Re: How to subsribe to a general mailing list?

["Adam Sjøgren" <asjo@koldfront.dk>]

Durand writes:

> - Is it possible to set up an nntp server on my own virtual personal
>   server, and let Gnus talk to that nntp server?  I presume this is
>   possible, but I have no experiences in this field.

Certainly. That won't make mailing lists appear on your own nntp server,
though, so that's an extra task to set up/figure out.

> - Is it possible to download the mailing list directly, as an mbox
>   file or any other format that the mailing list provides, and use an
>   ephemeral group to view the mailing list?

Yes, if you have an mbox file, you can browse it in Gnus e.g. by using G f
in the *Group* buffer:

,----
| G f runs the command gnus-group-make-doc-group (found in
| gnus-group-mode-map), which is an interactive native compiled Lisp
| function in ‘gnus-group.el’.
| 
| It is bound to G f.
| It can also be invoked from the menu: <menu-bar> <groups> <Foreign
| groups> <Make a doc group...>.
| 
| (gnus-group-make-doc-group FILE TYPE)
| 
| Create a group that uses a single file as the source.
| 
| If called with a prefix argument, ask for the file type.
`----

The traditional way of reading a mailing list is subscribing to it -
then you receive a copy of every email somebody sends to the mailing
list. Emails that can be read in Gnus. Subscribing is usually as easy as
sending an email to a special address, though sometimes you have to go
through a web form. This depends on the mailing list.

Gmane is a system that subscribes to mailing lists and exposes them via
nntp. This can be very convenient, but if the mailing lists you are
interested in aren't already on Gmane, you'll have to deal with getting
them added via the web interface.


  Best regards,

    Adam

-- 
 "LUFTVAFFEL!"                                              Adam Sjøgren
                                                       asjo@koldfront.dk