Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Using ing lists and Newsgroups Tony Brett Oxford University Computing Services February 2004

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Agenda lists –How to set up –How to use –Subscribing –Moderating Newsgroups (Usenet) –How to set up –How to set up newsreader Comparison of Newsgroups and Maillists Netiquette Conclusion

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February ing lists Oxford University uses EZMLM (easy mailing list manager) Other Products: Majordomo, mailman OUCS-written web interface to EZMLM Distributed Subscription - based Designated receivers of messages

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 How to Set up lists Moderate vs. non-moderate Subscriber posting vs. open posting Open or Closed Subscription? Request to List gets created Login to Use your herald username and password Full details and instructions at:

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 How to Use Oxford lists (1) Send mail to might be Message goes to all subscribed people Everything controlled by the address you send to. subject and content are irrelevant.

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 How to Use Oxford lists (2) Moderation requires a reply message Can have many moderators. Postings from Moderators must be self- moderated. Postings from others can be moderated by any moderator. Decision of first is final! Security relies on ability to RECEIVE mail, not send it.

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Newsgroups Dates from 1986 – RFC977 Sometimes called Usenet NNTP Acronymns: BTW, AFAIK, IMHO etc. Emoticons :-) :-( ;-) FAQs – Read them! Thousands of groups & servers worldwide News.ox.ac.uk Spam, Troll, Flame Google groups etc. brings it to the web

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 How to set up newsgroups In Oxford ox.clubs.*, ox.colleges.*, ox.[dept] Accessible only in Oxford

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 How to set up a newsreader Many available – Outlook Express, Netscape Collabra, PINE, TRN, RN. Available for all Operating Systems Use your ISPs news server for example: news.ox.ac.uk, news.ntlworld.com, news.tiscali.co.uk and so on Can read through the web using google groups or similar

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Outlook using Oxford’s News (1)

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Configuring a news account

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 This can be slow on dial-up! Enter a search term or browse and double- click the ones you want. Getting the Newsgroups

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Reading Articles

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 News vs. Maillist NEWS Wider audience. No management effort. Messages can be kept indefinitely. Only one copy of each message. Can read newsgroup messages when you wish. Subscription to a newsgroup is easy Not Private Less urgent – read news less often than New software might need to be learned LIST Can be set up to be private Addresses on a list are not restricted to Oxford Easier to send urgent messages Existing, familiar mail software can be used. High-volume of can prove intrusive. The method of subscribing to an distribution list can be tricky "list maintainer" required Each message replicated many times - inefficient. Storage at the discretion of each member of the list.

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Netiquette Use the Subject: field Don’t auto-reply to mailing lists! (Herald does this automatically) Don’t have an argument on a mailing list Write carefully if you feel strongly about something. Use emoticons to convey sense of what you’re saying Keep messages brief Don’t flame, spam or troll Don’t quote others without acknowledgement Be Legal, Decent, Honest & Truthful

Tony BrettOUCS Course Code ZAA 2 February 2004 Conclusions Maillist and News both have their uses Never a definitive correct solution Use requires care and planning Both can save time, paper and frustration High volume lists sometimes move to newsgroups Enjoy!