--- gnus.el~	2007-07-26 07:41:56 +0000
+++ gnus.el	2007-08-13 11:43:02 +0000
@@ -1501,6 +1501,17 @@
   :type '(choice (const :tag "No limit" nil)
 		 integer))
 
+(defcustom gnus-maximum-newsgroup nil
+  "The maximum number of articles a newsgroup.
+If this is a number, old articles in a newsgroup exceeding this number
+are silently ignored.  If it is nil, no article is ignored.  Note that
+setting this variable to a number might prevent you from reading very
+old articles."
+  :group 'gnus-group-select
+  :version "22.2"
+  :type '(choice (const :tag "No limit" nil)
+		 integer))
+
 (defcustom gnus-use-long-file-name (not (memq system-type '(usg-unix-v xenix)))
   "*Non-nil means that the default name of a file to save articles in is the group name.
 If it's nil, the directory form of the group name is used instead.
--- gnus-agent.el~	2007-07-26 07:41:55 +0000
+++ gnus-agent.el	2007-08-13 11:43:02 +0000
@@ -1765,7 +1765,14 @@
                                (gnus-agent-find-parameter group
                                                           'agent-predicate)))))
          (articles (if fetch-all
-                       (gnus-uncompress-range (gnus-active group))
+		       (if gnus-maximum-newsgroup
+			   (let ((active (gnus-active group)))
+			     (gnus-uncompress-range
+			      (cons (max (car active)
+					 (- (cdr active)
+					    gnus-maximum-newsgroup))
+				    (cdr active))))
+			 (gnus-uncompress-range (gnus-active group)))
                      (gnus-list-of-unread-articles group)))
          (gnus-decode-encoded-word-function 'identity)
 	 (gnus-decode-encoded-address-function 'identity)
--- gnus-sum.el~	2007-07-26 07:41:56 +0000
+++ gnus-sum.el	2007-08-13 11:43:02 +0000
@@ -5472,7 +5472,13 @@
 	      ;; articles in the group, or (if that's nil), the
 	      ;; articles in the cache.
 	      (or
-	       (gnus-uncompress-range (gnus-active group))
+	       (if gnus-maximum-newsgroup
+		   (let ((active (gnus-active group)))
+		     (gnus-uncompress-range
+		      (cons (max (car active)
+				 (- (cdr active) gnus-maximum-newsgroup))
+			    (cdr active))))
+		 (gnus-uncompress-range (gnus-active group)))
 	       (gnus-cache-articles-in-group group))
 	    ;; Select only the "normal" subset of articles.
 	    (gnus-sorted-nunion
@@ -6534,23 +6540,26 @@
   (let* ((read (gnus-info-read (gnus-get-info group)))
 	 (active (or (gnus-active group) (gnus-activate-group group)))
 	 (last (cdr active))
+	 (bottom (if gnus-maximum-newsgroup
+		     (max (car active) (- last gnus-maximum-newsgroup))
+		   (car active)))
 	 first nlast unread)
     ;; If none are read, then all are unread.
     (if (not read)
-	(setq first (car active))
+	(setq first bottom)
       ;; If the range of read articles is a single range, then the
       ;; first unread article is the article after the last read
       ;; article.  Sounds logical, doesn't it?
       (if (and (not (listp (cdr read)))
-	       (or (< (car read) (car active))
+	       (or (< (car read) bottom)
 		   (progn (setq read (list read))
 			  nil)))
-	  (setq first (max (car active) (1+ (cdr read))))
+	  (setq first (max bottom (1+ (cdr read))))
 	;; `read' is a list of ranges.
 	(when (/= (setq nlast (or (and (numberp (car read)) (car read))
 				  (caar read)))
 		  1)
-	  (setq first (car active)))
+	  (setq first bottom))
 	(while read
 	  (when first
 	    (while (< first nlast)
@@ -6575,7 +6584,12 @@
 	 (gnus-list-range-difference
 	  (gnus-list-range-difference
 	   (gnus-sorted-complement
-	    (gnus-uncompress-range active)
+	    (gnus-uncompress-range
+	     (if gnus-maximum-newsgroup
+		 (cons (max (car active)
+			    (- (cdr active) gnus-maximum-newsgroup))
+		       (cdr active))
+	       active))
 	    (gnus-list-of-unread-articles group))
 	   (cdr (assq 'dormant marked)))
 	  (cdr (assq 'tick marked))))))
@@ -6587,23 +6601,26 @@
   (let* ((read (gnus-info-read (gnus-get-info group)))
 	 (active (or (gnus-active group) (gnus-activate-group group)))
 	 (last (cdr active))
+	 (bottom (if gnus-maximum-newsgroup
+		     (max (car active) (- last gnus-maximum-newsgroup))
+		   (car active)))
 	 first nlast unread)
     ;; If none are read, then all are unread.
     (if (not read)
-	(setq first (car active))
+	(setq first bottom)
       ;; If the range of read articles is a single range, then the
       ;; first unread article is the article after the last read
       ;; article.  Sounds logical, doesn't it?
       (if (and (not (listp (cdr read)))
-	       (or (< (car read) (car active))
+	       (or (< (car read) bottom)
 		   (progn (setq read (list read))
 			  nil)))
-	  (setq first (max (car active) (1+ (cdr read))))
+	  (setq first (max bottom (1+ (cdr read))))
 	;; `read' is a list of ranges.
 	(when (/= (setq nlast (or (and (numberp (car read)) (car read))
 				  (caar read)))
 		  1)
-	  (setq first (car active)))
+	  (setq first bottom))
 	(while read
 	  (when first
             (push (cons first nlast) unread))