Announce: killfile 1.0 -- the ULTIMATE killfile
Lars Marowsky-Bree
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.teuto.de/pub/user/lmb/killfile-1.0.tar.gz"> Get it </A>
I am happy to announce the release of killfile 1.0. As not so many of you
know, this program allows you to killfile articles in a much more
sophisticated fashion than any of the currently available newsreaders.
The previous versions weren't very widespread, I assume that this had to do
with the speed, or better, the lack of speed. This has been fixed. Some bugs
(mostly documentation) have been fixed, a few new features have been added.
It is September guys -- go get it before it is to late!!!
Changes:
1.0 9/2/95 - Removed the call the 'find' -- everything is now done by the
script itself, dramatically reducing the execution time.
You should delete the ~/.killfile.last file before running
this new version. (Sorry about that)
- Pattern evaled only once, dramatically reducing execution time.
FYI: killfile now scans 44.26 articles per second on my cheap
486DX/IDE drives under Linux. I hope that with this speed
improvement, killfile will finally catch on. (It is SEPTEMBER
guys!)
- Changed the .killfile syntax. It is now scoring based. I believe
that this offers more flexibility and power.
- some documentation fixes
- The report now prints more info, like articles/second etc.
Where to get it:
0. Requirements if you want to use this script
- You have a .newsrc equivalent
- You have read access to the news spool directory of your machine
- You have a good CPU time limit ;-)
- Your machine has perl5 (might work with perl4 with some tweaking, but
I don't think so)
1. Why I wrote this script
This script is intended to be the _ULTIMATE_ killfile. UseNet currently
faces a severe problem: The never-ending September of 1994. It gets harder
and harder every day to retrieve useful information from UseNet
newsgroups. This script is intended to be the final answer in finishing
off unwanted articles.
I know, some people will be shouting 'CENSORSHIP' by now. It isn't. I
don't stop anybody from expressing their views. Actually, I am highly
unlikely to killfile anybody for opposing views.
But I think I have the right to decide WHAT I want to read. And I don't
want to read the same spam over and over again. I don't want to see the
next 'LONGEST THREAD EVER' etc.
But, I found that Tin's killfiles weren't powerful enough to suit my
needs. I don't like trn. It is no longer enough to remove a discovered
troublemaker or a specific thread (for this, I still use tin -- mainly
because hitting ] is so convenient). I wanted to get rid of all the spam,
and for this, I needed more powerful regular expressions, the ability to
extend the filter via user-defined procedures if necessary. (And by this I
don't mean adding them via a complete recompile!)
I saw newsscan, but after seeing it needs NNTP, I didn't examine it
further. I don't run NNTP, because it slows my system down and would be
overkill. I run a simple, UUCP connected site. No need for heavy-weights
here.
So, this script is written in the language which suits this task best -
PERL (thanks, Larry!). Perl itself provides the most powerful regular
expression engine I know of. Perl scripts are easy to extended. Look at
the script - I didn't do much at all. Perl did almost everything
cumbersome for me. Writing the first version of this script took under an
hour, to be exact ;-)
I hope it will assist you in making UseNet a better place for you to read.
5. How to reach me in case of bugs (not that there are any...) or something
equally important
Lars Marowsky-Bree
Voice: +49-571-63663
<A HREF=http://www.teuto.de/~lmb> My HomePage </A>
Mail: l...@pointer.in-minden.de
PGP-Id: 0xDAB57941 / CF FC 3A F0 86 F1 D3 EB 79 8A CF 75 4F 4C 81 DF
I _will_ read your mail. But if I don't answer within a few days, sent it
again. I get ~200 mails per day, so be patient ;-)
6. Where to get new versions
ftp://ftp.teuto.de/pub/user/lmb/killfile*
(Or, if you are _that_ kind of person, click on the link on my homepage)
You can get this script by sending mail to file...@pointer.in-minden.de.
In the body of your message, write:
reply-to <your-address>
get killfile
quit
The queue is processed only once each day, so be patient. If you ask for
it more than once, you will get it more than once. You have been warned.
I will announce new versions on news.software.readers and
alt.culture.usenet .
- --
Lars Marowsky-Bree Voice: +49-571-63663 PGP-key avail. via server
HomePage: http://www.teuto.de/~lmb/ Mail: l...@pointer.in-minden.de
PGP-Id: 0xDAB57941 / CF FC 3A F0 86 F1 D3 EB 79 8A CF 75 4F 4C 81 DF
> Bitten werden erwogen - Forderungen werden in Rechnung gestellt. <
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