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Greately expanded the WIKI article on the Tin newsreader.
The previous version was merely a stup. This patch adds detail instructions on configuring and using Tin.
This commit is contained in:
ant
@@ -1,12 +1,379 @@
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---
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title: tin (UseNet reader)
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title: tin (Usenet client)
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category: software
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author:
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- ant
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todo:
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- describe the common entry prefixes on:
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- groups
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- threads
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- articles
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- arrange the principal keys in the way most convenient to the learner:
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- with grouping by relative function
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- with ordering by decreasing importance.
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- abridge that list, leaving out the less important ones?
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---
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tin is a threaded NNTP and spool based [UseNet](usenet-news.html) newsreader for a variety of platforms.
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[*tin*](http://www.tin.org/)
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is a text-mode threading NNTP and spool-based
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[Usenet](usenet-news.html) client
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for a variety of platforms.
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[http://www.tin.org/](http://www.tin.org/)
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## Local connection
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it is an actively maintained project, and is installed on ``tilde.club``. `tin` should be invoked as `tin -r` to read from the remote news spool. Use <tab> to go to the next unread article and `w` to write a new article.
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`tin` is installed on `tilde.club`
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and preconfigured to access
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the local spool
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of the `news.tilde.club` server by default.
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You need only run `tin` without arguments:
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```
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$ tin
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```
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There is also a local NNTP server
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on the `tilde.club` premises,
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to which you can connect via:
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```
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$ tin -r [-g localhost[:119]]
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```
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You can forward this port over SSH
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to your own machine
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and point your local *tin*
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(as well as any newsreader)
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to it.
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## Remote connection
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### Server configuration
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To connect `tin` to a remote news server over NNTP,
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a little bit of setup is required.
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By default, most of your *tin* configuration
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is located in the `.tin` directory in your home.
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In order to register a remote server,
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add a line to the `newsrctable` file
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in that directory,
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with the following whitespace-separated fields:
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1. server address with an optional port after a colon,
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which is needed only for non-standard ports,
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2. path to the `newsrc` file for that server,
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for internal use by *tin*
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to store an index of downloaded articles.
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for each newsgroup.
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3. optionally---but highly recommended---a
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short alias for the server,
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to facilitate invocation of *tin*.
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For example, here are a few lines from my `newsrctable`:
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```
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news.tilde.club ~/.tin/newsrc.club tc
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news.eternal-september.org ~/.tin/newsrc.e-s es
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fidonews.mine.nu ~/.tin/newsrc.mine.nu fi
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news.gmane.io ~/.tin/newsrc.gmane gm
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* ~/.tin/newsrc.local
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```
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Now you can connect to any of the registered servers
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via `rtin -g`.
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For example,
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to read the `tilde.club` server configured above,
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enter:
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```
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$ rtin -g tc
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```
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But you will not be able to post yet,
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if the server requires authorisation,
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as most servers do:
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### Authorisation
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*tin* reads your credentials
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for each server from the file `.newsauth`,
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by default located in your home directory.
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It also has a table structure similar to `.newsrc`,
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with one line per server,
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but this time the fields are:
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1. server address,
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2. password,
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3. username.
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For example, my line for tilde.club server
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(with a dummy password, however) is:
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```
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news.tilde.club ant H1dd3nPa$$w0rd
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```
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Some servers
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(*Eternal September* is
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[one of them](https://www.eternal-september.org/index.php?language=en&showpage=faq#Login-No-Auth))
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require that the client authorise
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immediately upon connect,
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or they will not show you all newsgroups,
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if any.
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To cause *tin* to authorise immediately,
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pass the `-A` option, e.g:
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```
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rtin -Ag es
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```
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If you are among the unlucky fellows
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who are guilty of using a password
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with space or
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(I tremble to say)
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tab characters,
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you will need to enclose it
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in double quotes (`"`).
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Make sure your `.newsauth`
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is not readable by other users:
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```
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$ chmod 600 ~/.newsauth
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```
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### Specifying the NNTPS protocol
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By default, `rtin` connects over the unencrypted NNTP protocol.
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These days, however, most servers support the more secure NNTPS.
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To cause *tin* to use it,
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it should be invoked with the `-T` option.
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So, the final invocation for *Eternal September*,
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with the necessary initial authorisation
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and the recommended encrypted connection,
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is:
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```
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$ rtin -ATg es
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```
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### Simplifying the invocation
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If remembering to supply
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`-T` and `-A`
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for servers that require them
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annoys you,
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consider storing
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the complete invocation
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in an alias in your shell's initialisation script
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(`~/.shrc` for `sh`,
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`~/.bashrc` for *Bash*), e.g.:
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```
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alias news_es='rtin -ATg es'
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```
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or use an the wrapper script below,
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which will determine
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whether `-T` and `-A` are needed
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and supply them to *tin* for you:
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<details>
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```
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#! /bin/sh
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# tinr--launch the tin(1) newsreader
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# with a specified newsserver alias,
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# automatically providing the options
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# -A (authorisation) and -T (NNTP over TLS)
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# if they are required,
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# to save the user remembering
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# the respective properties of each server.
