Re: LYNX-DEV News:*

[Foteos Macrides]

Klaus Weide <address@hidden> wrote:
>> Klaus Weide <address@hidden> wrote:
>> >On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Foteos Macrides wrote:
>> >> 
>> >>   The default path for news URLs is '*', which means a linked
>> >> list of newsgroups available from your nntp server, obtained by a
>> >> LIST NEWSGROUPS nntp command to it.  If your list does not correspond
[...]
>> >For most if not all nntp servers, the reply to a LIST NEWSGROUPS command
>> >ist just the contents of a file 'newsgroups' on the server.  That file can
>> >be totally out of sync with the newsgroups that are really available at
>> >that server.  For example it could be the default list of thousands of
>> >worldwide newsgroups when the server carries only a few.
>> >
>> >Lynx could use a different command, for example LIST or LIST ACTIVE, to
>> >get a list of groups that are more likely to be available.  But the
>> >response to the alternative LIST commands doesn't contain the description
>> >text for the groups.
[...]
>> 
>>      If the LIST or LIST ACTIVE command were used, then in parsing
>> that reply an XGTITLE request could be issued for each group, but you
>> can't count on Xfoo commands being supported by all nntp servers (that
>> one probably is by now), and it would be a lot more overhead.  It would
>> be better to pester the sysadmin to arrange for the LIST NEWSGROUPS to
>> return valid information, rather than accepting that some hoaky procedure
>> for reading a file that isn't maintained such that it's contents contain
>> what would be a valid reply is OK. :)
>
>Yes, they should ask the sysadmins, but do you think it works much better
>for NNTP than it does for HTTP? :)
>
>I didn't really mean that Lynx *should* to a LIST ACTIVE - just mentioning
>that there is a way to get more up-to-date info (even if the admins can't
>be bothered) but also a reason against using it.
>
>But since you brought up XGTITLE - Using that instead of LIST
>NEWSGROUPS could speed up listings of newsgroups with wildcards (for
>example "news:comp.info*";) significantly over a slow link, since the
>server could do the matching and only the list of matching groups has to
>be sent back.  Makes a big difference over a 14400 telephone line.
[...]

        The XGTITLE, where supported on Unix, looks like it's similarly
using the newsgroups file, and will be no more accurate than for the
LIST NEWSGROUPS reply if the sysadmin doesn't admin that file properly.
It does, however, save on transmission times, so it seemed like a good
idea to try that first, and then fall back to LIST NEWSGROUPS if it fails.
The only VMS nntp server, ANU-NEWS, is accurate whether you use XGTITLE
or LIST NEWSGROUPS (and was the "inventor" of XGTITLE :).

        In most cases an nntp server is a local service, so pestering
your sysadmin about it is in the same category as pestering him/her
for decent termlib/termcap entries.  In the case of:

        snews://secnews.netscape.com/*

I doubt that pestering Netscape to keep its newsgroups file current
will get you any further than for its http/https/HTML problems. :)

                                Fote

=========================================================================
 Foteos Macrides            Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research
 address@hidden         222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
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