Re: Newsreader (Skim), Balsa and LZW (Re: Mix of Ideas ...)

[famrom ran es (Guillermo S. Romero / unnamed / Familia Romero)]

>> One database of groups/headers/articles, many user configs.
>> Thats the why I speak about lock to some articles, if one or more users want
>> to keep an article, they can without copying files.
>> Only root/admin users can be override locks.
>I don't agree on this. Im my opinion it is better that every user can
>choose the set of groups to donwload. I suspect that this approach also
>generate less network traffic than have a big database. At least can be a
>good idea to donwload the sum of the groups/article choosen by the user. 

Well, let me explain it again, I think we have language problems (English,
while native are Italian and Spanish). This is the FreeAgent process, and
IMO it is good for dialup connections:

You start with empty database. Then you select load all groups, only the
list of names: comp.os.linux, comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing and so on.
After that you choose some newsgroups you want headers for. Maybe just a
sample of headers (50 headers, not all) to know what is the theme of the
group, or all the header avalaible for that group.
When you have headers, you can choose to download message bodies.

At any given time you can choose to refresh the groups list or the header
list of any group. Of course you can program things, like "get all new
headers for suscribed groups" or only "selected groups" (the ones choose
with mouse).

Applied to Unix, every user can do it (request any kind of three downloads
avaliable: groups list, header list, bodies), but by sharing files, maybe
you choose "retrieve body for this message" and, oooppps, it is already
downloaded, cos another user requested it before.

"Locking files in database" idea is due to: when a user wants to keep a
message, it can be kept by two or more users, but only using one file. The
database is global, the references (read, not read yet, replied, forwarded,
important..., use "]" instead of typical ">" as reply quotation, use lines
with 70 chars, .sig files...) are personal, just like xserver binary file
(common) and .Xclients config (one per account).

>And how this method is good if there is a single user that use the own pc
>at home ? My first idea is to port skim under gtk because it have all the
>thing needed and work well. The focus is the slow line, not the fast line.
>I need (and it is better) to have a offline news reader taht work well
>with the slow lines, if this is true it work well also with the fast line.
>Skim is designed with this goal in mind. 

"We are Unix", so we not should think in a mono user way. The way to work is
to work like Unix, even if the computer is used by one person at home.

Maybe you have family or you like to have multiple personalities (I meet
both conditions). Instead of mixing things I can use multiple users (my
sister and me, or me as povray guy (graphics groups), normal guy (other
groups) and root guy (no groups, or local ones only, kind of "site news")).

Is funny to see how people share accounts, for example in NT, even people
set NT to not use passwords (arghh!). Should then Linux distros set to this
behaviour? In a Win95 box you always use the same account for everybody (I
think that user accounts can be enabled, but not by default).

GSR