ietf-nntp MODE READER issue

[Clive D.W. Feather]

Russ Allbery said:
>> I don't have access to a server that actually does something with MODE
>> READER, so can someone please tell me what response code is typically
>> used to mean "you can't do that until you've done MODE READER"? Our
>> current wording implies that it SHOULD be 480 but MAY be 502, but that
>> wording is up for grabs anyway and I suspect reality is otherwise.
> 
> I think we previously discussed this point and decided that current common
> practice (500 response) was wrong.  However, I don't remember any
> conclusion that 480 would be appropriate; in fact, I thought we had a
> consensus that 480 was *not* appropriate for commands that required a mode
> change.  480 means "you need to authenticate," which is something
> completely different.
> 
> I believe 502 is the correct response code.
> 
> Am I misremembering the previous discussion?

Very probably not.

At one point we'd decided that 502 meant "you aren't somebody allowed to do
this" and 480 was "you aren't in the right state to do this". That (using
SHOULD) is what's in draft 19. However, we then revisited the issue of
authentication/encryption/etc. responses, and it's currently sitting as one
of the few remaining open issues.

I don't remember MODE READER state coming up in this context, but if you
tell me that we agreed that 500 was wrong then that's fine by me. So it
wants to be whichever of 502 or 480 we end up with (which is a topic for
another thread).

Thanks.

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