Xref: utzoo news.admin:1360 news.misc:1016 Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!linus!gatech!purdue!spaf@uther.cs.purdue.edu From: spaf@uther.cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) Newsgroups: news.admin,news.misc Subject: Changes to "checkgroups" postings Message-ID: <2660@arthur.cs.purdue.edu> Date: 15 Dec 87 19:00:08 GMT Sender: news@cs.purdue.EDU Distribution: na Lines: 33 For some months now I have been posting a "checkgroups" control message every two weeks to help sites keep their files up-to-date. I will not be posting the checkgroups message in that form again (at least for the near future). When the "inet" groups were created, they were given names that fit into the regular 7-category newsgroup structure of the Usenet. The arguments for this were that it would be easier to understand the placement of these groups, and that it would be easier to migrate individual "inet" groups into the mainstream Usenet if the conditions were right. Although there is nothing wrong with these goals, the software is not designed to handle the situation well. Considerable "leakage" has occurred so that some sites get partial or full "inet" feeds without expecting them. My regular "checkgroups" posting does not include the "inet" groups, so system admins throughout the network get mail every week telling them that dozens of "inet" groups are invalid and should be removed -- so the message is not heeded. Rather than continue to post something that annoys so many users and is often ignored, I will post the "checkgroups" information as a shell file that each system administrator can tailor to local specifications and then run with a local distribution. I will post this script to news.admin every two weeks until such time as the software gets a little smarter or the "inet" groups all become full Usenet groups. This is exactly how I was posting it a year ago, before the advent of 2.11 news, so most news admins should be familiar with the process. If you have suggestions on how to do this more effectively or comprehensively, please send me mail. -- Gene Spafford Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004 Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu uucp: ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf