[clug] Downloading binaries from Newsgroups?

Felix Karpfen felix at spodzone.org.uk
Tue Jan 5 13:46:32 MST 2010


I have always regard this option as a recipe for disaster and made no 
effort to explore what newsgroups, that specialise on binaries, have 
to offer.

Have I missed something?

This query is inspired by a recent posting that describes a failed 
binaries download (see below).  And I understand *nothing* of what it 
says!

I would welcome being pointed to documentation that would enable me at 
least to understand what the poster is talking about.

Comments on the benefits/hazards of downloading binaries from NGs would 
be a bonus.

Felix Karpfen

Downloaded Posting
==================

I grabbed what was probably the same .nzb you did, from a binsearch.info
on the subject string in your original post. Said return was oddly
lacking any detail about the multiparts.

I fed the .nzb to Pan 1.33 (from 09SEP09 git checkout [checkout probably
the wrong term for git but I'm new to it]), and it downloaded 1.3 GB in
6,124 files, almost all of which looked like this:

   248 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0_copy_1000.tp
     4 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0_copy_1000.tp.ERRORS
   248 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0_copy_1001.tp
     4 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0_copy_1001.tp.ERRORS
   248 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0_copy_1002.tp
     4 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0_copy_1002.tp.ERRORS

...etc. ad nauseum

The .ERRORS files all look like this:

Warning: Missing everything before part #6745

But hark! Note the size of the single .tp file at the very end of this
mess. Why, a CD-sized file all decoded and everything. What be it?

664388 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0.tp
    24 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0.tp.ERRORS
   628 Crazy Christmas Lights-2009-12-06-0.tp.nzb

The .ERRORS file for this CD-sized .tp file is full of 379 entries like
this:

ERROR: %Part 2554 missing.  Decoded file probably corrupt.

...but Pan decoded what it could find on Easynews.

Next, the google showed me that .tp is a file type for 'MPEG-2 TV
recorded file: File extension is used for MPEG-2 TV recorded file (Use
mpeg-2 compression).'

So I fed the CD-sized .tp to Kaffeine and it plays just fine. It's the
first 14 minutes of an hour-long show about over-the-top xmas
decorations aired on The Learning Channel, featuring setups you've
probably already seen on YouTube and such.

Is this a borked Usenet post? Boy howdy, is it ever! What kind of idjit
would post in that format in the first place? A clueless one, is what
kind ;-)

I've never seen this particular flavor of borkitude before, but it
appears to me that Pan is as uncontaminated by blame for this mess as
the poster is uncontaminated by clues.





-- 
Felix Karpfen
Public Key 72FDF9DF (DH/DSA)




More information about the linux mailing list