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a battery monitor

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  a battery monitor Anton Antimo <anton@safunu.org> - 2026-09-01 14:28 -0300
    Re: a battery monitor Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-02 21:45 +0000
      Re: a battery monitor Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-09-03 12:34 +0800
        Re: a battery monitor Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-09-03 21:24 +0000
          Re: a battery monitor Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2026-09-04 02:51 +0000
      Re: a battery monitor David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-09-03 09:28 +0200
        Re: a battery monitor boltar@caprica.universe - 2026-09-03 15:55 +0000
          Re: a battery monitor David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-09-04 09:07 +0200
            Re: a battery monitor Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-09-04 15:14 +0800
              Re: a battery monitor bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2026-09-04 11:11 +0100
                Re: a battery monitor Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-09-04 19:49 +0800
                Re: a battery monitor David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-09-04 14:44 +0200
                Re: a battery monitor Jan van den Broek <balglaas@dds.nl> - 2026-09-05 10:29 +0000
            Re: a battery monitor Lane W <cactus_DAC@yahoo.com> - 2026-09-04 05:32 -0600
            Re: a battery monitor scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-09-04 14:27 +0000
              Re: a battery monitor Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-09-04 23:17 +0800
                Re: a battery monitor Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2026-09-18 08:01 -0700
              Re: a battery monitor David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2026-09-04 17:43 +0200
            Re: a battery monitor scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-09-04 14:29 +0000
              Re: a battery monitor Lane W <cactus_DAC@yahoo.com> - 2026-09-04 10:10 -0600
          Re: a battery monitor gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2026-09-04 12:05 +0000

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#401581 — a battery monitor

I wrote a battery monitor.  The program watches its stdin for lines
containing numbers that tell what is the current percentage of the
battery.  You can see a picture of it on the lower right of the image at 

  https://archive.org/details/x11-battery-monitor

If you compile it, then how you can see a demonstration of it running
(using bash):

  for i in $(seq 100 -5 0); do echo $i && sleep 0.5 ; done | ./xbattery 

So, yes, the program is more like a progress bar to be used by some kind
of shell program.  Here's how I've been using it.  My system has this
program called acpi, which gives me battery information:

%acpi -b
Battery 0: Charging, 91%, 00:18:43 until charged

I run CWM, the calm window manager.  So from my ~/xinitrc, I run:

while true; \
  do acpi -b | awk '{printf("%d\n",$4)}' | tr -d '%,' && sleep 60; \
  done | xbattery 220x40-0-0 &

So, yes, xbattery.c (source code below) is able to read the desired
window geometry from the command line (as it's typical of X programs).

Be kind with criticism---that's my first one.

#include <X11/Xlib.h>
#include <X11/Xutil.h>
#include <X11/keysym.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/select.h>
#include <errno.h>

void draw(Display *d, Window w, GC gc, int p, 
                  unsigned int width, unsigned int height, 
                  unsigned long green, unsigned long red) {
  XClearWindow(d, w);
  
  if (p < 0) p = 0;
  if (p > 100) p = 100;
  
  int howmuch;
  if (p >= 100) 
    howmuch = width; 
  else 
    howmuch = (width * p) / 100;
  
  if (howmuch > 0) {
    if (p <= 10) XSetForeground(d, gc, red); else XSetForeground(d, gc, green);
    XFillRectangle(d, w, gc, 0, 0, howmuch, width);
  }
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
  Display *d = NULL; Window w = 0; GC gc = NULL;
  XClassHint *ch = NULL; XSizeHints *hs = NULL; int exit_code = 0;

  d = XOpenDisplay(NULL); 
  if (!d) { 
    fprintf(stderr, "cannot open X display\n"); 
    return 1; 
  }
  
  int s = DefaultScreen(d);
  
