Is SPAM the new normal around here?

[Nathanael]

Haven't been keeping up on the group the past few months and return to see lots of spam. Is this the new normal here?

--Nathanael

[David Schultz]

Post by Nathanael
Haven't been keeping up on the group the past few months and return to see lots of spam. Is this the new normal here?
--Nathanael

It is a continuation of an attack, via Google groups servers, that
started a while back. It only abated on comp.arch when Google groups
marked that group as read only thus preventing the spammers from posting
from Google.

The web portal at Google groups lets you report spam and I have been
doing that. Not that it seems to have done much good so far.

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.cpm

[yeti]

Post by David Schultz

Post by Nathanael
Haven't been keeping up on the group the past few months and return
to see lots of spam. Is this the new normal here?
--Nathanael

It is a continuation of an attack, via Google groups servers, that
started a while back. It only abated on comp.arch when Google groups
marked that group as read only thus preventing the spammers from
posting from Google.
The web portal at Google groups lets you report spam and I have been
doing that. Not that it seems to have done much good so far.
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.cpm

Interesting!

a) I see near to no spam here.

b) I do not see the message you reply to.

My news reader complains:

| Couldn’t fetch article
| <6dcfecaa-0547-4b39-b1fa-***@googlegroups.com>

I definitely do not locally filter "<*@googlegroups.com>" message-ids
or GG by other means, so this may be a false positive of the GG-spam
filtering now common in some Usenet nodes.

c) Such incidents will get more common. GG users please think about
using GG only for groups only available there and a Usenet feed for
Usenet groups, otherwise the GG-spam will split lots of communities
when the transport between GG and Usenet gets cut because of GG-spam.

[David Schultz]

Post by yeti
a) I see near to no spam here.

It has varied quite a bit between groups and this one is pretty light.
comp.lang.forth is worse and comp.arch was the worst I saw with thousands.

https://groups.google.com/g/comp.arch

Still not as bad as the sporgery attacks something over a decade ago.

[Nathanael]

Post by yeti

Post by David Schultz

Post by Nathanael
Haven't been keeping up on the group the past few months and return
to see lots of spam. Is this the new normal here?
--Nathanael

It is a continuation of an attack, via Google groups servers, that
started a while back. It only abated on comp.arch when Google groups
marked that group as read only thus preventing the spammers from
posting from Google.
The web portal at Google groups lets you report spam and I have been
doing that. Not that it seems to have done much good so far.
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.cpm

Interesting!
a) I see near to no spam here.
b) I do not see the message you reply to.
| Couldn’t fetch article
or GG by other means, so this may be a false positive of the GG-spam
filtering now common in some Usenet nodes.
c) Such incidents will get more common. GG users please think about
using GG only for groups only available there and a Usenet feed for
Usenet groups, otherwise the GG-spam will split lots of communities
when the transport between GG and Usenet gets cut because of GG-spam.
--
1. Hitchhiker 25: (64) "What's the problem?" said Lunkwill. (65) "I'll
tell you what the problem is mate," said Majikthise, "demarcation,
that's the problem!" (66) "We demand," yelled Vroomfondel, "that
demarcation may or may not be the problem!"

Anyone have any recommendations for a good setup with (free, if possible) Usenet feed?

nathanael

[yeti]

Post by Nathanael
Anyone have any recommendations for a good setup with (free, if possible) Usenet feed?

I've registered at <https://www.eternal-september.org/> and
<https://solani.org/>.

As news-reader I'm using Emacs/GNUS. SLRN and Thunderbird seem popular.

Some systems even have web frontends to Usenet, e.g. NovaBBS[0], but
I've no idea where their sign-up page hides.

____________

[0]: <https://www.novabbs.com/>

[Nathanael]

Post by yeti

Post by Nathanael
Anyone have any recommendations for a good setup with (free, if possible) Usenet feed?

