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Using RN To Find Out What Is Happening

Stacey Clark

Users can read syslog to discover the nitty gritty of what is being done at the ECN. When ECN's hardware or software staff completes a major repair, adds or changes hardware or upgrades software, they "log" this information via syslog.

This information is available in an easy to read format as a newsgroup. Usually this information is not very interesting for the "average user." However, if you are curious to find out WHY the server CRASHED right before your homework was due (or if you need to prove it to your TA or Professor!), this may be a news group you wish to investigate. Reading through the entries, you will probably be surprised at some of the stories about how many hours were spent tracking down problems and the solutions! With so many computers in use in Engineering, complex networking, hundreds of printers, and thousands of users, there always seems to be SOMETHING that has to be fixed NOW.

Reading News -- Subscribing To A Group
There are many ways to read newsgroups. One way is to type: rn.

To subscribe, type rn -g purdue.ecn.log This tells the computer from now on you wish to be asked if you want to read this newsgroup. Initially the g option will GET the group and ask you if you wish to subscribe. Thereafter when you are using rn, you can add a group with the g option. Another trick you can use is to type N when you are first asked if you want to add any of the newsgroups that have recently become available. Typing N will tell the program you DO NOT want to add any new newsgroups. Then if you see something you like, you can get it later!

% rn

(Revising soft pointers--be patient.)
Unread news in purdue.www.announce                          1 article
Unread news in purdue.ecn.announce                        20 articles

Finding new newsgroups:

Newsgroup bit.med.mxdiag-l not in .newsrc--subscribe? [ynYN] \fBN\fP
(I'll add all new newsgroups (unsubscribed) to the end of your .newsrc.)
(Adding bit.med.mxdiag-l to end of your .newsrc unsubscribed)
(Adding sci.med.pathology to end of your .newsrc unsubscribed)

***** 1 unread article in purdue.www.announce--read now? [ynq] g purdue.ecn.log
Newsgroup purdue.ecn.log is currently unsubscribed to--resubscribe? [yn] y

***** 3 unread articles in purdue.ecn.log--read now? [ynq] 

If you press the return key, the program assumes you are enacting the first item in the list in brackets as the default. In the example you could have typed y or hit the return key; both actions produce the same results because with [ynq], y (yes) is the first item in the list. When you are ready to EXIT the program, type q to quit.

Another newsgroup that lists information about the ECN is purdue.ecn.announce. When new software is installed or software revisions are modified, that information is posted in the purdue.ecn.announce newsgroup. Many engineering schools also have their own newsgroups. Chemical Engineering, for example, has the purdue.ecn.che.announce and purdue.ecn.che.talk. The first newsgroup is intended to replace all the paper announcements like seminar listings and general meeting announcements. The "talk" newsgroup is available as a forum for discussions.

WARNING: if this is the FIRST time you type rn, be prepared to peruse a LONG list of newsgroups. After you have informed rn which newsgroups you want to actively read, those newsgroups selected are kept in a file called .newsrc. This selection/rejection procedure for the complete newsgroup listing should be necessary only once; however, be prepared to spend awhile the first time you read news. Watch out! If you get addicted to reading news, you may find yourself spending lots of time reading both scholastic and silly information!

Posting To A Newsgroup

If you wish to POST news, please read the section on "netiquette" in the newsgroup news.announce.newusers. You are expected to write postings without abusing other people's sensibilities. Individuals who write articles that are considered "inane" or "offensive" will get FLAMED by people sending you a remonstrance via e-mail or even by posting to the whole newsgroup (that may go to a world wide audience) about how you goofed! A simple way to post announcements for group meetings is available with the command Pnews. (Pnews stands for Post News - get it?) You should post local announcements in a manner that they are only propagated to LOCAL newsgroups. Pnews allows you to do this easily.

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