New 3b1 newsgroups

[markw at gvlf8-e.gvl.unisys.com]

Ready or not, the new 3b1 groups (comp.sys.3b1 and comp.sources.3b1) are
on their way. Note that the sources group has not yet been set to status
"moderated", this can't be done yet because the comp-sources-3b1 alias
has not been set up yet at all the news "backbone" sites. Hopefully,
Eliot will send another newgroup message, setting the status to "moderated",
when this has been completed. For the moment, submittals to the new
sources group should be sent manually to:

    comp-sources-3b1 at galaxia.newport.ri.us

The old unix-pc groups should be aliased to the new groups. The procedure
to use depends on what version of the news software you are running.


If you are running Bnews, add these to your /usr/lib/news/aliases file:

unix-pc.general                 comp.sys.3b1
unix-pc.bugs                    comp.sys.3b1
unix-pc.test                    comp.sys.3b1
unix-pc.uucp                    comp.sys.3b1
unix-pc.sources                 comp.sources.3b1

Note that the aliasing action of your software depends on whether your
version of Bnews was built with the ALWAYSALIAS option defined. If this
is NOT defined, then the groups will NOT be aliased until the spool
directories for the old groups have been deleted. In this case, you will
need to save any articles you want to keep, then delete the spool
directories for the unix-pc groups ( rm -r /usr/spool/news/unix-pc ).
If the ALWAYSALIAS option is defined, new articles will appear in the
new groups, and the old groups will expire out.


If you are running Cnews, modify your /usr/lib/news active file as follows:

unix-pc.bugs xxxxx yyyyy =comp.sys.3b1
unix-pc.general xxxxx yyyyy =comp.sys.3b1
unix-pc.sources xxxxx yyyyy =comp.sources.3b1
unix-pc.test xxxxx yyyyy =comp.sys.3b1  
unix-pc.uucp xxxxx yyyyy =comp.sys.3b1

Note that xxxxx and yyyyy are the numbers representing your local range
of articles, and should be left alone.


One other note, for those of you who are feeding these groups to downstream
sites. When aliasing, Bnews will actuall re-write the "Newsgroups: " header
line, so that the downstream site will not see the original group that the
message was posted to. Cnews considers this action to be rude, and does
not re-write the "Newsgroups: " header.

No matter which version of the software you are running, you will need
to arrange to have the new groups fed from your feed site(s), and will
need to modify your /usr/lib/news/sys file entries to feed the groups
to your upstream and downstream neighbors. If the distribution of the
new groups via the "backbone" becomes reliable, it may be possible to
eventually reduce or eliminate your redundant feeds.

Here's hoping that the creation of these new groups has the desired effect
of eliminating the distribution problems which plagued the unix-pc groups.
Feel free to send me mail if you have any questions about how to switch over
to the new groups.

-- 
  Mark H. Weber                   | Internet: markw at GVL.Unisys.COM  
  Unisys - Great Valley Labs      |     UUCP: ...!uunet!cbmvax!gvlv2!markw
  Paoli, PA  USA  (215) 648-7111  |           ...!psuvax1!burdvax!gvlv2!markw