Author Topic: Suggestion: nntp  (Read 2589 times)

Alain Dumont

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Suggestion: nntp
« on: 01 March 2012, 08:14:31 »
SMF is nntp capable. 

Paul

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #1 on: 01 March 2012, 09:50:15 »
Could you expand on your suggestion?

Paul
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Alain Dumont

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #2 on: 01 March 2012, 16:23:55 »
I'd like to be able to use an nntp newsreader, rather than a web browser, to read the messages here. 

Advantages of doing this include the ability to subscribe (or not) to individual message boards, scoring of articles/posts on regular expression rules, ability to read offline, and the ability to ignore individual threads, just off the top of my head.

For example, I have no interest in the IC roleplay boards.  I can set up a newsreader to grab every new message from everything but Mechwarrior Hall, then highlight topics with posts by Herb or Cray, but don't bother with any thread that I've marked as uninteresting, Herb or no.  I can set it to gather these posts at specified intervals, so that when I come home from work, they're all gathered and ordered for me with threads I've marked as most interesting first, regardless of which sub-board they're in.


A newsreader has better, more powerful/configurable versions of the tools to watch or ignore threads.
« Last Edit: 01 March 2012, 16:28:28 by Alain Dumont »

cavingjan

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #3 on: 05 March 2012, 19:54:07 »
Isn't nntp a bit resource/bandwidth hungry?

Paul

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #4 on: 05 March 2012, 20:01:00 »
Well, small update since the above:

There is no native nntp capability within SMF, and any found Mods have failed to have the qualities needed to be considered for possible inclusion. Specifically, none seem to be built to work with 2.0.2, and none are currently supported. Even then, we have a strong reluctance to add mods.


So, at this stage, the potential bandwidth use is a moot point, but a good thing to bring up in case a mod is brought forward that is actionable.

Paul
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Alain Dumont

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #5 on: 06 March 2012, 07:19:17 »
Isn't nntp a bit resource/bandwidth hungry?

Not that I'm aware of. 

But this may speak more to my ignorance than to the facts.  :-)

Firedrake

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #6 on: 06 March 2012, 12:43:30 »
Depending on how NNTP is used, it consumes either the same bandwidth as the HTTP version or less - because even if you don't have any local cache on the client (and most of them do), you never need to re-download a post you've already seen just because it's on the same page as one you haven't. (With 25 posts per page, if there's one new post in a thread you're pulling down an average of 12-13 old posts that you don't necessarily care about.)

I would be all in favour of NNTP on these boards and would be willing to lend technical help if it's wanted (I run a full non-binary USENET feed and have some idea of what I'm talking about).

Alain Dumont

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #7 on: 25 March 2012, 05:33:37 »
Since nntp looks undoable, is there a way to configure (i.e., surpress) which message boards show up when viewing new messages?  I have zero interest soever in MechWarrior Hall and/or other IC boards, for instance, and it would save me the step of having to frequently mark it as read so it doesn't show up in the new posts summary.

Paul

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #8 on: 26 March 2012, 08:17:37 »
You can reduce an entire category by hitting the icon with a - in it next to the category title.
I think that's about it. And that only works as far as the main directory goes, you'll still see posts from in there in the "Unread posts" query.

Paul
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Alain Dumont

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Re: Suggestion: nntp
« Reply #9 on: 26 March 2012, 08:57:31 »
That's what I miss the most about nntp in web message boards, I think; the inability to ignore entire boards.  And, well, twit filters; though I'm happy to say I don't really miss that on /this/ message board.