bug#16026: Gnus shouldn't use old connections

[Ted Zlatanov <tzz@lifelogs.com>]

On Mon, 02 Dec 2013 11:12:20 -0500 Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> wrote: 

>>> Gnus should consider a connection as dead if it has been idle for more
>>> than some timeout value (e.g. 5 minutes).  This bites me every day when
>>> I wake up my computer: if I just hit `g' to refresh the *Group* buffer,
>>> it *always* hangs (I guess it would timeout but only after a long wait,
>>> like 2h).  Instead, I have to go to *Server*, close each server, go back
>>> to *Group* and then hit `g'.
>> Weird. I do the same as you, or almost [1], and don't have that problem.

SM> Of course, the occurrence of my particular problem depends on various
SM> factors, such as whether you get the same IP address when you wake up,
SM> whether you're in the same network when you wake up, whether you're
SM> behind a NAT, how long the NAT router remembers connections, whether the
SM> NAT router's own IP has changed, ...

In the Gnus mailing list we discussed an easy solution (just close all
server connections before `g') but providing that as a user-level
defcustom feels like giving up.  See http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.gnus.general/80262/focus=83843

I suggested waiting for Lars' opinion.

Ted