From csus.edu!csulb.edu!library.ucla.edu!psgrain!news.teleport.com!news.teleport.com!not-for-mail Tue Mar 21 08:52:51 1995 Path: csus.edu!csulb.edu!library.ucla.edu!psgrain!news.teleport.com!news.teleport.com!not-for-mail From: mbn@teleport.com (Mike Northam) Newsgroups: alt.usenet.offline-reader,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: alt.usenet.offline-reader: YAFAQ (Yet Another FAQ) Supersedes: Followup-To: alt.usenet.offline-reader Date: 18 Mar 1995 20:45:10 -0800 Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016 Lines: 544 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: 2 May 1995 04:45:04 GMT Message-ID: Reply-To: mbn@teleport.com (YAFAQ Maintainer) NNTP-Posting-Host: kelly.teleport.com Summary: offline reading of mail and news on PCs, Macs, etc. (usually at home) Xref: csus.edu alt.usenet.offline-reader:9350 alt.answers:8014 news.answers:40079 Status: RO Archive-name: off-line-readers/usenet/yet-another-faq Alt-usenet-offline-reader-archive-name: yet-another-faq Posting-Frequency: monthly Note: The original author of this document, Zhahai Stewart, has handed the maintenance of this FAQ off to me as of mid-1994. I have taken the liberty of making some minor updates and corrections. I wouldn't have bothered except that I found this document particularly helpful when I was getting started in offline reading and thought it was worth a little work. I invite any further suggested changes. I am especially desirous of removing any redundant and/or outdated information that is more appropriate in one of the other FAQs posted to alt.usenet.offline-reader or comp.os.msdos.mail-news. Mike Northam (mbn@teleport.com) ----------- The following is growing into an FAQ-like document for Unix Offline Readers. Please, email me corrections and additional information (not flames) at zstewart@nyx.cs.du.edu Additions by Mike Northam mbn@teleport.com After I posted the first version of this, Steve Belczyk sent me a copy of a similar document and I considered abandoning this effort, but others have apparently been unaware of it, and this document has additional information, so I will for now continue. ===================================== Unix host to DOS offline-reader systems for reading, replying, and posting email and news. Zhahai Stewart 12/06/93 Version 08/01/94 updates by Mike Northam 01/22/95 updates from readers Thomas Riha William Werth =============== Intro =============== Many people read their internet mail and usenet newsgroups via direct login to a Unix based host, using a terminal (like a VT-100/200/300 series), or a computer emulating a terminal. They may do this via a wired connection (say, at a university computer lab), or via a modem and telephone connection. On the Unix end, they may run a news reader program such as rn, trn, nn, tin, etc. for news, and a mail reader such as mail, elm, etc. for email. (Of course, lucky ones have a high powered graphical workstation on a high speed network gated to the internet, but that's another thing...). For those who are connecting via modem and a computer emulating a terminal, it becomes obvious that they could reduce their connect time (which may cost money, or may tie up a phone line, or ...) if they could download new email and news, read and respond "offline" (while not connected to the Unix host), and then upload their mail and news responses. This is the idea behind offline readers. A very similar process is used by many BBS users, but the typical BBS oriented formats and offline readers (eg: QWK and Bluewave formats and offline readers) were not designed for Internet mail and Usenet news. However there are now several options for offline reading of internet email and usenet newsgroups. First off, there are "sorta" 4 packet formats: SOUP - designed for just this purpose, open standard, has the most support; used to be called "HellDiver Packet Format" or HDPF. ZipNews - also designed for this, proprietary, one $20 shareware reader QWK plain - actually BBS std, doesn't handle email and news well, especially bad for replies; but can be read by any QWK reader. QWK with header in body - includes internet/usenet header in the QWK body; theoretically a reader could use this, but so far none do; one can at least read (verbosely) the header info, and an expert can manually create appropriate response headers (dangerous). Basically, all of these consist of a group of files (one or two per newsgroup, plus a few extra) enclosed in a compressed archive file (like *.zip). On the Unix side, there are two packages which can create these packets for download, and accept uploaded responses. uqwk - can create/accept all four (SOUP, Zipnews, QWK plain and QWK header) getnews/postreply - can create/accept SOUP (in slnr package) Both of these are distributed in C source code, and may need to be compiled on your Unix machine host (somebody else may already have done this, or you may have to). On the nearby (to you) end, on your machine, there are several offline readers. There are two basic dynamics: either they read the downloaded packet directly, or you run one program to import each packet into a local messagebase and another to read/respond from the messagebase. A "threaded" reader can group related messages together (eg: same subject); unthreaded ones display them in the order received. slnr - SOUP only; MSDOS; packet reader; distributed in C source; colored screens supported; also runs under Unix or Atari or OS/2 offliner - SOUP; MSWindows; beta at present yarn - SOUP only; MSDOS; messagebase reader; threaded; also runs under OS/2 unor - SOUP only; MSWindows; packet reader; unthreaded (sorted by 'Subject:' header) hpv - SOUP only; MSDOS; packet reader? ZipNews Reader - ZipNews only; MSDOS; packet reader; threaded; shareware $20; unregistered version can read netnews only, cannot read email or respond to either any QWK reader - can read QWK plain or QWK header, but cannot handle all of the internet/usenet fields, or good responses. Not recommended except as a last resort. MANY available, for many machines and OS's. Note that all of these formats, host programs, and offline readers can handle both email and newsgroups; unlike the typical Unix software division of labor, the same program usually does both. There is more information on the formats, readers, and host software later in this document, including file names, authors, and ftp locations. ========= Setting up and configuring the software ========= This can be complicated, and very much depends on the software you are using. You may have to create configuration files (on the DOS and/or Unix end), or set environment variables (likewise, on either or both ends), or use the right set of command line parameters. You may want to create "shell scripts" (on the Unix End) or "batch files" (on the DOS end) to aid you in getting everything set up or called correctly. You will have to read the documents for the software you plan to use. Ask specific questions in the newsgroup if you get confused. This document would be many times longer if I tried to explain all the background and details (well, even that portion thereof which I more or less understand ). You may even need to compile some C program(s) to get started. Some systems are simple (like getnews/postreply/slnr) and fairly obvious to anybody used to the compiler; others like uqwk include a makefile to handle the complexity. Get local help if you cannot figure out how to compile. [See note at end.] ========== Operating Procedure (after set up) =========== Typical usage: Use your terminal program and modem to log in to the Unix host as usual. Run UWQK or getnews with proper parameters to extract news and email and create a 'download' packet. Download the 'download' packet using a modem file transfer protocol like ZMODEM. Log off. For packet reader, run the reader software on the new packet; read & reply For messagebase reader, run the import software on the new packet; then run the reader to read from the messagebase. The reader should create a reply ('upload') packet if you have any responses. Use the terminal program to log in again (or do this next time you download). Upload the reply packet via a modem file transfer protocol like Zmodem. Run 'uqwk' or 'postnews' with the proper parameters to process the reply packet and send email and/or news to the appropriate destinations. Log off. One part not specifically addressed here is the process of moving individual files in the packet into and out of compressed archives. Some aspects may be done automatically, others you may have to do manually (or via batch files). For example, getnews will invoke a configurable archivers (by default, zip), but you have to manually unarchive (unzip, pkunzip) this file on your PC before handing the enclosed files to slnr. Read the docs. Logging in, running the host programs, and downloading/uploading are still your responsibility, so you need to already know how to log on to the host system, and how to download and upload binary files using a protocol like Zmodem. The UQWK and getnews/postreply software must also exist on the Unix host, and be properly configured (these come with doc files). You should understand the idea of compressed archive formats, like .zip files. ========== Basic Questions and Answers ============ Q: What is "subscribing" to a newsgroup? A: This just means that you have it on a list to be read; the list is maintained as a file on the host, and it has both the name of the newsgroup and the list of messages (by number) which you have already read. This file is typically named ".newsrc" and is kept in your host directory. Files beginning with a period are by default not shown, so this is a semi-hidden file; see a book on Unix for more details. Subscribing means the newsgroup names go into this file (one per line), unsubscribing means the name is removed. (Detail: actually, it's subscribed only if the newsgroup name is followed by a colon; if followed by an exclamation point, it is unsubscribed even if listed in the file). Offline reader host programs (getnews and uqwk) also use a file like this for the same purpose (to know which groups are subscribed, and which messages have already been marked as read); they may use the same file, or separate ones. Note that most online newsreaders allow you to subscribe or unsubscribe to newsgroups, and change your .newsrc accordingly (as they also do to show which messages you read). You can also do so with a text editor, as the ".newsrc" file is simple text., and there exist special programs for maintaining this file. Offline host programs may require that you use some online method to maintain your .newsrc (or equivalent)--the online reader, or an editor, or a maintenance program; or they may allow you to subscribe and unsuscribe remotely. For example, the SOUP protocol has explicit options (which may or may not be implemented) for subscribing and unsubscribing, as well as listing newsgroups. Or, the uqwk program can read commands mailed to it as messages. See the documentation. Q: Can I read my mail/news both online (connected to the Unix host via a terminal or terminal emulator and using elm/nn/trn/etc.), and offline (via a packet format and offline reader as described here)? A: Yes, but you need to think out what you are trying to do. Both the online reading programs and the host end of the offline system keep track of which messages you have read or not read. Do you want them to use the same info about this? Or each keep separate pointers? Same info: For news, use the same .newsrc file for both the online news readers (like rn/trn/nn/tin/etc.) and for the host end of the offline system (like uqwk/getnews). Once either of these has read a message, it will be marked not to be presented to you again by either one (unless you take special actions). For mail, have uqwk/getnews delete your incoming mailbox after collecting the messages therein. In this case, each mail message will go to the online or offline reader, whichever gets it first (actually, this is only true if you delete it from the incoming mailbox with the online mail program; if you leave it around, the offline host program will snarf it up when it next runs). Different info: For news, use a different .newrc type file for each; uqwk can be configured to use another one, getnews can be edited and recompiled. You can decide to put some newsgroups into each, allowing some to be read online and some offline. Of you a newsgroup in both such files, in which case the online and offline readers will maintain separate pointers. For mail, configure the offline host program to not delete your mailbox; you will get all mail both offline and online. You can answer this question (using the same or different info about what has been read for online and offline) independently for mail and news. The difference between them is that for news, you only have info about which messages you have already read (in your .newsrc or equivalent file), but the messages (whicha are shared by everybody) stay around for a while and you can still refetch ones you are marked as having read with some minor effort; but for mail, once the messages are deleted from your incoming mailbox (by an online mail program or an offline host program), they are gone, period. Q: I cannot compile getnews.c on my Unix host; it gives two errors, one near "recompile" and another near the "I" command description. A: Version 1.9 of getnews.c is mostly "old" C, but has one ANSI extension which confuses some older C compilers: concentanation of two adjacent quoted strings. This is used for multiline strings in two places. You have to change the second and following strings into separate print statements, matching the first one. Maybe this will be changed in a later version. The problem is your compiler being too old, not bad coding on the author's part. Luckily, this is easy to compensate for. Q: On the PC, "slnr" blows up in strange ways with some newsgroups. A: If the newsgroup name plus description is too long, the stack gets trashed, with unpredictable but unpleasant results. In the function "show_header()", increase the length of the desc[80] array, maybe to 160. Recompile. Q: How do I create a SOUP packet for download with uqwk? A: run the commands: uqwk +n +m +L zip news.zip AREAS *.MSG sz news.zip Q: How do I get my uqwk SOUP replies mailed? A: run the commands: rz ;your comm program will prompt you for the reply packet unzip -U reply.zip uqwk -n -m +L -RREPLIES Q: How do I create a Zipnews packet for download with uqwk? A: run the commands: uqwk +n +m +z zip news.zns .* sz news.zns Q: How do I get my uqwk Zipnews replies mailed? A: run the commands: rz ;your comm program will prompt you for the reply packet unzip -U .pst uqwk -n -m +z -R. Q: How do I find out more about uqwk? A: type the command: man uqwk You can find out which version of uqwk your system is running by typing: uqwk -p Q: uqwk can, under certain circumstances, lose mail. How can I avoid this? A: Use the following script for secure mail locking: #!/bin/sh # # Safe UQWK wrapper -- H.Shrikumar shri@cs.umass.edu 1994 # All rights reserved by the holder of the mail lock file. :-) # ( echo 's1-$' /tmp/qwk$$ ; echo q ) | mail exec uqwk -f/tmp/qwk$$ $* =============== Formats ============= Format: QWK (plain; message body = Usenet message body) Origin: mark.herring@nashville.com (Mark "Sparky" Herring), extended by others Version: 1.7 Ftp: /oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/offline/qwklay16.zip QWK format spec Files Dnloaded:CONTROL.DAT,MESSAGES.DAT,*.NDX Files Uploaded:.MSG Unix Host End: uqwk (optional mode) DOS Reader End: any standard QWK reader Advantages: Widely supported standard, many readers available for many machines Compatible with QWK packets from many BBSs and doors uqwk source freely available Disadvantages: QWK format truncates some important fields, is missing others * This is a major problem for posts and replies * *** Format: QWK (w/header; message body = Usenet message header and body) Origin: (see above for basic QWK) Version: 1.7 Ftp: /oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/offline/qwklay16.zip QWK format spec Files Dnloaded:CONTROL.DAT,MESSAGES.DAT,*.NDX Files Uploaded:.MSG Unix Host End: uqwk (default mode) DOS Reader End: [most QWK readers] Advantages: Piggybacks on std QWK, can fallback to previous case With full headers, it's possible to write USENET aware reader uqwk source freely available Disadvantages: No known QWK readers yet make correct use of Usenet headers embedded in the QWK message body, for replies, display, threading, etc. *** Format: SOUP (formerly Helldiver Packet Format, HDPF or HPF) Origin: rhys@cs.uq.oz.au (Rhys Weatherley) Version: 1.2 Ftp: /oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/offline/soup12.zip SOUP format spec Files Dnloaded: AREAS, *.MSG, *.IDX (typ in INFONEWS.ZIP) Files Uploaded: REPLIES, RMAIL.MSG (typ in REPLY.ZIP) for slnr REPLIES, MAIL.MSG (typ in IOXR.ZIP) for yarn Unix Host End: getnews/postreply from slnr pkg; uqwk DOS Reader End: slnr; yarn; unor; hpv (Helldiver Packet Viewer); offliner Advantages: Format designed for Usenet news/mail, powerful and expandable Full header fields, no truncation Source code freely available for getnews,postreply,slnr,uqwk Largest number of readers for any full-header usenet offline format Disadvantages: New standard, limited number of readers *** Format: ZipNews format Origin: jkilday@nlbbs.com (Jack Kilday) Version: 0.92y Ftp: (format not publicly documented) Files Dnloaded: Archived file .ZNS contains: .JN, .NWS, .MAI, .GPS Files Uploaded: .pst contains: .id, .