cancelling messages

[Jeffrey M. Vinocur]

On May 11, 2005, at 10:19 AM, Clift Robert T CONT DLVA wrote:

> I'm looking for a way to give specific users the rights to cancel 
> messages
> that do not belong to them. As a priviledged user, I can run ctlinnd 
> and
> cancel messages. I have thought about giving certain individuals the 
> right
> to run ctlinnd, but I was looking for a more user friendly way of 
> cancelling
> messages such as a news reader(netscape).

When a newsreader is used, what's actually happening is that it 
generates a special control message (filed in control.cancel) that 
signals the user's intent to cancel the article.  By default, INN will 
honor any cancel message from anyone (unless "verifycancels" is set in 
inn.conf).  However, many newsreaders will prevent the user from 
generating a cancel message if the headers don't match.

So you can find a newsreader that is less restrictive (or has a power 
user mode) -- I don't know of any offhand, having not used a graphical 
newsreader in a long long while, but news.software.readers might know.

Other options I guess would involve scripting a little web interface or 
something along those lines.


> What does the moderators file do?

Not what you want.  See the moderators(5) manpage.

-- 
Jeffrey M. Vinocur
jeff at litech.org