Thread View: news.software.b
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Started by Andrew Patrick
Thu, 31 Dec 1992 21:28
SUMMARY: how can I have private newsgroups?
Author: Andrew Patrick
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 21:28
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 21:28
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A while ago I wrote:
> Is there a way for me to have private local newsgroups?
>
> That is, I have a list of users and they should be the only ones who
> can read and post to this newsgroup. Better yet, no one else should
> even know about this newsgroup.
>
> I am using C-News and various news readers.
I received 10 replies from various people, but still do not have a good
answer to my question.
A number of people suggested I use a mailing list. I already have one
of these, and I still want a private newsgroup. Newsgroups are much
better for following threads, archiving discussions, etc.
Some other people talked about modifying sys files to make sure the
newsgroups are not distributed to other systems. This is not the
problem. I want to restrict these groups to only a certain list of
users on the local machine.
One person suggested that the Waffle BBS software could do the job. I
am hesistant to try this since Waffle costs money (this is for a
FreeNet with little or no budget) and will probably require building a
whole news system for one or two private groups.
Another person suggested that group permission in the news/spool
directory might work, and I have not tried this yet.
So, if anyone has any further ideas, I still want to hear about them.
Here is a partial digest of the replies I received:
>From jrd@nocturne.boulder-creek.ca.us Sun Dec 20 21:20:56 1992
Subject: Re: how can I have private newsgroups?
From: "J.R. Dean" <jrd@nocturne.boulder-creek.ca.us>
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 18:59:24 PST
Get Waffle BBS software for Unix. I'm forwarding the ad file to
you. I run the DOS version, and I have over a dozen local forums/
newsgroups. Waffle for Unix integrates well with C-news or B-news.
Note: You can also gate/post mailing lists to local groups.
--------
>From Patrick.McCurdy@Corp.Sun.COM Tue Dec 22 17:41:14 1992
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 14:46:03 PST
From: Patrick.McCurdy@Corp.Sun.COM (Patrick McCurdy)
Subject: Re: how can I have private newsgroups?
I have achieved this by setting up a mail alias on my workstation.
*You* add those people who *you* want. The only folks who know
about it are the ones whom you tell about it.
You can put an entry in your /etc/aliases file that references
a file that contains the addresses of those folks you want on the
alias. I have been doing this for about six months, and it has
worked splendidly.
Patrick
--------
>From burgess@hrd769.brooks.af.mil Fri Dec 18 12:00:14 1992
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 11:04:53 -0600
From: burgess@hrd769.brooks.af.mil (Dave Burgess)
Using innd, you can create a newgroup with an unused first atom. I'm
sure you can do the same in C-news. I use ARMSTRONG as the first atom
of all of my private groups, and then never send them to anyone I don't
want to get them...
TSgt Dave Burgess
...
Oh, I misunderstood.
There are no methods available at this time to do that. There are a couple
of workarounds that might work, but they are very software specific.
What we need is an exclude/include file that limits access. There has been
some talk about this in this newsgroup before, but no one that I am aware of
has ever implemented such a beast.
TSgt Dave Burgess
--------
>From ulogic!ulogic!hartman@netcom.com Mon Dec 21 12:19:16 1992
Subject: Re: how can I have private newsgroups?
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 9:15:53 PST
From: hartman@uLogic.netcom.com
I believe it is called a "mailing list".
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Work away today, think about tomorrow. |
Never comes the day, for my love and me. | -Richard Hartman
I feel her gently sighing | hartman@uLogic.COM
as the evening slips away.... |
--------
>From pat@jaameri.gsfc.nasa.gov Fri Dec 18 13:42:02 1992
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 13:41:47 EST
From: patrick m. ryan <pat@jaameri.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: how can I have private newsgroups?
what you want is a mailing list, not a newsgroup.
pat
--
"I have a cunning plan." -- Baldric
patrick m. ryan
nasa / goddard space flight center / oceans and ice branch / hughes stx
pat@jaameri.gsfc.nasa.gov / zmpmr@charney.gsfc.nasa.gov
--------
>From riemann@gmdzi.gmd.de Mon Dec 21 13:34:47 1992
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 19:34:14 +0100
From: riemann@gmd.de (Claus Riemann)
Subject: Re: how can I have private newsgroups?
I have the same problem. If all users would use nn, it's trivial
(see faq-nn), but we have Un*x-, Mac-, and PC-users....
The only solution I found was to write a nntp-client-server, acting
like the NNTP-Server for a special group of users, mirroring the normal
newsgroups from our official server and offering some additional
newsgroups. Access will be controlled by IP-Number.
If you will receive better ideas, I would appreciate to get them, too.
Thanx in advance,
--cla
P.S.: No, there is no implementation the idea above... (Hm, one of my
if-I-have-time-I-will-implement-this project.)
**********************************************************
German National Research Center for Computer Science (GMD)
Claus Riemann (I3.MMK) Phone: (+49 2241) 14-2865
Postfach 1316 riemann@gmd.de
5205 Sankt Augustin 1 Don't dream it - Be it!
--------
>From slb@heidi.acc.Virginia.EDU Fri Dec 18 12:32:17 1992
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 12:31:58 EST
From: sandy <slb@heidi.acc.Virginia.EDU>
Subject: Re: how can I have private newsgroups?
Andrew,
About the only way I know of to approximate what you
are talking about is to use group permissions - that is
make the /usr/spool/news/xxx directory owned by a certain
group and add the readers of that newsgroup to the group
in /etc/group. Other people would still know about the
group, but they couldn't read the articles in it. This
only works if all your readers read news locally - i.e. you
don't use nntp to read news from other machines, and if you
are running a Unix that allows users to be in more than one
group at once (older system V is the only I know of that
doesn't allow this, but there might be others).
