Path: utzoo!censor!dybbuk!yunexus!ists!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cwjcc!hal!ncoast!allbery
From: allbery@NCoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Annoying problem with rn (v2.11.18)
Message-ID: <1989Nov17.005615.4816@NCoast.ORG>
Date: 17 Nov 89 00:56:15 GMT
References: <124@toaster.SFSU.EDU>
Reply-To: allbery@ncoast.ORG (Brandon S. Allbery)
Followup-To: news.admin
Organization: North Coast Public Access UN*X, Cleveland, OH
Lines: 28

As quoted from <124@toaster.SFSU.EDU> by eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott):
+---------------
| In any case, this is NOT the source of the problem described--in
| the latest (um, about 2 year old) version of rn.  The problem is
| that the user has groups in active that are not in his .newsrc.
| "Pilot error."
+---------------

Pardon me, but by default rn does *not* add new groups to a user's .newsrc if
the user does not choose to subscribe to them.  Rn uses a separate file
(.rnsoft) to relate the contents of the active file to that of the .newsrc;
this can become out of step if a newsgroup is rmgroup'ed, which causes rn (on
ncoast, at least) to suddenly prompt with about 60 "new" newsgroups.  (When
ncoast expanded to a full newsfeed, I copied uunet:~ftp/news/active to get a
complete active file, which turns out to contain things like a bunch of
clari.all groups which we don't plan to receive here.  Someday I'll weed the
blasted things out.)

It'd be nice if rn could keep from losing its head after a rmgroup....

++Brandon
(P.S.  Steve J. and other ncoasters:  yes, *that's* why.)
-- 
Brandon S. Allbery    allbery@NCoast.ORG, BALLBERY (MCI Mail), ALLBERY (Delphi)
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