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# Invoke as:
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# # $ tinr <alias> [params]
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# supplying a server alias
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# and optionally whatever parameters
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# you want to pass to tin.
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# -A is provided if the server is present in .newsauth,
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# and -T--if newsrctable in its fourth field
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# specifies any second alias for the server.
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# #
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# #Written by: Anton Shepelev <ant@tilde.club>
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# #and released into the void under The Unlicense:
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# #<https://unlicense.org/>
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#SPDX-License-Identifier: Unlicense
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#URL: <svn://insomnia247.nl:5120/ant-dots/bin/tinr>
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help()\
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{ sed -ne '
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1d
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# prefix-juggling to keep the script compatible
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# after conversion of tabs to spaces,
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# as Markdown processors will often do:
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s/^#\([ ]\+\)/PREF/
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t cont; q
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:cont
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s/^PREF#//
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p
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' $0 \
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| fmt -74 -p "PREF"\
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| sed -e 's/^PREF//'
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exit 1
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}
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help_ref="See tinr -h for instructions."
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while getopts h opt; do
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case $opt in
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h) help; exit 0;;
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?) [ ${OPTARG-x}=x ] && echo $help_ref && exit 1;
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esac
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done
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shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
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if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
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echo 1>&2 \
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A server alias is not specified. $help_ref
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exit 1
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fi
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alias=$1
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nrct=${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/newsrctable
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naut=${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.newsauth
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get_serv() \
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{
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[ ! -r $nrct ] && return 1
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script=$(
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awk -e '
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/^[^#]/{ if( $3=="'${alias}'" )
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{ print $1
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if( $4 )
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print("T")
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exit
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}}' \
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< $nrct
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)
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# awk failed, exiting:
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if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then exit 1; fi
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# no server entry was found:
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if [ ! -n "$script" ]; then return 1; fi
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# a server entry was found:
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while read s o; do
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server=$s
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opts=$o
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done <<EOF
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$(echo $script)
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EOF
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return 0
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}
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if [ -r $naut ] && get_serv; then
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# the server is found by the alias,
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# let's see whether it has an auth entry:
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if awk -e '$1=="'$server'"{exit 1}' $naut; then :
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else opts=${opts}A
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fi
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fi
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# Swallow the alias:
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shift
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# The final invocation:
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rtin -${opts}g $alias "$@"
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```
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</details>
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The script above will add `-A`
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if the server is present in your `.newsauth`
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and `-T` if a secondary alias is assigned to it
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in the fourth column of `newsrctable`.
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Invoke it with the primary alias of the desired server,
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optionally followed by
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whatever arguments you may want to pass to *tin*, e.g.:
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```
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$ tinr es # connect to Eternal September
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$ tinr tc -o # submit all postponed articles
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```
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## Interface overview
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*tin* works at four nested levels
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with (more or less :-)
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uniform navigation
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within and between them:
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--
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Level Operates on Symbol
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------ ------------ -------
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selection newsgroups S
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group threads G
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thread articles T
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article single article A
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-
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*tin* starts at the topmost level (selection).
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Whereas
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the selection, group, and article levels
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are linked with fixed up/down transitions,
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the thread level is the odd one out,
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for it comes between the group and article levels
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only upon explicit invocation
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from either of them
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by the `l` key.
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Furthermore,
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if the article level was entered from the thread level
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the *level-up* command (`q`)
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goes back to the thread level
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instead of the group level.
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The levels share many common keys
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for navigation and operations,
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often borrowed from
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[The Vi editor](vi.html) interface.
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The most important keys are:
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---- ------ --------------------
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Key Level Action
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---- ------ --------------------
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H SGTA toggle on-screen help,
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useful for learning
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h SGTA list available commands
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j/k SGT next/prev. group/thread/article
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j/k A next/prev. line in text
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[0-9]+ SGR highlight by number
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Return SGT level-down (into highlighted element)
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q SGTA level-up, or *q*uit
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l GA open thread view, mem. as *l*ist of articles
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/ SGTA search forward
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? SGTA search backwards
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y S toggle display of all/subscribed groups
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s/u S subscribe/unsubscribe to/from selected group
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r SG switch between read/all
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TAB SGTA to next unread article from anywhere
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p/n GA prev/next
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P/N A prev/next unread
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w G make a new post
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f A follow-up (reply)
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c/C SGTA mark group (SG) or thread (TA) as read
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and move to the next unread (C) one
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K GTA mark current thread (G) or article (TA)
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as read and move to the next unread one
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z SGA mark group/base article/article unread
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Z TA mark thread unread
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Y S load new posts from the server (if any)
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M SGTA open the menu
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-
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For a complete UI reference and settings,
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see the
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[tin(1)](http://www.tin.org/bin/man.cgi?section=1&topic=tin)
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manpage.
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if you have `tin` on your local box and can do [[ssh port forwarding]], you can read news using it. (details forthcoming).
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