Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[Cecil Westerhof]

I use the aioe newsserver. Sometimes I get:
    nntp (news.aioe.org) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)

The only way to keep reading and sending news is to change:
    (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"))
to:
    (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.aioe.org"))

This works with one very important hitch: I lose all my marks.

The strange thing is that sometimes it takes a very long time before I
need to switch and other times I have to switch quite soon again.

Does anybody know why this happens and what to do about it?

-- 
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof

Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[Cecil Westerhof]

Op donderdag 25 okt 2012 13:08 CEST schreef Cecil Westerhof:

> I use the aioe newsserver. Sometimes I get:
> nntp (news.aioe.org) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)
>
> The only way to keep reading and sending news is to change:
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"))
> to:
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.aioe.org"))
>
> This works with one very important hitch: I lose all my marks.

And all the read messages are unread again. Just went to
c.l.java.programmer. There where about thousand unread messages. :-{


> The strange thing is that sometimes it takes a very long time before I
> need to switch and other times I have to switch quite soon again.
>
> Does anybody know why this happens and what to do about it?

-- 
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof
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Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[Tassilo Horn]

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:

> I use the aioe newsserver. Sometimes I get:
>     nntp (news.aioe.org) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)
>
> The only way to keep reading and sending news is to change:
>     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"))
> to:
>     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.aioe.org"))

So news.aioe.org redirects to nntp.aioe.org, but that's sometimes
broken?

> This works with one very important hitch: I lose all my marks.

You should have separated the server name from its address:

  (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "aioe.org"
                              (nntp-address "news.aioe.org")))

Then the server name was aioe.org (and that's important for marks and
stuff), and you could always change the nntp-address.  It'll still be
the same server, and all marks would still work.

But thinking about it, you should be able to use

    (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"
                                (nntp-address "nntp.aioe.org")))

Then your server's still called news.aioe.org, but the address is the
(hopefully) reliable nntp.aioe.org.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[John Hasler]

Cecil Westerhof writes:
> I use the aioe newsserver. Sometimes I get:
>     nntp (news.aioe.org) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)
>
> The only way to keep reading and sending news is to change:
>     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"))
> to:
>     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.aioe.org"))

Install a local newserver package such as leafnode and point gnus at
that server.  Your local server can then be configured to periodically
fetch news from and forward your postings to aioe (as well as several
other sources if you wish) and the occasional temporary outage will be
invisible to you (you will even be able to read and post when your
system is off-line).  Usenet is a peer-to-peer store-and-forward system.
It is not intended to be used as a centralized client-server system like
the Web.
-- 
John Hasler 
jhasler@newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA

Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[Cecil Westerhof]

Op donderdag 25 okt 2012 17:13 CEST schreef Tassilo Horn:

> Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> writes:
>
>> I use the aioe newsserver. Sometimes I get:
>> nntp (news.aioe.org) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)
>>
>> The only way to keep reading and sending news is to change:
>> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"))
>> to:
>> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.aioe.org"))
>
> So news.aioe.org redirects to nntp.aioe.org, but that's sometimes
> broken?

Sort of. And after some time nntp is broken and I have to go back to
news again.

Properly I know what the problem is. More about it below.


>> This works with one very important hitch: I lose all my marks.
>
> You should have separated the server name from its address:
>
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "aioe.org"
> (nntp-address "news.aioe.org")))
>
> Then the server name was aioe.org (and that's important for marks and
> stuff), and you could always change the nntp-address.  It'll still be
> the same server, and all marks would still work.
>
> But thinking about it, you should be able to use
>
> (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"
> (nntp-address "nntp.aioe.org")))
>
> Then your server's still called news.aioe.org, but the address is the
> (hopefully) reliable nntp.aioe.org.

I experimented with this and now both do not work. (news and nntp) For
the time being I am using another (free) news-server. Now all the
messages where unread again, because this was the first time I used
it. :-{

The problem is (I think) that aioe does not allow more as 400
connections a day. Could it be that when I am busy I exceed this limit
and are banned for some time? I was trying the different possibilities
and this made me exceed the limit for nntp and now I am banned from
both I am afraid.

I December I properly change from internet server provider. Maybe I
should take a subscription on there news-server also.

-- 
Cecil Westerhof
Senior Software Engineer
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilwesterhof

Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[William Gardella]

Hi Cecil,

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil-JoKoLMdKDUzz+pZb47iToQ@public.gmane.org> writes:

> I experimented with this and now both do not work. (news and nntp) For
> the time being I am using another (free) news-server. Now all the
> messages where unread again, because this was the first time I used
> it. :-{
>
> The problem is (I think) that aioe does not allow more as 400
> connections a day. Could it be that when I am busy I exceed this limit
> and are banned for some time? I was trying the different possibilities
> and this made me exceed the limit for nntp and now I am banned from
> both I am afraid.
>
> I December I properly change from internet server provider. Maybe I
> should take a subscription on there news-server also.

If you are often hitting aioe's daily connection limit, perhaps it is
time to try using the agent features of Gnus (info "(gnus) Gnus
Unplugged").  With the Gnus agent, you can slurp up a large number of
articles at one time for local reading, thus using fewer connections.
Aioe seems to like its users to do this
(http://aioe.org/index.php?terms-of-use#d4):

> 4. Suck feeds
>
> Public news servers have got the main disadvantage to be slower than
> commercial sites when a huge number of article is requested. Those who
> need more speed often set up a local news server and configure an
> external program to download the articles from a real remote news
> server. This process is usually called suck feed. An online tutorial
> explains how to setup it with suck. Aioe.org allows and encourage this
> behaviour with the only limit of 400 connections per day.

The Gnus agent is a bit like a mini-suck, downloading stuff to
`gnus-directory' instead of to the news spool of a "real" local news
server like leafnode.

To try using the agent, set it up with J c from the *Group* buffer, then
slurp up a bunch of articles with J s, and go into Unplugged mode (J
j).  Then you can read all the subscribed articles at your leisure
without incurring new connections on aioe's limit, and replies/posts
will be queued until you re-engage Plugged mode and can send them.  I
find this pretty useful for reducing distraction temptations from new
email, too. :-|

Hope that helps,
WGG

-- 
I use grml (http://grml.org/)

Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[Winston]

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> asked:
> I use the aioe newsserver. Sometimes I get:
>     nntp (news.aioe.org) open error: ''.  Continue? (y or n)

> The only way to keep reading and sending news is to change:
>     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.aioe.org"))
> to:
>     (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.aioe.org"))

> Does anybody know why this happens and what to do about it?

My impression from actual use is that one or the other server is
actually down for a few hours or sometimes days at a time.  As long as
at least one of them is up, the service itself is logically available.
The "solution" is just what you're already doing, or something such as
what others have already suggested.

> This works with one very important hitch: I lose all my marks.

Another, and rather simple, solution to this problem is:

cd ~/News/marks
ln -s news.aioe.org nntp.aioe.org    [or vice versa]

HTH,
 -WBE

Re: Sometimes problem when posting to aioe

[Winston]

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> wrote:
>> This works with one very important hitch: I lose all my marks.

to which I incompletely replied:
> Another, and rather simple, solution to this problem is:

> cd ~/News/marks
> ln -s news.aioe.org nntp.aioe.org    [or vice versa]

Oops.  Similarly, you also need to do:

cd ~/News/agent/nntp
ln -s news.aioe.org nntp.aioe.org      [or vice versa]

HTH,
 -WBE