Check if a NNTP server has a given newsgroup

#!/usr/bin/env php
<?php
if ($argc < 3) {
    err('No newsgroup and server given');
}
$group = $argv[1];
$server = $argv[2];
echo "Checking $group on $server\n";
 
function err($msg)
{
    fwrite(STDERR, $msg . "\n");
    exit(1);
}
 
$contimeout = 5;
$con = fsockopen($server, 119, $errno, $errstr, $contimeout);
if ($con === false) {
    err($errno . ': ' . $errstr);
}
 
//greeting
fgets($con, 1024);
 
fwrite($con, 'GROUP ' . $group . "\r\n");
$line = fgets($con, 1024);
$code = substr($line, 0, 3);
if ($code == 411) {
    echo "Group not found\n";
} else if ($code == 211) {
    echo "Group found: " . trim($line) . "\n";
    list($code, $count, $first, $last, $name) = explode(' ', trim($line));
    echo ' ~' . $count . " articles\n";
} else {
    echo "error: " . trim($line) . "\n";
}
 
fwrite($con, "QUIT\r\n");
$line = fgets($con, 1024);
?>