---
name: "Pnews"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "trn"
version: "3.6-9.3.1"
release: "Debian 2.1 (Slink)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Pnews"
---

# Pnews(1)

a program for posting news articles

## NAME

Pnews - a program for posting news articles

## SYNOPSIS

**Pnews newsgroup title**\
\
   or\
 **Pnews -h headerfile \[oldarticle\]**\
\
   or\
 **Pnews**

## DESCRIPTION

Pnews is a friendly interface for posting news articles. It will ask several questions, then allow you to enter your article, and then post it using the [inews(1)](/inews/1.md) program. If you type h and a carriage return at any point, *Pnews* will tell you what it wants to know.

If you put a *.signature* file in your home directory, your inews program will usually append it to your message after you are done editing it. If you prefer to see your signature while you are editing, rename your .signature file to be .news\_sig and it will be appended before you begin to edit. Note that .news\_sig obeys the setting of DOTDIR, but .signature may not, since it is out of Pnews's control. If both .news\_sig and .signature exist you'll get two signatures appended.

The -h form is used when invoked from *trn* or *rn*. If your editor can edit multiple files, and you want the article to which you are replying to show up as an alternate file, define the environment variable NEWSPOSTER as "Pnews -h %h %A". You can also modify the the NEWSHEADER environment variable to change the header file that *\[t\]rn* passes to Pnews.

## ENVIRONMENT

- AUTHORCOPY

  If defined, contains the name of a file to which the finished article will be appended.

  Default: article not saved

- DOTDIR

  Where to find your dot files, if they aren't in your home directory. This is primarily for accounts which are shared by more than one person.

  Default: $HOME

- EDITOR

  The editor you want to use, if VISUAL is undefined.

  Default: whatever your news administrator installed, usually vi.

- HOME

  Your home directory.

  Default: $LOGDIR

- LOGDIR

  Your home directory if HOME is undefined.

- LOGNAME

  Your login name, if USER is undefined.

  Default: value of "whoami".

- NAME

  Your full name.

  Default: name from /etc/passwd, or ~/.fullname.

- NEWSORG

  Either the name of your organization, or the name of a file containing the name of your organization. (For use at organizations where the ORGANIZATION environmental variable is in use for other purposes). If both NEWSORG and ORGANIZATION are set, NEWSORG will override ORGANIZATION.

- ORGANIZATION

  Either the name of your organization, or the name of a file containing the name of your organization.

  Default: whatever your news administrator chose.

- REPLYTO

  The contents of a "Reply-To:" header line to insert into your message.

  Default: header line not inserted.

- USER

  Your login name.

  Default: $LOGNAME

- VISUAL

  The editor you want to use.

  Default: $EDITOR

## FILES

$DOTDIR/.article\
 $DOTDIR/.news\_sig\
 \~/dead.article

## SEE ALSO

[trn(1)](/trn/1.md), rn(1), [Rnmail(1)](/Rnmail/1.md), [inews(1)](/inews/1.md)

## DIAGNOSTICS

## BUGS

Not the speediest program in the world, but maybe that's a blessing to the net.