Newsbase is a mail and news database server for multiple users on either a single RISC OS computer or LAN. It operates with most mail or news transport agents available for RISC OS.
Newsbase provides service to client applications using the RISC OS messaging system. In additon, it also provides some direct TCP/IP services:
- POP3 mail server. Tested with Netscape 4.x (various platforms), Outlook Express 5.x, Opera for Windows, and the Psion netbook email client.
- NNTP news server.
- SMTP server. Fairly simple - handles local mail; forwards nonlocal mail onto configured transport subsystem. Includes some ESMTP features, and basic anti-relay control.
- Some basic IMAP support is in progress, though not yet in a useful state.
- A simple web-based remote-administration server.
- All services can optionally provide SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption (although this may not make sense for all).
The current development version of Newsbase is 0.70-beta-2 (26-Oct-2001). You can download it here: nbase070b2.zip.
Also available is a small patch archive which updates 0.70-beta-1 to 0.70-beta-2: nbpatch070b2.zip.
The current "stable" version of Newsbase is 0.68a, dated 01-Oct-2001. You can download it here: nbase068a.zip.
The historical "stable" version was 0.60m (July-1998). You can download it here: nbase060m.zip, although it's really only here for historical interest.
Most browsers know what a zip file is, but with some, you may need to shift-click or use some other combination, to download to file.
Accessories and Extra bits
Newsbase 0.65 and later support optional SSL encryption of TCP/IP services such as POP. This requires an additional support module, which although it is not supplied with Newsbase, is freely downloadable from the R-Comp web site.
The Newsbase distribution no longer supplies the StrongHelp documentation reader. The Newsbase support package contains a now quite-old version of StrongHelp, along with some other items. Alternatively, you can get the latest version of Stronghelp directly from Guttorm Vik's area at the Freenet web site.
You can also download some extra transports which aren't included in the standard archive. These extend Newsbase to work with Taylor uucp, FreeSMTP, SOUP files, and some other systems.
Applications
Links to various applications which can be used with Newsbase:
- Messenger a mail and news reader is available in two versions, a basic free version Messenger (web page http://www.neutri.nu/messenger), and Messenger Pro, a commercial version with more features, available from R-Comp. The Professional version can run either with Newsbase or standalone.
- TTFN, the original mail/news reader for Newsbase, available from http://www.arcade.demon.co.uk/ttfn.html.
- MailList, mailing list processor for Newsbase. This is what runs the Newsbase and Messenger mailing lists. 150k download.
- Groups, a Newsbase extension by David Croft which lets you manage your newsfeed more conveniently (now provided in the main Newsbase archive).
- Qedit, a utility to let you view and manipulate the queues of outgoing mail and news (now provided in the main Newsbase archive).
- WWWnews, acts as a local news fetcher for Arcweb. 20k download.
- Newsbase Network, extends Newsbase servers over a local network without having to trust the builtin but underdeveloped tcp/ip services. 75k download.
- Another useful place to visit is the Freenet FTP site (and associated web site).
To subscribe to the Newsbase mailing list, a forum for discussing how wonderful Newsbase is (or otherwise), send a message to maillist@physics.umn.edu with a subject of SIGNON newsbase-l. If you subsequently decide it's all been a horrible mistake, send another message to the same address with subject SIGNOFF newsbase-l.
- Please note,
the name of the mailing list is "newsbase-l" - the last character is a lowercase L, not the digit "one", though these look almost identical in some fonts.
© 1997-2001 Graham Allan
Back to my (rudimentary) home page.
Needless to say, this page has nothing at all to do with the University of Minnesota, other than consuming their disk space, CPU, and net bandwidth...