Mail Archives: djgpp/2002/04/25/01:00:07
On Wed, 24 Apr 2002 10:25:09 +0300 (IDT), Eli Zaretskii
<eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il> jacked into the Matrix and the following appeared
in comp.os.msdos.djgpp:
>
>On Wed, 24 Apr 2002, Neo_1061 wrote:
>
>> >> >Try http://news.cis.dfn.de. It's free and very good.
>> >>
>> >> Web based news? Thanks, but no thanks.
>> >
>> >Who said it's Web based?
>>
>> The fact that the URL starts with "http://" instead of "news://" is a
>> clue...
>
>It's a wrong clue.
Well, I can't be faulted for being misled when someone posts a "wrong
clue" now can I? :P
>You've asked for a news server, not a Web-based service...
Hence my consternation at seeing an "http://" in the response, rather
than "news://"...
>Checking out the URL ... might have helped.
I prefer not to follow WWW links in news postings and email without
having some idea what to expect at the other end, and strong
indication that it will be useful or interesting; many news and mail
programs are rather unstable when it comes to following links and
invoking the web browser, so I am resigned to copying and pasting
links manually, which constitutes "work"; and that work is often
fruitless since all too often links are posted or mailed about that
don't work, or lead to garbage, etc. -- in particular something that
looks likely to be a web-based news service doesn't interest me a
great deal. (Undoubtedly you'll be thinking "But I never post a link
I'm not sure is working!" -- maybe so, but if I had a penny for every
time I saw a URL in a fresh, apparently honest-intentioned news
posting that didn't work (404, host unknown, etc.), I would be able to
pay for a top-of-the-line ritzy news service without batting an
eyelash :))
--
Still waters run deep.
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