Re: lynx-dev Re: STARTFILE patch

[Philip Webb]

990415 Henry Nelson commented on the lines following this one:
>> # *** NBB *** System administrators with ANONYMOUS USERS !!!
> What is done with "http://lynx.browser.org/"; or ".", no big deal;
> at least no one will get burnt.  THIS section on -anonymous IS
> potentially misleading and could result in disaster.
> I will yell from the bleachers one more time:
> take it out of there; it's irresponsible.
> This is a case where no knowledge is better than a little.
> No punches pulled; take it for what it's worth.
 
ok ok: no problem here: i did explicitly invite your opinion.
the patch below gives KW's URL for the user's home directory, which works:
the resulting screen may not enlighten novices, but will solve the problem
when sysadmins leave the default & l.b.o. is not accessible;
hopefully, the rest is not likely to mislead anyone.
whoever changed  userdefs.h  should fix that too (it wasn't me).

beyond that, HN's & my idea of having a simple message screen
which comes up when any STARTFILE is not accessible
-- with appropriate advice to users on the next step --
should surely not cause further contention:
i offered an example, which could have a few more lines
pointing out that if eg `g'oto doesn't work,
there may be deeper problems involving the Lynx/network set-up
& how to start investigating & solving them: eg

  If you have difficulty using ordinary Lynx commands at this point,
  there may be more serious problems with your system or network.
  If you have compiled and installed Lynx yourself,
  check carefully in the INSTALLATION and PROBLEMS files
  and make sure userdefs.h and lynx.cfg have appropriate choices.
  If you are using a shared version of Lynx, consult your sysadmin.
  
i can put it on my list of little programming exercises,
but LP could probably do the job in a few minutes.

what all this really shows is how badly neglected is the whole area
of Lynx documentation, much of which is obscure &/or out-of-date:
one slight pull on one insignificant string
& a whole closet-full of heavy objects starts to fall on your head ... 

*** old/lynx.cfg        Wed Apr 14 23:32:41 1999
--- new/lynx.cfg        Wed Apr 14 23:45:43 1999
***************
*** 40,54 ****
  #                or local, e.g. file://localhost/PATH_TO/FILENAME ,
  #           where PATH_TO is replaced with the complete path to FILENAME
  #           using Unix shell syntax and including the device on VMS.
! # The default offered for ordinary users is their current directory:
! STARTFILE:.
! #
! # *** NBB *** System administrators with ANONYMOUS USERS !!!
! #   set STARTFILE to a REMOTE FILE by uncommenting the next line:
  #STARTFILE:http://lynx.browser.org/
- #   and commenting out the default offered above;
- #   you may, of course, choose to replace `lynx.browser.org'
- #   with another remote/local file which you know to be safe.
  
  # HELPFILE must be defined as a URL and must have a
  # complete path if local:
--- 40,50 ----
  #                or local, e.g. file://localhost/PATH_TO/FILENAME ,
  #           where PATH_TO is replaced with the complete path to FILENAME
  #           using Unix shell syntax and including the device on VMS.
! # The default offered for ordinary users is their home directory:
! STARTFILE:file://localhost/~/
! # If for any reason you don't want to use a local URL,
! # you might consider using the Lynx starting site:
  #STARTFILE:http://lynx.browser.org/
  
  # HELPFILE must be defined as a URL and must have a
  # complete path if local:

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