trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead) (06/27/89)
Having puttered around the net for the last couple of months, I have become more and more dissatisfied with the newsreading software I am using (rn). I've been thinking about the capabilities I'd like in newsreading software, and was wondering if anything that does the following is available. If it isn't, then I'd like to get the information required to write my own reader (and if this comes about, your suggestions). My wish list (version 1.0) : 1) To be able to easily read messages by thread (References) order rather than sequential order. In particular, to be able to go and read subsequent messages that reference this one, and read messages referenced by the current message. 2) To be able to specify that I am not interested in following a particular thread anymore. 3) To be able to see a summary of the active threads (eg: display threads with unread messages, rather than just the messages themselves. 4) To be able to flexibly sift through the messages for messages I want to see (such as any message that contains my name or site...) and don't want to see (by particular persons, for example.) rn can do this now, but it's clumsy. 5) To extend 4) to newsgroups I don't subscribe to, so that my newsreader can tell me ``hey boss, you might want to read this.'' Of course, 2) 4) and 5) are all related and can be implemented by a fairly simple internal file containing instructions that either direct the news- reader to accept or reject an article based on certain criteria. So, does something like this exist? And if not, is it worth the time to write it? And if so, is it ok to modify a newsreader like ``rn'' to provide these functions? -- (^;-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-;^) Robert J Woodhead, Biar Games, Inc. !uunet!biar!trebor | trebor@biar.UUCP ``I can read your mind - right now, you're thinking I'm full of it...''
rene@ascom.uucp (Rene Bach) (06/28/89)
In article <698@biar.UUCP> trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead) writes: >Having puttered around the net for the last couple of months, I have become >more and more dissatisfied with the newsreading software I am using (rn). Same here. I've heard about the emacs interface. What can that one do ? My suggestion would be that the result of the = command gets put into a mouse sensitive window where I then click the messages I want to read. Can the emacs based version do that ? Another useful facility would be to be able to bring to the attention of colleagues some interesting messages. The easiest, but most space consuming would be to add a forward command to RN and forward the whole message to the person, using the mailer. Are more clever mechanisms possible ? E.g. a "brought to attention" list of messages that would be added to the .rn log file ? Rene rene@ascom.uucp Switzerland
ken@capone.gatech.edu (Ken Seefried iii) (06/29/89)
In article <247@ascom.UUCP> rene@ascom.UUCP (Rene Bach) writes: > >My suggestion would be that the result of the = command gets put into a mouse >sensitive window where I then click the messages I want to read. Can the emacs >based version do that ? > Hmmm...thats a neet idea... > >Another useful facility would be to be able to bring to the attention of >colleagues some interesting messages. The easiest, but most space consuming >would be to add a forward command to RN and forward the whole message to the >person, using the mailer. Are more clever mechanisms possible ? > Well....I don't know what news reader you use, but in 'rn' forwarding is quite easy. After reading the article, simply type: |mail user@site.domain This will pipe the message to mail and send it to a colleague. ...ken seefried iii ken@gatech.edu ken seefried iii ...!{akgua, allegra, amd, harpo, hplabs, ken@gatech.edu masscomp, rlgvax, sb1, uf-cgrl, unmvax, ut-ngp, ut-sally}!gatech!ken
bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) (06/30/89)
In article <698@biar.UUCP> trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead) writes:
: Having puttered around the net for the last couple of months, I have become
: more and more dissatisfied with the newsreading software I am using (rn).
: I've been thinking about the capabilities I'd like in newsreading software,
: and was wondering if anything that does the following is available.
:
: If it isn't, then I'd like to get the information required to write my own
: reader (and if this comes about, your suggestions).
:
: My wish list (version 1.0) :
A few of the things you want might be available with the stuff that
ClariNet provides for filtering news. You'll have to go hunting for
the reference since I don't have the postings any more. There is also
the `nn' reader just posted on comp.sources, it might have some of
the features you are looking for.
---
Bill { uunet | novavax | ankh | sunvice } !twwells!bill
bill@twwells.comdg@lakart.UUCP (David Goodenough) (07/03/89)
In article <698@biar.UUCP> trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead) writes: >Having puttered around the net for the last couple of months, I have become >more and more dissatisfied with the newsreading software I am using (rn). I found that vn is far more useful, and has become my newsreader of choice. The reason comes from a combination of two things: I dial in from home at 1200 to read news sometimes, and I usually only read a small subset of articles in a group. With vn I am presented with 22 articles at a time, showing subject and poster - I can deal with a backlog of close to 100 articles in almost no time at all, by just reading the stuff I want. Granted this is less of an advantage at 9600 BPS, but since I'm too cheap to shell out for a 2400 BPS modem I'm forced to run at 1200 when calling from home. Just my $0.02 worth - BTW I'm going to be real interested in how this nn thing behaves: I have it all saved away, but haven't bothered to unpack and make it yet. -- dg@lakart.UUCP - David Goodenough +---+ IHS | +-+-+ ....... !harvard!xait!lakart!dg +-+-+ | AKA: dg%lakart.uucp@xait.xerox.com +---+
fr@icdi10.UUCP (Fred Rump from home) (07/03/89)
In article <247@ascom.UUCP> rene@ascom.UUCP (Rene Bach) writes: >In article <698@biar.UUCP> trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead) writes: >Another useful facility would be to be able to bring to the attention of >colleagues some interesting messages. The easiest, but most space consuming >would be to add a forward command to RN and forward the whole message to the >person, using the mailer. Are more clever mechanisms possible ? I drop messages to other users all the time. I say |elm user@site or |mail joe Gets there just fine. Is that not what you want? Fred -- This is my house. My castle will get started right after I finish with news. 26 Warren St. uucp: ...{bpa dsinc uunet}!cdin-1!icdi10!fr Beverly, NJ 08010 domain: fred@cdin-1.uu.net or icdi10!fr@cdin-1.uu.net 609-386-6846 "Freude... Alle Menschen werden Brueder..." - Schiller
jeffrey@algor2.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler) (07/05/89)
In article <598@lakart.UUCP> dg@lakart.UUCP (David Goodenough) writes: >Just my $0.02 worth - BTW I'm going to be real interested in how this >nn thing behaves: I have it all saved away, but haven't bothered to >unpack and make it yet. I have unpacked, ported, compiled, installed and run nn. It is very fancy, very full featured, a very impressive effort. But one (for me) problem. The concept of a single article being unread is foreign to nn. After reading a group apparently, you must decide to keep everything, or junk it all. Extensive save facilities and the ability to manipulate your nn selections and return to them mitigate this dilemma, but I find it scary. My usual newsreading procedure (I use rn these days) is to go into groups, read some stuff, junk other stuff, and leave a bunch undecided about. I then proceed on to the next group. I may return to that group again and hack away further. Groups with large backlogs have the greatest claim on my attentions. With nn you (apparently) just cannot do this. With nn you must go into a group, select stuff to read, read it, and then choose, either forget about the stuff in the group or keep it all. (God these Europeans are decisive! I wish I could be like that.) As I posted to comp.sources.d, I found nn to be like the play Hamlet, clearly brilliant, but very perplexing. -- Jeffrey Kegler, President, Algorists, jeffrey@algor2.UU.NET or uunet!algor2!jeffrey 1762 Wainwright DR, Reston VA 22090