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Greately expanded the WIKI article on the Tin newsreader.

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The previous version was merely a stup.  This patch adds detail
instructions on configuring and using Tin.
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ant
2026-05-15 02:05:04 +03:00
committed by deepend-tildeclub
parent 0a36fc5c4c
commit 93658f69aa
1 changed files with 372 additions and 5 deletions
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--- ---
title: tin (UseNet reader) title: tin (Usenet client)
category: software category: software
author:
- ant
todo:
- describe the common entry prefixes on:
- groups
- threads
- articles
- arrange the principal keys in the way most convenient to the learner:
- with grouping by relative function
- with ordering by decreasing importance.
- abridge that list, leaving out the less important ones?
--- ---
tin is a threaded NNTP and spool based [UseNet](usenet-news.html) newsreader for a variety of platforms. [*tin*](http://www.tin.org/)
is a text-mode threading NNTP and spool-based
[Usenet](usenet-news.html) client
for a variety of platforms.
[http://www.tin.org/](http://www.tin.org/) ## Local connection
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. `tin` is installed on `tilde.club`
and preconfigured to access
the local spool
of the `news.tilde.club` server by default.
You need only run `tin` without arguments:
```
$ tin
```
There is also a local NNTP server
on the `tilde.club` premises,
to which you can connect via:
```
$ tin -r [-g localhost[:119]]
```
You can forward this port over SSH
to your own machine
and point your local *tin*
(as well as any newsreader)
to it.
## Remote connection
### Server configuration
To connect `tin` to a remote news server over NNTP,
a little bit of setup is required.
By default, most of your *tin* configuration
is located in the `.tin` directory in your home.
In order to register a remote server,
add a line to the `newsrctable` file
in that directory,
with the following whitespace-separated fields:
1. server address with an optional port after a colon,
which is needed only for non-standard ports,
2. path to the `newsrc` file for that server,
for internal use by *tin*
to store an index of downloaded articles.
for each newsgroup.
3. optionally---but highly recommended---a
short alias for the server,
to facilitate invocation of *tin*.
For example, here are a few lines from my `newsrctable`:
```
news.tilde.club ~/.tin/newsrc.club tc
news.eternal-september.org ~/.tin/newsrc.e-s es
fidonews.mine.nu ~/.tin/newsrc.mine.nu fi
news.gmane.io ~/.tin/newsrc.gmane gm
* ~/.tin/newsrc.local
```
Now you can connect to any of the registered servers
via `rtin -g`.
For example,
to read the `tilde.club` server configured above,
enter:
```
$ rtin -g tc
```
But you will not be able to post yet,
if the server requires authorisation,
as most servers do:
### Authorisation
*tin* reads your credentials
for each server from the file `.newsauth`,
by default located in your home directory.
It also has a table structure similar to `.newsrc`,
with one line per server,
but this time the fields are:
1. server address,
2. password,
3. username.
For example, my line for tilde.club server
(with a dummy password, however) is:
```
news.tilde.club ant H1dd3nPa$$w0rd
```
Some servers
(*Eternal September* is
[one of them](https://www.eternal-september.org/index.php?language=en&showpage=faq#Login-No-Auth))
require that the client authorise
immediately upon connect,
or they will not show you all newsgroups,
if any.
To cause *tin* to authorise immediately,
pass the `-A` option, e.g:
```
rtin -Ag es
```
If you are among the unlucky fellows
who are guilty of using a password
with space or
(I tremble to say)
tab characters,
you will need to enclose it
in double quotes (`"`).
Make sure your `.newsauth`
is not readable by other users:
```
$ chmod 600 ~/.newsauth
```
### Specifying the NNTPS protocol
By default, `rtin` connects over the unencrypted NNTP protocol.
These days, however, most servers support the more secure NNTPS.
To cause *tin* to use it,
it should be invoked with the `-T` option.
So, the final invocation for *Eternal September*,
with the necessary initial authorisation
and the recommended encrypted connection,
is:
```
$ rtin -ATg es
```
### Simplifying the invocation
If remembering to supply
`-T` and `-A`
for servers that require them
annoys you,
consider storing
the complete invocation
in an alias in your shell's initialisation script
(`~/.shrc` for `sh`,
`~/.bashrc` for *Bash*), e.g.:
```
alias news_es='rtin -ATg es'
```
or use an the wrapper script below,
which will determine
whether `-T` and `-A` are needed
and supply them to *tin* for you:
