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From: Didier Verna <didier@lrde.epita.fr>
Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.gnus.general
Subject: [RFC] a better design for nntp-open-* functions
Date: 08 Nov 2000 15:53:35 +0100
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                Hi!

        I was not completely satisfied with the design of the
nntp-open-rlogin/telnet functions, so I've hacked something which is better=
 (I
think).

        What bothers me in the current design is that Gnus is, properly
speaking, mistaken about what it does: it /thinks/ it's connecting to an nn=
tp
server whereas it's actually connecting to an intermediate host, and has no
idea of what the real news server is, because it is hidden in the
"parameters". As a consequence, mechanisms such as automatic authinfo
negociation are broken.

        In a better design, Gnus should be aware that it's contacting an
intermediate host, and should also know the name of the real news server. T=
his
basically means that the variable nntp-address should *always* represent the
news server, and *never* represent the intermediate host.

        I've hacked nntp.el in order to do this and I'm (almost) ready to
commit. The change involves a new function and two new vooriables (I've done
this only for the rlogin method, but it is my intention to fix the telnet o=
ne
also):

 ,----
| (defvoo nntp-rlogin-address nil
|   "*Address of the remote machine to log in when using the
| `nntp-open-through-rlogin' connection method.")
|=20
| (defvoo nntp-rlogin-telnet-command '("telnet" "-8")
|   "*Telnet command to use to connect to the real news server when using t=
he
| `nntp-open-through-rlogin' connection method. By default,
| '(\"telnet\" \"-8\") is used.")
|=20
| (defun nntp-open-through-rlogin (buffer)
|   "Open a connection to an nntp through an intermediate host: first rlogin
| to the remote host, and then telnet the real news server from there.
|=20
| Please refer to the following variables to customize the connection:
| - `nntp-rlogin-program',
| - `nntp-rlogin-user-name',
| - `nntp-rlogin-address' (this variable *must* be set),
| - `nntp-rlogin-telnet-program',
| - `nntp-address',
| - `nntp-port-number'."
|   (let* ((proc (if nntp-rlogin-user-name
|                    (apply 'start-process
|                           "nntpd" buffer nntp-rlogin-program
|                           "-l" nntp-rlogin-user-name nntp-rlogin-address
|                           (append nntp-rlogin-telnet-command
|                                   (list nntp-address nntp-port-number)))
|                  (apply 'start-process
|                         "nntpd" buffer nntp-rlogin-program nntp-rlogin-ad=
dress
|                         (append nntp-rlogin-telnet-program
|                                 (list nntp-address nntp-port-number)))
|                  )))
|     (save-excursion
|       (set-buffer buffer)
|       (nntp-wait-for-string "^\r*20[01]")
|       (beginning-of-line)
|       (delete-region (point-min) (point))
|       proc)))
`-----


However, before I commit, I'd like to have opinions on the following points:

1/ I don't know whether nntp-open-rlogin is already available in a a stable
   and released version of Gnus, but if not, I think my function should
   replace the other one. It's really just a better design of an existing
   feature. I'm aware that this would probably break existing user settings,
   but that's what betas are for ;-)

2/ In general, I would also like to change the names of these functions: I =
for
   instance need a function to open the news server by direct telnet on the
   server (not through a 3rd machine), and `nntp-open-telnet' is the natural
   name for it.


        What do you think ?

--=20
    /     /   _   _       Didier Verna        http://www.inf.enst.fr/~verna/
 - / / - / / /_/ /        EPITA / LRDE         mailto:didier@lrde.epita.fr
/_/ / /_/ / /__ /      14-16 rue Voltaire        Tel. +33 (1) 53 14 59 47
                   94276 Kremlin-Bic=EAtre cedex   Fax. +33 (1) 44 08 01 99