Debian bug report logs - #933
Pine wants to post my email reply, and other problems

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Message-Id: <m0sGunG-0000XQZ@chiark.al.cl.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 31 May 95 21:55 BST
From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson)
To: Debian bugs submission address <debian-bugs@pixar.com>
Subject: Pine wants to post my email reply, and other problems

Package: pine
Version: 3.91-2

I just sent `guest@chiark' (a test account on my system) the message:
 Return-Path: <ian>
 Received: by chiark
         id <m0sGuKK-0000XQZ@chiark.al.cl.cam.ac.uk>
         (Debian /\oo/\ Smail3.1.29.1 #29.31); Wed, 31 May 95 21:25 BST
 Message-Id: <m0sGuKK-0000XQZ@chiark.al.cl.cam.ac.uk>
 Newsgroups: chiark.test
 From: ian (Ian Jackson)
 To: guest,
     ian
 Subject: A test mail message
 Date: Wed, 31 May 95 21:25 BST

 Let's see.

When I (guest, that is) hit `r' for Reply while viewing the message,
Pine gives me the prompt:
 Post follow-up message to news group(s)?
If I answer `y' it decides I want to do a posted `followup' instead
of a reply.

Presumably it does this because the message I'm replying to has a
Newsgroups line.

This is completely ridiculous behaviour, and probably stems from an
inability on the part of the author to understand conventions used on
the net.

The presence of a Newsgroups line in a mail message you have received
does NOT indicate that it has been posted to those newsgroups.  It
usually indicates that the message relates to a discussion which is
taking place in those newsgroups, and is provided as a helpful hint
for reference purposes by newsreaders like `trn' (the de-facto
standard USENET newsreader).

Furthermore, posting a followup which would probably contain quoted
text would be a bad violation of netiquette (if not illegal in some
way), as it is conventional (if not obligatory) to obtain someone's
consent before publishing personal correspondance they have sent you.

This feature should be removed from Pine.

If the authors disagree with you please:
 (a) Refer them to me and to news.admin.*
 (b) Fix the problem in Debian's version of Pine anyway.

I note that the news posting facilities in Pine do not work in my
Debian configuration.  I do not consider it a great loss.  The
tendency of every program in existence to jump on the news posting
bandwagon is pernicious and should be resisted.

Incidentally, if I ask to post a message by using the `^T' key in the
compose screen I get a message saying that I can't post to newsgroups
because the NNTP server is not defined.  This message is accompanied
by a beep and is immediately erased - I could only read it by holding
down the `^T' key, which made it half-visible.

I went and configured my INN installation as my NNTP server and the
only thing that was obviously suspicious was the Path: line, which
contained
   chiark.my.domain!chiark!guest
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^ presumably entered by Pine
    |
    ^ put in by INN

Pine has no business putting a Path line in postings it makes via the
NNTP POST command.  It should leave that to the NNTP server.

For comparison, a message posted directly via NNTP says:
   chiark.my.domain|news
which come from nnrpd and innd.

At least Pine did ask:
 Posted message may go to thousands of readers. Really post?                     

Ian.