Re: [Lynx-dev] changing lynx default homepage from the comand line?

[dan d.]

The problem with that approach is that all lyx users would be affected, your 
start page would be what they get.
On Sun, 17 Nov 2019, Karen Lewellen wrote:

> Big picture  goal for whom?
> As it is my goal, and I state otherwise, I am unsure why you  choose to
> claim this is my goal.
> This issue is moot, and I consider the thread to be closed.
> I am asking the admin here to make the change for me, end of story.
>
>
>
> On Sun, 17 Nov 2019, Tim Chase wrote:
>
> > The big picture goal is to create a local/user-specific lynx.cfg file
> > in your home directory.  This can be as minimal as that one
> > "STARTFILE" line produced by the `echo` command, and then start lynx
> > using that config file.
> >
> > You can use a text-editor to create/edit the ~/.lynx.cfg file and
> > append the line
> >
> >  STARTFILE:https://ca.yahoo.com/news
> >
> > at the bottom.  Alternatively you can use "echo" to append the file
> > (creating it if it doesn't already exist):
> >
> >  $ echo "STARTFILE:https://ca.yahoo.com/news"; >> ~/.lynx.cfg
> >
> > With that local/user-specific config file available, you can then
> > start lynx manually using that config file:
> >
> >  $ lynx -cfg=$HOME/.lynx.cfg
> >
> > but typing that whole thing every time gets tedious.  So to avoid
> > that tedium, you want to let your shell know that when you type
> > "lynx" (or "ly" or whatever short-hand you want) that you really mean
> > "every time I type `lynx`, pretend that I added -cfg=$HOME/.lynx.cfg
> > after it".  You can do this with an alias or with a function though
> > the function is a bit more flexible. This would be created in one of
> > your shell startup files. However the exact syntax and file-names for
> > that startup file depend on the shell you're using. That's why I'm
> > interested in the output of
> >
> >  $ basename $SHELL
> >
> > to make sure which shell you're running.  In all liklihood, it's
> > "bash" in which case it would also help for you to provide the output
> > of
> >
> >  $ ls ~/.bash*
> >
> > If that output includes a .bash_aliases file, that's the best place
> > to put an alias/function.  Otherwise, you can just append it to your
> > .bashrc (which would most likely be among the output).
> >
> > However your shell could also be any of a number of common
> > alternatives like sh, ash, dash, zsh, ksh, csh, tcsh, fish, or yet
> > others.  Each one has its own configuration files and making sure
> > that the edit takes place in the right one is essential to ensuring
> > that the alias/function gets created properly.
> >
> > But then once you have the alias/function in your local start-up
> > file, every time you type "lynx" (or "ly" or whatever short-hand you
> > prefer), it will start with your preferred configuration.
> >
> > -tim
> >
> >
> > On 2019-11-17 14:10, Karen Lewellen wrote:
> >> Tim,
> >> *should* is an interesting concept.  What should  be does not
> >> always translate into what is.
> >> For example,
> >> Your echo line below is a fantastic example of the kind of command
> >> line idea I have been seeking the entire time.
> >> However, because there are   about ten different  lynx.cfg files in
> >> the home directory of my site hosted here on shellworld, running it
> >> did not produce any changes.
> >> I got no errors, meaning  likely something was changed, just not
> >> the lynx.cfg file governing  my karenlewellen.com workspace hosted
> >> at shellworld.
> >> still, it was at least the sort of  solution I desired, a simple
> >> command line  that could be run without editing altering or
> >> changing anything else.
> >> As I said to rick,  that he has done something himself in no way
> >> translates to  the approximately 7 billion others sharing our world.
> >> Karen
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sun, 17 Nov 2019, Tim Chase wrote:
> >>
> >>> There are system-level config files which you should be able to
> >>> read but not modify.  There are also user-level config files
> >>> which you are expected to be able to read and modify to make your
> >>> life easier.
> >>>
> >>> Yes, you can manually specify a config file every time on the
> >>> command line, or specify the start-URL on the command-line every
> >>> time, or establish environment variables every time you log in,
> >>> or define a function/alias everytime you log in.
> >>>
> >>> But the purpose of creating local/user-level config files is for
> >>> your own conveneince.  So that when you type "lynx" (or "ly" or
> >>> whatever short-hand abbreviation you want), it does exactly what
> >>> *you* want (within the software's limitations) every time.
> >>>
> >>> As David mentions, if your Shellworld account allows you to modify
> >>> system-level config files, that would impact everybody on the
> >>> system and be a big security issue.  But I suspect that the
> >>> administrator left permissions as their defaults and so you can't
> >>> change the site-wide settings as a mere user.  But you can copy
> >>> the lynx.cfg file -- either from your system /etc/lynx.cfg or
> >>> /usr/local/etc/lynx.cfg or downloading a copy from the internet
