FAQ
Table of contents
- General Questions about NNTP service
- What is an USENET (NNTP) server ?
- How can i register to aioe.org news server ?
- May i see binary groups using your server ?
- Where can i find the terms of use ?
- My favorite group is missing. May you add it ?
- How many days does your server keep the articles ?
- Do you provide NNTP over SSL access ?
- Do you offer commercial services ?
- I’m using a GPRS/UMTS connection. May i have access to your server ?
- Do you offer real time USENET feeds?
- Questions about local groups
- Questions about posting rights
- Other questions
1. What is an USENET (NNTP) server ?
Wikipedia page about USENET includes a lot of useful explanations for beginners about USENET. Another good source of informations about USENET is 'What is USENET?', a old document about concepts behind USENET.
NNTP protocol is described by the RFC 977 and the RFC 2280.
NNTP protocol is described by the RFC 977 and the RFC 2280.
2. How can i register to aioe.org news server ?
You can’t register.
The news server doesn’t require registration. You can read your preferred groups and you can post your own messages without providing any Userid and password. At the same time, server keeps the sender's IP address for each locally posted article. Lack of authentication doesn't mean anonymity.
The Aioe.org NNTP server accepts incoming connections from every IP address.
The news server doesn’t require registration. You can read your preferred groups and you can post your own messages without providing any Userid and password. At the same time, server keeps the sender's IP address for each locally posted article. Lack of authentication doesn't mean anonymity.
The Aioe.org NNTP server accepts incoming connections from every IP address.
3. May i see binary groups using your server ?
No, you can’t.
Aioe.org provides a text only NNTP server. All binary groups aren’t available. This is a deliberate choice because almost all binary messages are pornographic pictures or warez. They waste a lot of bandwidth and they expose ourself to needless legal risks.
Aioe.org provides a text only NNTP server. All binary groups aren’t available. This is a deliberate choice because almost all binary messages are pornographic pictures or warez. They waste a lot of bandwidth and they expose ourself to needless legal risks.
4. Where can i find the terms of use ?
The official policy describes the terms of use and our privacy statement. We strongly encourage our users to read this page before starting to use our service.
5. My preferred group is missing. May you add it ?
Usually all new groups inside all known hierarchies are automatically created by the server when a special control message digitally signed by the hierarchy administrator is received. If for some reason, a new group is missing those who are interested should send a notice to the our helpdesk. If the hierarchy is already carried, your group will be created in minutes.
6. How many days does your server keep the articles ?
This server keeps the old articles for about 25 days. Sometimes, the articles sent to specific groups may be cancelled before this time.
7. Do you provide NNTP over SSL access ?
Yes.
The NNTP over SSL is available through the standard NNTPS port (563). The URI for NNTP over SSL is snews ://nntp.aioe.org.
The NNTP over SSL is available through the standard NNTPS port (563). The URI for NNTP over SSL is snews ://nntp.aioe.org.
8. Do you offer commercial services ?
No.
Aioe.org is not a business.
Aioe.org is not a business.
9. I’m using a GPRS/UMTS connection. May i use your server ?
Yes, you can.
All known gateways are white-listed so all incoming connections are accepted.
All known gateways are white-listed so all incoming connections are accepted.
10. Do you offer real time USENET feeds ?
Yes.
This page explains which requisites are needed to establish a feed with aioe.org. Everybody should note that aioe.org doesn't offer UUCP feeds.
This page explains which requisites are needed to establish a feed with aioe.org. Everybody should note that aioe.org doesn't offer UUCP feeds.
11. Could i use programs like suck ?
Suck feeds waste a lot of system resources. We don’t recommend to use this method to download the news but we don’t expressly forbid it. Those who wish to establish a suck feed from our server have to respect the rules shown in the suck howto.
12. What is a local group ?
A local newsgroup is that group which is carried only by a single server. Local forums work like public mailing list but they’ve got the advantage to save bandwidth because every client can choose which articles wish to download.
13. Which kind of groups could be carried as local ?
A local group could be :
- Moderated
All the articles posted from the users are sent to a moderator that choose whether accept or reject each message. - Read Only
Normal users can only read the articles sent by a single authorized poster - Public
Everybody can read the articles and send his own messages.
14. May i have a local group ?
Yes
Those who need local groups can ask for their creation in the helpdesk. All local groups are deleted if there’re no messages in the last 30 days.
Those who need local groups can ask for their creation in the helpdesk. All local groups are deleted if there’re no messages in the last 30 days.
15. Timeout Errors
When a client tries to connect, if the server doesn’t reply within a defined time, the newsreader closes the connection and reports a "timeout" error. Usually, this kind of errors is caused by one of these two reasons :
- The server could be overloaded. Check the system status in order to make sure that the server is ready to accept new connections.
- The timeout limit could be set to a too short time. A good value is between 10 and 15 seconds. Check your system configurations.
16. Server rejects my incoming connections
If the server goes offline, all attempts to establish new connections are rejected by the kernel at TCP/IP level. When a client tries to open more than 4 connections at the same time, the ones that exceed this limit are refused by the server.