The intent of this document is to answer some of the questions and comments that appear to meet the definition of "frequently asked questions" about UUCP software under Linux in general, and the version in the Linux SLS and Slackware distributions in particular.
This document and the corresponding Mail and News "HOWTO" documents collectively supersede the UUCP-NEWS-MAIL-FAQ that has previously been posted to comp.os.linux.announce.
New versions of this document will be periodically posted to
comp.os.linux.announce, comp.answers, and news.answers. They will
also be added to the various anonymous ftp sites who archive such
information including sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO.
In addition, you should be generally able to find this document on the
Linux WorldWideWeb home page at http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/linux.html.
I am interested in any feedback, positive or negative, regarding the content of this document via e-mail. Definitely contact me if you find errors or obvious omissions.
I read, but do not necessarily respond to, all e-mail I receive. Requests for enhancements will be considered and acted upon based on that day's combination of available time, merit of the request, and daily blood pressure :-)
Flames will quietly go to /dev/null so don't bother.
In particular, the Linux filesystem standard for pathnames is an evolving thing. What's in this document is there for illustration only based on the current standard at the time that part of the document was written and in the paths used in the distributions or 'kits' I've personally seen. Please consult your particular Linux distribution(s) for the paths they use.
Feedback concerning the actual format of the document should go to the HOWTO
coordinator - Greg Hankins (gregh@sunsite.unc.edu).
The UUCP-HOWTO is copyrighted (c)1994 Vince Skahan.
A verbatim copy may be reproduced or distributed in any medium physical or electronic without permission of the author. Translations are similarly permitted without express permission if it includes a notice on who translated it.
Short quotes may be used without prior consent by the author. Derivative work and partial distributions of the UUCP-HOWTO must be accompanied with either a verbatim copy of this file or a pointer to the verbatim copy.
Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would appreciate being notified of any such distributions (as a courtesy).
In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright the HOWTO documents.
We further want that ALL information provided in the HOWTOS is disseminated.
If you have questions, please contact Greg Hankins, the Linux HOWTO coordinator,
at gregh@sunsite.unc.edu.
Of course, I disavow any potential liability for the contents of this document. Use of the concepts, examples, and/or other content of this document is entirely at your own risk.
There is plenty of exceptional material provided in the other Linux HOWTO documents and from the Linux DOC project. In particular, you might want to take a look at the following:
comp.mail.uucp can answer most of your UUCP questions
There is a Taylor UUCP mailing list.
To join (or get off) the list, send mail to
taylor-uucp-request@gnu.ai.mit.edu
This request goes to a person, not to a program, so please make sure that you include the address at which you want to receive mail in the text of the message.
To send a message to the list, send it to
taylor-uucp@gnu.ai.mit.edu
HDB and V2 versions of UUCP are documented in about every vendor's documentation as well as in almost all *nix communications books.
Taylor config files are currently only documented in the info files provided with the sources (and in the SLS distribution hopefully). To read them, you can grab the nice "infosrc" program from the SLS "s" disks and compile it.
The following is a non-inclusive set of books that will help.
"Managing UUCP and USENET" from O'Reilly and Associates is in my opinion the
best book out there for figuring out the programs and protocols involved in
being a USENET site.
"Unix Communications" from The Waite Group contains a nice description of all
the pieces (and more) and how they fit together.
"Practical Unix Security" from O'Reilly and Associates has a nice discussion
of how to secure UUCP in general.
"The Internet Complete Reference" from Osborne is a fine reference book that
explains the various services available on Internet and is a great
source for information on news, mail, and various other Internet resources.
The Linux Networking Administrators' Guide" from Olaf Kirch of the
Linux DOC Project is available on the net and is also published by (at least)
O'Reilly and SSC. It makes a fine one-stop shopping to learn about
everything you ever imagined you'd need to know about Unix networking.There is nothing "special" about configuring and running UUCP under Linux (any more). Accordingly, you almost certainly do *NOT* want to be posting generic UUCP-related questions to the comp.os.linux.* newsgroups.
Unless your posting is truly Linux-specific (ie, "please tell me what config file support is built into the binaries for Taylor uucp v1.04 in SLS v1.02"), you should be asking your questions in comp.mail.uucp or on the Taylor UUCP mailing list as indicated above.
Let me repeat that.
There is virtually no reason to post anything uucp-related in the comp.os.linux hierarchy any more. There are existing newsgroups in the comp.mail.* hierarchy to handle *ALL* your questions.
IF YOU POST TO COMP.OS.LINUX.* FOR NON-LINUX-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE FOR HELP. THE UUCP EXPERTS HANG OUT IN THE PLACES INDICATED ABOVE AND GENERALLY DO NOT RUN LINUX.
POSTING TO THE LINUX HIERARCHY FOR NON-LINUX-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS WASTES YOUR TIME AND EVERYONE ELSE'S AND IT FREQUENTLY DELAYS YOU FROM GETTING THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION.