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There are quite a few nesreaders available, but we support only two:
rn, nn. There are other newsreaders installed, on various
machines You are free to use whatever program you like best, but keep in
mind that the various packages have different levels of support.
All newsreading programs have one file in common: `.newsrc'. This file (located in your home directory) contains a listing of all of the currently active newsgroups.
It also indicates which groups you are subscribed to, i.e. the newsgroups that a newsreader will show you. Each newsgroup name is followed by a `:' or `!'. A colon indicates that you are currently subscribed to that group. An exclamation point indicates that you are currently unsubscribed to that group.
The `.newsrc' file keeps track of which articles you have read. Following the colon or exclamation point are the article numbers that you have read in that particular newsgroup.
There are several ways in which your `.newsrc' file can be setup. You
could allow your newsreader to create it for you, but it will subscribe
you to every single group, which is obviously not desired. The
newsetup program will have the same behavior.
A better option is to use the new-newsrc program, which will
create your `.newsrc' file, and then, automatically, invoke
eep, which allows the user to determine which groups to subscribe
to. eep will also allow you to change the order of your
`.newsrc' which can make reading news much easier.
An alternate way to set up your `.newsrc' file is to use let
newsetup create it for you. Then using an editor (i.e. vi
or emacs, move the newsgroups you want to read to the top.
When you are done with that, replace the remaining colons in the file
with bangs (`!').
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