I've registered at <https://www.eternal-september.org/> and
<https://solani.org/>.
As news-reader I'm using Emacs/GNUS. SLRN and Thunderbird seem popular.
Some systems even have web frontends to Usenet, e.g. NovaBBS[0], but
I've no idea where their sign-up page hides.
____________
[0]: <https://www.novabbs.com/>
--
1. Hitchhiker 30: (6) "No," said the old man, "that's just perfectly
normal paranoia. Everyone in the Universe has that."

I've registered at eternal-september, but Thunderbird and Claws cannot connect to the server. There's something I'm not sussing about configuration. I'll have to try when I've got time this weekend.

--nathanael

[yeti]

Post by Nathanael
I've registered at eternal-september, but Thunderbird and Claws cannot
connect to the server. There's something I'm not sussing about
configuration. I'll have to try when I've got time this weekend.

I've no TB here but I heard of such problems. There seems to be an
option to force sending the password in TB's per server configuration.
E-S offers access to their local groups without password and so TB isn't
reminded to send one at all for the higher access level.

If you see them, jump into eternal-september.config or *.support, there
they probably know where to find that option with closed eyes.

If you do not see the eternal-september.* groups, it is a different
problem. More input needed.

Maybe the FAQ helps?

<https://www.eternal-september.org/index.php?showpage=faq>

Wait...

I heard that the eternal-september.* groups are accessible via GG too,
but I do not know if they already are filtered?

Digging... never used GG before...

<https://groups.google.com/g/eternal-september.config>
<https://groups.google.com/g/eternal-september.support>

So help is near. \o/

Getting the hints via GG may be the easiest way to get the switch done?

[dxf]

Post by Nathanael
...
I've registered at eternal-september, but Thunderbird and Claws cannot connect to the server. There's something I'm not sussing about configuration. I'll have to try when I've got time this weekend.

FWIW these are my TB settings for E-S

Account settings:

Outgoing server (SMTP): Edit SMTP server..

Server Name: news.eternal-september.org Port: 465
Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: Normal password
User name: <E-S UserID>

Server settings:

Server Name: news.eternal-september.org Port: 119
Connection security: None

[hl351ge]

Post by dxf

Post by Nathanael
...
I've registered at eternal-september, but Thunderbird and Claws cannot connect to the server. There's something I'm not sussing about configuration. I'll have to try when I've got time this weekend.

FWIW these are my TB settings for E-S
Outgoing server (SMTP): Edit SMTP server..
Server Name: news.eternal-september.org Port: 465
Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: Normal password
User name: <E-S UserID>
Server Name: news.eternal-september.org Port: 119
Connection security: None

For the server settings my settings are:
Server name: news.eternal-september.org Port 563
Connection security: SSL/TLS
[X] Always request authentication when connecting to this server
Default character encoding: Unicode (UTF-8)

[Paolo Amoroso]

Google Groups is ending support for Usenet on February 22, 2024 https://support.google.com/groups/answer/11036538

[bill]

Google is leaving USENET. The first decent thing they have
done since coming into existence.

bill

[yeti]

Post by bill
Google is leaving USENET. The first decent thing they have
done since coming into existence.

See signature..

[David Schultz]

Google is leaving USENET.  The first decent thing they have
done since coming into existence.
bill

Good and bad. Google got into the Usenet game by acquiring Deja-News
which archived Usenet. Or parts of it. I will not be sad to see Google
vanish from Usenet but the archive will be missed.

[dxf]

Google is leaving USENET.  The first decent thing they have
done since coming into existence.
bill

Good and bad. Google got into the Usenet game by acquiring Deja-News which archived Usenet. Or parts of it. I will not be sad to see Google vanish from Usenet but the archive will be missed.

Google claims the archive and posts up to the cut-off date will remain available
to read. Of course at any point in the future they can claim folks have moved
on and it no longer serves any purpose as they've done here now. What they
actually mean is it no longer serves them to keep it.

[Paolo Amoroso]

Post by dxf
FWIW these are my TB settings for E-S

I'm trying to set up Thunderbird for Eternal September too but, although it does list the public local groups, it still doesn't access the groups that require authentication.

Post by dxf
Outgoing server (SMTP): Edit SMTP server..
Server Name: news.eternal-september.org Port: 465
Connection security: SSL/TLS
Authentication method: Normal password
User name: <E-S UserID>

Is this an outgoing SMTP server provided by Eternal September? I thought I had to use the server of my own email account. But, regardless of the server, I can't figure where to set up the password of the email account.

Post by dxf
Server Name: news.eternal-september.org Port: 119
Connection security: None

These are the NNTP server settings I'm using. But, as noted above, Thunderbird doesn't show the full list of groups. And, after fiddling with the settings, now the program freezes when connecting to the NNTP server.

[Paolo Amoroso]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
I'm trying to set up Thunderbird for Eternal September too but,
although it does list the public local groups, it still doesn't
access the groups that require authentication.

Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Is this an outgoing SMTP server provided by Eternal September? I
thought I had to use the server of my own email account. But,
regardless of the server, I can't figure where to set up the password
of the email account.

Looks like it isn't. I had to configure my own email server to reply by
email.

[yeti]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

\o/

[dxf]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

\o/

I've noticed some issues with TB and E-S combination. If I take too long
composing a Followup then Send doesn't complete. Only workaround I found
is saving the reply, exiting TB and re-trying. Other problem is Followups
don't always show up in the thread. Workaround for that is doing a
'Folder repair' (which wipes custom display settings).

So a bit of a nuisance.

[yeti]

Post by dxf
I've noticed some issues with TB and E-S combination. If I take too long
composing a Followup then Send doesn't complete. Only workaround I found
is saving the reply, exiting TB and re-trying. Other problem is Followups
don't always show up in the thread. Workaround for that is doing a
'Folder repair' (which wipes custom display settings).
So a bit of a nuisance.

eternal-september.support may have answers?

I haven't used TB for years ... and in some places I'm known for my
occasionally appearing "GUI-blindness".

[Paolo Amoroso]

On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 20:26:55 +0100

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

It didn't last long. After crashing badly, Thunderbird no longer started
on my even after reinstalling the program. It was unusable, so I
looked for another GUI NNTP client for Linux and found Claws Mail:

https://www.claws-mail.org

So far it seems to be working well. Claws Mail is lightweight, stable,
fast, feature rich, and available in Debian.

[David Schultz]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 20:26:55 +0100

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

It didn't last long. After crashing badly, Thunderbird no longer started
on my even after reinstalling the program. It was unusable, so I

I don't know what your problem is but I have been using Thunderbird for
a long time now with no such problems.

I do have some degree of nostalgia for the old readers, rn, trn, xrn,
etc. but not enough to dig up a copy and switch back.

[Jack Strangio]

Post by David Schultz
I do have some degree of nostalgia for the old readers, rn, trn, xrn,
etc. but not enough to dig up a copy and switch back.

After all these years, I still use 'Tass' the source code of which was
originally included in my copy of Coherent (Unix Version 7 clone) back in
the 1990s. It's curses-based.

The most recent version that I have seen in the wild is 3.6.4. I made some
amendments to that which I use as 3.7.2

Jack

[Nils M Holm]

Post by Jack Strangio
After all these years, I still use 'Tass' the source code of which was
originally included in my copy of Coherent (Unix Version 7 clone) back in
the 1990s. It's curses-based.

I have also used Tass on Coherent back in the days. Then moved to Tin (also
curses-based) and still using it.

For those looking for a Usenet provider, http://individual.net/ might be
another option. Not free, but at 10 EUR per year certainly affordable. I
am a satisfied customer myself since my UUCP feed shut down.

[llp]

Post by Nils M Holm
For those looking for a Usenet provider, http://individual.net/ might be
another option. Not free, but at 10 EUR per year certainly affordable. I
am a satisfied customer myself since my UUCP feed shut down.

