Why is server configuration stored in multiple places?

[Mark Plaksin <happy@mcplaksin.org>]

My IMAP servers, and all their parameters, are defined in
gnus-secondary-select-methods, in each nnimap entry in .newsrc.eld, *and*
in .newsrc.eld's gnus-servers-alist.  It would be better if each server
were only defined once.  As-is, I have trouble changing IMAP servers when I
want to do testing.  I always forget about one of those three places the
first time around and have to go hunting.

Also, at least with nnimap, the server definition in
gnus-secondary-select-methods must exactly match the ones in .newsrc.eld.
If they don't, the IMAP groups are considered foreign and this causes the
new mail check to be slow.  When they match exactly, nnimap uses IMAP's
'STATUS' command to check for new mail.  When they don't match there are no
warnings or errors but it uses a slower method.

I asked this question a while back and Katsumi said it might just be
historical:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.gnus.general/58039

Simon recently suggested that it wouldn't be too hard to get rid of
.newsrc.eld:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.gnus.general/60983

I don't know enough to know whether getting rid of .newsrc.eld would help
this problem though.

Thanks for any insight!