slrn (``s-lang read news'') is a newsreader, i.e. a program that
accesses a newsserver to read messages from the Internet News service (also
known as ``Usenet''). It runs in console mode on various Unix-like systems
(including Linux), 32-bit Windows, OS/2, BeOS and VMS. Beside the usual
features of a newsreader, slrn supports scoring rules to highlight,
sort or kill articles based on information from their header. It is highly
customizable, allows free key-bindings and can easily be extended using the
sophisticated s-lang macro language. Offline reading is possible by using
either slrnpull (shipped with slrn) or a local newsserver
(like leafnode or INN).
The latest version of slrn is available from
slrn's homepage.
If you are running Linux, slrn is probably included in your
distribution. However, please note that some distributors modify the
sources; in this case, slrn might not always behave like it is
described here.
First of all, please read the available documentation found in this
file and in
slrn's FAQ. You can also look at slrn's web pages at
http://slrn.sourceforge.net/ (also known as
http://www.slrn.org/). There, you will find a list of known
bugs and feature requests, some useful add-ons, a recent copy of the
documentation and links to more information about slrn.
Questions not covered by the docs are on-topic in news.software.readers. If you speak German, you also might want to subscribe to de.comm.software.newsreader.
Slrn-user is a mailing list for discussion of the use, development and
extension of slrn. You can subscribe to it through the web
interface at
http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/slrn-user.
To keep track of slrn's development, simply subscribe to slrn-announce. It is a moderated list that informs you about new releases, important bugfixes or major changes to the website. The subscription address is http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/slrn-announce. All announcements are also mailed to slrn-user, so there is no need to read both lists.
This manual is the official reference for using and customizing the slrn newsreader. If you find that slrn behaves differently then described here, it means you found a bug (either in this manual or in slrn itself) and should report it.
The manual is written in SGML using the ``linuxdoc'' DTD and has been ``rendered'' using the sgml-tools package. The manual has its own webpage where you can find the SGML source file and different output formats, as well as instructions on how to get the latest version via CVS (which might be useful if you need documentation for a developer version of slrn).
If you want to contribute to the manual (e.g. write additional chapters), please contact us, either privately or via the slrn-user mailing list. We also appreciate feedback about errors, bad language or suggestions concerning this manual.
This manual has been started by Matthias Friedrich and Thomas Schultz in 1999 since there was no up to date end user documentation available. As of version 0.9.7.0, it is part of the official documentation. Since we first started it, the manual has undergone the following revisions:
Added a brief introduction to the s-lang
prompt within slrn and updated the manual for version 0.9.8.1.
Updated the manual for version 0.9.8.0.
Added a section that describes the preprocessing facility and changed the manual's structure.
Updated the manual for version 0.9.7.4.
Updated the manual for version 0.9.7.3.
Updated the manual for slrn
0.9.7.2; added a section about the functions of the
readline interface.
Added a section that describes all interactive
functions and updated the manual for slrn 0.9.7.1.
Manual updated to reflect the changes in
slrn 0.9.7.0.
First public release, explaining all slrnrc commands, configuration and environment variables and command line switches.