Questions Frequently Asked by New Newsgroup Users: Difference between revisions
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== What is a newsgroup? == | == What is a newsgroup? == | ||
* A newsgroup is something like a mailbox that the public is invited to use to store e-mail ("posts") sent to the mailbox. Anybody who wants to look in the newsgroup to read the posts that have been sent to it may do so | * A newsgroup is something like a mailbox that the public is invited to use to store e-mail ("posts") sent to the mailbox. Anybody who wants to look in the newsgroup to read the posts that have been sent to it may do so. | ||
== What is a newsreader? == | == What is a newsreader? == | ||
* A [[newsreader]] is a piece of software that lets users look in the newsgroup, sort the posts that are there, read the posts, or make new posts. | * A [[newsreader]] is a piece of software that lets users look in the newsgroup, sort the posts that are there, read the posts, or make new posts. | ||
== What is Usenet? == | == What is Usenet? == | ||
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* Exactly how to define it is a matter of much debate. Here is a classic [ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/What_is_Usenet%3F article on Usenet]; and a [ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/What_is_Usenet%3F__A_second_opinion. reply to that article]. | * Exactly how to define it is a matter of much debate. Here is a classic [ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/What_is_Usenet%3F article on Usenet]; and a [ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/What_is_Usenet%3F__A_second_opinion. reply to that article]. | ||
* A brief description of [[usenet|Usenet]]. | * A brief description of [[usenet|Usenet]]. | ||
* The history of the [[big-8]], which played a major role in the history of Usenet. | * The history of the [[big-8]], which played a major role in the history of Usenet. | ||
* "Usenet is a worldwide electronic discussion community. It dates from before the Internet, when articles were tranmitted with modems over phone lines. Now the Internet is used. Each newsgroup is dedicated to a specific topic. Articles are copied from the originating site to other participating sites [news servers]" [http://www.itc.virginia.edu/newsgroups/|University of Virgina ITC]. | * "Usenet is a worldwide electronic discussion community. It dates from before the Internet, when articles were tranmitted with modems over phone lines. Now the Internet is used. Each newsgroup is dedicated to a specific topic. Articles are copied from the originating site to other participating sites [news servers]" [http://www.itc.virginia.edu/newsgroups/|University of Virgina ITC]. | ||
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* An ordered list of newsgroups. | * An ordered list of newsgroups. | ||
* Each of the subsets of the Big-8 is a hierarchy (comp.*, humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*). | * Each of the subsets of the Big-8 is a hierarchy (comp.*, humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*). | ||
* Each of the subsets of the eight hierarchies may be called a hierarchy if it does have or potentially may have more than one newsgroup sharing the same initial components in the name. So, for example, the misc.health.* hierarchy is the list of all newsgroups whose names begin with "misc.health": | * Each of the subsets of the eight hierarchies may be called a hierarchy if it does have or potentially may have more than one newsgroup sharing the same initial components in the name. So, for example, the misc.health.* hierarchy is the list of all newsgroups whose names begin with "misc.health": | ||
<pre> | <pre> | ||
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* Google archives most newsgroups on Usenet and makes the old articles available through a page-based interface. Most news servers only hold articles for a short time depending on how the news administrator has set up the system. | * Google archives most newsgroups on Usenet and makes the old articles available through a page-based interface. Most news servers only hold articles for a short time depending on how the news administrator has set up the system. | ||
* Google also provides a method for creating new Google Groups that are Google-specific; such groups do not circulate on Usenet news servers. | * Google also provides a method for creating new Google Groups that are Google-specific; such groups are not a part of the Usenet and do not circulate on Usenet news servers. | ||
* Google is not a traditional [[NSP|news service provider]]. Neither the newsgroup archives nor the non-Usenet Google Groups can be accessed by a [[newsreaders|newsreader]]. | * Google is not a traditional [[NSP|news service provider]]. Neither the newsgroup archives nor the non-Usenet Google Groups can be accessed by a [[newsreaders|newsreader]]. | ||
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* On Usenet, articles are copied from the originating site to other participating sites; web forums are hosted by one internet site. | * On Usenet, articles are copied from the originating site to other participating sites; web forums are hosted by one internet site. | ||
* Usenet groups can be accessed using a [[newsreader]]; web forums are accessed using an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, etc.). | * Usenet groups can be accessed using a [[newsreader]]; web forums are accessed using an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, etc.). | ||
* The person who controls the host site for the web forum controls the forum; there is no such central administration for Usenet. | * The person who controls the host site for the web forum controls the forum; there is no such central administration for Usenet. | ||
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== What is the Big-8? == | == What is the Big-8? == | ||
* It is a consortium of eight [[usenet|Usenet]] hierarchies. The eight lists are all managed by [[b8mb|Big- | * It is a consortium of eight [[usenet|Usenet]] hierarchies. The eight lists are all managed by [[b8mb|Usenet Big-8 Management Board]]. | ||
{| {{Prettytable}} | {| {{Prettytable}} | ||
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* [[Gateways|Links to mail-to-news gateways]]. | * [[Gateways|Links to mail-to-news gateways]]. | ||
== | == Other questions == | ||
=== Why can't I see newsgroup XYZ? === | |||
Check with your Usenet provider. They should have a list of all newsgroups that they provide. Some local groups may not be available from all providers and some providers provide groups that others don't. | |||
=== Why can't I see posts that other people see? === | |||
