Re: News downloaders?

On 2008-03-01, Josh Grams <josh@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Mike Easter wrote:

Josh Grams wrote:

User-Agent: G2/1.0 X-HTTP-UserAgent: Iceweasel/2.0.0.8

Is it possible to read news with my e-mail client? i.e. is
there (Linux) NNTP software that will download messages into
a Maildir, and present a sendmail interface for posting?

Since I don't really understand this question very well, I'm
trying to read between the lines here.

You are posting to GG via a linux browser which browser is
iceweasel. That makes me think that you /might/ think that you
need to use a mail client because you are behind something
that interferes with your access to nntp --or-- you might
/want/ to use a mail client type of interface like sendmail
--and/or-- you might have no experience with using a linux
combined email/nntp client --or-- something else which I
haven't imagined yet.

Ack! Sorry, didn't mean to cause all this confusion.

Here's what's going on: I just recently started actually
following a couple of newsgroups, and have tried a bunch of
newsreaders (pan, tin, pine, slrn, nn, thunderbird, etc.,
etc.), and I don't really like any of them.

Never-the-less, if you want to effectively access the Usenet, or
non-Usenet newsservers, you'll need to use a real newsreader like
slrn/tin/nn.

(I don't know about the others you list. Pine was originally
just a mail client, so I don't understand why it doesn't fit
your bill.)


On the other hand, I do have a mail setup that I'm at least
comfortable with, even if it's not great. getmail to fetch, and
ssmtp to send. I usually use mutt/vim to read/write mail and
move it around, and have a couple of filters to remove spam or
whatever.

Mutt has an nntp patch. It's really micky-mouse, but if you want
to sacrifice usability for short-term convenience, go for it.


So it seemed obvious (to me) that it would make sense to have
a program which would simply download messages and store them,
and one to post, and then use mutt/vim/whatever to filter
and actually read the stuff. I wasn't talking about using a
re-mailer or whatever, just hooking the nntp protocol up to my
mailbox so I would have proper archival and an interface that
I'm used to.

Mail and News aren't the same thing. They are just superficially
similar. Bad idea. But one that's been implemented many times.

I can't think of any reason to treat newsgroups differently
than an e-mail list or any other e-mail conversation. Is there
something I'm missing?

Almost everything. You need to get some experience with the NNTP
protocol, for starters. Note that it is not the POP/IMAP/SMTP
protocols. The best way to do that is to learn to use a real
newsreader.

When in doubt, do what the experienced users do.

I use slrn myself. Along with slrnpull. Tried leafnode instead
of slrnpull and didn't like it. (They are both, simple, local,
caching newsservers. You read from and post to them with your
newsreader, and they deal with the Usenet (or non-Usenet)
newsserver(s). The advantage of leafnode is that it can deal with
many different newsservers on the Internet, creating one local
newspool for your newsreader to access. It's disadvantage is that
it tries to be too user-friendly and does too many things its own
way, which can be very frustrating.)

Tom


--
calhobbit (at) | The Truth will set you free:
gmail [DOT] com | http://www.sethcenter.com

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: 36 messages "not downloaded"
    ... > newsreader utility), to access this newsgroup via the NNTP ... the presentation and functionality of that interface is ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Solution Coming Re: Fedora Community: Under threat?
    ... So if the base is NNTP, you can use a newsreader, mail client, ... There are already two ways of viewing this list via NNTP, ... gmane.org carries the Fedora lists. ...
    (Fedora)
  • Re: Microsoft ending newsgroup support
    ... I have been in favor of exposing the API since I first heard of this (sorry, ... Microsoft interface is no longer an issue. ... NNTP is merely a transport mechanism to a competently-designed NG reader (or a MUA, ... Microsoft NNTP Servers but rather promoting a push for Microsoft ...
    (microsoft.public.vc.mfc)
  • Re: Microsoft ending newsgroup support
    ... This presents new market opportunities for RFC based MUAs to begin to implement new products. ... this is not really much about the discontinuing of the Microsoft NNTP Servers but rather promoting a push for Microsoft product users to the preferred centralized Live "network" and storage of data. ... Native GUI desktop interface ...
    (microsoft.public.vc.mfc)
  • Re: 36 messages "not downloaded"
    ... >> newsreader utility), to access this newsgroup via the NNTP ... If you like the MS Communities Web interface so much, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)