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To:	ARISIA::EVERHART
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Subj:	BULLETIN

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Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 05:31 EST
Subject: BULLETIN
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NOTE: IF YOU NO LONGER WISH TO RECEIVE ON NEW BULLETIN RELEASES, OR YOU ARE
GETTING MORE THAN ONE COPY OF THIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
 
Greetings:
 
BULLETIN now has the capability to read and post messages to USENET NEWS in a
client mode.  I realize that there are many NEWS readers, some with much more
elegant interfaces.  However, I elected to modify BULLETIN for the following
reason:  We have many decnet nodes, but only several are internet nodes.  Our
only access to a news server was via internet.  In order for those
non-internet nodes to read USENET, the only method that seemed available was to
run a NEWS server program on one of our own internet nodes so that it could
be accessible via decnet.  I did not want to do that, as that requires storing
the news groups on disk, and I do not have the room for that.  I thus added the
ability in BULLETIN (actually BULLCP) so that it acts as as a gateway between
decnet and tcp for NEWS.  This method does not require spawning any processes,
since the detached process BULLCP is always present, so the access is very
fast.  Also, since BULLETIN uses a shared database to store info on the NEWS
groups, it will periodically update it via BULLCP.  Other client-only readers
use a private database, which requires updating it every time the reader
program is run, which is why they take a long time to start up.  It is also
possible to feed NEWS groups into a "real" BULLETIN folder, so that the
messages are saved on disk. 
 
Presently, BULLETIN can be used with either MULTINET or CMU TCP/IP packages
(and of course DECNET) for reading NEWS.  Support for other packages can be
added if I can find sites willing to beta test the interface for me.  The
source for the TCP interface is in C rather than FORTRAN because the MULTINET
include files are in C. However, if you do not have C, I will be glad to send
the object for it (or to even possibly rewrite the code in FORTRAN). 
 
If you would like a copy of this version, use the SEND BETA command instead of
SEND ALL.  Read the file NEWS.TXT for installation instructions.  If you have
any problems or questions, please let me know. 
									MRL
 
P.s.
	If you do not know what USENET NEWS, it's basically news messages which
are passed between nodes.  Originally it was limited to USENET, but that is no
longer the case.  Unlike internet mailing lists which use MAIL to send the
messages to individuals, NEWS messages are not sent via MAIL.  They are passed
between nodes using a special protocol, NNTP.  Users must use a NEWS reader
package to read them.  However, it is possible to read NEWS remotely over a
network, and therefore avoiding having to actually store the messages.
BULLETIN is setup to be used mainly in this client mode, i.e. it can read
messages on another node via TCP or DECNET.  This is useful, since the number
of NEWS groups total over 1000, the disk space required for storage is very
high.  If you are interested in finding a server node that would allow you to
read NEWS, and do not know of one (i.e. a USENET node), I know of no official
way of doing so.  However, one suggestion was to try connecting to BBN.COM via
ANONYMOUS FTP and look through the directory uumap/comp.mail.maps to find a
USENET node near you to contact. 
