[Pan-users] Re: Re: Headers..

[Duncan]

walt <address@hidden> posted
address@hidden, excerpted below, on  Sat, 27 May 2006 15:26:25
-0700:

> Duncan wrote:
> [...]
>> I too would like, preferably, the ability to specify which headers I
>> wanted displayed.  I'd certainly choose x-newsreader/x-user-agent, but
>> I'd choose others as well, if I had the choice, such as
>> nntp-posting-host and organization...
> 
> Seems to me that you guys are asking for 'forensic' header analysis rather
> than anything routine and boring.  What usenet freaks really want is to
> click on an icon labeled:  "Who posted this rubbish?"
> 
> I confess I occasionally want exactly the same information -- but not
> routinely and not often.  Those are the times I just hit 'h' and look
> through *all* headers.
> 
> Do I misinterpret?

Actually, you do, here.  If I want to know who posted it or want to do
"forensic header analysis", I too will hit "h" and view all headers.

Rather, I want the headers that I find interesting.  It can be interesting
to see what folks put in their "organization" header, for instance, altho
in many cases it's just the default for the posting server.  Take a look
at mine...

That's why I want the custom headers, too, thus the suggestion to allow
one to specify the headers they do NOT want shown, and show all the
others.  Back with the old PAN, when it was part of the posting profile, I
had custom x-munging headers on my internet news posts (thus not gmane's,
thus not this or other lists, which I participate in thru gmane) that
instructed the reader how to unmunge my dedicated news address, not to
send HTML, and to add the -news keyword to the end, for keyword filtering
purposes (since that's a dedicated news address, anything to it without
the keyword got auto-trashed, as did anything in HTML, keyword or no, I've
had exactly zero spam get thru that scheme on that address).  By doing
that, I could simply put a line in my sig referring to the x-munging
headers, and still have room for a good quote, while keeping the sig
within the usual 4-line limit.  The point is, just as I find it
interesting to read people's T-shirts and see what messages they choose to
wear, I find custom headers equally interesting, for much the same reason.

The user-agent /x-newsreader string satisfies both that curiosity and a
practical purpose -- as I find I'm often giving folks advice on this or
that and the user-agent often identifies what platform they are on so I
know whether to target MSWormOS or OSX or Linux/BSD/Unix.  OE and one
automatically know's its MSWormOS, for instance.

The NNTP-Posting-Host header I'd not be that interested in except on the
local ISP's groups.  When someone complains about bad performance, it's
often very helpful to know which city they are in.  A quick host lookup on
most Cox IPs returns a string including the city or region they are in. 
Very handy info too have when comparing performance numbers!

So, you see, it really has nothing to do with supersleuthing at all.  A
lot of it is simply curiosity in what folks choose to put in their headers
just because they can.  Other aspects are very practical, given the number
of groups I'm a regular in, a regular that's often answering questions
where knowing the platform or city of the OP makes a big difference to the
amount of detail one can provide in the answer.  Sure, one can hit h and
get the info, but then one must look in amongst all the "noise" headers,
"noise" in regard to the particular info one is after, anyway, and it's
simply not worth it to do for every post just to satisfy one's curiosity
about headers that might or might not be there.  Much better to have them
displayed in the same order every time, if they are there, and without the
"noise" headers I don't much care about.



-- 
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