HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: adb@herboid.uucp (Anthony DeBoer)
Subject: Re: C-News incorrect entry in active file.
Organization: Linda's Dragon Memorial Society
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 23:42:16 GMT

Henry Spencer <henry@zoo.toronto.edu> writes:
>In article <1992Oct13.181802.27309@csi.com> ravi@csi.com (Ravi Bhaskaran) writes:
>>		Every once in a while an incorrect entry creeps
>>into our active file. It looke like:
>>
>> 0000000000 0000000001 y
>
>This is the result of some bozo sending out a "newgroup" message with
>an empty group name.
>
>The immediate fix is to delete the line.

Some newsreaders will barf if you don't also delete the line from the
active.times file.  The situation in which this was observed is that trn
on our server worked, but trn-via-nntp from another machine died on an
invalid GROUP request.  Fixing the second file made it better.
-- 
Anthony DeBoer                       | Why watch TV, when Netnews provides
adb@herboid.uucp | adb@geac.com      | 100% of your daily requirement for
uunet!geac!herboid!adb               | trivia and meaningless entertainment?
From: gdonl@sunrise.ssi1.com (Don Lewis)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: corrupted active and history files
Date: 16 Oct 92 20:56:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: ssigv.1992Oct16.205608.5713
Organization: Silicon Systems, Nevada City CA

In article <Bw2uz3.93I@access.digex.com> mikenews@access.digex.com (Mike Doughney) writes:
>I had installed the May 92 version on a new server and since then had
>problems with the history and active file.  Previously the news system
>was on the same system with users; this system was running SunOS 3.5
>also on a Sun 3, the most recent patchdate was 6-Jul-1991.
>
>Since my last posting I recompiled without the performance library
>after doing a "gclean" and the history file was corrupted by an
>article.  I then reverted to the 6-Jul-1991 Cnews source version that
>we used on the original system, and I'm still seeing articles in the
>history file.   All news binary directories were removed before
>installing the old version.

I've been running 6-Jul-1991 C News using the fast stdio code on
SunOS 4.1.1 for the last year without any problems.
-- 
Don "Truck" Lewis              Phone: +1 916 478-8284   Silicon Systems
Internet: gdonl@ssi1.com       FAX:   +1 916 478-8290   138 New Mohawk Road
UUCP: {uunet,tektronix!gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com}!ssigv!gdonl  Nevada City, CA  95959
Newsgroups: news.software.b,news.software.nntp
From: geoff@world.std.com (Geoff Collyer)
Subject: nntp implementations (was Re: bfrclose couldn't find an open descriptor to close)
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Distribution: inet
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 08:59:29 GMT

me:
>>That's not surprising; the NNTP reference implementation is terribly
>>inefficient.  We're going to do something about this.  Please don't call
>>the combination of C News and the NNTP reference implementation
>>``standard''; it's an historical accident that will be fixed.

Stan Barber:
>Geoff, this could have been addressed long ago, but you were mute to my
>requests for assistance.

Stan, I can't recall any requests from you for assistance with the
efficiency of the NNTP reference implementation.  In any case, others
have produced a new implementation that is waiting for the NNTP V2
protocol to settle down; my assistance doesn't seem to be needed.

>There was nothing accidental about NNTP being grafted on Cnews. This is what
>people wanted done. Again, you could have helped make that happen in a manner
>that was not objectional to you, but you didn't so it happened anyway. It is
>not pretty, but it works well enough that people do use it.

I'm not sure what this refers to.  I did contribute the code in nntpd
that queues incoming articles for C News to process.  The accident of
history is that there was no other free-standing NNTP implementation at
the time.
-- 
Geoff Collyer				world!geoff, world.std.com!geoff

open, a. admitting visitors or customers; not yet settled or decided (OPD)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: emcguire@Intellection.COM (Ed McGuire)
Subject: Re: corrupted active and history files
Supersedes: <EMCGUIRE.92Oct13114555@fuller.Intellection.COM>
Organization: Intellection Inc.
	<Bvz5DJ.4nG@access.digex.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 21:59:13 GMT

In article <Bvz5DJ.4nG@access.digex.com> mikenews@access.digex.com (Mike Doughney) writes:

   This is exactly the problem I've been having since installing the new
   release on our server.  I'm running SunOS 4.1.1 on a Sun 3/160.  All
   the compatibility tests for the stdio library passed during the build.
   The active file has been trashed once, and I've had to rebuild the
   history file every other day for the past week or so.

