[nos-bbs] Bulletin flood handling

[Michael E Fox - N6MEF]

I'd like to get some clarification from the broader group on the generally
accepted/expected way to handle bulletin floods.  I guess this is a broader
topic than just for NOS, but I'm constrained by the capabilities/limitations
of JNOS so I'd like to know what other JNOS users do.

 

I'm looking for feedback on a few key points:

 

1)  no flood

I've been told that a bulletin addressed to "topic" (no @flood) should
remain local on the machine and not be flooded to forwarding partners.  I've
even received snarky emails from other sysops when I forward a bulletin that
did not have a flood in the address.  However, the rewrite files from others
I've see routinely have rules such as:

 

atv*       atv

or 

wx*       wx

 

That is, no distinguishing between atv*@* and atv*.  Everything gets put
into the atv mailbox/area.  Then the forward.bbs files from those same
sysops forward those areas to partners.  This means that all bulletins, with
or without a flood are sent to forwarding partners.  And, if everyone does
that, then no flood is essentially the same as @ww.

 

Question:  Do most people separate how they handle topic* from topic*@*?  If
yes, how?  If no, then do you just flood everything?

 

 

2)  topic-based vs. flood-based rewrites

Most of the rewrite files I've seen start with a list of topics that the
sysop wants to group into areas.  This makes it easier for the reader to
find something of interest.  Example:

 

ibm*                      comp

linux*                    comp

mac*                     comp

 

Then, anything else that's not listed above gets lumped into flood-based
mailboxes.  Example:

 

*@noam             allnoam

*@ww                  allww

 

But then the whole list (comp, allnoam, allww) gets forwarded to the
forwarding partners.  Of course, a forwarding partner in Europe would not be
forwarded the allnoam mailbox.  But they would get the comp mailbox, even if
there is stuff in the comp mailbox with @noam floods.  So, in essence, if
everyone uses topic-based rewrites, then everything that goes into a topic
area ends up being flooded everywhere.

 

Question:  Is this what most people do?  If not, how do you handle splitting
bulletins into topics for your users while still doing the expected thing
for each different flood?

 

 

 

2)  @local flood

I've been told that the @local flood (i.e. topic at local) should stay on the
local machine.  In other words, it's sort of a pseudo-flood or anti-flood in
that it explicitly designates that the bulletin should not be
flooded/forwarded to others.  But I've not seen that used in the rewrite
files I've seen.

 

Question;  Is the @local "flood" in general use?  If so, how are you
handling it?

 

 

Michael

 

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