nicholas@mordor:~$
nicholas@mordor:~$ cat .jnewsrc
cat: .jnewsrc: No such file or directory
nicholas@mordor:~$
nicholas@mordor:~$ cat .slrnrc
set username Nicholas
set hostname mordor.saundersconsulting.tech
set replyto someone@example.com


nicholas@mordor:~$
nicholas@mordor:~$ slrn
slrn 1.0.3

Loading /usr/share/slrn/slang/slrn.sl
Reading startup file /etc/news/slrn.rc.
Reading startup file /home/nicholas/.slrnrc.
Using newsrc file /home/nicholas/.jnewsrc for server mordor.saundersconsulting.tech.slrn fatal error:

Unable to open /home/nicholas/.jnewsrc.
If you want to create /home/nicholas/.jnewsrc, add command line options:
   -f /home/nicholas/.jnewsrc --create

nicholas@mordor:~$
nicholas@mordor:~$ slrn -f /home/nicholas/.jnewsrc --create
slrn 1.0.3

Loading /usr/share/slrn/slang/slrn.sl
Reading startup file /etc/news/slrn.rc.
Reading startup file /home/nicholas/.slrnrc.
Using newsrc file /home/nicholas/.jnewsrc for server mordor.saundersconsulting.tech.
Connecting to host mordor.saundersconsulting.tech ...
Unable to make connection. Giving up.

Run-Time Error
slrn fatal error:
Failed to initialize server.
nicholas@mordor:~$