  /* Variables x, y store the position of the window on the screen.
     Variables width and height store the size of the window.
     Variable g stores the bitmask produced by XParseGeometry. */
  int x = 10, y = 10; unsigned int width = 300, height = 50; int g = 0;
  
  if (argc > 1) {
    g = XParseGeometry(argv[1], &x, &y, &width, &height);
    if ((g & XValue) && (g & XNegative)) {
      x = DisplayWidth(d, s) - width - abs(x);
    }
    if ((g & YValue) && (g & YNegative)) {
      y = DisplayHeight(d, s) - height - abs(y);
    }
  }

  /* We've decided to use no border. But if you were to specify a
     border tomorrow, it would be black. */
  w = XCreateSimpleWindow(d, RootWindow(d, s), x, y, width, height, 0,
                          BlackPixel(d, s), WhitePixel(d, s));
  if (!w) {
    fprintf(stderr, "cannot create window\n");
    exit_code = 1;
    goto cleanup;
  }

  /* The name of the window. That's relevant to CWM, for example, so
     that it can ignore the window and let it stand an applet. */
  XStoreName(d, w, "xbattery");

  ch = XAllocClassHint();
  if (!ch) {
    fprintf(stderr, "no memory for XClassHint\n");
    exit_code = 1; 
    goto cleanup;
  }

  ch->res_name = "xbattery"; 
  ch->res_class = "XBattery";
  XSetClassHint(d, w, ch); 
  XFree(ch); 
  ch = NULL;
  
  /* Here we annotate information to be read by the system's window
     manager. It says for example what position we wish the window
     to have. */
  hs = XAllocSizeHints();
  if (!hs) {
    fprintf(stderr, "no memory for XSizeHints\n");
    exit_code = 1; 
    goto cleanup;
  }

  if (g & XValue) hs->flags |= USPosition;
  if (g & YValue) hs->flags |= USPosition;
  if ((g & WidthValue) || (g & HeightValue)) hs->flags |= USSize;
  hs->x = x; 
  hs->y = y; 
  hs->width = width; 
  hs->height = height;
  XSetWMNormalHints(d, w, hs); 
  XFree(hs);
  hs = NULL;
  
  /* Here we set the events we are interested in getting. */
  XSelectInput(d, w, ExposureMask | KeyPressMask | StructureNotifyMask);

  /* This tells X to actually paint the window on screen for the first time. */
  XMapWindow(d, w);

  /* The graphics context is memory the X server keeps for knowing
     how to draw elements on windows such as the size of the pen, the
     color of paint and so on. */
  gc = XCreateGC(d, w, 0, NULL);
  if (!gc) {
    fprintf(stderr, "no memory for XCreateGC\n");
    exit_code = 1; 
    goto cleanup;
  }

  /* The use of a color map here exposes a bit of the design of X. */
  Colormap cmap = DefaultColormap(d, s);
  XColor screen_col, exact_col;
  unsigned long green, red;
  
  if (XAllocNamedColor(d, cmap, "green", &screen_col, &exact_col))
    green = screen_col.pixel;
  else
    green = BlackPixel(d, s);
  
  if (XAllocNamedColor(d, cmap, "red", &screen_col, &exact_col))
    red = screen_col.pixel;
  else
    red = BlackPixel(d, s);
  
  int x11_fd = ConnectionNumber(d);
  int percentage = 90;
  draw(d, w, gc, percentage, width, height, green, red); XFlush(d);  

  for (;;) {
    fd_set in_fds; FD_ZERO(&in_fds);
    FD_SET(STDIN_FILENO, &in_fds); FD_SET(x11_fd, &in_fds);
    
    int max_fd = (STDIN_FILENO > x11_fd) ? STDIN_FILENO : x11_fd;
    
    if (select(max_fd + 1, &in_fds, NULL, NULL, NULL) < 0) {
      perror("select: "); exit_code = 1; goto cleanup;
    }
    
    if (FD_ISSET(STDIN_FILENO, &in_fds)) {
      char buf[16]; int val;
      if (fgets(buf, sizeof buf, stdin) != NULL) {
        char *endptr; errno = 0;
        unsigned long ulval = strtoul(buf, &endptr, 10);
        if (endptr == buf || errno == ERANGE || ulval > 100) {
          fprintf(stderr, "Oops; invalid input or out of range (0--100); trying again...\n");
          continue;
        }
        val = (int) ulval;
        percentage = val;

