Re: is there a possibility for gnus to download data without blocking?

[Wayne Harris <wharris1@protonmail.com>]

Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> writes:

[...]

>>> In theory we could have a Gnus that fires off all the servers and then
>>> returns control to the user immediately, but that would involve handling
>>> out-of-band returns as they came in from the servers, and Gnus would
>>> have to be structured very differently than it is now to manage that.
>>
>> I don't expect ever to be able to download a bunch of data and have it
>> all very fast on my screen.  But I do think that a system being always
>> faster than the user gives the user an impression of total control,
>> which is pleasurable.  So I would consider that a very nice improvement
>> for Gnus itself.
>
> The main issue is: if you get control of Emacs back right away, what
> happens when the server response comes in? Work still needs to be done
> to parse the response and incorporate it into Gnus' state, and that work
> needs to be done in lisp, which means the user is probably going to get
> interrupted again, to some extent.

I would guess the result would be a lot better because EMACS is fast and
the network, slow.  You continue to use EMACS as the data comes in.
When it's all local, Gnus takes control of EMACS but finishes quickly
because ELISP is fast.  So you'd notice it a lot less, if at all.

> Let's see how Dick is handling it! :)

Yes, let's do that.  I bet it won't be easy for me, but I'll give it a
try after dinner today, that is, within 6 hours.  Expect my report.