Check to see if you haven't created a filter to ignore or delete them. | |||
=== Why can't I see my posts? === | |||
If you post to a moderated group, it may take time for that message to be approved and added to the group. | |||
=== How do I post pictures to the newsgroup? === | |||
If it is absolutely necessary to share a picture, a best practice would be to link to a picture on a service like imgur.com. Most newsgroups in the Big-8 hierarchies do no allow anything except text (with a very few exceptions). | |||
=== What is HTML and why don't people like it in on Usenet? === | |||
HTML is that code that looks like <nowiki><h>hello world</h></nowiki>. It makes your message hard to read. It's best to just use plain text. | |||
=== Can't somebody get rid of all that spam and trolls? === | |||
Because Usenet is de-centralized, it is up to you to filter out any kind of content that you don't like. See our tutorial: [[Filtering_Spam_with_Thunderbird | Filtering Spam with Thunderbird]] | |||
=== How do I post a message to every newsgroup in the world? === | |||
Don't. It's a good way to get banned by your provider. | |||
=== How do I keep from seeing content that I don't like? === | |||
Don't subscribe to groups with that content and filter any content that happens in groups that you are subscribed to? | |||
=== How can I post pictures to a newsgroup? === | |||
Find an alt.binaries newsgroup where your pictures will be on-topic and post them there. | |||
=== Is everybody as sarcastic and short-tempered as you are? === | |||
No, I'm super chill and level headed. I don't know what you're talking about. | |||
== Other Websites == | |||
{| {{Prettytable}} | {| {{Prettytable}} | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[https://web.archive.org/web/20160821073815/http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/usenet/guide/index.html The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Usenet] | |||
|- | |- | ||
|[ | |colspan="2"|[[Getting_Started_with_Usenet|Getting Started with Usenet]] | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[http://www. | |colspan="2"|[http://www.catb.org/%7Eesr/faqs/smart-questions.html How to Ask Quesions the Smart Way] | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[http:// | |colspan="2"|[http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/ Help Vampires: A Spotter’s Guide] | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm How Newsgroups Work] | |colspan="2"|[http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm How Newsgroups Work] | ||
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|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[http://www.newsville.com/news/usenet.faq.html Newsville FAQ on Usenet] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.newsville.com/news/usenet.faq.html Newsville FAQ on Usenet] | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[[RFCs|RFC 1855: Guidelines on Netiquette (1995)]] | |colspan="2"|[[RFCs|RFC 1855: Guidelines on Netiquette (1995)]] | ||
| Line 150: | Line 154: | ||
|- | |- | ||
|colspan="2"|[http://www.patik.com/guides/usenet Using Usenet Newsgroups] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.patik.com/guides/usenet Using Usenet Newsgroups] | ||
| | | | ||
|} | |||
== Visit Newsgroups Designed for New Newsgroup Users == | |||
{| {{Prettytable}} | |||
|- | |- | ||
| [news:news.announce.newusers news:news.announce.newusers]<br /> [http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newusers?hl=en Google news.announce.newusers] | | [news:news.announce.newusers news:news.announce.newusers]<br /> [http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newusers?hl=en Google news.announce.newusers] | ||
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|- | |- | ||
!colspan="2"|Whatever You Do, Don't Visit This Newsgroup Unprepared :-O | !colspan="2"|Whatever You Do, Don't Visit This Newsgroup Unprepared :-O | ||
|- | |- | ||
|[news:news.groups news:news.groups] can be a little hard on newcomers. Proceed with caution! | |[news:news.groups news:news.groups] can be a little hard on newcomers. Proceed with caution! | ||
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| | | | ||
|- | |- | ||
|} | |} | ||
[[Category:FAQs]] | [[Category:FAQs]] | ||
[[Category:Help for new Usenet users]] | [[Category:Help for new Usenet users]] | ||
Latest revision as of 21:12, 24 July 2020
What is a newsgroup?
- A newsgroup is something like a mailbox that the public is invited to use to store e-mail ("posts") sent to the mailbox. Anybody who wants to look in the newsgroup to read the posts that have been sent to it may do so.
What is a newsreader?
- A newsreader is a piece of software that lets users look in the newsgroup, sort the posts that are there, read the posts, or make new posts.
What is Usenet?
- The totality of all news servers that provide newsgroups.
- Exactly how to define it is a matter of much debate. Here is a classic article on Usenet; and a reply to that article.
- A brief description of Usenet.
- The history of the big-8, which played a major role in the history of Usenet.
- "Usenet is a worldwide electronic discussion community. It dates from before the Internet, when articles were tranmitted with modems over phone lines. Now the Internet is used. Each newsgroup is dedicated to a specific topic. Articles are copied from the originating site to other participating sites [news servers]" of Virgina ITC.
What is a hierarchy?
- An ordered list of newsgroups.
- Each of the subsets of the Big-8 is a hierarchy (comp.*, humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*).
- Each of the subsets of the eight hierarchies may be called a hierarchy if it does have or potentially may have more than one newsgroup sharing the same initial components in the name. So, for example, the misc.health.* hierarchy is the list of all newsgroups whose names begin with "misc.health":
misc.health.aids AIDS issues and support. misc.health.alternative Alternative, complementary and holistic health care. misc.health.arthritis Arthritis and related disorders. misc.health.diabetes Discussion of diabetes management in day to day life. misc.health.infertility Treatment & support of infertility. misc.health.injuries.rsi.misc All about Repetitive Strain Injuries. misc.health.therapy.occupational All areas of occupational therapy.
- In the preceding example, "misc.health.injuries.rsi" could become a new hierarchy if other newsgroups beginning with those four components were added to the list such as "misc.health.injuries.rsi.diagnosis", "misc.health.injuries.rsi.support", or "misc.health.injuries.rsi.tech".
What is the difference between Google Groups and Usenet?
- Google archives most newsgroups on Usenet and makes the old articles available through a page-based interface. