[Pan-users] Re: VDQ : can I post to two newsservers?

[Duncan]

Felix Karpfen posted <address@hidden>,
excerpted below,  on Fri, 29 Jul 2005 06:22:48 +1000:

> On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 18:30:35 -0700, Duncan wrote
> (<address@hidden>):
>> 
>> BTW, rule of thumb on followups (not for this specific instance, IOW,
>> since it won't work anyway), it's considered helpful to put something in
>> the body mentioning "FUP2 set" or the like,
>>
> It is conceivable that I might benefit from this advice - if I understood
> what it said.
> 
> On the other hand - I never cross-post messages to NGs.

IOW = in other words.

FUP2 set = Followup to set = you set followups to go somewhere other than
the group(s) to which the original was posted.  Netiquette means setting
followups to one group, when posting to more than one, but the followup
header can also be set to send replies (as to a binary post in a
binary-only group, or to an announcement in an announcement only group) to
the customary parallel discussion group.  Of course, the header can be
(and is unfortunately often) abused to send replies to an entirely
unrelated group.  Group attackers will often post garbage to other groups,
with the fup2 set so all the complaints go to the attacked group instead,
the object being to overwhelm the attacked group with all the complaints. 
One final use of the followup header is to send replies to the
poster/author instead of the newsgroup, by setting "author" or "poster"
(IDR which, as I've never used that functionality) in that header.

However, if you never cross-post anyway, the only reason the above would
be useful would be to understand the fup2 warning when you see it, and to
know more about how USENET works, and to better understand attacks if
they ever happen in a group in which you are participating.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman in
http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html