One of the problems with Linux today is the lack of a decent newsreader, where Windows has several. Under Windows, one of the most popular newsreaders is Xnews.
Xnews, created by Luu Tran, is a free newsreader for Windows, available from the website http://xnews.newsguy.com. Here is a list of Xnews' features listed on the website:
100% GNKSA 2.0 (Good Net Keeping Seal of Approval) compliant.
Plonk file (aka bozo bin).
Quick filter (type in a regex and only articles whose subject/author match it will be shown).
Score file for advanced filtering.
Support for multiple servers/identities.
Subscribed groups can be organized into categories.
Remappable keyboard.
Binaries handling (mime, base64, uuencode, what have you).
Optional header and article caching; plus: folders for permanent archival.
more...
Unfortunately, Luu Tran has decided neither to make his newsreader open-source nor to release a Linux version. However, there is a way to get Xnews to work under Linux, although it takes a bit of work.
This HOWTO assumes that:
The Wine "emulator" is installed properly on the Linux machine. To download Wine, visit http://www.winehq.com. The version used at the time of this writing was 20030813.
The reader has access to a Windows machine. Certain files are needed from the Windows operating system. Access to Windows 98SE is preferred. This HOWTO covers Windows 98SE and Windows XP.
Xnews stable version 5.04.25 is used (the beta version was not tested at the time of this writing). The website for Xnews is http://xnews.newsguy.com
This document, Xnews under Linux HOWTO, is copyrighted (C) 2003 by Daniel Quintiliani. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
No liability for the contents of this document can be accepted. Use the concepts, examples and information at your own risk. There may be errors and inaccuracies that could be damaging to your system, although any damage is highly unlikely. Proceed with caution; the author(s) do not take any responsibility.
All copyrights are held by their by their respective owners, unless specifically noted otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.