River Tarnell | 7 Jan 2012 18:14

[NNTP] Advertise maximum article size in CAPABILITIES


(Re-sending this because it didn't appear again; I know I'm subscribed 
this time, so I think the S/MIME signature must be the problem.)

Hi,

I propose an extension to the NNTP protocol: a server should advertise 
the maximum article size it is willing to accept in CAPABILITIES, via a 
new "SIZE <nbytes>" capability.  A client should not offer any article 
(via POST, IHAVE, CHECK or TAKETHIS) which is larger than that size.

Rationale: no need to configure maximum article size to send to every 
peer; allows peers to change the maximum article size they want to 
accept without having to contact all their peers to change the config; 
allows clients posting multi-part messages (i.e., binaries) to split 
messages based on the server-suggested size.

Real-world use: I can allow articles up to 1MB from a text-only peer, 
while restricting articles from a peer that carries unfiltered binaries 
to 32KB.

I haven't implemented this or done any interoperability checking yet; 
I'm happy to do that and write an I-D/RFC for it myself if it seems like 
a good idea.

Regards,
--

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Non-Reciprocal Laws of Expectations:   | PGP: 2B9CE6F2
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Russ Allbery | 7 Jan 2012 18:21
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Re: [NNTP] Advertise maximum article size in CAPABILITIES

River Tarnell <river <at> RT.UK.EU.ORG> writes:

> (Re-sending this because it didn't appear again; I know I'm subscribed 
> this time, so I think the S/MIME signature must be the problem.)

Gah.  Yes.  I'm sorry.  This is fixed now.  I was looking in the wrong
place in the list configuration.

I'e just removed all the restrictions on MIME types.  There shouldn't be
any need for that.

> I propose an extension to the NNTP protocol: a server should advertise 
> the maximum article size it is willing to accept in CAPABILITIES, via a 
> new "SIZE <nbytes>" capability.  A client should not offer any article 
> (via POST, IHAVE, CHECK or TAKETHIS) which is larger than that size.

I like this idea.

--

-- 
Russ Allbery (rra <at> stanford.edu)             <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>

Julien ÉLIE | 9 Dec 2012 15:06
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Re: [NNTP] Advertise maximum article size in CAPABILITIES

Hi River,

> I propose an extension to the NNTP protocol: a server should advertise
> the maximum article size it is willing to accept in CAPABILITIES, via a
> new "SIZE <nbytes>" capability.  A client should not offer any article
> (via POST, IHAVE, CHECK or TAKETHIS) which is larger than that size.
>
> Rationale: no need to configure maximum article size to send to every
> peer; allows peers to change the maximum article size they want to
> accept without having to contact all their peers to change the config;
> allows clients posting multi-part messages (i.e., binaries) to split
> messages based on the server-suggested size.
>
> Real-world use: I can allow articles up to 1MB from a text-only peer,
> while restricting articles from a peer that carries unfiltered binaries
> to 32KB.
>
> I haven't implemented this or done any interoperability checking yet;
> I'm happy to do that and write an I-D/RFC for it myself if it seems like
> a good idea.

I also believe it is a good idea.
Other kinds of parameters related to a feed should be taken care of
at the same time (for instance contents of Distribution: headers, 
minimal article size, maximum number of newsgroups in crosspost...). 
Maybe the feed-related parameters known by innfeed.conf, newsfeeds and 
cleanfeed could be a good start.

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-- 
Julien ÉLIE
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Gmane