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Using rn on Athena.

The SIPB currently supports several different interfaces to the Usenet, but in this document we'll center on rn. To use rn you must add the sipb locker by entering the command add sipb at your Athena prompt. You can put this command in your .environment file to cause it to occur when you log in.

rn operates on three levels: the newsgroup selection level, the article selection level, and the paging level. Each level has its own set of commands, and its own help menu. At the newsgroup selection level (the top level), you may specify which newsgroup you want next, or read them in the default order, which is the order that the newsgroups occur in your .newsrc file. (You will probably want to rearrange your .newsrc file to put the most interesting newsgroups first. This can be done with the 'm' command on the newsgroup selection level, or by using a file editor such as emacs to edit the file directly.) At the article selection level, you may specify which article you want next, or read them in the default order, which is either in order of arrival on your system, or by subject threads. At the paging level (the bottom level), rn behaves much like the more program.

The most important command to remember in rn is `h', for help. On any level, at any prompt, an `h' may be typed for a list of available commands. Furthermore, typing space to any question means to ``do the normal thing.'' You will know what that is because every prompt has a list of several plausible commands enclosed in square brackets. The first command in the list is the one which will be executed if you type a space.

Some of the more important commands besides `h' and `space' are:

ALL LEVELS:

u will unsubscribe from the current newsgroup.

c will ``catch up'' on the current newsgroup by marking all the messages in it read.

C-k will allow you to edit the KILL file for the current newsgroup.

NEWSGROUP LEVEL:

g newsgroup will go to the named newsgroup. If it is unsubscribed, the user will be asked if he or she wants to resubscribe to it.

ARTICLE OR PAGER LEVEL:

number will go to the message with the given number.

k will kill all unread articles with the same subject line as the current article.

K will kill all unread articles with the same subject line as the current article and deposit this kill command in the KILL file for the current newsgroup so that it will be executed each time the newsgroup is accessed.

f and F will post a follow-up article to the current article. If an upper-case F is used, the text of the current article will be embedded in the follow-up.

r and R will respond to the current article through net mail. If an upper-case R is used, the text of the current article will be embedded in the mail letter.

$ will go to the end of the current newsgroup. Using the `r,' `R,' `f' or `F' after using the `$' command command will allow you to post an article or write a mail letter from scratch.

These are only a few of the commands available in rn. Rather then attempting to summarize everything that can be done with rn, we recommend that you print out the manual page for the program and read it over. While it is not necessary for you to read the manual page to use rn, it might be useful. To print out the man page, issue the command

% psroff -man -P your-favorite-printer /mit/sipb/man/man1/rn.1

If you just wish to view the man page on screen, issue the command

% man rn

Even if you choose not to read the man page now, it is a good idea to have it with you as a reference when you are first using rn.