        fprintf(stderr, "Read a line with number %d.\n", val);
        draw(d, w, gc, percentage, width, height, green, red);
        XFlush(d);
      } else {
        fprintf(stderr, "EOF; exiting gracefully...\n");
        exit_code = 0;
        goto cleanup;
      }
    }    
    
    if (FD_ISSET(x11_fd, &in_fds)) {
      /* X is notifying us of something.  We keep on extracting events
         with XNextEvent while XPending says there's more. */
      while (XPending(d)) {
        XEvent e;
        XNextEvent(d, &e);
        if (e.type == ConfigureNotify) {
          width = e.xconfigure.width;
          height = e.xconfigure.height;
        }
        if (e.type == Expose || e.type == ConfigureNotify) {
          draw(d, w, gc, percentage, width, height, green, red);
        } 
        if (e.type == KeyPress) {
          KeySym keysym = XLookupKeysym(&e.xkey, 0);
          if (keysym == 'q') {
            fprintf(stderr, "Quitting...\n");
            goto cleanup;
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }

cleanup:
  if (hs) XFree(hs);
  if (ch) XFree(ch);
  if (gc) XFreeGC(d, gc);
  if (w) XDestroyWindow(d, w);
  if (d) XCloseDisplay(d);
  return exit_code;
}
Followup-To: comp.windows.x

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#401590

On Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:28:40 -0300, Anton Antimo wrote:

> So, yes, xbattery.c (source code below) is able to read the desired
> window geometry from the command line (as it's typical of X
> programs).

Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
under the control of a shell script?

kdialog <https://develop.kde.org/docs/administration/kdialog/> is one
I have used. Or for GTK, there’s Zenity
<https://manpages.debian.org/zenity(1)>.

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#401592

On 03/09/2026 5:45 AM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:28:40 -0300, Anton Antimo wrote:
> 
>> So, yes, xbattery.c (source code below) is able to read the desired
>> window geometry from the command line (as it's typical of X
>> programs).
> 
> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
> under the control of a shell script?

Dear Lawrence,

What kind of /moron/ are you?  Can't you understand that Anton is writ-
ing his code for his own amusement and education?


Don't let me catch you posting in comp.lang.c until you've thoroughly
apologized to the fellow!
-- 
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com
https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;

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#401603

On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 05:30:37 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded wrote:

> Lawrence is the sort of guy who always wants to have a reply.

Technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

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#401608

In comp.lang.c, Lawrence DOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 05:30:37 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded wrote:
>> Lawrence is the sort of guy who always wants to have a reply.
> Technology is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Funny how I didn't send my post to comp.lang.c but your reply ended up
there.

Elijah
------
will not post in this thread in this group again

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#401594

On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:28:40 -0300, Anton Antimo wrote:
> 
>> So, yes, xbattery.c (source code below) is able to read the desired
>> window geometry from the command line (as it's typical of X
>> programs).
> 
> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
> under the control of a shell script?
> 

The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content or 
question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a group 
that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already suffer from 
far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even more from some 
of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be clear, I am /not/ 
counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP advice on writing gui 
programs for X, that's great - but please do so in a group that is 
appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was appropriate.

(For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering - 
comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the standards. 
Just because a program happens to be written in C, does not mean it is 
relevant or topical in the group, any more than a random post written in 
the English language is topical for linguistics.languages.english. 
There are millions of lines of C code written every day, and they cannot 
all be topical in a single group.  But if anyone wants to discuss 
details of the language itself, comp.lang.c is the place to be.)

