news.software.readers

problems@gmail wrote:
> > I figured that threading needs the field
>
> > This field is not provided when reading by google.

Frank Slootweg wrote:-
> It doesn't have to be *'provided'*, but it has to be - and
> *is* - *used* by Google Groups. If not, GG couldn't display
> the thread tree that it does/can.
>
How can I see the thread tree /
I normally use lynx/elinks -- several fetches accumulated and
done via a script.
But I can use a 'proper browser' initially to get the URL-pattern.

> So if you have some problem, it's not caused by GG not using
> References:. So instead of talking about things 'under the
> hood' like References:, why don't you describe the actual
> *problem* you're having?

Because you can't/won't answer except in the context
which YOU are familiar with. Like a Soviet scientist's
answers will be Marxist if you allow him to drift from
pure theory.

As demonstrated by a recent query: 'why is my simple
router running out of it's 128MB memory'.
Half the respondents gave the american infinite
frontier answer: buy yourself a proper computer.
Fortunately the OP ignored them and reported
eventually running on a fraction of the available
RAM usage.

The software gets slower, faster than the hardware
gets faster !

Mike Easter wrote:-
]GG should be used for searching for old messages and for
]reading and posting to GG specific groups if you do that.
]For reading and posting to active usenet, you should use
]an nntp newsreader and a newsserver

It's more complex than that: I use GG to find any answers to
my posts; then lynx to fetch then, then ETH-Oberon to
reply & archive them. But lynx GG fetches does'nt give me
the field, so readers are frustrated by me
not following the thread-tree. OTOH I like the freedom
of being able to answer multi-branches in one post, like
now.

Ideally I'd like to be able to use my old Forte-Agent of
under linux. Can VNC do that ?

Whiskers wrote:
> >> Although Lynx doesn't thread, you can use the
> >> References header to
> >> find the 'parent' articles of the one you're reading.
>
> > Yes but the 'thread' that I get from google via lynx
> >doesn't contain it.

> That's because you aren't fetching newsgroup articles
> from a news-server, you're fetching web pages from a web
> site - and the pages you are fetching are designed not to
> include the References header.
>
> You are of course fetching all the HTML created by Google,
> along with the text of the original articles, thus using a lot
> of bandwidth you could easily save by using a real news-server.
> Your article that I'm replying to here, is 2909 bytes in my local
> 'spool'; the Google web page containing that article (and no
> other articles) is 34354 bytes according to my browser - more
> than 10 times as much 'bandwidth' for the same message!
>
I know the theory down to the byte/bit level.
When I previously fetched via pan [before it (beta-version) crashed
and messed my system] or -Forte-agent or even a script
of fetches via ETH-Oberons d/ler, the d/ls used to follow
'immediately in sequence'. Now there's usually a 10-20 sec.
delay between request and d/l. And 40% of the time I get
"server is down, try again later". I'm using:
which I suspect is an alias for


The other important factor, which you don't WANT to
acknowledge, is that perhaps usenet is dying because
of blogs. I don't want to invest learning another system
which won't repay me by sufficient usage.

> To get the References header from Google, you'll need to
> find their individual 'Show Original' page for each article - and
> then devise some way of your own to 'thread' the resulting
> web pages to emulate a real news-reader. Which seems a
> rather pointless exercise, given that you can use a purpose-built
> newsreader program to get a real newsfeed from a real
> news-server without going anywhere near Google or the web.

Thanks,

== Chris Glur.