Newbie Question about newsgroups
Omphalos
me. I want to be able to post to usenet without using my ISP. I have
though of several ways to do this (I don't know if any of them are
possible. That's where you guys come in).
1) I have a mail program that has a built in SMTP server. Is there any
way to manipulate/add headers so an email will be posted to a
newsgroup?
2) I have heard of mail2news gateways, but many posters filter out all
posts because they are typically abused by spammers. Is there a way to
set up my own personal mail2news gateway for my personal use?
3) Is there a way to create my own NNTP posting server, or is there
software that has this built in already? I can find a plethora of
programs that have built in SMTP servers but non that have NNTP.
If anyone knows the answers to any of these questions, please provide
instructions or point me in the direction of them.
Thanks.
Jon Bell
Omphalos <pi...@ping.com> wrote:
>I have a question. It way be a newbie question, but please bear with
>me. I want to be able to post to usenet without using my ISP. I have
>though of several ways to do this (I don't know if any of them are
>possible. That's where you guys come in).
>1) I have a mail program that has a built in SMTP server. Is there any
>way to manipulate/add headers so an email will be posted to a
>newsgroup?
No. Mail (SMTP) and news (NNTP) are fundamentally separate systems.
>2) I have heard of mail2news gateways, but many posters filter out all
>posts because they are typically abused by spammers. Is there a way to
>set up my own personal mail2news gateway for my personal use?
Yes, but in order to use one, you need posting access to an NNTP server
already.
>3) Is there a way to create my own NNTP posting server, or is there
>software that has this built in already? I can find a plethora of
>programs that have built in SMTP servers but non that have NNTP.
There are freely-available news server packages (e.g. INN for Unix/Linux,
and others for Windows), but in order for postings to leave your server
after you've posted them, you need posting or transfer permission on
another server.
Some possibilities that *may* work for you, depending on any specific
requirements that you haven't stated:
4) Pay for a subscription to a non-ISP news server such as Supernews.
Of course, you have to be able and willing to pay.
5) Register to use a free server such as <http://news.cis.dfn.de/>.
This one doesn't carry binaries, and requires you to use a valid e-mail
address. There are a few others, but I don't remember them offhand.
6) Look for "open" news servers that allow posting, at
<http://www.newzbot.com/>. I think virtually all of these are only
accidentally "open" or serve only limited sets of newsgroups.
7) Google Groups <http://groups.google.com/>. Clunky Web interface,
doesn't carry binaries, requires you to register with a valid e-mail
address.
--
Jon Bell <jtbe...@presby.edu> Presbyterian College
Dept. of Physics and Computer Science Clinton, South Carolina USA