Ivor Jones wrote:
In ,
Jono typed, for some strange, unexplained
reason:
: Desk Rabbit was thinking very hard :
: Ivor Jones wrote:
: In news : Andy Burns typed, for some
: strange, unexplained reason:
: : On 23/07/2008 08:54, Test wrote:
: :
: : Test. Please ignore.
: :
: : Use a proper test group!
:
: Sigh.. this one's been done before. There are valid reasons for
: posting test messages to normal groups. Test groups don't always
: test what needs testing.
:
: Go on, I'll bite, why would a test message to a test group not be
: sufficient to test that you can read & post?

Ok, no need to bite, I get enough of that from the cats ;-)

The reason is simple - a post to a test group merely shows that the sender
is able to post to that test group, it doesn't necessarily follow that
he/she will be able to post to any other group. True, it's unlikely that
this will be the case, but it is possible.

I had a problem a couple of years ago where postings to some of the groups
to which I subscribe were getting through ok, but those to others weren't.
I never did manage to get to the root of the problem, but it disappeared
when I changed routers. Work that one out if you can..!
Coincidence or your dynamic public IP was blocked on the newsserver?


: ...and why can't a test message be disguised as a vaguely on-topic
: post..?

There I'll agree. But test groups serve only to indicate you can post to
test groups.
The client mechanism is the same regardless of the group being posted
to. Therefore if you can post to a test group, your client is working.
If your posts do not appear in another group, it isn't your client.
QED