SUMMARY: Joining the Usenet

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It has been explained to me that this is not "the" mailing list, but I've
received enough summary requests from the readers of this group to (hopefully)
justify posting the summary here.

Here goes:
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What you actually need to join the Usenet:
1) A News Reader (trn was by far the most recommended)
2) A News Server (INN was recommended; version 1.4 is the latest)
3) Someone to provide the feed (Preferably a local site)
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In more detail:
1) trn-3.3 was the latest version I could find... it's available by ftp at
anagram.mcs.anl.gov
/pub/news/trn-3.3.tar.Z
The compilation on this was absolutely painless.

2) INN version 1.4 can be grabbed from
ftp.uu.net
/news/nntp/inn/inn.tar.Z
Compiling this is my project today; I need to stare at the docs for a while.

3) A feed can be _bought_ from UUNET at $10 per hour, off peak... more info
call 1 703 204 8000. For commercial feeds, these folks got the most praise
for customer service.
Another company that sells news feeds is PSI Inc, at 1 703 620 6651, or
email info@psi.com .

For most places (educational institutions in particular need this), a feed
can be received free of charge by joining the Usenet... basically, you
get on the phone to local sites that are likely to carry Usenet already.
When you find one, ask them if they'll provide a feed for you. If you use
this method (which beats paying for it out of the budget :) ), you should
assume that at some point you'll be asked to forward a feed for another
site that needs it.

If you absolutely CANNOT find a local site that provides a feed (and you
should be creative in your search... universities, research labs, large
corporations), mail nntp-managers@ucbvax.berkeley.edu to ask for a feed.
This should be a last resort; with enought searching most areas will turn
out to have a feed available semi-locally.
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Recommended books for setting up Usenet at your site:

****************************************************************
Managing UUCP and Usenet
Grace Todino, Tim O' Rielly & Associaltes
ISBN 0-937175-93-5
nuts@ora.com
1(800)338-NUTS in most states, 1(800)533-NUTS in California
This book is provided to UUNET customers.
It was recommended 4 to 1 over other books, and seems to be
the Bible for setting up Usenet.
****************************************************************

Other books to look at:

Using UUCP and Usenet
O'Rielly & Associates
This book provides a user's point of view, rather than setup details.

The Whole INTERNET/User's Guide and Catalog
O'Rielly & Associates
This book is recommended for folks who are heading for bigger tasks.

Connecting to the Internet
Susan Estrada, O' Rielly & Associates
ISBN 1-56592-061-9

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Thanks go to the following:

dalamb@qucis.queensu.ca
jgm@cs.brown.edu
tsf@cs.cmu.edu
Mark-Moraes@deshaw.com
art@cs.ualberta.ca
8015@sbjse0.sbrc.hac.com
jmoulder@post.its.mcw.edu
georgew@metasw.com
mondays@bsu-cs.bsu.edu
splinter@allink.com
linimon@lonesome.com
Kurt.Jaeger@rus.uni-stuttgart.de
huff@MCCLBO.MED.NYU.EDU
molly!vlcek@uunet.UU.NET
mathew@mantis.co.uk

Thanks again!
-John
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The original message follows:

> Usenet Gurus:
>
> I'm hoping this is the right place to send this; I'm prepared to receive tons
> of flames if it isn't...
>
> We're administrating a network of SparcStations running SunOS 4.1.3.
> We'd like to join the Usenet (i.e. receive UseNet postings and whatnot) to
> distribute to our users, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding documentation
> that says exactly who to mail and how to set this up. I've ftp'd a reader
> and all the seemingly relevant Usenet docs I could find on archie, but tend to
> only find things that say "Now that you've joined Usenet, here's what you need
> to know..."
>
> Can anyone point me to where I should look to find a guide for a Unix sysadmin
> who wants to set up Usenet but doesn't know anything about what's required?
>
> I'll summarize if anyone's interested...
>
> My email address is jhunter@pcs.cnu.edu
> Thanks!
> -John
>

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