GNKSA Evaluation Form 2.05 Product Name : Pluto Product Version : 1.13f Tested on platform : RISC OS 3.7 Available for platforms: RISC OS Evaluation date : 12-Feb-2000 Evaluated by : Vincent Lefevre Conclusion ========== Pluto 1.13f fails to satisfy some basic GNKSA requirement(s), hence does NOT qualify for the Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval. Summary ======= Pass Fail Total Pass/Fail% MUSTs 37 2 39 95%/5% SHOULDs 26 1 27 96%/4% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 95%M %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 96%S [GNKSA Score-O-Meter] Details ======= Regarding the strict GNKSA requirements (MUSTs), Pluto 1.13f FAILS on the following points: 12a May not provide a syntactically correct From-address 12b Fails to refuse to post messages with syntactically incorrect From: Pluto 1.13f violates `soft' GNKSA requirements (SHOULDs) in the following way: 16d Does not refuse to post quoted text only Additional Comments: 1b: The number of characters that are displayed depends on the font and on the subject. If the subject only contains uppercase letters, 50 characters may be displayed only. But this is a very special case, which shouldn't happen (the netiquette says to use mixed case). About 80 characters can be displayed in general. 1c: Pluto always displays the currently read newsgroup in a special field (that doesn't scroll with the body). When the article is crossposted to several newsgroups, Pluto displays the number of additional newsgroups in this special field, and it clearly displays the "Newsgroups:" header above the body. 1d: When there is a "Followup-To:" header, Pluto clearly displays it above the body. Moreover, when the currently read newsgroup isn't in the followup, Pluto displays the background of the newsgroup field in a different color (blue instead of the normal grey). This is a very nice feature, as it attracts the user's attention: indeed, in this case, the user will have to read another newsgroup for the rest of the discussion. 3: Pluto warns the user when he wants to post to several newsgroups, and displays a second warning box, when the number of newsgroups is larger or equal to 4. It also displays a warning box when the followup isn't set to 1 newsgroup only (or poster). 4b: The subject field is limited to 126 characters (due to OS limitation). It should be noted that many newsreaders will display fewer characters. 5b: Though the subject field is limited, the whole subject is preserved in followups (if the user doesn't change it). 11a/b: Pluto is a bit stronger: it refuses subjects with no letters. 12a/b: For instance, the user may choose , which is invalid. 12c: There is no way to know the user e-mail address. The user has to enter it before using Pluto for the first time. 13c: Well, it is possible to cancel other peoples' articles, but it requires some hacks and it is easier to do this entirely by hand, without using Pluto. :) 16c: In fact, Pluto warns when there is excessive quoted material. This is the case with quoted-text-only articles (even the very small ones). 19: Pluto has no NNTP support. Checklist ========= (M)UST / (S)HOULD 1) Displays all essential header information Software clearly displays: [Y] a) Article's author (From) M [Y] b) Article's Subject M [Y] c) List of groups posted to (Newsgroups) M [Y] d) Where (and how) to direct followups (Followup-To) M [Y] e) Where to reply to if not the From-address (Reply-To) M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 2) Provides clear, separate commands for new posting, followup, and e-mail reply [Y] a) for posting a new article M [Y] b) for posting a followup article M [Y] c) for replying by e-mail M [Y] d) Uses standard terminology S [Y] e) Avoids ambiguous terminology S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 3) Provides cross-posting functionality [Y] a) Allows specifying multiple groups M [Y] b) Warns about, or prevents, posting to large numbers of groups S [Y] c) Strongly encourages setting Followup-To: on large crossposts S (`Y' if large crosspostings are disallowed) [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 4) Allows users to change essential headers [Y] a) Allows editing Subject at all times during composition M [Y] b) Allows specifying new Subject of at least 70 characters M [Y] c) Allows setting "Followup-To: poster" M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 5) Ensures followups and e-mail replies contain a correct Subject [Y] a) Prepends "Re: " if (and only if) not already present M [Y] b) Preserves entire original Subject (modulo minor repairs) M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 6) Directs followups to the correct newsgroups [Y] a) Initiates e-mail reply rather than a followup posting on "Followup-To: poster", clearly informing the user M [Y] b) Posts to groups in Followup-To if present M [Y] c) Posts to groups in Newsgroups otherwise M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 7) Make sure followups contain valid References [Y] a) Creates References header with Message-ID of original article as the last element M [Y] b) Includes last three References from original M [Y] c) Ensures References will fit in 998 characters M [Y] d) Keep as many References from original as fit S [Y] e) Does not propagate broken Message-IDs in original References S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 8) Direct e-mail replies to the correct address [Y] a) Uses Reply-To if present M [Y] b) Uses From address otherwise M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 9) Allow the user to change her mind about whether to post or mail (or do both) and behave if doing both [Y] a) Allows users to change their mind and mail rather than post after having initiated a followup message S [Y] b) Allows users to change their mind and post rather than mail after having initiated a reply message S [Y] c) Does not offer both posting and mailing as default behaviour M [Y] d) Inserts a notification that the message was posted as well as mailed in the e-mail copy when both posting and mailing a followup article S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 10) Provide adequate quotation and attribution facilities [Y] a) Allows including quoted original M [Y] b) Clearly distinguishes quoted material M [Y] c) Prefixes quoted material with `>'/`> ' S [Y] d) Omits correctly delimited signatures from quoted material S [Y] e) Provides a means of indicating which part(s) to followup to S [Y] f) Attribution line containing original author precedes quotes M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 11) Provide a user-specified "Subject: " header [Y] a) Requires non-empty, user-specified Subject for new articles M [Y] b) Refuses posting articles without, or with an empty, Subject M [Y] c) Does not provide default Subject if user did not set one M [Y] d) Allows changing the Subject at any time while editing M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 12) Provide a valid "From: " header [N] a) Sets "From: " header to syntactically valid e-mail address M [N] b) Refuses posting articles without a syntactically valid "From: " header M [Y] c) Uses correct e-mail addresses (valid and belonging to the user) only, as far as it can possibly know S [N] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 13) Allow users to both cancel and supersede their own articles (and _no_ others!) [Y] a) Allows cancelling articles S [Y] b) Allows superseding articles S [Y] c) As far as possible, does not allow cancelling or superseding other peoples' articles M [Y] d) Uses standard terminology S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 14) Try to respect the 80-character line-length convention [Y] a) Articles are posted as edited, with linebreaking intact S [Y] b) Warns about lines over 80 characters S [Y] c) Does not refuse to post articles containing long lines S [Y] d) Allows rewrapping quoted text S [Y] e) Enforces formatting requirements on article after external editing (`Y' if there is no support for external editors) S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 15) Separate signatures correctly, and don't use excessive ones [Y] a) Uses (and enforces) standard signature delimiter S [Y] b) Warns against or refuses to use excessive signatures S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 16) Try to prevent obvious user errors [Y] a) Warns when attempting to post empty articles M [Y] b) Refuses posting empty articles S [Y] c) Warns when post articles containing quoted material only M [N] d) Refuses posting quoted-text-only articles S [Y] e) Warns against posting multiple copies (`Y' if impossible) M [Y] f) Prevents multiple posting entirely S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 17) Post human-readable articles unless ordered otherwise [Y] Does not (and can not) encode or encrypt articles unless on explicit user demand M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 18) Provide self-protection [Y] Allows filtering out annoying articles (killing) S [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M 19) Be kind to servers, leave room for others [Y] a) Does not unnecessarily open multiple connections M [Y] b) Does not generate excessive server load otherwise M [Y] PASS: Satisfies all MUSTs M