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#401597

On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> gabbled:
>On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
>> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
>> under the control of a shell script?
>> 
>
>The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content or 
>question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a group 
>that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already suffer from 
>far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even more from some 
>of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be clear, I am /not/ 
>counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP advice on writing gui 
>programs for X, that's great - but please do so in a group that is 
>appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was appropriate.
>
>(For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering - 
>comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the standards. 
>Just because a program happens to be written in C, does not mean it is 
>relevant or topical in the group, any more than a random post written in 
>the English language is topical for linguistics.languages.english. 
>There are millions of lines of C code written every day, and they cannot 
>all be topical in a single group.  But if anyone wants to discuss 
>details of the language itself, comp.lang.c is the place to be.)

Right, because usenet these days is overflowing with posts and wouldn't cope
with many more.

Newflash - threads drift, stop being so uptight about it.

*sigh*

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#401609

On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> gabbled:
>> On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>>> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
>>> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
>>> under the control of a shell script?
>>>
>>
>> The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content or 
>> question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a group 
>> that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already suffer 
>> from far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even more 
>> from some of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be clear, I 
>> am /not/ counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP advice on 
>> writing gui programs for X, that's great - but please do so in a group 
>> that is appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was appropriate.
>>
>> (For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering - 
>> comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the 
>> standards. Just because a program happens to be written in C, does not 
>> mean it is relevant or topical in the group, any more than a random 
>> post written in the English language is topical for 
>> linguistics.languages.english. There are millions of lines of C code 
>> written every day, and they cannot all be topical in a single group.  
>> But if anyone wants to discuss details of the language itself, 
>> comp.lang.c is the place to be.)
> 
> Right, because usenet these days is overflowing with posts and wouldn't 
> cope
> with many more.

Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few 
interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.

I'm okay with threads drifting a bit off-topic - and even with threads 
that are a bit off-topic to start with.  But they should at least have 
/some/ relation to C as a programming language.  I'm not okay with AI 
slop, endless discussions on wildly different languages, cross-posts to 
totally random groups, posts that are just curses and insults, or people 
who jump into a community of regulars who have been there for decades 
and start trying to tell them what they should and should not talk 
about.  (Note - that was not a reference to you.)  That's just rude and 
anti-social.

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#401610

On 04/09/2026 3:07 PM, David Brown wrote:
> On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
>> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> gabbled:
>>> On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>>>> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
>>>> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
>>>> under the control of a shell script?
>>>>
>>>
>>> The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content 
>>> or question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a 
>>> group that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already 
>>> suffer from far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even 
>>> more from some of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be 
>>> clear, I am /not/ counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP 
>>> advice on writing gui programs for X, that's great - but please do so 
>>> in a group that is appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was 
>>> appropriate.
>>>
>>> (For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering - 
>>> comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the 
>>> standards. Just because a program happens to be written in C, does 
>>> not mean it is relevant or topical in the group, any more than a 
>>> random post written in the English language is topical for 
>>> linguistics.languages.english. There are millions of lines of C code 
>>> written every day, and they cannot all be topical in a single group. 
>>> But if anyone wants to discuss details of the language itself, 
>>> comp.lang.c is the place to be.)
>>
>> Right, because usenet these days is overflowing with posts and 
>> wouldn't cope
>> with many more.
> 
> Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few 
> interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.
> 
> I'm okay with threads drifting a bit off-topic - and even with threads 
> that are a bit off-topic to start with.  But they should at least have / 
> some/ relation to C as a programming language.  I'm not okay with AI 
> slop, endless discussions on wildly different languages, cross-posts to 
> totally random groups, posts that are just curses and insults, or people 
> who jump into a community of regulars who have been there for decades 
> and start trying to tell them what they should and should not talk 
> about.  (Note - that was not a reference to you.)  That's just rude and 
> anti-social.
> 

Interesting concept, this anti-sociality.  It seems to me, it's perfect-
ly fine for /upstanding citizens/ of comp.lang.c to be /rude and anti-
social/, but newcomers such as myself get the cold shoulders.

Have you looked up the term "hypocrite" in the dictionary recently?  Let
us look at an online example.

