Path: utzoo!utstat!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!caen!stealth
From: stealth@caen.engin.umich.edu (Mike Pelletier)
Newsgroups: news.software.nntp
Subject: Re: users are not notified of new local newsgroups
Message-ID: <1990Nov14.200204.25707@engin.umich.edu>
Date: 14 Nov 90 20:02:04 GMT
References: <1990Nov10.215424.27362@ssd.kodak.com>
Sender: news@engin.umich.edu (CAEN Netnews)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
Lines: 26

In article <1990Nov10.215424.27362@ssd.kodak.com>
	dcox@ssd.kodak.com (Don Cox (253-7121)) writes:
>
>I created a new group to be used just within my department using the
>command 'addgroup ispd.general y'.  The group was created properly, but
>no one is alerted to the fact that the group was created when they
>call up rn.  Whenever a new group is established on the net I am
>questioned whether or not I want to subscribe to it, why wasn't I 
>asked for the local group?
>

The problem lies with rn's mechanism for determining whether a newsgroup
is new or not.  From what I can figure out, it seems to look to see if 
one article has been posted to it, and if it has, then it offers it to
you.  If nothing has been posted or if dozens of articles have been posted,
it won't ask you.  With NNTP, it would be a snap to use the newgroups
command, but I think rn has more to worry about than that...

This flaw is one reason I was spared an offer to subscribe to
alt.tv.twin-peaks, since it had a good number of articles in it when
rn first checked on it for me.
--
	Mike Pelletier - Usenet News Admin & Programmer
"Wind, waves, etc. are breakdowns in the face of the commitment to getting
 from here to there.  But they are the conditions for sailing -- not
 something to be gotten rid of, but something to be danced with."