For contrast, I'm running the "performance" release on SunOS 4.1.2 on
a SPARCserver 630MP without trouble, and with the stdio-speedup code.
-- 
Ed McGuire                   1603 LBJ Freeway, Suite 780
Systems Administrator/       Dallas, Texas 75234
 Member of Technical Staff   214/620-2100, FAX 214/484-8110
Intellection, Inc.           <ed@intellection.com>
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: bboerner@novell.com (Brendan B. Boerner)
Subject: Re: Is there a size limit for a sys file entry?? (Cnews)
Organization: Novell, Inc. --Austin
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 17:59:40 GMT

In article <ianh.718522368@morgana> ianh@resmel.bhp.com.au (Ian Hoyle) writes:
>A new site connecting to us just gave me this *huge* sys file entry:
>
>hostname.company.com.au:alt.amiga,alt.best.of.internet,alt.binaries,\
>!alt.binaries.picures.erotica.d,!alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.male,\
>!alt.binaries.pictures.fine-art,!alt.binaries.pictures.fractals,alt.test,\

>They have very specific (management imposed) restrictions as to which groups
>I pass on to them.


Yes, they don't want anything out of the alt.binaries.picture.erotica
hierarchy but .female suggesting that management consists soley of
males :-;.

In answer to your question, I don't know if C News has any built in
limits to the size of a sys file entry, but '\'s can be used to
continue lines.

You didn't say what you are using to feed these folks but here's an
idea.  I get a feed from within Novell via NNTP.  Since it's our
network, and I get most of the feed on off hours, he just sends me
everything and I use my sys file to throw away what I don't want.  No
pain on his side if I change my mind and ask for a new group.

Brendan
-- 
Brendan B. Boerner		Phone: 512/346-8380
Internet: bboerner@novell.com	MHS: bboerner@novell
Please use ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ if replying by mail exterior to Novell.

Xref: sparky news.software.b:3135 news.software.nntp:1300
From: bad@flatlin.ka.sub.org (Christoph Badura)
Newsgroups: news.software.b,news.software.nntp
Subject: Re: bfrclose couldn't find an open descriptor to close
Date: 7 Oct 92 23:29:29 GMT
Organization: Guru Systems/Funware Department

In <BvnKxp.BoG@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> xcea@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Chad Adams) writes:
>I got a new error message:
>Oct  4 19:15:44 mp nntpxmit[3754]: uxa.ecn.bgu.edu. xfer: explode: had to
>close a descriptor to reuse it; this should not happen!

Did you run the regression tests on the exploder?

I got the same error message when using the stdio speedups on SunOS
4.1.2. They seem not to work for the exploder.

>And more of the old ones:
>Oct  4 19:40:26 mp nntpxmit[13327]: uxa.ecn.bgu.edu. xfer: explode: bfrclose
>couldn't find an open descriptor to close
>Oct  4 19:50:12 mp nntpxmit[5753]: uxa.ecn.bgu.edu. xfer: explode: bfrclose
>couldn't find an open descriptor to close

That may be related.

-- 
				Christoph Badura  ---  bad@flatlin.ka.sub.org

AIX is a better... is a better...  is a better... OpenSystem.
					IBM Rep at GUUG Symposium '92
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: geoff@world.std.com (Geoff Collyer)
Subject: Re: cnews performance release log file
Organization: Software Tool & Die Netnews Research Center
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 04:07:14 GMT

Larry Snyder:
>>I found the problem -- the correct function call was ifdefed
>>to SANE -- I needed to add -DSANE to the Makefile -- now I get
>>the seconds carried to 3 digits right of the decimal
>
>check this out:
>
>Oct  7 19:30:08.883 fang + <1aunerINNa47@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> towers
>Oct  7 19:30:08.150 fang + <1992Oct7.123310.3086@cs.hw.ac.uk> inland rde sawmill towers
>Oct  7 19:30:08.466 fang + <13394@texsun.Central.Sun.COM> towers
>
>maybe this is why it is ifdef SANE -- I don't understand this one :)

