Newsgroups: news.software.b
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: C news configuration options vs B news same
Message-ID: <1989Dec5.172135.27648@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1989Dec5.080052.3532@aai.uucp>
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 89 17:21:35 GMT

In article <1989Dec5.080052.3532@aai.uucp> leo@aai.UUCP (Leo Pinard) writes:
>... B news has several configuration options that were useful
>and I would like to know if it is possible to do the same in C news.
>
>MANUALLY - rmgroup messages mail a message rather than deleting a group

This is the default in C News; actually, we consider it the only sane policy.
Inspect the $NEWSBIN/ctl/rmgroup shell file if you want to know how it's
done.  In the relay/altctl directory in the sources, you will find an old
(and not recently tested) version of rmgroup that actually tries to do the
removal.  We don't recommend it.

>NONEWGROUPS - sends mail instead of creating groups

This one isn't the default, since we consider group creation relatively
harmless.  We haven't got a terribly convenient way of changing this,
although one that will certainly work is to just remove the shell program
($NEWSBIN/ctl/newgroup) that does new-group creation; that will result
in a complaint via mail when such a control message arrives.  A tidier
but more complicated alternative is to change the shell program to
implement whatever policy you want.

>INTERNET - together with LIBDIR/mailpaths routes internet mail to a
>site that understands internet headers.  Since we get all our news
>from uunet, this is very useful!

This is Geoff's department more than mine, but I think this again is
the default.  We don't understand the custom of making normal, sensible
behavior available only as "options", and we try to avoid it.
-- 
Mars can wait:  we've barely   |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
started exploring the Moon.    | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu