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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!ucbarpa!fair
From: fair@ucbarpa.BERKELEY.EDU (Erik E. Fair)
Newsgroups: net.news.adm,net.news.sa
Subject: netnews aliases file (fa -> mod)
Message-ID: <10953@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Mon, 11-Nov-85 19:46:14 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.10953
Posted: Mon Nov 11 19:46:14 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 13-Nov-85 07:02:54 EST
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Followup-To: net.news.adm
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
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Xref: watmath net.news.adm:418 net.news.sa:201

Some sites out there have attempted to comply with the fa -> mod
conversion by adding aliases to the netnews aliases file. This does not
work. The articles posted in fa.* do not have the necessary magic
cookie in them that will allow them to circulate in mod.* groups. What
happens is that the software will mail a copy of the article back to
the original sender, with a notation indicating that posting to a mod.*
group is not allowed if you're not a moderator.

This will beat your system to death with mail messages (one per
article) and annoy either the ARPANET list administrator, or some poor
ARPANET person who knows nothing of USENET.

In sum, DO NOT put in ANY aliases in the netnews aliases file
which point unmoderated traffic into a moderated group. It will
not work, and it will consume many system resources, and annoy
remote people while not working.

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