<details>
```
#! /bin/sh
# tinr--launch the tin(1) newsreader
# with a specified newsserver alias,
# automatically providing the options
# -A (authorisation) and -T (NNTP over TLS)
# if they are required,
# to save the user remembering
# the respective properties of each server.
# Invoke as:
# # $ tinr <alias> [params]
# supplying a server alias
# and optionally whatever parameters
# you want to pass to tin.
# -A is provided if the server is present in .newsauth,
# and -T--if newsrctable in its fourth field
# specifies any second alias for the server.
# #
# #Written by: Anton Shepelev <ant@tilde.club>
# #and released into the void under The Unlicense:
# #<https://unlicense.org/>
#SPDX-License-Identifier: Unlicense
#URL: <svn://insomnia247.nl:5120/ant-dots/bin/tinr>
help()\
{ sed -ne '
1d
# prefix-juggling to keep the script compatible
# after conversion of tabs to spaces,
# as Markdown processors will often do:
s/^#\([ ]\+\)/PREF/
t cont; q
:cont
s/^PREF#//
p
' $0 \
| fmt -74 -p "PREF"\
| sed -e 's/^PREF//'
exit 1
}
help_ref="See tinr -h for instructions."
while getopts h opt; do
case $opt in
h) help; exit 0;;
?) [ ${OPTARG-x}=x ] && echo $help_ref && exit 1;
esac
done
shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
echo 1>&2 \
A server alias is not specified. $help_ref
exit 1
fi
alias=$1
nrct=${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.tin/newsrctable
naut=${TIN_HOMEDIR:-"$HOME"}/.newsauth
get_serv() \
{
[ ! -r $nrct ] && return 1
script=$(
awk -e '
/^[^#]/{ if( $3=="'${alias}'" )
{ print $1
if( $4 )
print("T")
exit
}}' \
< $nrct
)
# awk failed, exiting:
if [ $? -gt 0 ]; then exit 1; fi
# no server entry was found:
if [ ! -n "$script" ]; then return 1; fi
# a server entry was found:
while read s o; do
server=$s
opts=$o
done <<EOF
$(echo $script)
EOF
return 0
}
if [ -r $naut ] && get_serv; then
# the server is found by the alias,
# let's see whether it has an auth entry:
if awk -e '$1=="'$server'"{exit 1}' $naut; then :
else opts=${opts}A
fi
fi
# Swallow the alias:
shift
# The final invocation:
rtin -${opts}g $alias "$@"
```
</details>
The script above will add `-A`
if the server is present in your `.newsauth`
and `-T` if a secondary alias is assigned to it
in the fourth column of `newsrctable`.
Invoke it with the primary alias of the desired server,
optionally followed by
whatever arguments you may want to pass to *tin*, e.g.:
```
$ tinr es # connect to Eternal September
$ tinr tc -o # submit all postponed articles
```
## Interface overview
*tin* works at four nested levels
with (more or less :-)
uniform navigation
within and between them:
--
Level Operates on Symbol
------ ------------ -------
selection newsgroups S
group threads G
thread articles T
article single article A
-
*tin* starts at the topmost level (selection).
Whereas
the selection, group, and article levels
are linked with fixed up/down transitions,
the thread level is the odd one out,
for it comes between the group and article levels
only upon explicit invocation
from either of them
by the `l` key.
Furthermore,
if the article level was entered from the thread level
the *level-up* command (`q`)
goes back to the thread level
instead of the group level.
The levels share many common keys
for navigation and operations,
often borrowed from
[The Vi editor](vi.html) interface.
The most important keys are:
---- ------ --------------------
Key Level Action
---- ------ --------------------
H SGTA toggle on-screen help,
useful for learning
h SGTA list available commands
j/k SGT next/prev. group/thread/article
j/k A next/prev. line in text
[0-9]+ SGR highlight by number
Return SGT level-down (into highlighted element)
q SGTA level-up, or *q*uit
l GA open thread view, mem. as *l*ist of articles
/ SGTA search forward
? SGTA search backwards
y S toggle display of all/subscribed groups
s/u S subscribe/unsubscribe to/from selected group
r SG switch between read/all
TAB SGTA to next unread article from anywhere
p/n GA prev/next
P/N A prev/next unread
w G make a new post
f A follow-up (reply)
c/C SGTA mark group (SG) or thread (TA) as read
and move to the next unread (C) one
K GTA mark current thread (G) or article (TA)
as read and move to the next unread one
z SGA mark group/base article/article unread
Z TA mark thread unread
Y S load new posts from the server (if any)
M SGTA open the menu
-
For a complete UI reference and settings,
see the
[tin(1)](http://www.tin.org/bin/man.cgi?section=1&topic=tin)
manpage.
if you have `tin` on your local box and can do [[ssh port forwarding]], you can read news using it. (details forthcoming).