How to use NNTP with the openSUSE Forums?

  On 2013-07-18 07:06, vazhavandan wrote:> 

I have a few queries regarding nntp

Better on a new thread. Let me start one for you.

Ok, started.

==> Will forums accept any picture attachments i send from SeaMonkey
Newsgroups account ?

Nope.

I think you send photos, yes, if you use thunderbird and enable html (which is non standard nntp, perhaps), but non on the web side will see that. I’ll try.

I don’t know if I tried before. What works (on nntp) is font sizes and color.

Big red

==> Is there a sign in mechanism for nntp . There seems to be no
validation mechanism :frowning:

No, there isn’t.

==> Should i reply to “newsgroup” or “individual” . Also there is reply
to all button . How will reply to all work ?

To newsgroup. To the individual goes to a no post address.

==> will bbcode work ?
Any links to a detailed guide would also be cool

What was that, profile photos in nntp? Yes, there is someone that has it. But not all readers display them.

– Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

Many thanks for creating the thread

I think you send photos, yes, if you use thunderbird and enable html (which is non standard nntp, perhaps), but non on the web side will see that. I’ll try.

That is bummer. I guess i should continue to use paste.opensuse.org and share the link

==> Is there a sign in mechanism for nntp . There seems to be no validation mechanism :frowning:
No, there isn’t.

Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading :frowning: as others ?

==> Should i reply to “newsgroup” or “individual” . Also there is reply to all button . How will reply to all work ?
To newsgroup. To the individual goes to a no post address.

Thanks for the clarification

==> will bbcode work ? Any links to a detailed guide would also be cool
What was that, profile photos in nntp? Yes, there is someone that has it. But not all readers display them.

BBCODE is this https://forums.opensuse.org/misc.php?do=bbcode
i am wondering whether messages sent through nntp will support bbcode in web interface ?

On 2013-07-18 12:16, vazhavandan wrote:
>
> Many thanks for creating the thread
>
>> I think you send photos, yes, if you use thunderbird and enable html
>> (which is non standard nntp, perhaps), but non on the web side will see
>> that. I’ll try.
> -That is bummer. I guess i should continue to use paste.opensuse.org
> and share the link-

The photo I sent, I can see it perfectly in Thunderbird on the nntp side

  • not on the hhtp side, as I expected.

Can’t you see it on nntp? I’m curious.

Of course, for everybody to see it, just send a link.

>> ==> Is there a sign in mechanism for nntp . There seems to be no
>> validation mechanism :frowning:
>> No, there isn’t.
> -Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading :frowning: as others ?-

Yes, it could happen. And spammers, too. IIRC, Jim said that it was
complex to set up.

>> ==> Should i reply to “newsgroup” or “individual” . Also there is reply
>> to all button . How will reply to all work ?
>> To newsgroup. To the individual goes to a no post address.
> -Thanks for the clarification-

There are some that use real addresses (ab?). In that case the direct
reply would work - if you also use a real address.

With a perfect gateway the direct post would appear as PM on the web
side and an email on nntp. No chance of getting that (and no, I’m not
asking for that, either).

One of the idiosyncrasies of nntp is that you do not need to use a
verified email address for the from address.

>> ==> will bbcode work ? Any links to a detailed guide would also be cool
>> What was that, profile photos in nntp? Yes, there is someone that has
>> it. But not all readers display them.
> BBCODE is this https://forums.opensuse.org/misc.php?do=bbcode
> i am wondering whether messages sent through nntp will support bbcode
> in web interface ?

Ah, ok, like code tags.

If you enter them on the nntp side the web side interprets them and they
are displayed correctly. On the nntp side they are just text and
displayed as such, so you need to know what they mean and do the
adjusting mentally :wink:

Code tags used in the web side do help on the nntp side, white space
size is respected and lines not wrapped - which is very important. fonts
and colours inside code tags come bad.

Things like underline or bold or big fonts come here terrible, some
times totally unreadable. Try :slight_smile:


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

Carlos E. R. wrote:
> Can’t you see it on nntp? I’m curious.

I expect that depends on how you have your news reader set up. Since
mine is set up as text-only (like my mail reader), I do not see any
pictures or other HTML-like features.

> Things like underline or bold or big fonts come here terrible, some
> times totally unreadable. Try :slight_smile:

This text is very readable to me since it is displayed exactly like all
the other text. But there may be something lost in the meaning if
somebody thought the text colour or size was important.

