Re: Aquamacs Gnus - newsserver - how to configure

[Kevin Rodgers]

Joachim Osnabryg wrote:
> Helo Kevin and all back,
>
> Which is the "Fine Manual" for upsetting and configuring Aquamacs Gnus?
>
> e. g. I have now (setenv "NNTPSERVER" "news.gmane.org") in a file named 
> .emacs i. e.  /Users/joachim/.emacs
> and therein the row:
>
> (setenv "NNTPSERVER" "news.gmane.org")
>
> But when I menu-choose Tools > Read Net News (Gnus)
> I get a Group buffer with the newsserver news.arcor.de (probably defined 
> before in another file, can't remember how), but I would like to have 
> both newsservers and be able to chose newsgroups from them.
>
> I found many manuals etc. for Aquamacs, Emacs and Gnus, sometimes 
> contradictory and in any case confusing.

I suggest the Gnus manual distributed with Emacs.

,----
| File: gnus,  Node: Finding the News,  Next: The First Time,  Up: Starting Up
|
| 1.1 Finding the News
====================|
|
| The `gnus-select-method' variable says where Gnus should look for news.
| This variable should be a list where the first element says "how" and
| the second element says "where".  This method is your native method.
| All groups not fetched with this method are foreign groups.
|
|    For instance, if the `news.somewhere.edu' NNTP server is where you
| want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
|
|      (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
|
|    If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
|
|      (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
|
|    If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
| certainly be much faster.  But do not use the local spool if your
| server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
| server); in this case, use `(nntp "localhost")'.
|
|    If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
| `NNTPSERVER' environment variable.  If that variable isn't set, Gnus
| will see whether `gnus-nntpserver-file' (`/etc/nntpserver' by default)
| has any opinions on the matter.  If that fails as well, Gnus will try
| to use the machine running Emacs as an NNTP server.  That's a long
| shot, though.
|
|    If `gnus-nntp-server' is set, this variable will override
| `gnus-select-method'.  You should therefore set `gnus-nntp-server' to
| `nil', which is what it is by default.
|
|    You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
| NNTP server.  If you give a non-numerical prefix to `gnus' (i.e., `C-u
| M-x gnus'), Gnus will let you choose between the servers in the
| `gnus-secondary-servers' list (if any).  You can also just type in the
| name of any server you feel like visiting.  (Note that this will set
| `gnus-nntp-server', which means that if you then `M-x gnus' later in
| the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same server.)
|
|    However, if you use one NNTP server regularly and are just
| interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
| better served by using the `B' command in the group buffer.  It will
| let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
| to any of the groups you want to.  This also makes `.newsrc'
| maintenance much tidier.  *Note Foreign Groups::.
|
|    A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
| `gnus-secondary-select-methods' variable.  The select methods listed in
| this variable are in many ways just as native as the
| `gnus-select-method' server.  They will also be queried for active
| files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
| appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
| groups are.
|
|    For instance, if you use the `nnmbox' back end to read your mail,
| you would typically set this variable to
|
|      (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
|
`----


--
Kevin Rodgers
Denver, Colorado, USA