Re: somewhat OT: http_proxy format (was: tor controller hangs / doesn't reply)

[Scott Bennett <bennett@xxxxxxxxxx>]

     Oh, man, I can tell I'm really with it today.  I just sent the reply below
to Drake without copying it to the list.  That's on top of my earlier screw-ups
on the topic at hand.  Sigh.

					Scott Bennett

     On Wed, 3 Jun 2009 16:35:37 -0500 Drake Wilson <drake@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>Quoth Scott Bennett <bennett@xxxxxxxxxx>, on 2009-06-03 15:22:43 -0500:
>> >I can't find a copy of the aforementioned fetch(3) page anywhere on
>> >the Web or on any system to which I have access.
>> 
>>      Try here:
>> 
>> http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=fetch&apropos=0&sektion=3&manpath=FreeBSD+7.2-RELEASE&format=html
>
>Okay.  For some reason I wasn't able to find that with a search for
>"fetch(3)", but perhaps I did something wrong.

     Maybe not.  The only way I know to get to it is via the man page search
at www.freebsd.org.
>
>Anyway, from that exact source:
>| EXAMPLES
>|     To access a proxy server on proxy.example.com port 8080, set the
>|     HTTP_PROXY environment variable in a manner similar to this:
>|
>|         HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
>
>so that doesn't support the thesis of HTTP proxy environment values
>not being formatted as URLs.
>
     Arrghh.  Right you are.  I guess I have to plead memory failure:
I quite apparently do not remember where I got it.  Sorry for the noise,
everyone.

>Unrelatedly, it may be that I was mistaken about the port component
>and that it is required.  There's also some confusion regarding the

     HTTP_PROXY and http_proxy will default the port number to 3128, which
turns up nothing in /etc/services, so I have no idea why that would be the
default port number.

>case of the variable name; some programs check both (including some of
>the examples I gave), but the lowercase form seems more common overall
>(probably due to name collisions with HTTP_* variables in CGI).

     It's also easier to type. :-)
>
>And for the original user, more importantly, I might note that some
>programs, such as Lynx, appear to require a separate https_proxy
>setting as well.
>
     That's a good thing to know.  I use lynx rarely, but when I do, it's
invaluable for the situation.  The lynx man page on my system doesn't point
out the distinction, although it's still consistent with what it does say.
     Thanks for setting me straight on the URL/no URL business, Drake.


                                  Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG
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