Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!sun-barr!newstop!sun!ravi!anantha From: anantha%ravi@Sun.COM (Anantha Srirama) Newsgroups: news.software.nn Subject: Re: WHAT THE HECK IS NN? Keywords: nn Message-ID: <130600@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: 23 Jan 90 21:53:34 GMT References: <1301@marlin.NOSC.MIL> Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM Lines: 52 kristoff@genbank.BIO.NET (David Kristofferson) writes: >> What is "nn"? Thanks, >I also would like to know (public postings only please). I assume >from the other messages that it must be a further development of the >"mm" mail program?! >-- > Sincerely, > Dave Kristofferson > GenBank On-line Service Manager > kristoff@genbank.bio.net OK, here goes a description. NN - No News - This is a super-fast news reader. - It is a package not just one program. - Unlike other readers it keeps a local database of the article headers and starts up instantaneously. If you have a mainframe and are using it this won't make much of a difference. But if you are like me running on a workstation with a remotely mounted /usr/spool/news this is the best thing since sliced bread. - It provides a facility to monitor who is reading news and for how long :-<. But fortunately this feature can be turned off during the compilation :-> - It is menu driven - It knows about all the groups and can complete group names by a typing a simple space/tab. - It provides a convenient way to save articles, specially tailored to save postings which are multipart. - You can have macros - On-line manual - NNTP and network support That is just the beginning, I have used this package and recommend it to anybodyThe only drawaback is the additional space required for the database, it is around ~7MB on my machine (Sun3/160). Since our news server is heavily loaded due to a large number of clients the local data base helps me zip through the groups I am interested in a matter of minutes. I can scan the headers quickly and choose the articles I want to read and be done with it. That is all I can say folks. -Anantha- ******************************************************************************* Anantha Padmanabha N. Srirama | USENET: ...sun!anantha@Eng Sun Microsystems | ARPA: anantha@Eng.Sun.COM 2550, Garcia Ave. MS: 16-02 | Mt. View, CA-94043 | *******************************************************************************