Help an XNews user migrate over?

[lkvee]

I've been a longtime user of XNews, partly because I came over from VN before that. I've reached a point where I'm considering using another client.

I use XNews to download headers, check out the list and sometimes the article(s) behind the headers, mark the set of headers that interest me, put them in a queue, and download the articles (at a later date and time). As long as there was an .nfo file and enough RAR and PAR(2) files to make a complete set, I was happy. I use Giganews.

I'd like something more lightweight (given a high number of headers downloaded at once) and something that can download through more than the four "pipes" allowed by XNews, since they want to keep that Good Netkeeping Seal of Approval.

I've never used NZB files before. Worse, I'm curious about the way SABnzbd can help me if there's no NZB file.

I'm also hoping SABnzbd operates by starting from the oldest to the newest headers. Other programs I've tried started from the newest and worked backwards, and that bothered me because the oldest articles were in the most danger of being purged.

Thanks for reading!

[sander]

SABnzbd is not lightweight, and, AFAIK, SABnzbd can only handle NZBs.

My advice: just try SABnzbd, and see if it's for you.

[fenlander]

I think for you the key is to explore some Usenet indexing sites: once you understand what they do, you'll see the point of SABnzbd. For a site that looks most like XNews, try binsearch.info. Then for a different view, check out nzbindex.com - be sure to try the advanced search. Finally, for a more focused view of media files, try nzb.su. All such sites generate nzb files that feed into SABnzbd by a variety of methods. SABnzbd then does the downloading/unraring/sorting. Note that SABnzbd is a downloader for binary files - it is not useful for reading text-based groups or previewing binaries in the same way as XNews or programs like Grabit.

(I used XNews years ago - but then I drove a Ford Anglia years ago, too...)

[pobox]

I still use Xnews with an external NZB loader that's no longer availiable.