ietf-nntp Timeout in a POST (or IHAVE) command

[Russ Allbery]

What is a server supposed to do if an inactivity timer expires while
awaiting input from a POST command from the client?  (Or an IHAVE command,
for that matter?)

Since 1.0, INN's nnrpd has sent a final 503 response to the client and
then closed the network connection in this case.  The draft doesn't appear
to touch on this case at all, apart from the general statement about
inactivity timers early in the document.  (innd, on the other hand, just
closes the connection without saying anything.)

The other two alternatives that occur to me apart from INN's behavior are
to close the connection without saying anything at all, or to send a 441
posting failed response (or for IHAVE, probably a deferral) and then close
the connection.

I think it would be good for the standard to say something in this area;
the server can't realistically wait forever for the client to complete a
POST or IHAVE.

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