[plug] New PLUG news server

[James Devenish]

In article <teop22xgka.ln2 at innovative.iinet.net.au>, Bernd Felsche wrote:
>>Put it this way: If I am absent,
>> - I expect to be able to put an autoresponder on a server and have the
>>   autoresponder send out messages promptly as appropriate.
> Nice for spammers.

Nice for Real People, too. People who are entitled to expect a response
deserve to be advised that none will be forthcoming.

> It will; it can just take a lot of time to download all the backlog
> of articles.

One idea is to only download things that you're interested in. Is that
really such a novel idea to you?

>>That sounds like a particularly artificial barrier.
> Practical, historically speaking.
[...]
> leafnode2 has a configurable 'maxage' as a default and for newsgroup
> patterns.

If it is truly configurable then sites may surely tweak it as applicable
to their operations -- then it is only an artificial barrier.

> But to find out what those messages are about, you have to at least
> parse the headers.

Sure. So, what's the problem? If you are interested in viewing the
backlog, then the message are there for you. If you are not interested,
then you just skip them.

> Hwo do you knwo that the thread you really "need" to see isn't the
> one that's one past the fence-post in the number you nominate?

You previously proposed that the server impose its own fence-post that
has no particular relation to an individual's needs. I proposed that the
server not impose such a restriction. People who have a "need" can
satisfy that need but those who have no such need are no worse off.

> I didn't state that you had to.

Hold on: you continually refer to "delays". If you are not saying
that I have to read all the articles, why are you saying that I
would experience delays?