[Pan-users] Re: posting server according to the group one?

[Matej Cepl]

Duncan, Tue, 26 May 2009 13:12:51 +0000:
> because as a
> sysadmin and occasional IP networking troubleshooter, I'm far too used
> to thinking of it at the IP routing level.
> 
> That's why I let it be...

That's apparently the problem we have. However, I have already wrote 
reply to this post, which was long, detailed, contained (among other 
things) The ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything (and no, 
it wasn't 42 -- detailed proof was included), but then alas, I have by 
mistake quit pan and it doesn't store drafts :( So, I will continue just 
briefly.

> list).  However, unless I missed it, your "proposal" is only half there.
> I see something about separating it from the posting profile, which is
> all fine and good, but I don't see anything concrete about where to
> actually /put/ it then!

What? Identity and networks (or whatever else may we want to call them -- 
newsgroupsets)? I don't think it matters that much ... just add one more 
item in Edit menu or under Edit/Settings* dialog.

> If I had a better idea of where and how you picture it as working, I
> think I might agree.  =:^S  But I still don't see how it's possible to
> automagically read a user's mind and figure out which server he wants to
> post to, when a group exists on many servers.

Well, that's question of default, isn't it? What about the server where 
this message came from? Couldn't we expect (as a guess -- people can 
switch network/newsgroupset profiles if they want) it to be the best 
where the reply should go to? I think that even on The Real USENET (see 
below for explanation of surreal USENET) and if binary newsgroups are not 
taken into consideration (I don't know ... do people reply there?) people 
actually don't use plethora servers at once.

> only one at first, but then he gets a new server with the group?  Does
> pan need to detect that and ask for each such group which server he
> wants to use to post?  What about when he sets up a new posting profile

I don't know, and even if I don't have answer for that we are not worse 
than now, aren't we?

> (I'm assuming identity-only now)?  Does pan now need to track which
> groups it has asked about, asking about each one the first time a post
> is attempted from that group?

Once again, do people really (binary newsgroups aside) often take 
messages from more than one newsserver at once?

> Alternatively, you're throwing a whole new level of complexity into
> things, by now requiring that people configure each server they setup
> into some level of subnetwork, creating at least one more level in the
> hierarchy, if not a whole multi-level tree.  Certainly, I see no way for
> pan to automatically deduce that any particular server is intended to be
> in a different "network" from the others, or in the same one, so it'd
> have to be setup manually.  I don't see how that makes things simpler at
> all!

I have to add newsserver to the posting profile now, don't I? So, what 
if, instead of scroll-down box in the posting profile could more than one 
server. I thought something similar to http://mcepl.fedorapeople.org/tmp/
network-editor.png (that's xchat-gnome), but I am not sure how that would 
work in context of somebody filling his internet pipe with binary junk 
from binary newsgroups. What's exactly the matter and use case of such 
folks?

> Surreal USENET?  I hadn't heard those terms used together like that
....
> If I'm correct in guessing what you mean, "artificial", maybe?

Well, a) English is not my first language (as you have probably guessed 
already), b) I thought more like non-real Usenet (i.e., the other use of 
NNTP protocol; servers and clients are more likely to be one-to-many, not 
many-to-many as with the real USENET). And of course, I was teasing a 
little bit.

It is incomplete, but rather to post something little now to keep 
discussion flowing ...

Best,

Matěj