Newsgroups: news.software.b
Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!geoff
From: geoff@utstat.uucp (Geoff Collyer)
Subject: Re: Cnews lets outside control messages create groups
Message-ID: <1989Jul9.032048.3850@utstat.uucp>
Organization: Statistics, U. of Toronto
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 89 03:20:48 GMT

In several recent messages, people have speculated without cause about
alleged misfeatures in C news (aside: why do people insist on spelling
"C news" as "Cnews"? if someone said "Cnews" to me, I'd say
"Gesundheit!").  Todd Day's most spectacular groundless speculation is:

> I noticed today that Cnews lets incoming control messages have
> their way (at least in creating groups).  How can I make it so
> that the news administrator is notified every time a control
> request comes in (like Bnews) so that the news admin can create
> or destroy groups or change moderation as he sees fit?

: stat; cd /usr/lib/newsbin/ctl; grep mail newgroup rmgroup
newgroup:       echo "newsgroup $1 was created by $SENDER." | mail $NEWSMASTER
rmgroup:echo "rmgroup $1 says $SENDER" | mail $NEWSMASTER

In future, would people posting reports of alleged bugs in C news please
first check that they are running C news and try to verify the alleged
bugs by examining the code (which often turns out to be shell scripts)
to confirm that there is a non-zero probability that the alleged bug
actually exists?
-- 
Geoff Collyer		utzoo!utstat!geoff, geoff@utstat.toronto.edu
``... skill such as yours is evidence of a misspent youth.'' - Herbert Spencer