GNU Info

(gnus)SOUP

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SOUP
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   In the PC world people often talk about "offline" newsreaders.  These
are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
With built-in modem programs.  Yecchh!

   Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
`uucp' and, like, `nntpd' and set up proper news and mail transport
things like Ghod intended.  And then we just use normal newsreaders.

   However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
that interested in doing things properly.

   A file format called SOUP has been developed for transporting news
and mail from servers to home machines and back again.  It can be a bit
fiddly.

   First some terminology:

"server"
     This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and
     where you get news and/or mail from.

"home machine"
     This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and
     responding on.  It is typically not connected to the rest of the
     world in any way.

"packet"
     Something that contains messages and/or commands.  There are two
     kinds of packets:

    "message packets"
          These are packets made at the server, and typically contain
          lots of messages for you to read.  These are called
          `SoupoutX.tgz' by default, where X is a number.

    "response packets"
          These are packets made at the home machine, and typically
          contains replies that you've written.  These are called
          `SoupinX.tgz' by default, where X is a number.

  1. You log in on the server and create a SOUP packet.  You can either
     use a dedicated SOUP thingie (like the `awk' program), or you can
     use Gnus to create the packet with its SOUP commands (`O s' and/or
     `G s b'; and then `G s p') (Note: SOUP Commands).

  2. You transfer the packet home.  Rail, boat, car or modem will do
     fine.

  3. You put the packet in your home directory.

  4. You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the `nnsoup' back end
     as the native or secondary server.

  5. You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things
     you want (Note: SOUP Replies).

  6. You do the `G s r' command to pack these replies into a SOUP
     packet.

  7. You transfer this packet to the server.

  8. You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the `G s s' command.

  9. You then repeat until you die.


   So you basically have a bipartite system--you use `nnsoup' for
reading and Gnus for packing/sending these SOUP packets.

SOUP Commands

Commands for creating and sending SOUP packets

SOUP Groups

A back end for reading SOUP packets.

SOUP Replies

How to enable `nnsoup' to take over mail and news.