Xref: utzoo comp.unix.i386:1949 comp.unix.xenix:9169 comp.unix.questions:18599 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!samsung!caesar.cs.montana.edu!ogicse!ucsd!ucsdhub!celit!fpssun!nosun!qiclab!jamesd From: jamesd@qiclab.UUCP (James Deibele) Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386,comp.unix.xenix,comp.unix.questions Subject: Setting up a public access system (help!) Message-ID: <3526@qiclab.UUCP> Date: 22 Dec 89 16:26:44 GMT Reply-To: jamesd@qiclab.UUCP (James Deibele) Organization: Qic Laboratories, Portland, Oregon. Lines: 46 I'm setting up a Bell/Intel UNIX 3.2 system and I have some questions which I can't seem to find answers for. (1) I have looked at Sandy Zelkovitch's XBBS, and it seems like an excellent program for someone who wants to run a UNIX-based BBS. What I would like to do, however, is to have a menu-driven system for UNIX neophytes, something that will let them read and post news, read and send mail, and transfer files without having to worry about learning UNIX. I think people should learn to use UNIX (some part of it, anyway), but at their own speed. I'm using shell scripts to make things easier for neophytes (I'd be interested in swapping scripts or looking at anyone else's scripts if they want to mail or post them, especially Bourne (because it's faster than the C shell) scripts). (2) Because I'm dealing with UNIX neophytes, I'm afraid that they'll find having all the newsgroups shoved at them at once too overwhelming. I would like them to be given a subset (local, city, state) of the newsgroups to start with, then later let them add groups as they get acclimated. I have found that rn will use a file called "authorized" to limit the number of groups that the user first gets, but then the user is prompted on whether or not to add other groups on subsequent calls. Also, this would prevent users who are lost from posting messages asking me for help in a worldwide newsgroup (this happens at least once a week on FidoNet). Is there a way of customizing rn (or another reader) so that an individual could be assigned increasingly more power as they grow accustomed to netiquette? (Read local, read + write local, read world, read + write world). I have scanned (and am rereading) _Using UUCP & Usenet_, _Managing UUCP & Usenet_, and _UNIX Communications_ as well as anything I can find that talks about setting up serial ports on a UNIX box. I've also been reading this group for several months hoping that someone else would ask the same basic questions, but no one has. What I am trying to do is set up a public access system where users are introduced as gently as possible to the power of electronic networking. I've been doing this with FidoNet for quite a while, holding meetings where people can come, ask questions, and get help with telecomm. That way, they have at least a shot at acting like good net.citizens. I'm switching to UNIX because the e-mail is more powerful and I can customize things more for people who have just gotten their first modem. Thanks in advance! -- James Deibele jamesd@qiclab BBSs: (503) 760-1473 or (503) 761-7451 TECHBooks: The Computer Book Specialists --- Voice: (503) 646-8257 12600 SW 1st Beaverton, OR 97005 --- Book reviewers wanted for computer science & electronics - contact us for more information.