[Pan-users] Re: [PATCH] Make 'get new headers' the default in the Get Headers dialog

[Duncan]

walt <address@hidden> posted
address@hidden, excerpted below, on  Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:10:28
+0000:

> On Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:47:03 +0000, walt wrote:
> 
>> ...pan treats a subscribed group (with no unread articles) exactly the
>> same way it treats a new group that you've never read before -- but
>> they are not at all the same...
> 
> Oops -- important correction.  Pan treats a subscribed group with *no*
> articles the same as a new group.  This happens only when you 'delete'
> all articles on leaving the group.  (Not the same as marking the group
> as 'read').

The problem, and from a KDE computer control freak's perspective, this 
applies to some degree in general to most of the GNOME family of apps, is 
that the app wants to treat /all/ users as /new/ users.  "Oh, but the 
poor [from my perspective, read 'mentally challenged'] user will get 
confused if there are no messages displayed and the application doesn't 
get in their face with an option to get messages."

If I want overviews downloaded, I'll hit the hotkey to get them.  If the 
hotkey arrangement isn't to my liking, I'll change it to better fit my 
style.  I don't want the app popping up "useless" dialogs, and while I 
can understand a new user appreciating them, I OTOH appreciate 
applications that give me the ability to turn off such unwanted 
bug^h^h^hfeatures.  Well, at least esc/cancel still works, and pan has 
configurable hotkeys.

pan also has the "Get new headers when entering group" option in 
preferences.  I don't know if you have that selected or not, but from 
your description, that's what you want.  (Note that you can set pan to 
work offline and avoid the behavior temporarily if you wish.)

The question, then, is whether pan is smart enough to avoid popping up 
that dialog if the get new headers when entering group option is 
checked.  While changing the default fetch setting for the dialog could 
be controversial, arguably, if the automatic fetch-headers option is on, 
the popup shouldn't appear at all, at least for subscribed groups.  
Arguably, it should still appear for unsubscribed groups, as there's a 
fair likelihood that especially those on dialup do NOT want to download 
the whole set of available overviews/headers for a /new/ (implemented as 
subscribed vs. unsubscribed) group.  Of course, that's what you were 
saying... before I decided I'd gripe about not being able to disable the 
automatic dialog altogether... =8^P

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman