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Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!ll-xn!ames!acornrc!bob
From: bob@acornrc.UUCP (Bob Weissman)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.software.b
Subject: Using "local" as a newsgroup name considered harmful
Message-ID: <434@acornrc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 11-Aug-87 18:43:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: acornrc.434
Posted: Tue Aug 11 18:43:31 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 13-Aug-87 06:22:18 EDT
Organization: Acorn Research Centre, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 32
Keywords: distributions, newsgroups, lack of distinction between
Xref: mnetor news.admin:830 news.software.b:751

I have my sys file set up so that a certain user gets a certain
newsgroup by mail.  I included "local" as a distribution in the sys
line for him.  So far so good.

Today, I noticed (while just idly perusing LIBDIR/log), that this user
was getting other newsgroups (ones he didn't want) in addition to the
one he did want.  Not so good.

It turns out that there's a site called ozdaltx.uucp which uses "local"
not as a distribution name, but as a top-level newsgroup name.  I.e.,
my poor user was getting drivel from "local.general", a newsgroup
local to ozdaltx, because of cross-posting.

Needless to say, I quickly patched my sys file to say "local,!local.all",
but there's a problem here, stemming from the fact that news 2.11 does
not distinguish between distributions and newsgroups in the sys file.

Will the mythical C news distinguish between distributions and top-level
newsgroup names?  Or will we be forever at the mercy of twits who decide
to create local newsgroups called "world.nosepicking" and cross-post to
them?

(Or am I way off base and has every knowledgable news admin already
put "distribution,!distribution.all" in place of just "distribution" in
their sys files?  (Which of course doesn't work for genuine regional
newsgroups like ca.*))

-- 
Bob Weissman
Internet:	bob@acornrc.UUCP
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