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From: dclemans%UUCP@mntgfx.UUCP.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.computers.apollo
Subject: Re: USENET news software and Apollo Domain/IX
Message-ID: <8607150113.AA05282@tektronix.TEK>
Date: Mon, 14-Jul-86 18:06:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: tektroni.8607150113.AA05282
Posted: Mon Jul 14 18:06:33 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 18-Jul-86 02:37:24 EDT
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We have the USENET news software (news 2.10.3 beta, rn, vn) running on the Apollo
ring at Mentor Graphics.  The news message directories (i.e., /usr/spool/news renamed)
are on a DSP160.  That same node also handles sending/receiving news from our
feed site, sequent.  People run the news reading programs from their individual
nodes.

In this environment, the BIG problem with the USENET software (specifically inews)
is that it depends on being able to write to the news active file (and the history
file?) anytime it wants to.  This capability is NOT supported in general on a
multi node Domain/IX environment; i.e. if a news reading program has the "active"
file open for reading, inews/rnews WILL NOT be able to open it with write access
(unless both the news reader program and inews/rnews are running on the same node).

This causes things like multitudes of "unwritable files" messages to the news
administrator, some articles dropped on the floor, etc.  EXCEPT for "rn", things
aren't too bad, because most of the news reader programs just read the active file
once, close it (or else don't use it any more), and go on with their business.
However, "rn" keeps the active file open and in use during the whole time it's
running.  This can lock out inews/rnews for quite a while.

To get around this, I modified "rn" to make a copy of the active file when it starts
up and from then on reference only the copy.  I also stuck some "ulkob -f" (or equivalents)
in at various places.  With this there's still spurts when a few articles disappear,
but it's not too bad.

Another problem is that there are scattered uses of uninitialized local variables
throughout the USENET software.  While you can get away with that most of the time
on typical UNIX architectures with entirely separate address spaces, you can't on
Domain/IX where an address space is shared.

dgc