The implication was that in a sane world, time and times would synchronise
the transition from one second to the next.  In System V, they aren't
synchronised, so the default is to use the not-SANE code.  It's become
clear that this isn't going to be fixed in System V, and the code is no
longer #ifdefed:

ftime(tp)
struct timeb *tp;
{
[...]
	/*
	 * Since times() is not required to use the same time base for its
	 * return value as time() uses, we can't easily get sub-second
	 * resolution.  In a sane world, this would work, with hz being
	 * hertz beyond time(0):
	 *
	 * #ifndef HZ
	 * #define HZ 60
	 * #endif
	 * struct tms timesbuf;
	 * register int hz = times(&timesbuf) % HZ;
	 * tp->millitm = (hz*1000L)/HZ;
	 */
	tp->millitm = 0;		/* SysV loses */
	tp->time = time(&tp->time);
-- 
Geoff Collyer				world!geoff, world.std.com!geoff

open, a. admitting visitors or customers; not yet settled or decided (OPD)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: larry@gator.rn.com (Larry Snyder)
Subject: expire option on cnews to rmdir directories
Organization: The Gator Conferencing System 219-289-3745 
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:49:11 GMT

How about an option for cnews (performance release) expire
which blows aways any directories with no articles under
them?

-- 
Larry Snyder                                    internet: larry@gator.rn.com
keeper of the Gator                                  uucp: uunet!gator!larry
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: ianh@resmel.bhp.com.au (Ian Hoyle)
Subject: Is there a size limit for a sys file entry?? (Cnews)
Organization: BHP Research - Melbourne Laboratories, AUSTRALIA
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 05:32:48 GMT

A new site connecting to us just gave me this *huge* sys file entry:

hostname.company.com.au:alt.amiga,alt.best.of.internet,alt.binaries,\
!alt.binaries.picures.erotica.d,!alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.male,\
!alt.binaries.pictures.fine-art,!alt.binaries.pictures.fractals,alt.test,\
alt.books.technical,alt.cad,!alt.cad.all,alt.cellular,alt.graphics,\
alt.hackers,alt.internet.services,alt.msdos,alt.sb,alt.sci.physics.acoustics,\
alt.sources,alt.tasteless,alt.uu.comp.misc,aus.aarnet,aus.acsnet,aus.archives,\
aus.auug,aus.comms,aus.computers,aus.films,aus.forsale,aus.games,\


.... etc etc etc, an entire 18 lines of selected groups!!!

2 questions:

1) Can the lines be continued as above with the '\' ??
2) Is there a limit imposed during the parsing of the sys file with regard to
   the size of the entry.

They have very specific (management imposed) restrictions as to which groups
I pass on to them.

Could an alternative strategy be to send _them_ everything and let the 
selective acceptance/rejection be done at their end??

	ian
--
   /\/\     :  Ian Hoyle,  Senior Research Scientist
  / / /\    :  Image Analysis Group
 / / /  \   :  BHP Research - Melbourne Laboratories
/ / / /\ \  :  245 Wellington Rd, Mulgrave, 3170, AUSTRALIA
\ \/ / / /  :  Phone    +61-3-560-7066
 \  / / /   :  E-mail   ianh@resmel.bhp.com.au
  \/\/\/    :
            : "The kernel IS a continuously running random number
            :  generator" -- Larry Wall

Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: larry@gator.rn.com (Larry Snyder)
Subject: Re: cnews performance release log file
Organization: The Gator Conferencing System 219-289-3745 
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 00:40:28 GMT

larry@gator.rn.com (Larry Snyder) writes:

>I found the problem -- the correct function call was ifdefed
>to SANE -- I needed to add -DSANE to the Makefile -- now I get
>the seconds carried to 3 digits right of the decimal

>Strange -- I would think that this would be the default (ie:
>not ifdefed).  Oh well --

check this out:

Oct  7 19:30:08.950 fang + <1992Oct7.123336.16606@icd.ab.com> inland rde towers
Oct  7 19:30:08.216 fang + <26080@oasys.dt.navy.mil> inland rde towers
Oct  7 19:30:08.633 fang + <1992Oct7.130812.18858@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> inland rde towers
Oct  7 19:30:08.883 fang + <1aunerINNa47@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> towers
Oct  7 19:30:08.150 fang + <1992Oct7.123310.3086@cs.hw.ac.uk> inland rde sawmill towers
Oct  7 19:30:08.466 fang + <13394@texsun.Central.Sun.COM> towers

maybe this is why it is ifdef SANE -- I don't understand this one :)

-- 
Larry Snyder                                    internet: larry@gator.rn.com
keeper of the Gator                                  uucp: uunet!gator!larry
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: bad@flatlin.ka.sub.org (Christoph Badura)
Subject: Re: corrupted active and history files
Organization: Guru Systems/Funware Department
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 16:40:30 GMT

In <Bw2GDC.2Gs@newsflash.concordia.ca> anne@maxwell.concordia.ca (Anne Bennett) writes:

>Mike> All
>Mike> the compatibility tests for the stdio library passed during the build.

