[leafnode-list] Re: Does 'expire' really mean what it says?

Chris G cl at isbd.net
Wed Dec 2 20:29:42 CET 2009


On Wed, Dec 02, 2009 at 07:20:22PM +0100, Matthias Andree wrote:
> Am 02.12.2009, 18:28 Uhr, schrieb Chris G <cl at isbd.net>:
>
>> At the top of my leafnode config file I have:-
>>
>>     ## Unread articles will be deleted after this many days if
>>     ## you don't define special expire times. Mandatory.
>>     expire = 20
>>
>> Does it really mean *unread* articles will be deleted after 20 days?
>
> Yes (assuming texpire installed as cron job, as Daniel remarked rightly), 
> but leafnode-2 will retain context for threads that you read, i. e.  
> articles of which you have read a followup will remain in the spool  
> (unless you run texpire -a that is).
>
> Zero maintenance means not filling up your disk if you leave everything  
> alone, right? :)
>
>> Or does it mean *all* articles will be deleted after 20 days?
>
> leafnode-2: "20 days after any article in the thread was last read"
> leafnode-1 in any setting, or leafnode-2 with texpire -a: "20 days after  
> the article was last read" (if ever).
>
> reading articles defers expiry unless you specify the -f option to  
> fetchnews.
>
> If someone wants to help leafnode, feel free to write this up for  
> leafnode-2 and create a patch or a new section for texpire.8.in and/or  
> leafnode.8.in. You will be credited in the NEWS file. :)
>
OK, understood.

I think the confusion lies in a subtlety of the English language (or a
stupidity in my brain!).

To me "Unread articles" can *never* include an article I have read. 
I.e. if I read an article then, by my logic/understanding, it will
never get deleted because I have read it - therefore it cannot be
'unread'. 

What the rules for texpire actually mean is that any article that has
not been read for 'expire' days will be deleted.  I guess the subtlety
is that 'unread for 20 days' is very different from 'unread'.

-- 
Chris Green




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