   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrite

 >>>>> 1: a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

That seems to describe you to a T, David Brown.  And why are you brown?
Are your eyes also brown?

What is the origin of describing something to a T, and is it still used
in normal every day English?  That's a question for alt.usage.english.

Is "hypocrite" perhaps one of these newfangled /ChatGPT vocabularies/
that Dan Cross is so enamoured [sic] of?
-- 
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com
https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;

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#401612

On 04/09/2026 08:14, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
> On 04/09/2026 3:07 PM, David Brown wrote:

> That seems to describe you to a T, David Brown.  And why are you brown?
> Are your eyes also brown?

This is where it is obvious you are not a normal, rational human adult.

If you are human at all then you're either a nutter or some fucking idiot.

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#401614

On 04/09/2026 6:11 PM, bart wrote:
> On 04/09/2026 08:14, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
>> On 04/09/2026 3:07 PM, David Brown wrote:
> 
>> That seems to describe you to a T, David Brown.  And why are you brown?
>> Are your eyes also brown?
> 
> This is where it is obvious you are not a normal, rational human adult.
> 
> If you are human at all then you're either a nutter or some fucking idiot.
> 

Ah, but you forget /bart/, that you're an asshole yourself, if not a
psychopath.  I mean, why trim the cross posting?  Are you afraid of out-
ing yourself as a psychopath?

The thing is, /bart/, that all of you in comp.lang.c have become so
drenched in abnormality, that none of you recognize how a normal person
behaves.

And a normal person puts nerds like you in the locker, locks the pad-
lock, and throws away the key, because nerds don't understand they are
power hungry and annoying to normies.

So, my first guess is that you did not get locked in the locker enough
in juniour high school, much less high school.


So please, please stay in your locker, and lock the padlock, and throw
away the key; and never reply to comp.lang.c again!
-- 
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com
https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;

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#401616

On 04/09/2026 12:11, bart wrote:
> On 04/09/2026 08:14, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
>> On 04/09/2026 3:07 PM, David Brown wrote:
> 
> This is where it is obvious you are not a normal, rational human adult.
> 
> If you are human at all then you're either a nutter or some fucking idiot.
> 

Bart, there is nothing you can do except ignore posters like Johann. 
When he first posted here, it was worth replying to him - but it quickly 
became apparent that it is pointless.  I can appreciate that someone 
might not like the tone or the topics of comp.lang.c - people have 
different preferences about how they like to discuss things.  But it is 
hard to understand why someone who clearly dislikes the group would keep 
posting in it and trying to disrupt it.  We can't stop his posts, but we 
don't have to read them or respond to them.

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#401635

2026-09-04, bart <bc@freeuk.com> schrieb:
> On 04/09/2026 08:14, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson wrote:
>> On 04/09/2026 3:07 PM, David Brown wrote:
>
>> That seems to describe you to a T, David Brown.  And why are you brown?
>> Are your eyes also brown?
>
> This is where it is obvious you are not a normal, rational human adult.
>
> If you are human at all then you're either a nutter or some fucking idiot.

Have you ever heard of using a killfile?

-- 
Jan v/d Broek
balglaas@dds.nl
                   Look out, here he comes again 
                   The kid with the replaceable head

