Path: utzoo!attcan!telly!evan
From: evan@telly.UUCP (Evan Leibovitch)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Suggesstion for C NEWS and 3.0 NEWS
Message-ID: <803@telly.UUCP>
Date: 12 Mar 89 21:42:33 GMT
References: <1522@csd4.milw.wisc.edu>
Distribution: na
Organization: The Open Vapourware Foundation (join now!)
Lines: 33

In article <1522@csd4.milw.wisc.edu>, John G Dobnick writes:

>I suggest a set of n.a.n articles be included in each full news distribution.

>I also propose the following change to any and ALL newsreader programs.

>	When a new user is detected (perhaps by an empty .newsrc file?),
>	create a "prototype" .newsrc  file for that user which displays
>	news.announce.newusers FIRST!

>	Of secondary importance, most other newsgroups should be marked
>	UN-subscribed.  Exceptions would be selected local groups and such
>	things as news.lists, and the various "important" groups (the
>	"general" groups, news.announce.important, etc.).

Good idea! I would suggest taking a hint from Xenix, which has a number of
default actions stored away in /etc/default/*. Perhaps a small feature
could allow the news administrator at a site to create a prototype .newsrc,
which would be used for each news reader without an existing .newsrc file.
That prototype, as shipped with the distribution source, would be created
along John's guidelines.

This would allow each news admin to decide what groups are 'important' to
first-time readers on his/her own site, and would take into account the
differences in the naming of local newsgroups.

PS. Being as these suggestions are for the news reading software only,
I suspect they have little relevance to those folk working on Cnews.
-- 

 Evan Leibovitch, SA of System Telly, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
     evan@telly.on.ca / {uunet!attcan,utzoo}!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
You can lead a herring to water, but you have to walk really fast or he'll die