[nos-bbs] Bulletin flood handling

Sat Aug 9 10:10:02 EDT 2014

On Sat, 2014-08-09 at 04:35 -0700, Michael E Fox - N6MEF wrote:
> Thanks Gustavo.  But that doesn't really address my three topics below.  Can you be specific about what you do in each of the three cases described below?
> 
> Michael
> N6MEF

Perhaps to reply the questions it is better/easy for me to describe
what is my setup and specifying also that (actually) my JNOS2 system
doesn't forward anymore to no one PBBSs, so, here it is:

Available areas are:             <- obtained by the 'a' command

i0ojj     
          all       amsat     antenn    dxnews    homebr    
info      jnos      packet    radio     sysop     tcpip     
world     

Available areas are:             <- obtained by the 'af' command

i0ojj       Your private mail area

all      General Info/Bulletins for all WW countries
amsat    Info/News on Amateur Satellites
antenn   *Antennas: theory, techniques and construction
dxnews   *Discussion, tips, notices and news for DXers
homebr   *Amateur radio construction and experimentation
info     *Informational postings related to radio (M)
jnos     JNOS Packet <> TCP/IP software
packet   *Packet radio and other digital radio modes
radio    Ham radio activities and related matter
sysop    General Info/Bulletin for PBBS SysOps
tcpip    Info on Internet/linux protocols
world    A potpourri of arguments...

My original setup idea (now partially superseded/obsolete)
was that to define some real *ham* topics as described just
above and so I made some rewriting to do that job:

...
# Put all AX.25 (packet) incoming bulletin into the appropriate areas!
#
44-net@* packet
all@* all
amsat@* amsat
*@amsat amsat
antenn@* antenn
aprs@* packet
ardf@* radio
*@arl radio
*@arrl radio
#asynop@* meteo
baybox@* packet
bbs@* packet
cq*@* radio
digit@* packet
dx@* dxnews
dxnews@* dxnews
*@dx* dxnews
help@* world
homebr@* homebr
info@* info
jnos@* jnos
kep@* amsat
*@kepsna amsat
linux@* packet
lnxham@* packet
meteo@* world
newusr@* world
news@* dxnews
packet@* packet
pactor@* packet
policy@* world
prop@* radio
qst@* radio
radio@* radio
sat*@* amsat
satdig@* amsat
solar@* radio
space@* amsat
sysop@* sysop
*@sysop sysop
tcpip@* packet
tech@* homebr
tutti@* all
ubuntu@* packet
uwave@* radio
varie@* world
xfbb@* packet
xnet@* packet
wetter@* world
#wx@* world
wx@* refuse
# WPROT msgs generated by obcm
w@* world
#
# 'Dulcis in fundo': *everything* NOT MATCHING each of above 'areas'
# are re-addressed into the 'world' area (a kind of pot-pourri)!
#
*@* world
#

Solution:

Now, for what concern the areas/topics to remain as 'local' they
simply must not be mentioned in the JNOS forward file.

The other areas/topic to be further forwarded need only to be
re-mapped as convenient and simply forwarded.

73, gus i0ojj

>  
> > On 14-08-08 12:27 PM, Michael E Fox - N6MEF wrote:
> > 
> > > 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?
> > > 
> > >  
> > > 
> > >  
> > > 
> > >  
> > > 
> > > 3)  @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?
> > > 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nos-bbs mailing list
> nos-bbs at tapr.org
> http://www.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/nos-bbs