Startup Files
=============

   Now, you all know about the `.newsrc' file.  All subscription
information is traditionally stored in this file.

   Things got a bit more complicated with GNUS.  In addition to keeping
the `.newsrc' file updated, it also used a file called `.newsrc.el' for
storing all the information that didn't fit into the `.newsrc' file.
(Actually, it also duplicated everything in the `.newsrc' file.)  GNUS
would read whichever one of these files was the most recently saved,
which enabled people to swap between GNUS and other newsreaders.

   That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
`.newsrc' and `.newsrc.el' files, Gnus also has a file called
`.newsrc.eld'.  It will read whichever of these files that are most
recent, but it will never write a `.newsrc.el' file.

   You can turn off writing the `.newsrc' file by setting
`gnus-save-newsrc-file' to `nil', which means you can delete the file
and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.  However,
this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than Gnus.  But
hey, who would want to, right?

   If `gnus-save-killed-list' (default `t') is `nil', Gnus will not
save the list of killed groups to the startup file.  This will save
both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk).  It will
also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old, so
the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.  You
should always set `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `nil' or `ask-server'
if you set this variable to `nil' (see New Groups.).

   The `gnus-startup-file' variable says where the startup files are.
The default value is `~/.newsrc', with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup file
being whatever that one is with a `.eld' appended.

   `gnus-save-newsrc-hook' is called before saving any of the newsrc
files, while `gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook' is called just before saving
the `.newsrc.eld' file, and `gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook' is called
just before saving the `.newsrc' file.  The latter two are commonly
used to turn version control on or off.  Version control is off by
default when saving the startup files.