Agent startup

[Robert Epprecht <epprecht@sunweb.ch>]

Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

> But Agent startup issues haven't been tested all that much.  I get the 
> feeling that it basically doesn't work, but after restarting a few
> times and fiddling a bit it starts working, and people forget to file
> bug reports.

Well this is very true. I did post here about these issues...
(Can't remember for shure if I filed a bug report, though.)

> Could a few of youse try to start using the agent "for the first time" 
> -- perhaps out of a new, pristine account -- according to how the
> manual says it should be done, and see how things go?

OK, lets see:
I use GNU Emacs 20.3.1 and Gnus v5.6.45 (no pgnus, hope that's ok) 

Let me say first, that I think the section of the manual,
that describes the Agent should be much more easy to find
from the top menu using a word like 'offline reader' or so,
so that even beginners could find it without problems.

thats what I did:
I made a new user on my Linux machine
I made a simple .gnus.el like this:

;; =========== .gnus.el
(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.sunrise.ch"))
(setq gnus-verbose 10)		; let's hear what she will say
(setq debug-on-error t)		; just in case
(gnus-agentize)
============

1st try:
emacs -f gnus-unplugged
'Symbol's function definition is void: gnus-unplugged'
I put (require 'gnus-agent) in .emacs

2nd try:
emacs -f gnus-unplugged
'nntp (news.sunrise.ch) open error: 'No such file or directory: ~/News/agent/nntp/news.sunrise.ch/'

ok:
mkdir -p News/agent/nntp/news.sunrise.ch/
Now Gnus starts up (without reading the active file from the server)
I also tried '^ J a' but Gnus complaints that the server is already
covered by the agent (Probably because I made the directory)

I have a problem with the interpretation of the manual:
   * First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a
     machine that has full connection to the net.  Go ahead.  I'll
     still be waiting here.

   * Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
     `.gnus.el' file:

          (gnus-agentize)

   That's it.  Gnus is now an "offline" newsreader.

Does this say, I just *set up* the Agent or does it imply,
that I should *run* Gnus first (w/o the Agent) to read the actve file?


3rd try:
I decide to try it the other way round and start it all over again:
I make a new account but do *not* put (gnus-agentize) in .gnus.el
going online,   'emacs    M-x gnus'
'Reading active file from news.sunrise.ch via nntp...'
Everything works fine. I quit gnus, put '(gnus-agentize)' in .gnus.el.

M-x gnus-unplugged 
'Loading gnus-agent...done' ASCI Gnus shows up and then hangs 
(I give him a looooong time, nothing. 'top' shows no activity)
At this state there is a ~/News directory but no ~/News/agent
I quit with C-g, set debug-on-quit, M-x gnus-unplugged, same hang.
C-g gives: 'nntp (news.sunrise.ch) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)'
'n'
'Couldn't open server on news.sunrise.ch'
(I have already tried saying 'y' last time, but no luck either)

Hmm, I remember my first time... A beginner is quite lost here...
I try: M-x gnus-no-server because I want to have the server
covered by the agent
'^' but no luck: only the following servers shows up:
  {nnfolder:archive} (closed)
  {nndraft:} (opened)
Stupid me, didn't I say 'no-server'?

OK, let's do It the hard way: mkdir -p News/agent/nntp/
:-( I have never been able to set up the agent,
    without making his directories by hand. )-:

emacs -f gnus-unplugged
'Symbol's function definition is void: gnus-unplugged'
I put (require 'gnus-agent) back in .emacs
Now Gnus dances in ASCI and ..... hangs. :-(   C-g
mkdir News/agent/nntp/agent
emacs -f gnus-unplugged, hanging again, C-g
'nntp (news.sunrise.ch) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)'
this time I try 'y', and see... the default groups show up
'^'	{nntp:news.sunrise.ch} (denied)	 shows up
wanna make 'J a' but emacs beeps at me when I do the 'J'

Hmm, this posting gets kind of longish, so let's stop here.
I've done no tests with pgnus. Maybe I should?

I want to mention, that i like the Agent very much, even if
there are some things which are not quite finished yet.
I'm glad that you take time to improve it a little.
Thank you Lars.

Robert Epprecht