> >>> -- to your home directory, modify it to your satisfaction, and
> >>> then instruct lynx to use that config file instead.  For your
> >>> purposes, you might even be able to just use "echo" to put the
> >>> one line in a file without any text editor:
> >>>
> >>>  $ echo 'STARTFILE:https://example.com' >> ~/.lynx.cfg
> >>>
> >>> if you want to start at example.com
> >>>
> >>> You then modify your *local* (not system-wide) shell configuration
> >>> file to create the command you use to override that config file:
> >>>
> >>>  $ echo 'lynx() { command lynx -cfg ~/.lynx.cfg "$@" ; }' >>
> >>> ~/.bashrc
> >>>
> >>> or whatever your local shell-configuration file is depending on
> >>> your shell. Again, would be helpful to know the output of
> >>>
> >>>  $ basename $SHELL
> >>>
> >>> to know which shell you're in.
> >>>
> >>> Once you've configured these two things, invoking lynx should give
> >>> you the settings you want every time without needing to re-type
> >>> them.
> >>>
> >>> The local/user-level configuration files are there specifically to
> >>> make each user's life easier, without impacting other users on the
> >>> same system.
> >>>
> >>> I'm still hoping I could get a Shellworld account so I can test
> >>> some of these things to give you a more targeted reply, but I've
> >>> not heard back from the admin on any of the occasions I've tried
> >>> emailing them.
> >>>
> >>> -tim
> >>>
> >>> On 2019-11-16 22:39, Karen Lewellen wrote:
> >>>> because this is not my service I wish to tamper with config files
> >>>> as little  as possible.
> >>>> If there is not a command line only method to accomplish this
> >>>> task, much like  the -useragent one, then never mind.
> >>>> thanks for all the ideas but  again  I am not interested in
> >>>> altering lynx.cfg in any fashion.
> >>>> Karen
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> On Fri, 15 Nov 2019, Tim Chase wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Karen,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> You can combine Thorsten's advice to use "-cfg=FILENAME" with my
> >>>>> previous shell-alias suggestion, which is what I've done in the
> >>>>> past to specify a local config file.  With that in place, you
> >>>>> can set your default home-page in your local lynx config file
> >>>>> (say, ~/.lynx.cfg)
> >>>>>
> >>>>>  echo "STARTFILE:https://example.com"; >> ~/.lynx.cfg
> >>>>>
> >>>>> and then have your function/alias specify the config file:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>  lynx() { command lynx -cfg=$HOME/.lynx.cfg "$@" ; }
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I happen to like the TEXTFIELDS_NEED_ACTIVATION:TRUE set in my
> >>>>> .cfg file too, so this is how I get that behavior every time.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> -tim
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On 2019-11-15 22:56, Thorsten Glaser wrote:
> >>>>>> Karen Lewellen dixit:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I am seeking a command line method  to override the site
> >>>>>>> listed as the homepage for lynx regularly,  i. e. the page
> >>>>>>> that appears if i just entre lynx.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Then don???t enter just lynx ;-)
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Otherwise, you can override the homepage in the lynx.cfg file.
> >>>>>> Since you???re on a shellserver you cannot do that system-wide,
> >>>>>> but you can copy the system-wide one into your home directory
> >>>>>> and use the -cfg=FILENAME option to point to the changed file.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> The idea is  to change this  default homepage, not just simply
> >>>>>>> visit a new site once.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> But the ???homepage??? is only shown if you don???t tell it a site
> >>>>>> to visit when starting.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> It???s probably easiest to make an alias, something like this:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> echo "alias 'ly=lynx http://the.new.start.site'" >>~/.bashrc
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Then typing ly will start lynx with the other start page.
> >>>>>> Easier than doing the config dance, unless you need that
> >>>>>> anyway.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> bye,
> >>>>>> //mirabilos
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> FWIW, I'm quite impressed with mksh interactively. I thought it
> >>>>>> was much *much* more bare bones. But it turns out it beats the
> >>>>>> living hell out of ksh93 in that respect. I'd even consider it
> >>>>>> for my daily use if I hadn't wasted half my life on my zsh
> >>>>>> setup. :-) -- Frank Terbeck in #!/bin/mksh
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>>> Lynx-dev mailing list
> >>>>>> address@hidden
> >>>>>> https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lynx-dev
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Lynx-dev mailing list
> address@hidden
> https://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/lynx-dev
>

-- 
XB