>Same was true for me.

That doesn't necessaryly mean anything. The fast stdio routines passed
all the tests when I tried in in May '91 on Xenix, but they didn't
work.
-- 
				Christoph Badura  ---  bad@flatlin.ka.sub.org

AIX is a better... is a better...  is a better... OpenSystem.
					IBM Rep at GUUG Symposium '92
From: mikel@Demax.COM (Mikel Lechner)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: Is there a size limit for a sys file entry?? (Cnews)
Date: 9 Oct 92 17:22:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: Demax.1992Oct9.172246.17735
Organization: Demax Software Inc.

In <1992Oct8.175940.23661@novell.com> bboerner@novell.com (Brendan B. Boerner) writes:

> [. . .]  I get a feed from within Novell via NNTP.  Since it's our
>network, and I get most of the feed on off hours, he just sends me
>everything and I use my sys file to throw away what I don't want.  No
>pain on his side if I change my mind and ask for a new group.

Why not a combination of both methods?  Have the sending site limit
it's feed to the interesting hierarchies, and major subcategories.
Eliminate the most voluminous uninteresting (*) stuff at the source.

Then use your local sys file and active file for the finer-grained control
of what is actually kept on your system and passed on to your downstream
sites (if any).

This approach minimizes the size of the sys on both systems but
can substantially reduce the traffic passed and, still allow for
fine-grained control.  And you don't have to bug your feed site every
other day to make adjustments.  I use this method for our local newsfeed.


--
Mikel Lechner				E-mail:		mikel@Demax.COM
Software Developer
Demax Software, Inc.			Phone:		(415) 341-9017
Xref: sparky news.software.b:3114 news.software.nntp:1286
From: sob@TMC.EDU (Stan Barber)
Newsgroups: news.software.b,news.software.nntp
Subject: Re: nntp implementations (was Re: bfrclose couldn't find an open descriptor to close)
Date: 7 Oct 1992 17:16:49 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
Distribution: inet
NNTP-Posting-Host: tmc.edu

In article <BvquB5.6u7@world.std.com> geoff@world.std.com (Geoff Collyer) writes:
>me:
>Stan Barber:
>>Geoff, this could have been addressed long ago, but you were mute to my
>>requests for assistance.
>
>Stan, I can't recall any requests from you for assistance with the
>efficiency of the NNTP reference implementation.  In any case, others
>have produced a new implementation that is waiting for the NNTP V2
>protocol to settle down; my assistance doesn't seem to be needed.

The most recent request was made at the USENIX BOF at San Antonio.

I will be happy to go through my message archives and cite each time I
made such a request if you like.

Granted, I didn't specifically say, help me with efficiency. I was more
general than that. I did import your changes to work the the Cnews 
input architecture because you were providing those as part of Cnews
anyway. My thinking was to avoid the problems people run into when trying
to patch programs if possible.

Anyway, I believe your input (as well as others) is necessary to keep things
happening correctly. I just don't know who the focal should be any more.

-- 
Stan           internet: sob@bcm.tmc.edu         Director, Networking 
Olan           uucp: rutgers!bcm!sob             and Systems Support
Barber         Opinions expressed are only mine. Baylor College of Medicine
From: bruce@blilly.UUCP (Bruce Lilly)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: corrupted active and history files (on SunOS 4.1)
Date: 15 Oct 92 22:59:26 GMT
Organization: Bruce Lilly

In article <Bw2qs4.7E2@world.std.com> geoff@world.std.com (Geoff Collyer) wrote:
>[...].  I wrote it in 1985 to cope with the slow stdio code shipped
>with non-System-V UNIXes (notably V7 and 4BSD).  

I wish the documentation (as of a couple of years ago when I
last installed a patch; perhaps the latest documentation
differs) clearly stated that one shouldn't bother with the
``fast stdio'' code if installing C news on a System V OS. Such
a statement would have saved at least a few people a
considerable amount of time and trouble.

