Definition of Usenet

Before the rise of Internet tools such as RSS (Rich Site Summary), social networks, Twitter and chat rooms, there existed a system known as Usenet newsgroups. These newsgroups acted as a place of discussion for various topics and were also a major resource for all sorts of files (or binaries in newsgroup lingo) from experimental music files, to movies, to major programs such as Adobe PhotoShop and Microsoft Office. You can find a discussion on almost anything on Usenet if you know where to look.

History

Usenet newsgroups were conceived in 1979 by two Duke University graduate students: Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis. Usenet was implemented one year later for both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke Universty--10 years before the advent of the World Wide Web and the Internet as we know it. As time went on, other providers adopted the newsgroup system, and newsgroups became popular among Internet users.

How Usenet Works

The Usenet newsgroup system is a decentralized network of news servers that are all interconnected. When a user posts a message or a file to a news server, the message remains on that one particular news server initially. However, the individual news servers then connect to each other and synchronize. When that happens, the message is spread from server to server, and eventually reaches every possible news server in the world.

Accessing Usenet

Many Internet service providers offer news server access to users as part of account features. However, the ISPs that provide Usenet newsgroup access to their users typically limit their access to only a few servers. This is because most ISPs simply cannot support the entirety of the Usenet newsgroup network. However, several websites offer paid subscriptions to news servers capable of accessing more of the network than a typical ISP. Furthermore, Google Groups allows free access to most newsgroups through a Google account, but the access is Web-based rather than software-based.

Using Usenet

In order to access, read and post on a news server, you will need to have a newsreader program. Many newsreader programs exist, but many email programs also offer newsreading as a feature. For instance, both Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird offer separate accounts for individuals to set up easy access to newsgroup servers. Popular standalone news readers include Agent, Alexandra and Halime.

Newsgroup Etiquette

If you want to post on newsgroups, remember that there are general etiquette guidelines you should follow. Some of these basic guidelines include the following: keep all quoted text to a minimum, use word wrap on posts that are 70 words or greater and no typing in all caps. Also, do not post in between someone submitting multiple files for people to download; and if asking about a problem you have, do not ask people to respond via email, as it gives the implication that your time is more important than theirs.

References

• Recommended Newsreaders
• About Usenet
• Newsgroup Etiquette

Resources

• Agent Newsreader

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