This section was formerly part of the document Secrets of Pine.
Versions before Pine 3.90 were capable of reading Internet newsgroups (Usenet), but the ability to post messages to these newsgroups, or subscribe to them, was added in Pine 3.90.
It is possible that your system manager has configured Pine so that everyone on the system automatically has access to news. You can check this by looking for a news folder collection at the end of your FOLDER LIST for versions up to and including 3.96 (in version 4, COLLECTION LIST) - if it's not there, you will need to tell Pine the name of your local news server. Here are the steps:
In order to remain compatible with other news readers, Pine uses the same news subscription file (".newsrc" in the Unix version). However, this file can record very little message state information. The "Deleted" flag is the only message status flag that is preserved between sessions.
When you reply to a news message, Pine will ask if you want to post the reply to the listed Newsgroups. When the current folder is a newsgroup and you enter the Composer, Pine will ask if you want to post to the current newsgroup. Even if you say "no", you may manually enter a newsgroup name, after exposing that header in the Composer by pressing ^R. (There is also an optional feature, compose-sets-newsgroup-without-confirm you can set in SETUP CONFIGURATION to suppress this prompt if you'd like Pine to assume that you want to Post whenever invoking the composer while reading a newsgroup folder.)
Here are some additional hints about using Pine for newsreading:
If you are searching for newsgroups in subject areas of your interest, check the directories of USENET newsgroups.
Pine doesn't support threading, but a sort by Ordered Subject provides "pseudo" threading of messages by grouping messages with the same subject name together and putting them into date order. Pine ignores leading "Re:" and "re:" and trailing "(fwd)" when determining the order of subject lines.
In Pine's message index, press "$ SortIndex" followed by "O OrderedSubj".
Q&A submitted by: Timothy J. Luoma <luomat+pine@luomat.peak.org>
First, you need to make sure that you have access to all the commands necessary.
From the [M]AIN MENU, choose [S]etup and then [C]onfig, then make sure that there are 'X' marks next to these two options:
[X] enable-aggregate-command-set
[X] enable-flag-cmd
To mark all messages as "read" or "deleted" press and release each of the following:
; = Select
a = All
a = Apply
* = Flag
which will bring you to the FLAG MAINTENANCE screen (if you do not have enable-flag-screen-implicitly set in SETUP CONFIGURATION, select "^T To Flag Details" to reach it now):
Set desired flags for current message below. An 'X' means set it, and a ' ' means to unset it. Choose "E Exit Flags" when finished.
=============================================================================
Set Flag Name
--- ----------------------
[ ] Important
[X] New
[ ] Answered
[ ] Deleted
? Help E Exit Flags P Prev - PrevPage Y prYnt
X [Set/Unset] N Next Spc NextPage W WhereIs
=============================================================================
Using the arrow keys, move down to "New" and press "X" until it looks like this:
=============================================================================
Set Flag Name
--- ----------------------
[ ] Important
[ ] New
[ ] Answered
[ ] Deleted
=============================================================================
Note: if you want to delete all the messages, the process is the same except at this point you should use the arrow keys to move down to "Deleted" and press "X" until it looks like this:
=============================================================================
Set Flag Name
--- ----------------------
[ ] Important
[ ] New
[ ] Answered
[X] Deleted
=============================================================================
To Exit: Press "E Exit Flags" as seen at the bottom menu.
Power Tip: To select and delete all the messages in a mailbox or newsgroup press and release each of the following:
; = Select
a = All
a = Apply
d = Delete
The unexclude (unXclude) command will view all available messages in a newsgroup. This includes messages that have been previously Deleted and Expunged/Excluded. The unexclude command is activated by pressing Ampersand (&).
One difference between news and (personal) mail folders, while you can mark News messages Deleted, unlike mail folders you may not actually eXpunge them from the newsgroup folder, since the messages reside on a shared server. Instead, you may remove them from your own view, using the "X eXclude" command.
More Info: If unexcluding messages does not reveal the desired messages, it is likely they were removed from the news server, since old posts are periodically removed. Many newsgroups are archived and available via the World Wide Web.
Posts to unmoderated Usenet Newsgroups can be canceled (removed) from the news server. This is helpeful for removing double-posts or posts that don't belong to a newsgroup, or want to be re-posted. Only the sender of the post can cancel her post. Currently, Pine does not have a command that automatically cancels Usenet News posts. To cancel a post it must be done manually by composing a cancel post.
Your customized-hdrs in SETUP CONFIGURATION must contain
Control,
X-No-Archive,
Approved,
Sender,
X-Cancelled-By
View the message you want to cancel, and press H to view full headers. Look for the "Message-ID:" header, because the text after "Message-ID:" needs to be used for canceling the message from the News Server (the angle brackets are needed too). Press R to reply to your message you want to cancel. Then Pine will ask you the following question:
Include original message in Reply?
Y Yes
^C Cancel N [No]
Do not include the original message in the reply by choosing N. Then, Pine asks you another question:
Follow-up to news group(s), Reply via email to author or Both?
F Follow-up B Both
^C Cancel R [Reply]
Choose "F Follow-up", which will set your "Newsgroups:" header to the the newsgroup(s) your message was posted to. In the Subject header delete the old subject and type "cmsg cancel", and then the value from the "Message-ID:" header of the post to be cancelled.
Press "^R Rich Hdr" to view all header fields. Go to the "Control:" header and type "cancel" and add the "Message-ID:" value. Go to the "X-No-Arc:" header and type "Yes". At the "X-Cancel:" and "Approved:" headers insert your email address. Finally, to the "X-No-Arc:" header type "Yes".
Your Cancel Post should have the following format
Newsgroups: [the newsgroup the post to be cancelled is] Subject: cmsg cancel <old-message-id> Control: cancel <old-message-id> X-No-Archive: Yes From: you@here.edu Sender: you@here.edu Approved: you@here.edu X-Cancelled-By: you@here.edu Article <old-message-id> cancelled by you@here.edu (Your Name) I am the original author. Email me if you have questions.
Press ^X to send the cancel post.
Like the POP3 protocol, NNTP folders need to be exited and reopened in order to show new posts/messages. Both of these protocols have no method of announcing new posts/messages have arrived.
This is the correct behavior of Pine. The answer to this question can be found in the context-sensitive help screen for the news message index, HELP FOR MESSAGE INDEX VIEW accessible by pressing "? Help" for help:
... In Newsgroups, if you are
the sender and there are no email recipients, the newsgroup name
will be listed.