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README (please!)
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Text File
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1993-05-18
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9KB
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229 lines
TheNews V2.24 README file
So, you're checking out TheNews! Well, I'm sure you're
anxious to try it out, but there a few points you'll need to
know before you can get started. First, I need to get the
following legalize out of the way:
***************************************************
***************************************************
L E G A L A G R E E M E N T
This software is protected by the copyright laws of the United
States and by international treaty provisions. It has been
released as "shareware" -- the author grants the right to use and
copy the software on a trial basis not to exceed 30 calendar days.
After such time, the right to use is revoked unless payment has
been made to the author.
The author hereby extends permission for reproduction of this
documentation by whatever means are at the disposal of the user.
Electronic modification of this document is permitted if the
author's copyright notice is maintained.
This statement represents the full and final expression of all
terms of the agreement.
* * *
L I M I T E D W A R R A N T Y
The author makes no warranty, express or implied, regarding
TheNews, its documentation, its performance, its merchantability,
or its fitness for any particular purpose. The author exclusively
limits all consequential and incidental damages to replacement
of the program or refund of the purchase price. Because some
states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liabilty for
consequential or incidental damages, this limitation may not
apply to you.
This limited warranty gives you specific legal rights. You may
have others, which vary from state to state.
**************************************************
**************************************************
Okay, enough said, let's get to the important stuff! The
system requirements:
1. A Macintosh (no kidding!). As far as I can tell, there
are no restrictions on what kind of Mac you can use with
TheNews -- I've tested the program on the Plus, SE, SE/30,
II, IIx, and IIcx. I have no reason to believe that it will
fail on other models.
2. MacTCP. This is the system software that lets your Mac
talk TCP/IP. You can get this software from Apple.
3. A Network. You have several options here. You can use
an Ethernet card installed inside your computer, you can use
an external SCSI Ethernet device, or you can use a
LocalTalk<->Ethernet bridge (for example, a GatorBox).
4. An NNTP server. This will be a computer running the
'network news transfer protocol'.
5. An SMTP server. TheNews lets you respond to articles via
the 'simple mail transfer protocol'. The SMTP server needn't
be running on the same machine as the NNTP server.
One of the files included in this distribution is a user's
manual (cleverly titled 'TheNews User's Manual'). This
manual was written using Word 5.0; I apologize if you do not
have this program. However, because I'm such a thoughtful
kind of guy, I've excerpted the 'Quick Start' section a bit
later in this note.
So, after you try out TheNews and find that you want to keep
it, what do you do next? Well, obviously, you pay me for
it! Base sticker price is $25, with hefty discounts available
for site licenses (see below).
Send your checks, praises, comments, and questions to:
TheNews
1257 Worcester Road, Suite #196
Framingham, MA 01701
You can probably reach me via email at
cramer@world.std.com
but I can't make any promises on how fast I'll return your message.
____________________
Multiple Copy Purchase Price
TheNews-CD costs $25 per unit. For multiple-unit purchases
by educational groups, the following schedule applies:
First 20: $15/unit
Next 20: $10/unit
Next 20: $5/unit
additional: no charge
For commercial organizations, the following schedule applies:
First 20: $20/unit
Next 20: $15/unit
Next 20: $10/unit
Next 20: $5/unit
additional: no charge
Purchase of more than 60 units (80 for commercial purchasers)
constitutes a "site license". The definition of a "site", for
purposes of such license, is any computer within 50 miles (80
kilometers) of the purchasing facility. For educational
purchasers whose facilities involve multiple sites, the
following schedule applies:
First site: $600
Next site: $400
Next site: $200
additional: no charge
For commercial purchasers whose facilities involve multiple
sites, the following schedule applies:
First site: $1000
Next site: $800
Next site: $600
Next site: $400
Next site: $200
additional: no charge
__________________________________
A Note to Users of Previous Versions
If you're a previous user of TheNews, you may want to check
out the 'Changes' file included in this distribution.
__________________________________
Quick Start
Simply copy the application onto your hard disk (or onto another
diskette if you don't have a hard disk). If you haven't already
installed MacTCP, you'll need to do so before you can run TheNews.
If you're new to the world of net news, please take a few minutes
and read the next chapter (it won't take long -- TheNews is a simple
program). If you're familiar with news reader programs running on
other computers, you probably want to get started right away. (In
fact, you've probably started up the program already!) However,
have a little bit of patience and walk through the following
steps -- it won't take but a few minutes and you'll be on your way.
Start TheNews by double clicking on its icon; TheNews will present
you with its menu bar. Under the entry "File" you'll find an item
called "Preferences." When you select this item, TheNews will
present you with a dialog made up of some checkboxes and text
fields (it's detailed in the user's manual).
For the time being, leave the checkboxes unchecked and the first
three blanks empty (being the experienced news reader you are, you
can probably guess their functions). Move down to the "NNTP
Server:" box and type in the network address of your local news
server. This address will be composed four sets of digits
separated by periods, for example, "192.42.98.1", or else a domain
name, for example, "penumbra.iex.com". The address is significant
only to the IP-layer network software; check with your system
administrator for your server's address. Now click on the "Save"
button--you're ready to open a session to the news server!
Now return to the menu bar and select "New" under the "File" entry.
You should see a message telling you that TheNews is trying to
connect to the news server, and then you should see a message
advising you that TheNews is getting a list of all news groups
available on the server. (Note: If TheNews reports an error in
connecting to the server, verify that the server address is
correct. If the address is correct, go have a chat with your
System Administrator to verify that the indicated machine is indeed
running NNTP.)
If all went well, TheNews now displays a window titled "New Groups
File". You'll note that the window is empty; before you can read
articles from a news group you'll need to "subscribe" to that
group. To do so, select "Edit Group List" under the "Groups" menu.
This will bring up a dialog showing you a scrollable list of all of
the news groups available on the server. To subscribe to a
particular group, select the group name and click on the
"Subscribe" button, and then click on the "Done" button. (For the
time being, just pick one or two groups; later, you can go back and
select more groups. You'll also want to save your customized
groups list to a file--select "Save As" from the "File" menu)
When you return to the group list window, you'll see the group(s)
you have selected and the number of articles which you haven't yet
read and the number of articles available on the server.
To see what's available in a group, use the arrow keys to move the
highlight bar to the group name, and press <return>. TheNews will
then ask the server for a list of the articles; since this is the
first time you've read from the group, this may take awhile-be
patient! When it has completed, TheNews will display a list of the
article headers--on each line you'll see a "├" (which indicates
that you haven't yet read the article), some or all of the
article's subject, some or all of the sender's name, and the date
that the article was posted (if the window is big enough, you'll
see all of the information in each category).
To read an article, use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to
the desired article and press <return>. TheNews will fetch the
body of the article and pop up a new window displaying the header
and body.
That's all there is to reading net news. Well, no, not really.
TheNews has a number of additional features to help you manipulate
existing news articles and post new ones. Have a look at the
manual to get details on posting new and followup articles, mailing
responses to the posters of articles, saving and printing articles,
and setting up multiple group subscription documents. Enjoy!