Charles Kerr posted <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, excerpted below, on Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:45:05 -0500:
[Charles didn't attribute this, but it's Kevin Brammer =8^)] >> I also agree with Chris Maaskant. I liked the ability to select one >> server and load a certain set of groups, and select a different server >> for a different group set. The multiserver features are great too, >> but I still like the old way for some uses. > > My plan for 0.95 was to put in support for `primary' and `backup' > news servers so that you can hit the free news servers first, > then fall back to the nonfree ones that charge by the bandwidth. > Will that do? The idea's a good one, but with an arbitrary two levels, it lacks a bit of flexibility. It seems to me that once the code is there to prioritize servers, it should be just as easy to have multiple (numbered) levels. I can't really point to a non-contrived situation where I can demonstrate it would work better, beyond what a two-level system would do, but I'm sure you're aware that folks often use an app (or code) in ways the author never foresaw, and I just don't see a point in limiting it to primary/backup, when a third and possibly fourth, etc level could conceivably be better for /someone/, and the prioritization code along with some way to set it is already being added in the first place. IOW, instead of primary/backup only, a boolean, make it a regular (long) int and be done with it. (Or, if you are planning to pack it in with some other data, give it 2-4 bits of significance, not just one -- I can't envision a case where 16 priority levels would be too few, and 4 would break it out of the binary mode and be enough for anything I can even contrive.) -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman in http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/12/22/rms_interview.html _______________________________________________ Pan-users mailing list Pan-users@nongnu.org http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/pan-users