There appear to be a few jabs taken at System V in the
documentation (and comments); it would be nice if the
good points of SV (or conversely, the bad points of BSD, V7,
etc.) were given equal attention...
-- 
	Bruce Lilly		blilly!bruce@Broadcast.Sony.COM
					...uunet!sonyusa!sonyd1!blilly!bruce
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: mikenews@access.digex.com (Mike Doughney)
Subject: Re: corrupted active and history files
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, Maryland USA
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 20:45:00 GMT

In article <Bw2GDC.2Gs@newsflash.concordia.ca> anne@maxwell.concordia.ca (Anne Bennett) writes:

>
>Now I *know* I'm not crazy.  And on a very different system, too.  Mike,
>when you say "installing the new release", do you mean the May 92
>performance release of Cnews?  And were you running some other version of
>Cnews before?

I had installed the May 92 version on a new server and since then had
problems with the history and active file.  Previously the news system
was on the same system with users; this system was running SunOS 3.5
also on a Sun 3, the most recent patchdate was 6-Jul-1991.

Since my last posting I recompiled without the performance library
after doing a "gclean" and the history file was corrupted by an
article.  I then reverted to the 6-Jul-1991 Cnews source version that
we used on the original system, and I'm still seeing articles in the
history file.   All news binary directories were removed before
installing the old version.

The only changes between the systems are: new system is SunOS 4.1.1
and doesn't use the speedup code , old is SunOS 3.5 and used the stdio 
library.  The new system uses NNTP for reading and posting which was
not necessary with the old version.  The only other possible
difference is the order of the directories in the PATH variable, the
new system had /usr/ucb first instead of last (and I'm now reversing
that change).

I suspect that there may be some problem with file and news system
locking; this error seems to occur overnight when expire runs, but I'm
not completely sure of that right now.

Mike
-- 
Mike Doughney              mike@access.digex.com               +1 301 220 2020
Digital Express Group Inc. -  6006 Greenbelt Road #228, Greenbelt MD USA 20770
Express Access Online Communications --------- Telnet, FTP, IRC available NOW.
Login as "new": Washington 301-220-0462 Baltimore 410-766-1855: info@digex.com
Newsgroups: news.software.b
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: corrupted active and history files
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 22:34:30 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <BvwwHF.GDw@newsflash.concordia.ca> anne@maxwell.concordia.ca (Anne Bennett) writes:
>...Since then it has once trashed its
>active file by apparently replacing about 400 lines in the
>middle of it  (the active file) with text from a few articles,
>and once trashed its history file the same way.

I haven't heard of anyone else having problems like *that*...

If I had problems like that on a new system, my instantaneous gut reaction
would be to rebuild without the stdio-speedup code, on the grounds that a
subtle malfunction there could conceivably do this.  (Note that you'll have
to do a "make gclean" -- or at least "rm libcnews.a" -- first, because an
ordinary build won't take the stdio stuff *out* of libcnews.a if it's
already in there.)

Well, actually, that would be my second gut reaction.  The first would be
to take the system down and do an fsck on that filesystem...
-- 
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry
From: kenh@leps5.phys.psu.edu (Ken Hornstein)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: INN on ULTRIX 4.2
Date: 8 Oct 92 01:23:02 GMT
Organization: Penn State, Laboratory for Elementary Particle Science

In article <1avpm6INNhv6@golem.wcc.govt.nz> brockie@golem.wcc.govt.nz (Roger Brockie) writes:
>In article <1avcppINN57v@rodan.UU.NET> rsalz@rodan.UU.NET (Rich Salz) writes:
>>In <1992Oct6.230019.340@lester.appstate.edu> COMBSTM@APPSTATE.EDU (*Terry M. Combs) writes:
>>>Has anyone tried to implement INN on ULTRIX 4.2 - RISC?
>>Sure; news.bbn.com is/was a DECstation 3100.
>>
>>>I am particularly interested in the issues of the syslogd daemon, config.data
>>>used, and what to do about certain compile errors.
>>Your best bet is to junk the Ultrix4.2 syslog and install the modern one
>>that is distributed with INN.  If you are paranoid about that, see the README.
>
>The problem with INN version is that it is the BSD4.3 version.  So all the apps running
>on Ultrix that were linked against the BSD4.2 syslog, i.e. all of them, won't work.

Hm.  I installed the INN syslog daemon, and everything else still worked fine.

--Ken