The D programming language newsgroup should lift its game

[Nick Sabalausky]

"Walter Bright" <newshound1 at digitalmars.com> wrote in message 
news:hp89e7$146c$1 at digitalmars.com...
> Nick Sabalausky wrote:
>> It's the exact same size I use in my NG reader and it's perfectly 
>> readable to me. Maybe your resolution is too high. If it's changed, other 
>> people may find it too big, so it's hard to say that it's the page's 
>> fault. As far as portables, I can't imagine any portable that would use a 
>> high enough screen resolution for that font size to look too small. Plus, 
>> any half-way decent browser these days should have an easy zoom function. 
>> For me, in FF2 all I need to do is Ctrl-ScrollWheel.
>>
>> About the lack of tree view, that's really a VIM vs Emacs, tabs vs spaces 
>> kind of an issue.
>
> What about this thread? Without the newsreader, given the 50 or so 
> messages here, how would I know that the one on the end specifically 
> replies to that one of mine?
>

Like Adam said, quotes. Ie, those things that are already useful on NGs so a 
person don't have to flip back and forth between the message they're reading 
and some separate message that provides appropriate context (unless the 
message being read was posted by a certain Mr. Bright ;) )

Besides, on non-tree systems, sub-discussions are more likely to just get 
moved to a new thread.

Non-tree also makes it a hell of a lot easier to reply to multiple messages 
with one single message. Which also tends to result in fewer total posts, 
far less redundant information, and a far more chronologically-coherent 
discussion (for example, you're far less likely to post a reply to one 
message and then see that it was already addressed in a different branch of 
the thread, which tends to happen a fair amount in tree-views and increases 
confusion.)

I'm not saying I like non-tree better, I'm just saying they both have their 
pros/cons.

>> And as far as the other points, like you said, it's all customizable 
>> anyway. I've used many forums that have all the junk turned off. Plus I 
>> use AdBlock Plus ( http://adblockplus.org/en/ ) and NoScript, so I don't 
>> see any ads on that page (If I didn't use those, I would find the vast 
>> majority of the web literally unusable).
>
>
> Yet I don't have to mess with any of that stuff with a newsreader! I don't 
> have to configure it, zoom it, install ad blockers, etc. It just works, 
> and since little data is transferred, it's fast, too. I also like how it's 
> archived as a bunch of text files.

1. Those aren't issues with web forums, those are issues with specific web 
forum configurations.

2. Not liking a chosen font size used has nothing remotely to do with web 
forum vs NG. The people making NG readers can use whatever font size they 
want to, just like the people making web forums can. Liking or not liking 
the font size used in a NG reader is no less a matter of chance than liking 
or not liking the one used on a web forum.

3. Regarding having to install adblockers and such: As far as I'm concerned, 
that's essential for just simply using the web period, not something that's 
specific to web forums. I mean, what, you haven't seen non-forum websites 
filled with ads? Either you don't mind ads on websites or you do mind. If 
you don't mind, then there's no problem. If you do mind, then you'll already 
be installing an adblocker anyway or otherwise you'll already be forcing 
yourself to put up with annoying ads anyway. So again, not a 
web-forum-related issue.