Annada Behera <annada@tilde.green> wrote:

-----Original Message-----
From: Patricia Ferreira <pferreira@example.com>
Subject: Re: Post from android
Date: 09/11/2024 05:02:38 AM
Newsgroups: tilde.green

Alex <alexlehm@tilde.green> writes:

Set up phones

Which client are you using?

I think he is using The PhoNews Newsgroups Reader[1] which he
mentioned
in #tilde.green.

[1]:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.cmg.android.phonews

Yes, that is correct, I have decided that I don't really like it
though, the program is free but requires to watch an ad to post
something and it usually says no ads availabble

Hi tildeverse users,
If you check there is only one Android application for reading and
posting on Usenet using NNTP protocol, PhoNews[^1]. And it's not that
good. K9 Mail plans to support NNTP[2] but they have not come around to
doing it yet.
With PhoNews, although you can read (there are problems with that also),
you have to pay or watch an ad to post. Usually, the ads don't appear
(which makes me think that it is probably abandoned by the dev. Last
update Jan 2024, tho) either.
So, I was wondering if there are any Android or PWA devs who hang around
in tildeverse to lend a helping hand so that we can have a working method
to read and post in tilde newsgroup (or other newsgroups for that matter)
from a phone.
For anyone interested, K9 Mail is open source and reading the issue[2],
it says that NNTP is similar to SMTP, which means that it should be
the easiest. I think K9 people will accept a pull request. PhoNews is
not open source, so we have to either build an Android or PWA app from
scratch, which might me a bigger undertaking.
Please let me know if you are interested. Thank you.
Annada
[2]: https://github.com/thunderbird/thunderbird-android/issues/7058
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

Annada Behera <annada@tilde.green> wrote:

If you check there is only one Android application for reading and
posting on Usenet using NNTP protocol, PhoNews[^1]. And it's not
that good. K9 Mail plans to support NNTP[2] but they have not come
around to doing it yet.

Smartphones being the product of and for the new generation, there
is a scarcity of good mobile software for traditional communication
media, what with its unpopularity and reliance on at a least 80x25
ISO screen (unless format=flowed).

In my opinion, the best Android newsreader in the world is HotdogEd,
although unmaintained and difficult to configure. The reader and
its NNTP module require liberal permissions and the deactivation
of all energy-saving options apt to shut them down.

Once configured, however, HotdogEd is a pleasure to use: it has
good navigation and provides excellent rendering and composing of
plain-text 72 cpl messages on a narrow screen. Highly recommended:

<https://www.fidonet.fi/pub/hotdoged/> .

Whatever one may hope for in the way of support for an abandoned
project, is provided via the HOTDOGED FidoNet echo, gated to NNPT
by several Usenet providers, including

<https://news.fidonet.fi> .
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

ant <ant@tilde.club> writes:

Annada Behera <annada@tilde.green> wrote:

If you check there is only one Android application for reading and
posting on Usenet using NNTP protocol, PhoNews[^1]. And it's not
that good. K9 Mail plans to support NNTP[2] but they have not come
around to doing it yet.

Smartphones being the product of and for the new generation, there
is a scarcity of good mobile software for traditional communication
media, what with its unpopularity and reliance on at a least 80x25
ISO screen (unless format=flowed).

In my opinion, the best Android newsreader in the world is HotdogEd,
although unmaintained and difficult to configure. The reader and
its NNTP module require liberal permissions and the deactivation
of all energy-saving options apt to shut them down.

Once configured, however, HotdogEd is a pleasure to use: it has
good navigation and provides excellent rendering and composing of
plain-text 72 cpl messages on a narrow screen. Highly recommended:

<https://www.fidonet.fi/pub/hotdoged/> .

Whatever one may hope for in the way of support for an abandoned
project, is provided via the HOTDOGED FidoNet echo, gated to NNPT
by several Usenet providers, including

<https://news.fidonet.fi> .

I use the venerable Gnus, part of Emacs, via Termux. My Android
newsreader is the same as my anywhere else newsreader.
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

W. Greenhouse <wgreenhouse@tilde.club> wrote:

ant <ant@tilde.club> writes:

Annada Behera <annada@tilde.green> wrote:

If you check there is only one Android application for reading and
posting on Usenet using NNTP protocol, PhoNews[^1]. And it's not
that good. K9 Mail plans to support NNTP[2] but they have not come
around to doing it yet.
[...]

I use the venerable Gnus, part of Emacs, via Termux. My Android
newsreader is the same as my anywhere else newsreader.

By what tricks a text ediror for the normal PC with a keyboard and
a 80x25 screen can be made usable on an smartphone?
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

ant@tilde.club writes:

By what tricks a text ediror for the normal PC with a keyboard and
a 80x25 screen can be made usable on an smartphone?

