Re: Two problems with gnus

[Tang Yan]

OK, I think I should do something for Gnus because I am using it.

I will talk about my experiences during the past two days.

First, the reason to be a Gnus user.

Actually I have been using mutt+postfix+procmail+emacs for a period of
time but I don't like the way using mutt in a emacs buffer/emacs
client.  Recently SMTP AUTH is required on our mail server and I have
tried all my best to config SMTP AUTH with postfix, but I failed at
last. Later I select Opera M2 because Opera is my favoriate web
browser and its email configuration is pretty easy, just like Outlook
Express in windows. One day a friend told me that Gnus could handle
SMTP AUTH easily with no extra MTA therefore I thought I'd better have
a try.

Yes, SMTP AUTH is very easy in gnus. The only small problem is that
the port number should be 25(INT), not "25"(STRING). This is my fault
because the comments of variable `smtpmail-auth-credentials' have said
clearly: `port' an integar. However, I think for a newbie he will miss
this just like me. How I found this secret? When I was reading
*smtpmail debug info* buffer I noticed that in a line there was
something like `port=nil', and I knew something is wrong with the
port. I don't know why the designer/programmer cannot internally
convert the type of string to integer. The port number 25 looks odd in
such a line, all the other three are string: ("smtp.bar.org" 25 "foo"
"bar"). And nnimap-stream and nnimap-authenticator have the same
problems, ;-)

What I want to say here is not to change the format(it is impossible)
but to write things like this in some places(marked with red/yellow)
so that newbies could find them easily, such as FAQ and Gnus
Tutorial(none of them mentioned about this).

Then, let me talk about the most terrible thing.
None of the Gnus documents talked about how to config it _only_ for
reading mails. I mean something like this:
(setq gnus-select-method '(nnml "private"))
or
(setq gnus-select-method '(nnimap "private"
(nnimap-server-port 143)
...
))
All of the documents are talking about:
(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.foo.org")) and
(setq gnus-second-select-methods '((nnml "private" ...)))

But there _are_ persons only reading mail with Gnus and probably they
are _newbies_. Where are the instructions for them?


Third, imap and pop.

I have to talk about imap problem. I have wasted one day on it until I
googled Gnus 5.10.6 is much better than 5.9.0 and something like `No
Gnus'. I don't know what `No Gnus' stands for and I just want to try
last time for the f**king imap problem. Well, it works. Upgrading from
5.9.0 to 5.10.6 is the solution and I don't need to try VM or come
back to Opera M2, ;-). What's the problem with 5.9.0? is it a bug? Why
can't i find it in google or newsgroup? You have read my gnus.el and
you know it is very very simple. So maybe somebody can reproduce it
and if not, _maybe_ I could give you my user&password pair in our mail
server, ;-).

Then, the pop problem.

The pop problem is very simple too. It is, how to leave mails on the
server? I have searched the Gnus Info and Gnus Tutorial on
www.mygnus.org but no answers. Only a message in Gnus newsgroup
mentioned it a long time ago:(setq pop3-leave-mail-on-server t).  But
it still have big problem. The first is in my new downloaded Gnus
version 5.10.6, there is no such a variable
`pop3-leave-mail-on-server'. Then, how can i leave messages on server?
The former Gnus version I used is 5.9.0(My emacs version is cvs emacs
snapshot 21.3.50), so I gnuess this variable should appear in
ChangeLog or GNUS-NEWS or FAQ, but I find nothing. I still fortunately
find the answer in google: the `pop3-leave-mail-on-server' is just a
patch to leave mails on server. OK, a patch, again, how can i leave
messages on
server in the version 5.10.6? I think it is one of the first three
questions of a user who want to pop mails by Gnus. And will Gnus fetch
the same mail twice, just like what i have asked in other thread?

Well, that is what I want to say. I have read/browse parts of the
following documents:
Gnus Info, Gnus Tutorial on MGO, Gnus FAQ and code snippets in google.

All in all,
1. Gnus needs a good tutorial. Maybe you can give some sample
configuration files, one for one aim.
2. Extra instructions for users only need Gnus to read mails with
imap/pop support.
3. Mark the easy-made-mistake parts in Gnus configuration.
4. Emphasize one of the advantages of Gnus: Don't need extra
MTA(postfix/exim/sendmail) to send mail and SMTP AUTH is very very
easy. Maybe this is good for attracting more users of Gnus, like me,
;-).

Simon Josefsson wrote:
> "Tang  Yan" <tang.yan@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > I have solved my problem, so I think I'd better post a message.
> >
> > It is very easy, just upgrading from 5.9.0 --> 5.10.6 .
> >
> > And I can read the body of my mails, ;-)
> >
> > But I think it is terrible for newbies like me and I think gnus'
> > documents are poor.
>
> Could you try to suggest ways to improve the documentation?  What
> documentation did you use, and what did you search for, and what did
> you expect to find but didn't?
> 
> Improving the documentation need input from new users.