* (one for each article or reply) Unix Host End: uqwk Dos Reader End: ZipNews Reader Advantages: Designed to handle usenet messages without omissions or truncations For DOS BBSs, there is a compatible "ZipNews Door" host end Disadvantages: Supported only by ZipNews Reader on DOS, and uqwk on unix hosts Beta only at this time; registration is $19.95 during Beta phase (with free upgrades to later versions) ZipNews unregistered shareware will not post news, read email, or send email, only read news (and send subscribe/unsubscribe cmds) but a 10-day evaluation key can be obtained via email to try out these functions ============= Readers ============ *** Name: Crosspoint reviewed by Thomas Riha (rito@site46.ping.at) Author: Peter Mandrella (peter@xpoint.ruessel.sub.org) FTP: ftp.worms.fh-rpl.de:ibm-pc/dos/bbs/crosspoint [editor's note: I could not reach this site to verify this file] Crosspoint (XP) is DOS based and works in several networks (FIDO, Z- Connect, Internet, Usenet...). The Internet, or UUCP, module is by far the easiest to work with program I've seen so far. You don't have to edit config files. Everything is done from inside the program. You only have to fill out a few points, call your provider with crosspoint and the program fixes everything for you. Maybe the problem with XP is that it is a German program but an english version is available since last June (but I'm not sure about the UUCP- module - but I think it's being translated right now). Some english speaking persons use it already - at least there are some english mails in the usenet-group de.comm.software.crosspoint. Next advantage: It's registered version is quite cheap (40$) and the non- registered version isn't crippled at all. *** Name: hpv 1.01b Helldiver Packet Viewer Author: rhys@brisnet.org.au (Rhys Weatherley) Ftp: /ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/waffle/news/hpv101b.zip Notes: DOS reader. HDPF format. Reads archived HDPF packet (does its own unarchiving to a temporary and deletes temps on exit). Multiple archiver formats accepted (ZIP/LHA/etc.) Text/Graphical interface (Borland lib). "The Original" SOUP reader (HDPF predates SOUP). *** Name: helldiver 1.07 Helldiver windows Packet Viewer Author: rhys@brisnet.org.au (Rhys Weatherley) Ftp: /ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/waffle/news/helld107.zip Notes: MS Windows viewer. Supports Waffle only. *** NewsWerthy (reviewd by William Werth Name: NewsWerthy 1.20 - SOUP format, packet reader, threads on subject. Author: William Werth (billw@eskimo.com) Ftp: /ftp.eskimo.com:/billw/nwrth120.zip Notes: Fully functional, reads news and mail, can send replies to either. Works well when used with uqwk, since it has a built in interface to uqwk commands. *** Name: slnr 1.3 Simple Local News Reader Author: Philippe Goujard (ppg@oasis.icl.co.uk) Ftp: /ftp.uu.net:/networking/news/readers/off-line/slnr/ Notes: DOS reader. SOUP format. Reads directly from unarchived SOUP packet, directly produces replies. Freely available in source. Packaged along with getnews 1.9 and postreply, which can provide Unix SOUP host functions, also in source format. Has compile options for Unix, OS/2 and Atari based reader. Currently limited to 500 msgs and 100 groups per packet in DOS version, but easy to expand. Can colorize display via ANSI.SYS escape sequences. *** Name: yarn 0.78 (Yet Another RN) Author: cthuang@io.org (Chin Huang) Ftp: /oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/offline/yarn_078.zip (DOS) /hobbes.nmsu.edu:/os2/32bit/bbs/yrn2_077.zip (OS/2) Notes: DOS and OS/2 reader. SOUP format (fully Usenet compliant). Netnews and mail. Imports SOUP packets into its own messagebase format, date expires old messages; reader operates on messagebase rather than SOUP packet. No source. *** Name: Offliner for Windows 0.06b Usenet Offline Reader Author: harknesb@metronet.com (Barry L. Harkness) Ftp: /metronet.com:/pub/xfer/ol06b.zip Notes: MS Windows Reader. SOUP format. Currently in beta test. *** Name: unor 0.31 Usenet Offline Reader Author: rrusbasa@nyx10.cs.du.edu (Bob Rusbasan) Ftp: /ftp.gte.com:/pub/unor/unor0031.zip Notes: MS Windows Reader. SOUP format. *** Name: znr 0.93b ZipNews Reader Author: jkilday@nlbbs.com (Jack Kilday) Ftp: /oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/offline/znr093b.zip /ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/waffle/news/znr092y.zip (old version) /ftp.gte.com:/pub/zipnews/znr093b.zip Notes: DOS reader. ZipNews format, or local Waffle BBS messagebase. Proprietary format; DOS based host also available (ZipNews Door). $19.95 shareware. Fully Usenet compliant. *** Name: pboy 2.04 PaperBoy Author: vart@clark.net (Michael H. Vartanian) Ftp: /ftp.clark.net:/pub/vart/pboy204.zip Notes: MS Windows based. SOUP Reader. Not much known to document author. ============ Unix based Host Software for Offline Readers ========== Name: uqwk 1.8 Unix QWK host Author: seb3@gte.com (Steve Belczyk) Ftp: /ftp.gte.com:/pub/uqwk/uqwk1.8.tar.Z /ftp.clark.net:/pub/vart/uqwk.binary.solaris.nntp /ftp.clark.net:/pub/vart/uqwk.binary.solaris.spool Notes: Unix host. SOUP, ZipNews, QWK and QWK/header in body formats. *** Name: getnews, postreply Ftp: /ftp.uu.net:/networking/news/readers/off-line/slnr/ Notes: Unix host. SOUP format. Source freely available. Packaged with slnr reader. *** There's a Linux qwk reader available. I'm not sure if there's a version for your system, but the source is available, and porting shouldn't be difficult. ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/BBS/atp142src.tar.gz ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [editor's note: This address no longer appears to be valid] ===================================================================== The author of this document is Zhahai Stewart (zstewart@nyx.cs.du.edu), with helpful contributions from: seb3@gte.com (Steve Belczyk) jkilday@nlbbs.com (Jack Kilday) mbn@teleport.com (Mike Northam) --------------- -- mbn@teleport.COM Public Access User --- Not affiliated with Teleport Mike Northam (503)324-1831 (H) SCUD missile coords: 123 11' 40"W 45 37'14"N "Every now and then things become clear" Jane Siberry, "The Walking" http://www.teleport.com/~mbn/ for Blazers stuff and more From csus.edu!news.starnet.net!wupost!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!scanner.worldgate.edmonton.ab.ca!ersys!alpha3!auofaq Tue Mar 21 08:52:52 1995 Path: csus.edu!news.starnet.net!wupost!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!scanner.worldgate.edmonton.ab.ca!ersys!alpha3!auofaq From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (a.u.o FAQ) Newsgroups: alt.usenet.offline-reader,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: alt.usenet.offline-reader FAQ (01/02) intro Summary: Reading mail and news available to your normal login account, but while you're not actually logged in Message-ID: <19950319.auofaq.01@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> Date: 19 Mar 1995 00:00:00 -0700 Expires: 02 Apr 1995 12:00:00 GMT Reply-To: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca Followup-To: alt.usenet.offline-reader Organization: Private System, Edmonton, AB, Canada Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Supersedes: <19950312.auofaq.01@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> X-Posted-By: trivdb Lines: 232 Xref: csus.edu alt.usenet.offline-reader:9362 alt.answers:8016 news.answers:40088 Status: RO Archive-name: off-line-readers/usenet/intro Alt-usenet-offline-reader-archive-name: intro Posting-Frequency: weekly Original-Author: Rhys Weatherly Last-modified: 1995-03-12 ============================================================================ part 01/02 intro 1 Credits and Disclaimer 2 Overview 3 Newsgroups of interest to offline readers 4 What is an offline reader? 5 What is the difference from getting a news feed? 6 What are QWK and BlueWave? 7 What is SOUP? 8 What is ZipNews? part 02/02 software 100 Where can I get the software? 200 Where are the QWK readers? 300 common sites, template 400 author contacts 500 ftp sites 600 miscellaneous 700 packers 800 readers ============================================================================ ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: QWK and crayons From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) using QWK for Internet mail or Usenet is like using wax crayons for all your business correspondence. it'll get your message across, but only to those people who don't throw it away without opening it. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: Credits and Disclaimer From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) This FAQ is based in part on one by Dave Cheung , last posted to alt.usenet.offline-reader in April 1993. It was updated and posted by Rhys Weatherly for a while. It was then digestified and hardly (if at all) modified by Russell Schulz Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure the information contained herein is correct, neither the current author, the current poster, nor any previous author or previous poster can accept ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER for errors, ommissions or damage howsoever caused. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: Overview From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) A common question on netnews these days is "how do I package up my mail and news to be read offline?". This FAQ attempts to answer this question for e-mail and netnews, to point the reader at relevant software, and to describe some of the ongoing efforts in this area. Other networks such as FidoNet, CompuServe, etc. are not covered. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: Newsgroups of interest to offline readers From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) alt.usenet.offline-reader is for the discussion of offline systems for netnews in general. This includes the installation and use of offline systems, and the discussion of "packet formats" to facilitate offline activities. comp.os.msdos.mail-news is for the discussion of any aspect of managing RFC-compliant mail and news on MS-DOS machines, and is not limited to the discussion of offline activities. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: What is an offline reader From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) The concept of offline reading comes from BBS world where a user connects via a modem to the bbs, and downloads a file (usually called a packet) containing all unread messages since the last connection. Then a program is used, to extract the messages from the packet, read them and reply to them, creating a reply packet to be uploaded at the next connection. This saves time (the bbs lines are less engaged) and money (on phone bills). It also means that the user can make use of much friendlier reading tools than can be made available in an interactive login environment. For the purposes of this FAQ, "offline" is defined to mean the following: "transferring mail and news in some form from an existing interactive account to a user's machine, usually via a modem, so that the messages may be read while the user is not connected to the account, and so that replies may be composed to be uploaded to the account at some later time to be injected into the network". ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: What is the difference from getting a news feed? From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) Another definition of "offline" pertains to the system administrator of a mail and news site (usually a UUCP site) who reads mail and news while the machine is not physically connected to the network, usually with some friendly third-party utility. This usage is common in the Waffle community. It is often the case that your server can provide you with an automatic transfer method to send you mail and news. This is called a "feed" and can be received by modem using the UUCP protocol (among other methods). There is no big difference with the "offline reading" concept except that it is a little more automated. If your home machine runs on a multi-tasking system you can even set it to call the server regularly. You can also start feeding other machines. The disadvantage is that getting a feed is a little more complicated than using an offline reader, there are usually more programs to install and to configure. For MS-DOS machines, see the FAQ for comp.bbs.waffle for information on a popular UUCP system for receiving a feed. SNUUPM is a package designed to allow simple installation of the full UUPC, SNews, and PMail (Pegasus Mail) packages. uufree is another such package, but none of the packages is shareware, and the installation time has been kept to an absolute minimum. At the start, especially if you want few newsgroups, you may want to begin with an offline news reader and then maybe move to a feed when you feel more confident. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: What are QWK and BlueWave? From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) QWK and BlueWave are the names of popular packet formats in the BBS community. QWK was originally created to get messages for PC-Board bulletin boards and FidoNet "mail areas" (the equivalent of netnews newsgroups). It became a de-facto standard since more and more QWK readers are available not only on MS-DOS machines but on all architectures. However, the QWK and BlueWave formats are not capable of carrying RFC-compliant messages such as Internet mail and netnews. Some efforts have been made to adapt QWK to netnews, but at best the extra information present in netnews messages has been ignored by existing readers, and at worst the extra information is truncated or lost. Some of this information, for example the Message-ID: and References: headers, is very important to netnews, and the loss of this information causes problems for other netnews readers. Some packages try to put all the RFC-compliant header information in the _bodies_ of the messages, which creates a lot of ugly messages when these aren't intercepted, but also doesn't solve the problem of creating _correct_ headers, since the QWK programs will just let any old garbage out, and your messages can silently disappear, without you getting any warning until it's too late. As mentioned, there are already a _ton_ of QWK readers. if you're looking for a programming project, see the next section. it'll be about as much work, but a lot more fun because it's a lot less likely to be ignored once you finish. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: What is SOUP? From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) SOUP == "Simple Offline USENET Packet" format. It is intended as a replacement for QWK in the netnews community. The messages stored in SOUP packets are completely RFC-compliant so that no critical information is lost. Software which supports SOUP on a variety of platforms is available. See "Where can I get the software?" later in this FAQ for more information. SOUP was originally called the "Helldiver Packet Format" or HDPF, and was devised by Rhys Weatherley (rhys@cs.uq.oz.au) near the end of 1992. A variant of HDPF, called the "Simple Local News Packet" format or SLNP, was devised by Philippe Goujard (ppg@oasis.icl.co.uk) soon afterwards. SOUP now combines the features of both HDPF and SLNP. Rhys Weatherley currently maintains the "official copy" of the format document. The SOUP format document may be found on any SimTel FTP mirror as offline/soup12.zip The latest copy may also be obtained by mailing Rhys Weatherley at the above e-mail address. SOUP also has the ability to download "summaries" of message areas. That is, downloading just the header information for the user to peruse and then choose what messages they want to be downloaded later. This can be useful in very large newsgroups where a user typically only reads a few messages and wishes to avoid downloading the rest of the "noise". This feature is not currently widely implemented however. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o intro: What is ZipNews? From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) ZipNews is an offline reading system that was developed independently by Jack Kilday (jkilday@nlbbs.com). It is primarily intended for Waffle, PC-Board and Wildcat! systems, although the UQWK package can generate ZipNews packets (and process ZipNews reply packets) on Unix systems. Only one ZipNews compliant reader exists. SOUP and ZipNews formats are superficially very similar, and it is not inconceivable that a reader for one format could be adapted to read the other format. The ZipNews reader can also function as a local newsreader for Waffle system adminstrators. From csus.edu!news.starnet.net!wupost!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!scanner.worldgate.edmonton.ab.ca!ersys!alpha3!auofaq Tue Mar 21 08:52:52 1995 Path: csus.edu!news.starnet.net!wupost!