If you get an answer about another slicker way to do this,
or a way to do this with nntp, please forward a copy to me.
This is a problem that lots of people are interested in
solving, I think.
----
sandy bryant
slb@virginia.edu
--
Andrew Patrick, Ph.D. Communications Research Centre, Ottawa, CANADA
andrew@calvin.dgbt.doc.CA
For a good time, run "telnet debra.dgbt.doc.ca" and login as "chat".
Re: SUMMARY: how can I have private newsgroups?
Author: Michael S. McMahon
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1993 20:45
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1993 20:45
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andrew@calvin.dgbt.doc.ca (Andrew Patrick) writes: >> Is there a way for me to have private local newsgroups? >> >> That is, I have a list of users and they should be the only ones who >> can read and post to this newsgroup. Better yet, no one else should >> even know about this newsgroup. >> >> I am using C-News and various news readers. We've hacked the NNTP reference implementation (1.5.11) to include a nonstandard command we call "IYAM" (with apologies to Popeye and fans). Upon connection (or anytime during the session), the client newsreader issues a command like this: iyam mcmahon password Where "mcmahon" is the user's name and "password" is a half-hearted attempt at authentication. The NNTP reference implementation already has the ability to restrict groups based on hostname. The IYAM command simply checks a file containing a list of user IDs and a list of groups to which they have access. If a match is found (and the password is correct), the appropriate newsgroups are removed from the restricted list for that session, and the reader can access them in the usual fashion. We've also modified the LIST command to not return the names of restricted groups unless a valid IYAM command has been issued. There are a few drawbacks to this method. Primarily, that it relies on a modification to client newsreaders to issue the IYAM command at the appropriate time. We have been able to use this approach successfully with ANUNEWS and Rpent (from the University of Virginia), but haven't yet tried it with nn, trn, rvn, or others. Also, the client newsreader must have the password compiled into it in cleartext, so the appropriate permissions must be set on the executables to keep people from running "strings" on it and obtaining the password. Of course, we have no illusions about this setup being entirely secure. Another drawback is that if an unauthorized person knows the name of a restricted group, he or she can still post to it. Additionally, if someone knows the Message-ID of an article in a restricted group, it's still possible to retrieve the article with standard NNTP commands. I'm sure there are other problems, but it works well for us. Mike --- Michael S. McMahon, Network Specialist Computing & Data Communications mcmahon@unomaha.edu University of Nebraska at Omaha
Re: SUMMARY: how can I have private newsgroups?
Author: Stephen M. Jones
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1993 21:25
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 1993 21:25
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1992Dec31.212856.7534@rick.dgbt.doc.ca> andrew@calvin.dgbt.doc.ca (Andrew Patrick) writes: >Another person suggested that group permission in the news/spool >directory might work, and I have not tried this yet. I was going to suggest this... I doubt trn, rn or nn run as a root process. so If a user who didn't have access (or was in that group for access) to that (or those) newsgroups would just get a message Permission Denied. -- Stephen M. Jones (214)436-4622 smj@sdf.lonestar.org <Cs&E> sdf.sysadmin
Re: SUMMARY: how can I have private newsgroups?
Author: Dave McLane
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 08:18
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 08:18
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andrew@calvin.dgbt.doc.ca (Andrew Patrick) writes: >A while ago I wrote: >> Is there a way for me to have private local newsgroups? >> >> That is, I have a list of users and they should be the only ones who >> can read and post to this newsgroup. Better yet, no one else should >> even know about this newsgroup. >> >> I am using C-News and various news readers. Sounds like we want the same thing. I just posted a query about the same thing. >I received 10 replies from various people, but still do not have a good >answer to my question. Me either... >A number of people suggested I use a mailing list. I already have one >of these, and I still want a private newsgroup. Newsgroups are much >better for following threads, archiving discussions, etc. And if people are dialing-in over expensive links (all calls cost in Japan), perhaps the most important feature of news is you can select articles by subject or by preview. You don't have to take it all! >Some other people talked about modifying sys files to make sure the >newsgroups are not distributed to other systems. This is not the >problem. I want to restrict these groups to only a certain list of >users on the local machine. Right. I have a bunch of local newsgroups (they only stay on my machine) but they aren't private (anybody with an account on my machine can access them). >One person suggested that the Waffle BBS software could do the job. I >am hesistant to try this since Waffle costs money (this is for a >FreeNet with little or no budget) and will probably require building a >whole news system for one or two private groups. I have Waffle running and it's not all that expensive ($130). It does indeed allow you to assign newsgroups and people to groups and control the access. But the Waffle newsreader is rudimentary compared to rn/nn.... >Another person suggested that group permission in the news/spool >directory might work, and I have not tried this yet. Assuming the people on your system don't have any other use for groups I think this would work. But you could only control one group without asking people to exit the newsreader and change to another. Not convenient! >So, if anyone has any further ideas, I still want to hear about them. >Here is a partial digest of the replies I received: [* omitted as nothing new *] The best suggestion so far has been to implement the check in the nntp server which would thus apply to all newsreaders (if you aren't using nntp this could be an expense but I have it running already). I had a look at the code for the server and there is already a function which checks userid and password in auth.c and a function which changes to a new newsgroup in group.c. Given some time and energy I would think one could lash them together so the calling newsreader would send the userid+password+group to change groups and the server could check this combination out against some list /etc/group.nntp. But I was hoping that somebody had already done this..... Dave -- Dave McLane JUNET: davidg@aegis.or.jp (ONLY within Japan: post otherwise) Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087
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