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Using Tin

Accessing USENET with TIN Publication Number SFSC6912


WHAT IS USENET AND TIN?

USENET
A network of different machines which run the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) to exchange information. USENET consists of different newsgroups that have different articles residing inside them.

TIN
A threaded Netnews reader package for UNIX that allows a user to have access to articles from different newsgroups using a full-screen interface.

TIN has four levels of operation:

  1. Selection Group Level
  2. Group Level
  3. Thread Level
  4. Article Level

TIN gives the user three capabilities:

  1. Read and save articles.
  2. Reply to an article appearing in a particular newsgroup, via electronic mail
  3. Post articles to a newsgroup.


HELP AND DOCUMENTATION

man tin Displays manual page on TIN
h While running TIN, displays selection commands, depending on whether you are viewing newsgroups, viewing articles list, or reading articles.
news.announce.newusers: Newsgroup that is a primer on how to work with the USENET community.


RUNNING TIN

To access TIN:


1. tin Run the TIN program and a newsgroup file ".newsrc" will be created for the first-time user.
2. Use the arrow keys to navigate through the different newsgroups and articles.
3. q quit from TIN.


SUBSCRIBING TO NEWSGROUPS

When you first run TIN, you are initially unsubscribed to all newsgroups.

/ or ? Search newsgroup names for specified subject ("/" forward, "?" backward)
s Subscribe to current newsgroup
u Unsubscribe to current newsgroup
S Subscribe to groups that match pattern (Need to yank in all unsubscribed groups)
U Unsubscribe to groups that match pattern


ADDING A NEWSGROUP

y Yank in unsubscribed groups that are not in ".newsrc"
Y Yank in subscribed groups from ".newsrc"
g Add a new group by name. Position new group in group list [1,2,..,$]>
1 Position group on the top of group list.
# Position group on the #th of group list.
$ Postion group on the bottom of group list.
[RETURN] Postion group on the bottom of group list.


READING ARTICLES

At newsgroup selection menu
[RETURN] Read current group
c Mark group read
C Mark group read and go to next unread group
z Mark group as unread
N Goto next group with unread news


At group index menu

[RETURN] Read current article
l List article within current thread
c Mark group read
C Mark group read and go to next unread group
k or K Mark article (K=thread) as read
z or Z Mark article (Z=thread) as unread
n or p Goto next or previous group
N or P Goto Next or Previous unread article
t Return to group selection index


At open article screen

[SPACEBAR] Display next screenful of articles
g Goto first page of article
G Goto last page of article
i Return to group index menu
t Return to newsgroup selection menu
n or p Goto next or previous article
N or [RETURN] Goto next unread article
P Goto previous unread article
k or K Mark article (K=thread) as read
z or Z Mark article (Z=thread) as unread


In case the screen seems incorrect

Ctrl-L Redraw screen


SAVING ARTICLES Find the article you wish to save, and type:

T Tag article for saving
s Save articles to a file


Saving Command:

a Save the article
t Save the thread
R Save as Regular Expresion pattern
T Save the tagged articles
e Exit


Processing Command:

n None
s shar
u Undecode
U Undecode & zoo


REPLYING TO AN ARTICLE

Find the article you wish to reply to, and type:
R or r Reply with original article or reply without original article


Replying command:

a Abort the message
e Edit the message
s Send the message


POSTING AN ARTICLE Choose the newsgroup you wish to post to, and type:

W List articles posted by user
w Post an article to current group
f or F Post a follow up article without original article (F=with original article)
Post subject > Enter the subject for a new article
Distribution: XX Enter distribution category


Article Distribution Category

ba Bay Area
ca California
us United States
na North America
world The whole world


Posting commands:

a Abort the article
e Edit the article
p Post the article


NETIQUETTE

Rules of common courtesy that should be observed at all times:

  1. When posting an article, always condense the article as much as possible.
  2. When responding to an article: post only if it will contribute to others use E-mail if you want to respond with a difference of opinion or a request for clarification.
  3. Local events and inquiries should be kept out of world distribution.
  4. When posting an article: Avoid posting large items onto USENET, especially binary files. A better alternative is to place them in a FTP site and post the file's location to the relevant newsgroups.

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Last Modified: 20 Jan 1996
doit@sfsu.edu