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!scanner.worldgate.edmonton.ab.ca!ersys!alpha3!auofaq From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (a.u.o FAQ) Newsgroups: alt.usenet.offline-reader,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: alt.usenet.offline-reader FAQ (02/02) software Summary: Reading mail and news available to your normal login account, but while you're not actually logged in Message-ID: <19950319.auofaq.02@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> Date: 19 Mar 1995 00:00:00 -0700 Expires: 02 Apr 1995 12:00:00 GMT References: <19950319.auofaq.01@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> Reply-To: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca Followup-To: alt.usenet.offline-reader Organization: Private System, Edmonton, AB, Canada Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Supersedes: <19950312.auofaq.02@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> X-Posted-By: trivdb Lines: 291 Xref: csus.edu alt.usenet.offline-reader:9363 alt.answers:8017 news.answers:40089 Status: O Archive-name: off-line-readers/usenet/software Alt-usenet-offline-reader-archive-name: software Posting-Frequency: weekly Original-Author: Rhys Weatherly Last-modified: 1995-03-18 ============================================================================ part 01/02 intro 1 Credits and Disclaimer 2 Overview 3 Newsgroups of interest to offline readers 4 What is an offline reader? 5 What is the difference from getting a news feed? 6 What are QWK and BlueWave? 7 What is SOUP? 8 What is ZipNews? part 02/02 software 100 Where can I get the software? 200 Where are the QWK readers? 300 common sites, template 400 author contacts 500 ftp sites 600 miscellaneous 700 packers 800 readers ============================================================================ Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure the information contained herein is correct, neither the current author, the current poster, nor any previous author or previous poster can accept ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER for errors, ommissions or damage howsoever caused. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 100 Where can I get the software? From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 100 Where can I get the software? There are two pieces of software that you will need for any offline reading activities. A "generating program" (also known as a "packet generator" or "door") to build the packets on the BBS or login account, and a "reading program" (also known as a "packet reader") to read the packets on your home machine. This section lists software that can be used for each of these activities, together with the authors, FTP sites, and packet formats supported. In the case of interactive dial-in users, you may find that a suitable generating program may already exist on the system you call: ask the system administrator if you are unsure. For Waffle systems, you will need to ask the system administrator to install the generating software. For Unix, anyone who has access to a C compiler can compile and install the currently available software, so no intervention from the system administrator is required. 101 Where are the reviews? not here. if you are looking for reviews, post your requirements and see who else knows what you need. please do not be vague -- no one can help you when you just say you're looking to evaluate some `offline software for your computer'. what kind of computer is it you're using? what is the computer it's connecting to? what do you want to do -- mail, news, both, more? how much are you willing to pay? what sort of interface do you need? how sophisticated are you? etc. I will not be putting any reviews in here, partly because they would be difficult to maintain, and partly because I want to avoid any flak from a negative review which I did not write. if you want to periodically post a collection of reviews, go ahead. you don't need my approval. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 200 Where are the QWK readers? From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 200 Where are the QWK readers? not here. I don't plan on listing any software that mangles headers as much as QWK does. even with uqwk's +X expert mode, no QWK reader I'm aware of will yet do simple things like generate a References: header. until they do, look elsewhere for them. if you must. ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 300 common sites, template From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 300 Common sites, template If you know of any other products that support offline activities for RFC-compliant mail and news, please send the following information in mail to auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca. Also, be sure to post your announcement, to make sure everyone knows about it. Name: [Product name] Author: [email address] Location: [ftp site] [filename] * Type: Packet Generator/Packet Reader/Both Environment: [msdos][mac][ms-windows][os2][atari-st][unix][etc.] Formats: [soup][zipnews] Description/Comments: * for the SimTel collection, just use `simtel' for the ftp site, and give the first two directories (e.g., `msdos/offline') plus filename. the main SimTel mirror is oak.oakland.edu:/SimTel/ for the Cica ms-windows collection, just use `cica' for the ftp site, and give the first directory (e.g., `util') plus filename. on cica itself, the ms-windows files are in ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/pub/pc/win3/ ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 400 author contacts From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 400 author contacts soup rhys@cs.uq.oz.au zip zip-bugs@wkuvx1.wku.edu unzip zip-bugs@wkuvx1.wku.edu getnews ppg@oasis.icl.co.uk