---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction To Sunspots SunFLASH Vol 20 #10 August 1990 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article is an introduction to the Sunspots mailing list/USENET news group. Sunspots is managed by Bob Greene of Rice University and it is producted independently from Sun Microsystems. This message was posted to the Sunspots list by Bob Greene. We are including this message from Sunspots to introduce this popular forum to SunFlash readers. This introduction should not be taken as an endorsement by Sun Microsystems. Note that Sunspots is a HIGH volume mailing list. - flash ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- o What is Sunspots? Sunspots is a electronic forum for exchanging information about the systems made by Sun Microsystems. In particular, information about the Hardware, Software, Operating System (SunOS), Windowing Systems, Networking Issues, Source Code, and other Miscellaneous Topics are open for discussion on this forum. Discussions take the form of electronic messages submitted by readers around the world. These are compiled into digests by topic and sent out as volume merits (generally 7-10 times per week). o How does the Sunspots digest relate to the Usenet group 'comp.sys.sun'? The Usenet group comp.sys.sun is a reflection of the articles in Sunspots. Each medium has its advantages. The Usenet group boasts a much more rapid turnaround (approximately 24 hours from submission to posting) but lacks much of the structure of the Digest. The Digest on the other hand, is more structured with its breakdown by topic area. Technically speaking, the Digest also serves those sites which are unable to receive Usenet news. The Digest is available on BITNET, Internet, and over the UUCP network via normal mail routes. o How do I submit to Sunspots? The procedure to submit to Sunspots is relatively simple. If you are reading the Usenet group comp.sys.sun, your news system should take care of routing your submission, and you can submit to Sunspots (comp.sys.sun) simply by using the normal post routines. If you are a Digest reader, you may simply mail your submission to the address 'sun-spots@rice.edu' (Note that Usenet news readers may use this address to submit to comp.sys.sun also). o What address should be used for administrative affairs? If you need to discuss an administrative issue with the Moderator such as editorial policies and additions/deletions from the subscription list, you should mail your request to the address 'sun-spots-request@rice.edu'. If the issue demands an immediate response, the moderator can also be emailed to directly at either 'spots@rice.edu' or 'rgreeneb@ricevm1.rice.edu'. o What are the Sunspots archives? The Sunspots archives are a set of FTP-able archives that are stored on titan.rice.edu (128.42.1.30). These include the back issues of the Digest (thru v5), any source submitted to the Digest, icons submitted to the Digest and Sparc soundfiles submitted to the Digest. All of these may be retrieved by using standard anonymous FTP commands. Additionally, any file archived may also be retrieved from sites which do not have anonymous FTP capability by using the Rice archive server. In order to get more detailed information on the use of the archive server, send the single word message "HELP" to the address 'archive-server@rice.edu'. In addition, relatively up to date copies of the archives are kept online at the University of Adelaide in Southern Australia for Australian readers. These may be retrieved by either anonymous FTP to ftp.adelaide.edu (129.127.40.3) or via ACSnet fetchfile to sirius.ua.oz. Please note that this machine is actively used during the day, so please restrict your FTP activity to outside working hours (0600-1800 Australian time). o How do I submit to the Sunspots Archives? If you have source files which you would like to submit for to the Sunspots archives, you may submit these in one of two ways: (1) FTP: If your site is FTP capable, you may simply place images of whatever files you would like to submit in the incoming directory on titan.rice.edu (128.42.1.30). (2) Others: If your site does not have FTP capability, you must submit your file via Mail. These submissions must be submitted in a manner that will not be munged by mail (ie: ascii/plain text only). For binary/tar'd files, this means you must run them through uuencode first. Simply mail these normal ascii files to 'sun-spots@rice.edu' (the normal submissions address) with a subject line that indicates what it is. In either case, you must always submit a short description of what you are submitting that can be published in Sunspots. Source submissions that do not include some type of 'descriptive blurb' will not be archived. o Is there a commonly asked questions file for Sunspots? Not yet - however, this is being compiled and will be ready soon. o Sometimes when I submit articles to Sunspots, they are rejected for submission, but no explanation is sent - why is this? Due to the huge volume of submissions to Sunspots, sometimes articles are rejected without explanation - I will usuallly attempt to send a brief note explaining the reason however. For the sake of cutting back on inappropriate submissions - some of the things that will make an article be rejected are: * Articles so badly worded that the meaning of the original message is impossible to retrieve. * Articles that should be submitted to a more appropriate newsgroup. * Articles from manafacturers of a product attempting to solicit that product across the net. * Articles which duplicate questions or answers which have already been asked in this forum (especially recent questions). This means that sometimes multiple people will suggest the same answer to a question - in this case, I post the one that seems to be the most informative, and if they are all equal the one that was submitted first. o What do you mean by more appropriate newsgroup? Here are some of the commonly misposted types of articles: * Forsale ads: these should be directed to the Usenet group misc.forsale. * Articles regarding the Sun-386i: these should be directed to the Sun-386i mailing list (sun-386i@rice.edu). Note that anything in this category submitted to Sunspots will be automatically resubmitted to the Sun-386i list. * General Unix Questions: these should be directed to the Usenet groups comp.unix.{wizards,novices,etc}. * Questions about other systems: these should be directed to either that system's mailing list (usually info-sysname) or to its Usenet group (comp.sys.sys-name) o What other sources of Sun related information exist? There are several: * Sun-386i Mailing List: This list covers issues related to the Sun-386i. Submissions to 'sun-386i@rice.edu' and subscription requests to 'sun-386i-request@rice.edu'. * Sun-Managers Mailing List: This list covers issues of special interest to managers of sites using Sun workstations or fileservers. Submissions to 'sun-managers@rice.edu' and subscription requests to 'sun-managers-request@rice.edu'. * Sun-Nets Mailing List: This list covers articles regarding networking using Sun hardware. Submissions to 'sun-nets@umiacs.umd.edu' and subscription requests to 'sun-nets-request@umiacs.umd.edu'. Again, thank you for your interest in and contributions to the Sunspots Digest. If I can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact me. Bob Greene RGREENE@RICECSVM.RICE.EDU Sunspots (comp.sys.sun) RGREENE@RICECSVM.BITNET Moderator ...!rice!ricecsvm!rgreene ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sunflash is an electronic mail news service from Sun Microsystems, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It is targeted at Sun Users and Customers. As a field sales and support office, we try to keep SunFlash useful and interesting to you. If you have any comments or suggestions for enhancing SunFlash, please send them to us. SunFlash is distributed via a hierarchy of aliases. Try to address change requests to the owner of the alias that you belong to. If you want to be added to the SunFlash alias, please contact the systems engineers at your local Sun office. Many Sun Sales offices distributed SunFlash through their own SunFlash alias. Address comments to the SunFlash editor (John McLaughlin) at sun!sunvice!flash or flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.