Leafnode+ FAQ

1. What is Leafnode+?

Leafnode+ is a USENET software package designed for small sites,
with a few tens of readers and only a slow link to the net.

Leafnode+ is an update of Leafnode 1.4. Leafnode's original author,
Arnt Gulbrandsen decided to stop maintaining Leafnode in October
1998. There is also Cornelius Krasel's Leafnode, which is a separate
attempt to improve upon Leafnode. It is hoped that improvements from
this new Leafnode release will be incorporated into Leafnode+.


2. How can I find out more about Leafnode+?

For further information see the Leafnode+ Web site at
<http://www.io.com/~kazushi/leafnode+/>. The Leafnode+ mailing list
archives at <http://www.egroups.com/list/leafnode> are also a useful
source of information.


3. Where can I discuss Leafnode+?

There is a Leafnode+ mailing list for asking questions, submitting
bug reports and patches, and anything else related to Leafnode+.

You can subscribe to the list by sending mail to
leafnode-subscribe@egroups.com, or through the mailing list's Web
site (see above). The Web site also contains archives of the list,
which might help solve any problems you're having.


4. What are the differences between Leafnode+ and Leafnode?

The file Changes in the Leafnode+ distribution lists the changes
which have been made since version 1.4.


5. How do I configure Leafnode+?

See the manual pages for information on how to configure Leafnode+.
Also, see the sample configuration file, "config.example", in
/usr/local/share/doc/leafnode+.


6. How do I upgrade from Leafnode?

Upgrading is easy - Leafnode+ can be used as a direct replacement
for Leafnode. However, Leafnode+ will write some additional files in
the LIBDIR defined when compiling Leafnode+, usually
/usr/local/lib/leafnode. Therefore, the UID under which Leafnode+
runs, usually root or news, needs write access to this directory.

You will need to change all references to the "fetch" program to
refer to "fetchnews". The name of this program has changed because
"fetch" was considered too ambiguous, and is used by other programs.
"fetchnews" describes the function of the program better.

To update from Cornelius's Leafnode, copy
/var/spool/leafnode/leaf.node/groupinfo into your LIBDIR
(/usr/local/lib/leafnode/groupinfo) then run "fetchnews".


7. Can I use Leafnode+ with multiple news servers?

Yes. Although this was documented in Leafnode 1.4, the code to use
multiple servers had not been written. New code to do this has been
written for Leafnode+.

In Leafnode+ "supplement" is an alias for the "server" keyword,
which can be used multiple times to allow the use of supplementary
servers. Remember, no matter how many supplementary servers you have
configured, any articles you post are only sent to the first server
listed in your configuration file.

If any of the supplementary servers you use have unstable
connections, you can use the "-n" option with the "fetchnews"
program. This option updates each server's information file after
fetching from each group, rather than updating all it after
finishing fetching for the server.

The sample configuration file, "config.example", gives an example of
how to configure Leafnode+ to use supplementary servers.


8. Why does my news reader not tell me when new groups are created?

Most news reader software uses the NEWGROUPS command to learn about
the creation of new groups. The Leafnode+ news server does not
support this command. To check if new groups are available, see the
"groupinfo" file in your LIBDIR (/usr/local/lib/leafnode).



This brief FAQ is maintained by Tom Hukins <tom@eborcom.com>. If
there is anything you would like to see added to this FAQ, or if you
have written something you feel should be in here, please contact me
either by private e-mail or via the Leafnode+ mailing list.