<https://termux.dev/en/>
--
Fake signature.
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> wrote:

ant@tilde.club writes:

By what tricks a text ediror for the normal PC with a keyboard and
a 80x25 screen can be made usable on an smartphone?

<https://termux.dev/en/>

Imporessive, but the screenshots show extremely small text on a
smartphone. Having no smartphone, I cannot try it easily, but I
can't help but suspect that working in (say) vim on a smartphone
is a pain... unless you attache a real keyboard and monitor, and
then of course it is a regular experience. How do you press CTRL+C
on a smartphone?
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

ant@tilde.club writes:

yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> wrote:

ant@tilde.club writes:

By what tricks a text ediror for the normal PC with a keyboard and
a 80x25 screen can be made usable on an smartphone?

<https://termux.dev/en/>

Imporessive, but the screenshots show extremely small text on a
smartphone. Having no smartphone, I cannot try it easily, but I
can't help but suspect that working in (say) vim on a smartphone
is a pain... unless you attache a real keyboard and monitor, and
then of course it is a regular experience. How do you press CTRL+C
on a smartphone?

I could imagine rotating my Cracklings[0] by 90° and plugging in a
keyboard with a mouse-wart. But not rotated or without keyboard feels
like a strange idea to me.

Luckily I do not use those as phone and they don't even have a SIM card,
they just are OpenStreetMap[1] in my pocket and get their updates only
via WLAN at home. My Android distrust covers LineageOS[2] too, but only
using them as offlined pocket size tablets I kind of feel safe enough
with them. That way GNUS on them would not make much sense without connectivity.

Nevertheless I've installed Termux. Maybe someday I'm idling bored
somewhere and need a distraction. TinyCC on them might even be fun.

_____________________

[0]: <https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/crackling/>

[1]: <https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/>

[2]: <https://wiki.lineageos.org/>
--
I do not bite, I just want to play.
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> writes:

ant@tilde.club writes:

yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> wrote:

ant@tilde.club writes:

By what tricks a text ediror for the normal PC with a keyboard and
a 80x25 screen can be made usable on an smartphone?

<https://termux.dev/en/>

Imporessive, but the screenshots show extremely small text on a
smartphone. Having no smartphone, I cannot try it easily, but I
can't help but suspect that working in (say) vim on a smartphone
is a pain... unless you attache a real keyboard and monitor, and
then of course it is a regular experience. How do you press CTRL+C
on a smartphone?

I could imagine rotating my Cracklings[0] by 90° and plugging in a
keyboard with a mouse-wart. But not rotated or without keyboard feels
like a strange idea to me.

Luckily I do not use those as phone and they don't even have a SIM card,
they just are OpenStreetMap[1] in my pocket and get their updates only
via WLAN at home. My Android distrust covers LineageOS[2] too, but only using them as offlined pocket size tablets I kind of feel safe enough
with them. That way GNUS on them would not make much sense without connectivity.

Nevertheless I've installed Termux. Maybe someday I'm idling bored
somewhere and need a distraction. TinyCC on them might even be fun.

With a not too unreasonably small font, the device can display a 106x64
block of terminal text. I can use these two virtual keyboards that have
the needed modifier keys:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/juloo.keyboard2/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard/

I do have a little stand and folding keyboard which is available when I
have a bit more space but still smaller than the footprint of a small
laptop:

https://uploads.hmm.st/wgreenhouse/kMOO8piveEKZ/station.jpeg
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113

yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> wrote:

ant@tilde.club writes:

yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> wrote:

ant@tilde.club writes:

By what tricks a text ediror for the normal PC with a keyboard and
a 80x25 screen can be made usable on an smartphone?

<https://termux.dev/en/>

Imporessive, but the screenshots show extremely small text on a
smartphone. Having no smartphone, I cannot try it easily, but I
can't help but suspect that working in (say) vim on a smartphone
is a pain... unless you attache a real keyboard and monitor, and
then of course it is a regular experience. How do you press CTRL+C
on a smartphone?

I could imagine rotating my Cracklings[0] by 90£

At first I thought you were so referring to your wrist joints (-:

and plugging in a keyboard with a mouse-wart. But not rotated or
without keyboard feels like a strange idea to me.

So your Android device is just a portable computer?

Luckily I do not use those as phone and they don't even have a SIM card,
they just are OpenStreetMap[1] in my pocket and get their updates only
via WLAN at home. My Android distrust covers LineageOS[2] too, but only >using them as offlined pocket size tablets I kind of feel safe enough
with them. That way GNUS on them would not make much sense without >connectivity.

Nevertheless I've installed Termux. Maybe someday I'm idling bored
somewhere and need a distraction. TinyCC on them might even be fun.

Or try some interfactive fiction, via Fabularium, or another Z-machine interpreter.
--- Synchronet 3.19b-Linux NewsLink 1.113