Xref: utzoo news.software.b:1188 news.admin:1749 news.sysadmin:601
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!necntc!dandelion!ulowell!page
From: page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Newsgroups: news.software.b,news.admin,news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: netnews bug
Message-ID: <5374@swan.ulowell.edu>
Date: 10 Mar 88 19:55:01 GMT
References: <285@mancol.UUCP> <114@hawkmoon.MN.ORG> <3479@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Reply-To: page@swan.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Organization: University of Lowell, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 42
Keywords: news src, bug

spaf@uther.cs.purdue.edu.UUCP (Gene Spafford) wrote:
>Every few months we have to explain this again.  It is not a bug.

Every few months I have to offer the solution: don't allow articles to
be crossposted to moderated groups.  Instead, post the article to
every non-moderated group as if the poster didn't specify a moderated
group, and mail each moderator listed a copy of the message/article.
Sure, it means multiple messages, but that's one of the prices you pay
for moderation.

>Consider what happens when you post an article.  It goes out with all
>the newsgroups you posted to in the header so that only one copy gets
>shipped, but so it appears in every group on every machine through the
>magic of links.

It's easy enough to change the newsgroups and article-id lines.

>If the moderator believes the cross posting is appropriate, s/he will
>post it to all the groups (moderators can successfully crosspost to
>their group).

That doesn't work when one of the groups is an Internet mailing list,
it doesn't work when there's more than one moderated newsgroup in the
newsgroup list (moderators tend to get terratorial about other people
posting to 'their' newsgroups) and/or could cause multiple moderated
postings, and/or could result in NO postings (the "other guy will do
it" syndrome), and it doesn't work when the moderator edits the
newsgroups line before posting (most moderators have posting software
that creates the Newsgroups: linefor them).

>send it to the moderated group separately if you don't want this behavior.

You're asking humans to adapt to the code, rather than the other way
around.  You're also asking them to know ahead of time what groups are
moderated and what groups are not.

Documenting a misfeature does not make it a feature.

..Bob
-- 
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept.  page@swan.ulowell.edu  ulowell!page
"I don't know such stuff.  I just do eyes."  -- from 'Blade Runner'