RumorMill Documentation
article n. A posting to a newsgroup . Articles following a common subject are said to be in the same thread [of conversation].
cross-post [Usenet] vi. To post a single article simultaneously to several newsgroups. Distinguished from posting the article repeatedly, once to each newsgroup, which causes people to see it multiple times (which is very bad form). Gratuitous cross-posting without a Followup-To line directing responses to a single followup group is frowned upon, as it tends to cause followup articles to go to inappropriate newsgroups when people respond to only one part of the original posting.
DNS name n. Literally Domain Name Server name. A DNS name usually identifies a single computer or service - it is like a Post Office box in the real world. DNS names are mapped by Domain Name Servers to an IP address which is then used to route information to that computer.
downstreamn. A news server which is downstream from your news server is fed articles from your news server, ie it is one of the places to which your news server sends articles. Two news server can be both upstream and downstream relative to each other.
host n. Another server on the network. For instance a 'news host' is computer on the network which provides news (NNTP) services.
IP number n. An Internet Protocol number uniquely identifies a computer somewhere in the world. IP numbers are used to route information to a computer and identify them the computer on the network.
A computer can have multiple IP numbers but it is relatively rare to find multiple computers to have the same IP number. (An exception is when there is a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Computers which can service heavy loads through a single entry point.) A DNS (Domain Name Server) maps DNS names to IP numbers.
newsfeed n. Another NNTP server which feeds articles to, or receives articles from other NNTP servers. Often refers to a source of Usenet news. Newsfeed, 'news server' and host can all be used interchangeably in the correct context.
newsgroup n. [Usenet] One of Usenet's huge collection of topic groups or forums. Usenet groups can be `unmoderated' (anyone can post) or `moderated' (submissions are automatically directed to a moderator, who edits or filters and then posts the results). Some newsgroups have parallel mailing lists for Internet people with no netnews access, with postings to the group automatically propagated to the list and vice versa. Some moderated groups (especially those which are actually gatewayed Internet mailing lists) are distributed as `digests', with groups of postings periodically collected into a single large posting with an index.
NNTP n. Network News Transfer Protocol. This is the protocol that servers (such as RumorMill) use to talk to each other, and clients (such as Newswatcher) use to retrieve and post articles. NNTP is plain-text and human readable, even if it is a little cryptic at times.
push feed n. Large newsfeeds are usually propagated by push feeding. When a new article arrives on a news server (either by someone posting to the news server or another news server feeding it an article) it can propagate the articles by looking up a list of other news servers it is meant to transfer articles to, connecting to them, and telling them the new article has arrived. RumorMill supports push feeding. See also pull.
pull v. RumorMill can act like a client, connect to another NNTP server and pull articles form the news server.
This is also known in the community as a "suck feed." It's weird, but apparently some folks think of "pull" as an inefficient implementation while a "suck" is efficient. This must date back to someone's implementation that did "pull" badly and another one that did "suck" well (or at least better). I must say that I prefer the word "pull" to "suck" ...
See also push feed.
server n. A server is a computer or piece of software which provides a service. Usually humans use servers through another piece of software generically called a 'client'. For instance RumorMill is a news server, and to read news of a RumorMill you use a news client (like Newswatcher). Web Servers provide web services, which a human can use through a web client (like Netscape).
spam n. An article which is posted to a large number of news groups, usually with little relevance to the most of the newsgroups. Typical spam postings are adverts and Make Money Fast pyramid schemes. Spam is usually more of an annoyance than a problem, but it should definitely be discouraged.
subject n. A single line which should (but often doesn't) summarise the topic of an article in a newsgroup.
thread n. As in a 'thread of conversation'. A thread is usually a series of articles in a newsgroup with the same subject line or topic.
upstream n. A news server which is upstream from your news server feeds articles to your news server, ie it is one of the places from which your news server receives articles. Two news server can be both upstream and downstream relative to each other.
Usenet n. [from `Users' Network'; the original spelling was USENET, but the mixed-case form is now widely preferred] Usenet was originally created in the late 1970s as a "poor man's ARPAnet", to distribute news about the Unix Operating System. It has since grown to include over 30,000+ separate newsgroups about many different topics. Some newsgroups are "moderated" so that messages have to be approved before anyone can read them, but most newsgroups are unmoderated. In an unmoderated newsgroup, anyone can place messages, and anyone can read them. Most messages are replies to other messages, and thus an endless discussion is formed. Posting to a newsgroup is not unlike writing email.
The Internet is the main medium for the distribution of Usenet News, but it wasn't always so. UUCP used to be the most common way to transfer Usenet, and it is still in use today. All that is required to run a news server is some computer hardware and a "Usenet Feed." Getting a Usenet feed is as simple as asking an existing Usenet site. Any site can feed or be fed by any other site, and thus it is practically impossible to control.