Re: Do not want agantized, nnml backend.

[Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com>]

Harry Putnam <reader@newsguy.com> writes:

> Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com> writes:
>
> Read you answer to me [Putnam] so included your clarified comments:
>> I think "not" was correct (headears are not downloaded from servers,
>> they are retrieved from the agent cache), but it was rather muddy.
>> Another try:
>>
>>   The Gnus Agent is now enabled by default, and all nntp and nnimap
>>   servers from gnus-select-method and gnus-secondary-select-method are
>>   agentized by default (earlier only the server in gnus-select-method
>>   was agentized by the default, when the agent was enabled).  This
>>   means that, e.g., headers are retrieved from the Agent cache instead
>>   of the backends when possible.  You can enroll or remove servers
>>   with `J a' and `J r' in the server buffer.  Gnus will not download
>>   articles unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using `J u' or
>>   `J s' from the Group buffer.  Revert to the old behaviour with
>>   `(setq gnus-agent nil)'.  Note that putting (gnus-agentize) in
>>   ~/.gnus is not needed any more.
>
> So, it is the case that nothing gets downloaded by default, even in
> agentized groups?.  That seems wrong.

Hm.  By default, in agentized groups, headers are downloaded into the
agent cache once and then retrieved from the agent cache only.
Regardless of pluggedness.

> By `Revert to the old behavior' do we mean revert to downloading
> agentized groups by default? Or, not having agent enabled by default?

Not having agent enabled by default.

> Depending on above answers:
> I don't see the advantage of not using gnus-agentize, but using 
> (setq gnus-agent nil) to do what `gnus-agentize' used to do.
> Especially since the syntax, on first glance, looks as if it would
> shut the agent off.

The first glance is correct.  To get the old behaviour, no agent at
all, you disable the agent, and in Oort you do this by setting
gnus-agent to nil.  Calling `gnus-agentize' is a obsolete way of
enabling the agent, equal to setting gnus-agent non-nil.

> Seems like asking for confusion.... but maybe its just me.

Is it less confusing now?  Is the text consistent with this?  Could
you perhaps suggest improved text?

> If a group is set agentized, it seems the default one would expect is
> that downloading of headers would be controlled by the default
> predicate.  Further categories would take it from there by user
> specifying them as always.

Categories only affect articles.  Header downloads are not affected by
predicates.