NAME

       xkill - extended kill - kill processes or users, including Usenet posters.

SYNOPSIS

       xkill [-signal] pid ...
       xkill -l
       xkill username[@host] ...
       xkill -u [-qs] [-p] [newsgroup]

DESCRIPTION

       xkill  sends  a signal to a process or a terminal.  The first two forms send a signal to a
       process.  The functionality in this case is the same as kill(1).

       When the command xkill is invoked with an username as argument, it attempts to locate  the
       specified  user  on  the  local  host.   If  the  user  is  logged  on,  the  signal ECUTE
       (electrocute, 666) is sent to the user's  terminal.   This  will  cause  the  keyboard  to
       electrocute  the  user.   If  the  user is not logged on, the appropriate line of the file
       /etc/passwd is marked.  The first time the user logs on the ECUTE signal is  sent  to  the
       terminal he is using.

       When  the  command  xkill  is  invoked  with  a  remote username, in the form user@host, a
       connection with the remote host is attempted (see xkilld(8)), to send the ECUTE signal  to
       the user's terminal.

USENET KILL

       The -u (Usenet) option is an extension of the concept of KILL file.

       The  program  will  attempt to locate a remote user by scanning the news spool area.  When
       the user is located, a connection is attempted with the appropriate host,  and  the  ECUTE
       (electrocute,  666) signal is sent to the appropriate user.  The search only considers one
       newsgroup.  If none is specified, rec.humor is assumed by default.  The  program  attempts
       to  locate  people  whose signature is too long, and who quote a whole article in order to
       comment on a single line.  The option -s  can  be  used  to  consider  only  the  size  of
       signatures,  while  the option -q can be used to consider only the size of the quotations.
       The option -qs corresponds to the default.

       When the -p (post) switch is used, the user is electrocuted next time he post news.

FILES

       /etc/passwd         to keep track of users marked for electrocution

       /etc/hosts          list of remote hosts

       /usr/spool/news     news spool directory; the news articles are stored here

SEE ALSO

       kill(1), telnet(1c), xkilld(8)

BUGS

       To kill a remote user, it is sometimes better to use  the  command  telnet(1c)  using  the
       standard  xkilld  port  (number  666).   When the connection is attempted by xkill(1) some
       gateways will explode after the user is electrocuted.

       To decide what is a quotation, and  what  is  a  signature,  a  very  complicated  pattern
       matching  is used.  This does not always work, even if the program hasn't yet electrocuted
       somebody who is not guilty of bandwidth waste.

                                                                                         XKILL(1)