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#401613

David Brown wrote:
> On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
>> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> gabbled:
>>> On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>>>> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
>>>> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
>>>> under the control of a shell script?
>>>>
>>>
>>> The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content 
>>> or question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a 
>>> group that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already 
>>> suffer from far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even 
>>> more from some of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be 
>>> clear, I am /not/ counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP 
>>> advice on writing gui programs for X, that's great - but please do so 
>>> in a group that is appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was 
>>> appropriate.
>>>
>>> (For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering - 
>>> comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the 
>>> standards. Just because a program happens to be written in C, does 
>>> not mean it is relevant or topical in the group, any more than a 
>>> random post written in the English language is topical for 
>>> linguistics.languages.english. There are millions of lines of C code 
>>> written every day, and they cannot all be topical in a single group. 
>>> But if anyone wants to discuss details of the language itself, 
>>> comp.lang.c is the place to be.)
>>
>> Right, because usenet these days is overflowing with posts and 
>> wouldn't cope
>> with many more.
> 
> Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few 
> interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.
> 
> I'm okay with threads drifting a bit off-topic - and even with threads 
> that are a bit off-topic to start with.  But they should at least have 
> /some/ relation to C as a programming language.  I'm not okay with AI 
> slop, endless discussions on wildly different languages, cross-posts to 
> totally random groups, posts that are just curses and insults, or people 
> who jump into a community of regulars who have been there for decades 
> and start trying to tell them what they should and should not talk 
> about.  (Note - that was not a reference to you.)  That's just rude and 
> anti-social.
> 
That's pretty good, but I'm more about luring in serial killers off the 
street to skulk around with razor blades and butterfly knives, maybe a 
few posters disappearing each week. Had you even considered this?

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#401617

David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
>On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
 <snip>
>
>Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few 
>interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.

Keep in mind that this thread is cross-posted to three different
groups.

It's the cross-posting idiots that start this; I've removed
the unnecessary groups (including  comp.windows.x) from this reply.

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#401619

On 04/09/2026 10:27 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
>> On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
>   <snip>
>>
>> Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few
>> interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.
> 
> Keep in mind that this thread is cross-posted to three different
> groups.
> 
> It's the cross-posting idiots that start this; I've removed
> the unnecessary groups (including  comp.windows.x) from this reply.
> 

Now now, Scott; there's on reason to be rude.  The original poster
explicitly wanted followups in comp.windows.x, and you dared to over-
rule that?

What kind of moron does something like that?  Can't you just be polite
and follow the wishes of the original poster?  Do you /need/ to have
this conversation in comp.lang.c where it's not wanted anyway?

I've now restored comp.unix.programmer, and comp.windowsx for cross
posting purposes, and set followups to comp.windows.x.  Which every-
one knows is the only proper windowing protocol in existence!  Nobody
cares about Wayland anyway.

Now, when someone dares to followup on my tangent, we can keep a civil
discussion with decorum and elegance in comp.windows.x.  Now, as it
happens, I do not have a running X server, and have not attempted to
recreate the feat of battery monitoring.  I'm sure something will turn
up, so stay tuned to a post about a /proper Unix/ on a worthwhile mach-
ine in a completely different newsgroup.


Have a nice day!
-- 
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com
https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;

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#402229

Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> writes:

> On 04/09/2026 10:27 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> [...]

[...]

>> Keep in mind that this thread is cross-posted to three different
>> groups.
>>
>> It's the cross-posting idiots that start this;  I've removed
>> the unnecessary groups (including  comp.windows.x) from this reply.
>
> Now now, Scott;  there's on reason to be rude.  The original poster
> explicitly wanted followups in comp.windows.x, and you dared to over-
> rule that?
>
> What kind of moron does something like that?  Can't you just be polite
> and follow the wishes of the original poster?  Do you /need/ to have
> this conversation in comp.lang.c where it's not wanted anyway?

I would like to express a different point of view on this question.

I'm not really a fan of cross-posting, but as long as Scott thought
his message was relevant to all the groups he posted to (I don't
have Scott's message handy), it's perfectly appropriate for him to
include those groups in his followup.

In most cases I see using Followup-To: as a kind of hit-and-run
tactic.  The Newsgroups: line should include, at most, only groups
that are relevant to the content of a message.  Someone responding
to a message is in a better position to know which group, or groups,
are best suited to what they have to say in their followup.  It's
presumptuous to assume, as a poster, that you know better than
whoever is choosing to reply where any responses should go.

I routinely ignore Followup-To: for the simple reason that I have a
policy of not posting to newsgroups that I don't read.  If my reply
is relevant to comp.lang.c (or wherever I am reading it), that's
what I choose for where to send it.  I don't read comp.windows.x;
in my opinion it would be rude for me to post there.  If what I have
to say isn't relevant to comp.lang.c, or whichever group is being
read when I see the message, then generally it seems better just not
to post anything.

