application/news-groupinfo in newgroup (was: Protocol changes in draft-allbery-usefor-usepro-00)

[Russ Allbery <[e-mail]>]

Charles Lindsey <[e-mail]> writes:
> Russ Allbery <[e-mail]> writes:
>> Charles Lindsey <[e-mail]> writes:

>>> 31. [-1] (5.2.1) Newgroup message SHOULD include application/group-info.

>>> Was MUST ...

>> Intentional change.

>> Newsgroup descriptions are optional in the protocol and newgroup
>> messages without descriptions work fine with existing software.

> OK, if absence means that it just creates a Newsgroups file entry with
> just the name of the newsgroup, and maybe the TAB, and certainly the
> " (Moderated)" if needed.

Its absence may mean that no newsgroups file entry is created at all.  The
newsgroups file is an optional feature of NNTP and need not be
implemented, nor need the newsgroups file be accurate or complete.  See
section 7.6.6 of RFC 3977:

   The list MAY omit newsgroups for which the information is unavailable
   and MAY include groups not available on the server.  The client MUST
   NOT assume that the list is complete or that it matches the list
   returned by LIST ACTIVE.

Newsgroups are not required to have descriptions unless you want to send a
checkgroups for them.  Some Netnews networks (such as the servers on which
microsoft.* is hosted) simply don't use them.

> Likewise for checkgroups.

I don't see what change you are indicating for checkgroups.  The body of a
checkgroups message can't meaningfully be empty.

> So you need something like:

>     The application/group-info MUST be included if the group is moderated,
>     in which case it MUST include a <moderation-flag>. For other groups, it
>     MAY be omitted if there is no <newsgroup-description> to be provided.

Why do we need something like that?  There's a perfectly usable moderation
flag in the Control header field.

-- 
Russ Allbery ([e-mail])             <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>