway, postings to
>the newsgroup will go to the e-mail group.
>
>The reason I have started this process is to provide a service for some of
>our subscribers. There will be no loss of service or discussion, and I hope
>we gain some new participants who will contribute to the discussions we
>have on the list.
>
>--john chadwick
>[log in to unmask]
>
>>--------------8<---------------(cut here)---------------8<---------------
>>Archive-name: bit/policy
>>Last-modified: 1 July 1994
>>
>> ************************************************************
>> *** General Information on Mailing List/Netnews gateways ***
>> ************************************************************
>>
>>This document gives general information on gateways between Electronic
>>Mailing Lists and Netnews as implemented in Netnews version 2.5 by Linda
>>Littleton at Penn State University. It includes guidelines on how to
>>establish a new Mailing List/Netnews gateway.
>>
>>*** What are Electronic Mailing Lists?
>>
>>Electronic Mailing Lists are controlled by a software package called a
>>Mailing List Mananger (or MLM). Since the most widely used MLM is called
>>ListServ many people refer to electronic mailing lists as "Listserv
>>lists". (Listserv, which stands for List Server, is a MLM that runs on
>>VM/CMS, AIX, VMS, and other platforms. It is a product of LSoft, Inc.
>>Write to [log in to unmask] for more information on Listserv.)
>>
>>MLMs provide "mail-exploding" capabilities so that people with a common
>>interest can communicate with each other by sending mail to a particular
>>address (one address per mailing list), which then redistributes the mail
>>to each person "subscribed" to the list. Each person subscribed to a
>>particular list gets a copy of each piece of mail in their mailbox.
>>
>>*** What is Netnews?
>>
>>Netnews is a bulletin board system in which articles on a variety of
>>topics are arranged in "newsgroups" and stored in a shared location from
>>which individual users can read them. These newsgroups can be local
>>newsgroups, available only at a user's site, or may be shared with other
>>sites to form a world-wide bulletin board system called Usenet.
>>
>>*** What does the gateway do?
>>
>>The gateway software (which is a built-in part of the VM/CMS Netnews
>>server from Penn State) puts each piece of mail for a particular list
>>into a corresponding Netnews newsgroup and also sends each Netnews-
>>originating posting to the newsgroup back to the mailing list. Generally
>>gatewayed groups on Netnews are given the name bit.listserv.<listname>.
>>When appropriate, the items in a mailing list might also be cross-posted
>>to a "mainstream" Usenet group.
>>
>>*** Moderated or Unmoderated Newsgroup
>>
>>The newsgroup gatewayed to a list can be either moderated or unmoderated.
>>If it is unmoderated, all posts are immediately accepted in the newsgroup
>>and make their way eventually to the mailing list. If the newsgroup is
>>moderated the posts are not accepted in the newsgroup, but instead sent
>>through e-mail to a moderator address. This moderator can be a human
>>being who decides if the post is appropriate, or can even be the mailing
>>list address (where, for example, the list owner may from time to time
>>set the list to "Send= Private" to limit the mail coming from Usenet to
>>the mailing list).
>>
>>Whether the mailing list is edited is a separate decision from whether
>>the newsgroup is moderated. Many unedited mailing lists are gatewayed to
>>moderated newsgroups so the list owner can impose controls when and if
>>inappropriate posts come from the newgroup to the mailing list.
>>
>>*** Why have a gateway?
>>
>>The major reason sites decide to carry gatewayed mailing lists is so
>>their users can read these lists via shared disks, rather than requiring
>>each user to receive each item to their mailbox. In addition, the gateway
>>gives greater exposure and wider readership to the list since the list
>>can be now be read by users at thousands of Usenet sites.
>>
>>*** The gateway can be LOCAL or GLOBAL
>>
>>On a per-group basis, the gateway can be either LOCAL (only users on the
>>machine where Netnews is running will see the Listserv items) or GLOBAL
>>(the Listserv items will propagate to other Usenet sites). To avoid
>>problems that can be caused by multiple sites gatewaying the same group,
>>we request that only a handful of sites set up global gateways and that
>>other sites receive these groups through their normal news feeds.
>>
>> *******************************
>> *** AN IMPORTANT PRECAUTION ***
>> *******************************
>>
>>It is important that no more than one site per list set up a GLOBAL
>>gateway. If more than one site does a GLOBAL gateway for a particular
>>list, the list may get duplicates of some articles. It is the list
>>owner's responsibility to make sure there are not multiple global
>>gateways for the list and to "signoff" any suspect gateway site should
>>problems start to occur. No GLOBAL gateway should ever be established
>>without the express permission of the list owner.
>>
>>In the event that two sites did set up a global gateway for the same
>>list, here is what might happen. If a user anywhere on the net posted an
>>article to the group via Netnews and the article found its way to both of
>>the global gateway sites, both of these sites would forward the article
>>back to the mailing list. The mailing list would therefore receive two
>>copies and although Listserv will usually detect the duplicate posting,
>>it will return one of the copies to the author with a message saying that
>>the post was a duplicate. Since the author only posted once, this will
>>cause them some confusion. Also, it is possible that both posts would be
>>distributed to the list if a MLM other than Listserv is controlling the
>>mailing list. Netnews would not have a problem handling this (since it
>>checks message-id's for duplicates), but it is the people who get the
>>items in their mailboxes who would see two copies of the article.
>>
>>*** Gateway registration
>>
>>In order to avoid problems caused by multiple gateways, a list of
>>gatewayed newsgroups is maintained by David Lawrence ([log in to unmask]).
>>This list is posted monthly to bit.admin, and copies are available from
>>[log in to unmask] by sending the command GET NETGATE.GATELIST as the
>>first and only line in the body of a piece of e-mail. This file is also
>>available via anonymous ftp from ftp.american.edu.
>>
>>Please consult this list before establishing a gateway between a mailing
>>list and a newsgroup to verify no gateway already exists. If you set up a
>>gateway you should have it added to the list by writing to David Lawrence
>>at [log in to unmask], or by writing to [log in to unmask]
>>
>>*** Setting up the gateway.
>>
>>The gateway is set up by having the Netnews service machine subscribe to
>>the mailing list in the same way that a subscriber would. The MLM must
>>ensure that each post has a unique Message-ID. If none is present in the
>>incoming post, the MLM must add one. Also, the posts must come from some
>>consistent address in the "Return-Path" (generally OWNER-<listname>).
>>With LSoft's Listserv these requirements can be met by setting the
>>FULLHDR option on (additionally the NOFILES option should be set, and
>>NORENEW should be set if the list expires subscriptions).
>>
>>*** Guidelines for establishing a Mailing List/Netnews gateway.
>>
>>It is the responsibility of the person requesting the gateway to do the
>>following:
>>
>>1. Get the approval of the mailing list owner(s) and the MLM
>> administrator at the host node. (For Listserv, send a "REVIEW
>> listname" command to the Listserv at the host node for the names
>> and addresses of the list owner(s), and a "RELEASE" command to
>> the same address for the Listserv administor's name and address.)
>> Send them each a copy of this document. If the list owner or
>> MLM administrator objects, the gateway is not done.
>>
>>2. Get the approval of the mailing list readers. This could be done
>> somewhat informally by posting to the list and asking if there
>> are objections. If the issue was controversial, a formal vote
>> should be held according to the same guidelines as for creating a
>> new Usenet group. If there was no major dissenting opinion a vote
>> will not be needed.
>>
>>3. If there is a Usenet group where crossposting would be logical,
>> get the approval of the people who read that group (in the same
>> way as approval of the mailing list readers was gotten).
>>
>>4. Post to bit.admin to see if there are any objections. The subject
>> of the posting should be "Gateway for <listname> under
>> discussion". Explain briefly what the list is for. If you are
>> proposing that the list be gated to something besides
>> "bit.listserv.<listname>", this should be stated. Again, if there
>> was no major dissenting opinion within seven days, a vote would
>> not be needed; otherwise a vote would be held.
>>
>> Steps 2, 3, and 4 can all be done at the same time.
>>
>>5. Write to [log in to unmask] to say that all of the criteria
>> have been met. Indicate the gateway site (if you wish some site
>> besides auvm.american.edu to be the gateway), mailing list name,
>> mailing list host node, list owner(s), and a short (45 character
>> maximum) description of the list. News-admin will establish
>> and/or register the gateway, and then post to bit.admin to say
>> that the gateway is operational. The subject of the posting will
>> be "Gateway for <listname> operational".
>>
>>If for some reason you cannot follow the steps outlined here (for
>>example, if you do not get the bit groups, so cannot post to bit.admin),
>>write to [log in to unmask] to explain the situation.
>>
>>*** Where to address questions
>>
>>Questions about Listserv/Netnews gateways can be posted to bit.admin or
>>sent to [log in to unmask]
>>
>
>
Netnews sounds like a good idea. I would rather be able to access a BBS
than have a mailbox filled to overflowing with mail of marginal interest.
I am in cultural resource management - a curator with Parks Canada. I am
an "interpretive" curator as opposed to the classical museum curator.
This service seems better suited to my needs.
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