solar kjhoule@iowegia.dsm.ia.us uqwk seb3@gte.com uqwkselector seb3@gte.com zipnews jkilday@nlbbs.com hpv rhys@cs.uq.oz.au slnr ppg@oasis.icl.co.uk unor rrusbasa@nyx.cs.du.edu zipnewsreader jkilday@nlbbs.com yarn cthuang@io.org yarn-os2 cthuang@io.org yarneditorsh pg@login.dknet.dk paperboy vart@clark.net rfdmail yon@world.std.com toadnews jpmah@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca pronto pronto@commtouch.com, [800-63-TOUCH,+1 415 578 8580] nnrnews hero@login.dkuug.dk offlinepgp staalesc@ifi.uio.no versatermlink maxwell@sales.synergy.com soupcmd combee@prism.gatech.edu macslurp ... offliner ... offline-orbit jts@krk.fi williamsnews rwilliam@netcom.com snuupm mlawrie@apies.frd.ac.za uufree uufree@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca macsoup stk@dobag.in-berlin.de readmail jschipper@hut.nl newswerthy billw@eskimo.com newshopper laurent@mach.demon.co.uk newsfetcher h9151382@idefix.wu-wien.ac.at rnmac rrwood@io.org okami wr@bara.oche.de tetrix Johannes@tetrix.internet-eireann.ie winyarn ? souper cthuang@io.org wssoup magnus@world.net olmenu kgresham@america.net wsomr wang@durian.usc.edu.ph ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 500 ftp sites From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 500 ftp sites soup simtel:msdos/offline/soup12.zip zip ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/* unzip ftp.uu.net:/pub/archiving/zip/* getnews ftp.adelaide.edu.au:/pub/news/readers/off-line/slnr/ ...? solar simtel:msdos/waffle/solar094.zip uqwk ftp.gte.com:/pub/uqwk/uqwk1.8.tar.Z uqwkselector ftp.gte.com:/pub/uqwk/us/us1.1.tar.Z zipnews simtel:msdos/offline/znews97g.zip hpv simtel:msdos/offline/hpv101b.zip slnr ftp.adelaide.edu.au:/pub/news/readers/off-line/slnr/* unor ftp.gte.com:/pub/unor/unor0021.zip zipnewsreader simtel:msdos/offline/znr093b.zip yarn simtel:msdos/offline/yarn_079.zip yarn-os2 ftp-os2.cdrom.com:/os2/2_x/bbs/yrn2_065.zip [079 assumed...] yarneditorsh simtel:msdos/offline/yes-017b.zip paperboy ftp.clark.net:/pub/vart/pboy205.zip rfdmail garbo.uwasa.fi:/windows/comm/rfdml122.zip toadnews ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/tisk/tidbits/uucp/ pronto [retail package] eval: commtouch.com:/pub/commtouch/eval.exe nnrnews simtel:msdos/offline/nnrnews2.zip offlinepgp simtel:msdos/offline/apgp212.zip versatermlink [retail package - nothing ftp-able] soupcmd ftp.gte.com:/pub/soupcmd/soupcmd.tar.gz. macslurp ... offliner metronet.com:/pub/xfer/ol06a.zip offline-orbit [via mail from author] williamsnews ftp.netcom.com:/pub/rwilliam/wnnws10b.zip snuupm simtel:msdos/uucp/snuupm26.zip uufree ftp.supernet.ab.ca:/pub/msdos/uufree/uufree06.zip,uufres06.zip macsoup ftp.gte.com:/pub/MacSOUP/* readmail ftp.winternet.com:/pub/ReadMail/rm50b75.zip newswerthy simtel:msdos/offline/nwrth140.zip newshopper ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/tisk/tidbits/tcp/news-hopper-10a-demo.hqx newsfetcher ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/tisk/tidbits/tcp/news-fetcher-045-hc.hqx rnmac ftp.halcyon.com:/pub/tisk/tidbits/uucp/rn-mac-13b6.hqx okami ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de:/pub/atari/uucp/o_026.zip tetrix ftp.internet-eireann.ie:/pub/ie_access/dos/winsock/trp* winyarn simtel:win3/offline/winyrn71.zip souper ftp-os2.nmsu.edu:/os2/32bit/unix/souper12.zip wssoup http://www.ozemail.com.au/~magnus olmenu america.net:/pub/users/kgresham/olmenu1010.zip wsomr simtel:msdos/offline/wsomr100.zip ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 600 miscellaneous From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 600 miscellaneous soup - Simple Offline Usenet Packet format offlinepgp - soup-aware pgp addon yarneditorsh - editor shell winyarn - front-end to yarn? olmenu - front-end to uqwk snuupm - easy-install of snews, uupc, and pmail uufree - free uucp/mail/news, with installation/configuration program ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 700 packers From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 700 packers -- `name' - `function'; `platforms'; `standards' 701 getnews - generator; Unix; soup 702 solar - generator; msdos Waffle; soup 703 uqwk - generator; Unix NNTP, Unix spool; soup/zipnews 704 uqwkselector - generator; Unix NNTP, Unix spool; ... 705 zipnews - generator; msdos Waffle, PC-Board, Wildcat; zipnews 706 nnrnews - translator; msdos; nn save files, soup 707 soupcmd - uqwk add-on; Unix; soup commands that uqwk handles non-souply 708 macslurp - news importer via SLIP; mac; ... 709 newsfetcher - news importer via SLIP; mac; ... 710 souper - packer of SLIP mail/news; os2; soup 711 wssoup - packer of SLIP mail/news; ms-windows; soup ------------------------------ Subject: a.u.o software: 800 readers From: auofaq@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Alt.Usenet.Offline-reader FAQ) 800 readers -- `name' - `function'; `platforms'; `standards' 801 hpv (helldiver packet viewer) - reader; msdos; soup 802 slnr (simple local news reader) - reader; Unix, msdos, atari; soup 803 unor (USENET offline reader) - reader; ms-windows; soup 804 zipnewsreader - reader; msdos; zipnews 805 yarn - reader; msdos, os2; soup 806 paperboy - reader; ms-windows; soup 807 rfdmail - reader; ms-windows; proprietary 808 toadnews - reader pre-processor; mac; soup 809 pronto - reader; ms-windows; proprietary 810 versatermlink - reader; mac; proprietary 811 offliner - reader; ms-windows; soup 812 offline-orbit - reader; amiga; soup 813 williamsnews - reader; ms-windows; soup 814 macsoup - reader; mac; soup 815 readmail - reader; msdos; soup 816 newswerthy - reader; msdos; soup 817 newshopper - reader; mac; proprietary 818 rnmac - reader; mac; soup? 819 okami - reader; atari st; soup 820 tetrix - reader; msdos; slip-based soup 821 wsomr - reader; msdos; soup