On 07/18/2013 12:16 PM, vazhavandan wrote:
>> ==> Is there a sign in mechanism for nntp . There seems to be no
>> >validation mechanism:(
>> >No, there isn’t.
> -Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading:( as others ?-

could happen…some digitally sign their post to protect themselves…

so do i worry about someone masquerading as me and (for example) say
bad things to try to get me in trouble?

no. because i know that that is unlikely and even if it happened it
would have to be from someone in the same geographical area as me…


dd

On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:33:07 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:

>> -Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading :frowning: as others ?-
>
> Yes, it could happen. And spammers, too. IIRC, Jim said that it was
> complex to set up.

Yes, because we’d want to use the same password that’s used on the web
side (otherwise that would get really confusing) and NNTP is text-only,
and IIRC the server only supports cleartext authentication - so your
password would cross in the clear for anyone with a sniffer to grab.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:33:07 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>
>>> -Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading :frowning: as others ?-
>> Yes, it could happen. And spammers, too. IIRC, Jim said that it was
>> complex to set up.
>
> Yes, because we’d want to use the same password that’s used on the web
> side (otherwise that would get really confusing) and NNTP is text-only,
> and IIRC the server only supports cleartext authentication - so your
> password would cross in the clear for anyone with a sniffer to grab.

But we don’t see a lot of fake postings or spam, so whatever you’re
doing must be working :slight_smile: Keep up the good work!

On 2013-07-18 13:10, dd wrote:
> On 07/18/2013 12:16 PM, vazhavandan wrote:
>>> ==> Is there a sign in mechanism for nntp . There seems to be no
>>> >validation mechanism:(
>>> >No, there isn’t.
>> -Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading:( as others ?-
>
> could happen…some digitally sign their post to protect themselves…

I think he refers to a login/password to access the nntp server.

> so do i worry about someone masquerading as me and (for example) say bad
> things to try to get me in trouble?
>
> no. because i know that that is unlikely and even if it happened it
> would have to be from someone in the same geographical area as me…

I do, and they did.

There was such a spree when some one masqueraded as some people, using
our names and emails to insult other people. Since then I post using a
PGP signature on mail lists.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

On 2013-07-18 12:44, Dave Howorth wrote:
> Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> Can’t you see it on nntp? I’m curious.
>
> I expect that depends on how you have your news reader set up. Since
> mine is set up as text-only (like my mail reader), I do not see any
> pictures or other HTML-like features.

But you are using Thunderbird, like me. If it does not display them it
may rather be because it is a version from 2006 :wink:


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

On 07/18/2013 05:58 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> There was such a spree when some one masqueraded as some people, using
> our names and emails to insult other people. Since then I post using a
> PGP signature on mail lists.

oh, i had not heard about that…but, i suppose the moderators could
discover it was not you…and who it actually was…

so, i still don’t feel the need to sign my posts (maybe i should, but
i don’t, yet)


dd

On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 15:45:35 +0000, Dave Howorth wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 10:33:07 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>
>>>> -Wouldn’t it lead people masquerading :frowning: as others ?-
>>> Yes, it could happen. And spammers, too. IIRC, Jim said that it was
>>> complex to set up.
>>
>> Yes, because we’d want to use the same password that’s used on the web
>> side (otherwise that would get really confusing) and NNTP is text-only,
>> and IIRC the server only supports cleartext authentication - so your
>> password would cross in the clear for anyone with a sniffer to grab.
>
> But we don’t see a lot of fake postings or spam, so whatever you’re
> doing must be working :slight_smile: Keep up the good work!

We have an outstanding team of moderators who keep their ears to the
ground and act quickly. :slight_smile:

(We have some other tools as well that help make it more difficult for
spammers to post - but of course, sharing those would make them less
effective. :slight_smile: )

Jim


Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

This is a test message to check whether nntp post is being properly
identified :slight_smile:


GNOME 3.6.2
openSUSE Release 12.3 (Dartmouth) 64-bit
Kernel Linux 3.7.10-1.16-desktop
www.vazhavandan.blogspot.com

vazhavandan wrote:
> This is a test message to check whether nntp post is being properly
> identified :slight_smile:
>
>
Modified email address and checking whether http interface recognises
properly


GNOME 3.6.2
openSUSE Release 12.3 (Dartmouth) 64-bit
Kernel Linux 3.7.10-1.16-desktop
www.vazhavandan.blogspot.com

On 2013-07-18 18:20, dd wrote:
> On 07/18/2013 05:58 PM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> There was such a spree when some one masqueraded as some people, using
>> our names and emails to insult other people. Since then I post using a
>> PGP signature on mail lists.
>
> oh, i had not heard about that…but, i suppose the moderators could
> discover it was not you…and who it actually was…

IIRC, it happened on the Spanish mail list (not sure, was almost a
decade ago). So no moderator, and little activity from the “staff”,
because they don’t speak Spanish (with exceptions from time to time). So
asking the staff for help was difficult and slow.