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#401620

On 04/09/2026 16:27, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
>> On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
>   <snip>
>>
>> Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few
>> interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.
> 
> Keep in mind that this thread is cross-posted to three different
> groups.
> 

I know.

> It's the cross-posting idiots that start this; I've removed
> the unnecessary groups (including  comp.windows.x) from this reply.
> 

I'm assuming that most of the regulars in the other groups are 
reasonable people, and was hoping that giving them an idea of what is 
and is not topical in comp.lang.c would be helpful.  I don't follow 
either of the other groups here, so I could be wrong in that assumption.

The solid majority of cross-posting is unhelpful and unnecessary.  It is 
a few particular posters that are the real problem rather than the 
cross-posting itself, but the cross-posting tends to spread these 
posters around.

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#401618

David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
>On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
>> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> gabbled:
>>> On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>>>> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
>>>> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
>>>> under the control of a shell script?
>>>>
>>>
>>> The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content or 
>>> question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a group 
>>> that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already suffer 
>>> from far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even more 
>>> from some of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be clear, I 
>>> am /not/ counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP advice on 
>>> writing gui programs for X, that's great - but please do so in a group 
>>> that is appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was appropriate.
>>>
>>> (For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering - 
>>> comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the 
>>> standards. Just because a program happens to be written in C, does not 
>>> mean it is relevant or topical in the group, any more than a random 
>>> post written in the English language is topical for 
>>> linguistics.languages.english. There are millions of lines of C code 
>>> written every day, and they cannot all be topical in a single group.  
>>> But if anyone wants to discuss details of the language itself, 
>>> comp.lang.c is the place to be.)
>> 
>> Right, because usenet these days is overflowing with posts and wouldn't 
>> cope
>> with many more.
>
>Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few 
>interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.

So drop all the groups other than comp.lang.c whenyou reply and you'll avoid
continuing the thread.

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#401621

Scott Lurndal wrote:
> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> writes:
>> On 03/09/2026 17:55, boltar@caprica.universe wrote:
>>> On Thu, 3 Sep 2026 09:28:51 +0200
>>> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> gabbled:
>>>> On 02/09/2026 23:45, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
>>>>> Instead of writing all that C code, why not using a preexisting
>>>>> GUI utility that can display simple widgets like progress bars,
>>>>> under the control of a shell script?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The OP wrote a cross-post that was devoid of any C relevant content or
>>>> question for comp.lang.c.  But he helpfully set follow-ups to a group
>>>> that presumably /is/ relevant - comp.windows.x.  We already suffer
>>>> from far too many rambling off-topic threads, and suffer even more
>>>> from some of the obnoxious trolls that have followed.  (To be clear, I
>>>> am /not/ counting the OP here!)  If you want to give the OP advice on
>>>> writing gui programs for X, that's great - but please do so in a group
>>>> that is appropriate, and which the OP clearly thought was appropriate.
>>>>
>>>> (For those in the other groups listed who might be wondering -
>>>> comp.lang.c is about the C /language/ - the language and the
>>>> standards. Just because a program happens to be written in C, does not
>>>> mean it is relevant or topical in the group, any more than a random
>>>> post written in the English language is topical for
>>>> linguistics.languages.english. There are millions of lines of C code
>>>> written every day, and they cannot all be topical in a single group.
>>>> But if anyone wants to discuss details of the language itself,
>>>> comp.lang.c is the place to be.)
>>>
>>> Right, because usenet these days is overflowing with posts and wouldn't
>>> cope
>>> with many more.
>>
>> Many of us would rather have just a few interesting threads, than a few
>> interesting threads hidden amongst piles of rubbish.
> 
> So drop all the groups other than comp.lang.c whenyou reply and you'll avoid
> continuing the thread.
> 
You forgot this step in the algorithm:

2. Add talk.politics.china.

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