NNTPLIST(1)

💖 NNTPLIST(1) — the manual page, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, so this is a page from the General Commands Manual section, and it's literally all about one little program that goes and gossips with a news server for you. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

nntplist — go grab a newsgroup list (and other info too, she's versatile 💅) straight from an NNTP server.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

nntplist [-x WildSpec] [-o OutputFile] [type]

that's it. that's the whole vibe. three little things and you're done 💖

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea: nntplist is basically a glow-up wrapper around the LIST command of an NNTP server. it makes that whole thing convenient, which is the word the manpage uses and honestly it's accurate. it lets you download info like lists of newsgroups without having to hand-hold the protocol yourself. iconic behaviour, no notes.

now — real talk — the manpage is very upfront about this: nntplist is mostly intended to be used internally by a bunch of shell scripts, and those shell scripts are in turn used by the trn(1) newsreader. so she's lowkey a backstage queen, not a front-of-house main character. that's fine. we love a supporting role that carries the whole production 🎀

💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -x WildSpec — this lets you pass a wildcard specification straight through to the server, so you can narrow down how much info comes back at you. it's giving "ma'am, please, only the newsgroups I asked for." ✨
• -o OutputFile — this one names an output file, and all the data from the server gets saved into it. if you don't give this option, the default is to write the data to standard output. so, like, no file? cool, it just spills onto your terminal. simple as that 💖
• type — this is the type of information you want from the server. and the fun part is it can be any of the LIST command arguments your server accepts — whatever your particular server is willing to take. if you don't specify type at all, it defaults to ACTIVE. so ACTIVE is the fallback bestie who shows up when nobody else does 🫶

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

here's the one and only example, and honestly? she eats:

nntplist -x 'alt.*'

this lists all the alt. newsgroups your newsserver currently handles — aka those in its active file. that's the whole thing. one wildcard, all the alt-dot-everything, sitting right there in your terminal 😭💜

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Stan Barber was the original author of nntplist. credit where credit is due, periodt.

Peter Maydell <pmaydell@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote this manual page. thank you for the lore, we appreciate you 🫶

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• newsgroups(1)
• trn(1)

go read those too, bestie, the crossover episode is real 🦋

and that's the whole page!! this one's from March 2000, out of the General Commands Manual (that's section 1, iykyk), and the footer tag on the original literally reads NNTPLIST(1) with the year 2000 and the month March. so yeah — vintage, but the vibes are timeless 💖✨🎀 bye bestie, go list some newsgroups 🧚