Re: lynx-dev Argh! FTP problems...

[Larry W. Virden, x2487]

From: "Paul D. Smith" <address@hidden>

>  3) I determined that the problem was it was downloading and trying to
>     decompress in my /tmp directory, which is on my root filesystem and
>     is too small.  That's why I set the environment variable TMPDIR to a
>     different directory: almost all UNIX apps honor TMPDIR for temporary
>     files, if it's set.  It's extremely annoying that Lynx doesn't do so.

This request comes up regularly by folk who are used to using Unix
a lot.  There is no development team as such with lynx - it takes
folk to contribute.  Apparently no one who has wanted this feature has
contributed the patches yet.

>  4) Nowhere in any of the installed documentation can I find the
>     description of the various environment variables Lynx understands.
>     Note I don't have the source code; I've installed Lynx for many
>     users in a global area and deleted the source, as I always do.

Sorry - I've started this several times but never got far enough to
get anything into any real doc - like the man pages.  I've just not
had time to get very far (again, no one who wants it badly enough has
shown up to do it).

>     It's quite bogus that _vital_user_information_ for using Lynx, like
>     these all-important environment variables, is buried in the
>     INSTALLATION file and doesn't appear anywhere in the on-line help,
>     HTML help, or in the ENVIRONMENT section of the man page for Lynx,
>     etc.  Even if _I_ still had the build tree, no one else would!

Agreed - and yet as far as I can remember, you are only the second person
to bring it up as a serious omission in the 4 or 5 yrs I've been on the
list (I was the other...).  Not that we don't get the occasonal question
that wouldn't be answered if the info was there - but as I said, no
one has wanted it very badly.

> If I'm overlooking some obvious resource, I'd be happy to hear about
> it.

Well, there's always the source.  But other than that, I think you've just
about seen it all.
-- 
Larry W. Virden                 INET: address@hidden
<URL:http://www.teraform.com/%7Elvirden/> <*> O- "We are all Kosh."
Unless explicitly stated to the contrary, nothing in this posting should 
be construed as representing my employer's opinions.