We knew very well who it was, but it was very difficult to stop him. If
the list owner (not moderator) banned his email, he would get another,
or post as some one of us he disliked (which was easier to do 10 years
ago than now).

I think I still have a rule in procmail to detect him.

I think there was also another similar problem in the English list, with
insults, but not impersonation, just new emails each day.

> so, i still don’t feel the need to sign my posts (maybe i should, but i
> don’t, yet)

Well, you did not suffer that attack, fortunately :slight_smile:

Some of those of us that were impersonated, took to cryptosigning. If
you had been impersonated yourself, you would probably do the same.

But the issue here in the forum (the one that the OP is interested in)
is not that, it is whether login/pass, as on the web side, should be
implemented. As long as nothing happens, I don’t care much :slight_smile:

(so no, I’m not requesting it :wink: )


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

On 2013-07-18 18:28, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> But we don’t see a lot of fake postings or spam, so whatever you’re
>> > doing must be working :slight_smile: Keep up the good work!
> We have an outstanding team of moderators who keep their ears to the
> ground and act quickly. :slight_smile:

I reported one this afternoon. He posted twice in the announcement
forum. Hes is banned now.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

Carlos E. R. wrote:
>
> Some of those of us that were impersonated, took to cryptosigning. If
> you had been impersonated yourself, you would probably do the same.
>
>
> But the issue here in the forum (the one that the OP is interested in)
> is not that, it is whether login/pass, as on the web side, should be
> implemented. As long as nothing happens, I don’t care much :slight_smile:
>
> (so no, I’m not requesting it :wink: )
>

How do we sign ? Do we need/buy a digital certificate ?


GNOME 3.6.2
openSUSE Release 12.3 (Dartmouth) 64-bit
Kernel Linux 3.7.10-1.16-desktop
www.vazhavandan.blogspot.com

On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 17:18:07 +0000, Carlos E. R. wrote:

> On 2013-07-18 18:28, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> But we don’t see a lot of fake postings or spam, so whatever you’re
>>> > doing must be working :slight_smile: Keep up the good work!
>> We have an outstanding team of moderators who keep their ears to the
>> ground and act quickly. :slight_smile:
>
> I reported one this afternoon. He posted twice in the announcement
> forum. Hes is banned now.

Yep, and we appreciate the reports. While we do have an outstanding mod
team here, we couldn’t do the job as effectively without the community
reports either. Occasionally stuff slips through, but it’s pretty rare
because everyone has a degree of vigilance in keeping the spammers at bay.

Interestingly, though, most of our spammers originate on the web
interface these days. It’s been that way for a while now.

Jim


Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

On Thu, 18 Jul 2013 17:23:22 +0000, vazhavandan wrote:

> Carlos E. R. wrote:
>>
>> Some of those of us that were impersonated, took to cryptosigning. If
>> you had been impersonated yourself, you would probably do the same.
>>
>>
>> But the issue here in the forum (the one that the OP is interested in)
>> is not that, it is whether login/pass, as on the web side, should be
>> implemented. As long as nothing happens, I don’t care much :slight_smile:
>>
>> (so no, I’m not requesting it :wink: )
>>
>>
> How do we sign ? Do we need/buy a digital certificate ?

Some people have incorporated GPG signatures into their posts. However,
it’s worth knowing that when a message goes through the gateway, some
formatting may change, which means on the web side the signature would
appear invalid anyways because the content changed.

Impersonation here on the forums is rare, and we do have ways of dealing
with it if someone reports it to us.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

On 2013-07-18 19:23, vazhavandan wrote:
> Carlos E. R. wrote:

> How do we sign ? Do we need/buy a digital certificate ?

No, GPG is free.

If you want to use it for email, I’ll explain (on another thread
perhaps, on application or network forum, lacking a security forum), but
do not use it here on nntp/forum, please. As Jim says, it breaks things,
and the web side people have no way to verify those signatures, so it is
almost useless.

IF a similar problem (impersonation) arises here, I’m sure the forum
staff will deal with it appropriately, and tell us what to do if needs
be. At very worst, they might implement nttp login/pass.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)

On 2013-07-18 19:11, vazhavandan wrote:
> vazhavandan wrote:
>> This is a test message to check whether nntp post is being properly
>> identified :slight_smile:
>
> Modified email address and checking whether http interface recognises
> properly

It works only with one address format.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)