news.software.readers

On 22 Feb 2008, spooge wrote in
:

> I believe his point is that since he hasn't encountered the
> problem, then it is probably something unique to the environments
> each of those people are using, hence it isn't Xnews alone that is
> responsible.

No, I think his point was "I don't have a problem, therefore it doesn't
exist."

> So, as is often the case, the problem is quite likely to be the
> result of a conflict within the unique software/hardware mix on
> the PCs.

I'm sure it is. However, the application in question is the only one
that has ever behaved that way on my computer(s) - in fact, it did it
last night on my new-ish Vista laptop, which is running almost none of
the software that my other computers run. And it exhibits the same
behavior on many computers for many people, and has for many years. The
author acknowledges the problem and has tried to fix it, without
success. Nobody has been able to suggest a reliable fix or workaround.
I say say the evidence all points to a problem with Xnews.

It's not a dealbreaker for me. I've used Xnews for many years and I
like it. I put up with its quirks because the advantages outweigh them.
It's not perfect, but I expect that. Luu has admitted that certain
design and programming decisions were made in the beginning that later
turned out to be bad ones, but he didn't have the time or motivation to
re-write it. I understand that, but that doesn't mean that those quirks
and bugs don't exist.

It's funny how some people get so defensive when their favorite
computer program gets criticized. Can one really personally bond with
software?