You have a list of free text usenet-server here:
https://sybershock.com/#usenet

[yeti]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
It didn't last long. After crashing badly, Thunderbird no longer started
on my even after reinstalling the program. It was unusable, so I
https://www.claws-mail.org
So far it seems to be working well.

\o/

I cannot comment TM because I haven't touched it for years. Back then
it even refused to accept my local IMAP server as mail storage. Then I
decided it were a silly idea to climb down from the trees ... eeeeh to
test switching away from Evolution for mail. For news I'm not happy
with Evolution, so I use GNUS instead.

[dxf]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 20:26:55 +0100

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

It didn't last long. After crashing badly, Thunderbird no longer started
on my even after reinstalling the program. It was unusable, so I
https://www.claws-mail.org
So far it seems to be working well. Claws Mail is lightweight, stable,
fast, feature rich, and available in Debian.

Claws was going to be my next try but recently TB has been behaving itself.
I don't like the so-called 'features' as it involves digging into Config
to undo - and even then some can't such as quoting. TB has grown into a
monster that I wonder whether the developers still have a handle on it.
As a user I've given up any such pretensions.

[Paolo Amoroso]

On Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:37:06 +1100

Post by dxf
to undo - and even then some can't such as quoting. TB has grown
into a monster that I wonder whether the developers still have a
handle on it.

I tried the Thunderbird version in Debian Bullseye. What's surprising
is how unstable it was even before the final, unrecoverable crash.

Sure, a non recent version may have issues. But by now Thunderbird
is probably mature enough to have all the major stability issues ironed
out.

[Steven Hirsch]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 20:26:55 +0100

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Never mind, now Thunderbird correctly connects and authenticates to
Eternal September and I'm posting this from the program.

It didn't last long. After crashing badly, Thunderbird no longer started
on my even after reinstalling the program. It was unusable, so I

I finally had to lock out updates to TB on Ubuntu. I have a hybrid
arrangement for mail where I fetch from a local IMAP and post using SMTP to
Gmail. A change made last spring totally broke me and the developers don't
want to hear about it. Was a complete PITA to locate a .deb package for the
previous version and get back in operation. I won't be trusting them again.

I've long believed that such ego-driven churn and breakage was the enemy of
Linux adoption by non-technical folks.

[Steve Nickolas]

Post by Steven Hirsch
I finally had to lock out updates to TB on Ubuntu. I have a hybrid
arrangement for mail where I fetch from a local IMAP and post using SMTP to
Gmail. A change made last spring totally broke me and the developers don't
want to hear about it. Was a complete PITA to locate a .deb package for the
previous version and get back in operation. I won't be trusting them again.
I've long believed that such ego-driven churn and breakage was the enemy of
Linux adoption by non-technical folks.

The Firefox people for similar reasons kept breaking Seamonkey and forcing
them to use a fork of an older version of Gecko, with the result that
Seamonkey is starting to become less and less able to handle the modern
web, while I have so many of my settings there and prefer the UI and UX
which has basically been the main way I've surfed the Web for literally
upward of a quarter of a century (it being the direct successor of
Netscape Navigator)...

-uso.

[Paolo Amoroso]

[...]

Post by yeti
Some systems even have web frontends to Usenet, e.g. NovaBBS[0], but
I've no idea where their sign-up page hides.

[...]

Post by yeti
[0]: <https://www.novabbs.com/>

Isn't this the NovaBBS registration form? https://www.novabbs.com/common/register.php

[yeti]

Post by Paolo Amoroso
Isn't this the NovaBBS registration form?
https://www.novabbs.com/common/register.php

I'm known to sometimes suffer from a kind of GUI-blindness...

[[e-mail]]

Post by Nathanael
Haven't been keeping up on the group the past few months and return to see lots of spam. Is this the new normal here?

The 68k group is usually much quieter than here, but that's getting several spam posts/day :-(