Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!kuhub.cc.ukans.edu!anu-news!list From: munnari!csc.anu.oz.au!gih900@UUNET.UU.NET (Geoff Huston) Newsgroups: news.software.anu-news Subject: Re: Just what does ``Distribution'' mean? Message-ID: <8912150737.AA18815@uunet.uu.net> Date: 15 Dec 89 22:49:16 GMT Sender: ANU-NEWS Discussion Reply-To: Geoff Huston Lines: 27 > "Tom Limoncelli @ Drew University" writes: >> Sorry, my lack of Unix knowledge shines through. >> >> I'm looking for the place in ANU NEWS where you specify what >> "Distribution" tokens you accept. Is it the same as NEWS.SYS? >> >> Are the subnets without periods (like "comp" or "nj" or "ny") the >> same tokens one may use on the "Distribution" line? > >Yes the distribution information is in NEWS.SYS. The NEWS.SYS file basically >describes all of the systems that your local NEWS program talks to, and what >groups/distributions each system wants to see. The first line in the file >usually describes your local system. You should put in the names of the >distributions you want to accept and the names of the top level groups you >want to receive. Bob is correct. There is certainly confusion between acceptable newsgroups and acceptable distribution keywords in the news.sys file. This is NOT the best way of doing it, but is required to make VMS NEWS basically compatible with the usage of the Distribution: line in current Unix implementation of USENET. Of of these days the USENET standards will be a little clearer on the REQUIRED usage of the Distribution: line, which will allow the tokens to be logically separated in the NEWS.SYS control file. Geoff Huston