read news (Internet) (rn)

Newsreader is a program for reading Internet news on a news server. The rn- newsreader is started with the command "rn", whereupon the program firstchecks the information contained in the file newsrc.

If the rn-newsreader is started for the first time, the file newsrc is created automatically and all newsgroups are selected. After that all selected newsgroups are displayed as well as the number of unread articles in the respective group. After that rn checks if there are new newsgroups in the meantime which are not yet in the newsrc file of the respective user. If this is the case, these are indicated and selected if desired.

In the newsrc file are not only the selected, but all on the server existing newsgroups. Selected newsgroups get a specific marking and can be distinguished from the rest of the groups.

Now the first selected newsgroup is displayed as well as the number of unread articles it contains. As three possible commands the selection [ynq] is given. Here "y" stands for yes, "n" for no and "q" for quit. By the way, all commands that consist of only one character are entered without ending with the return key. If you enter "y" as the next command, the first page of the first unread article is displayed.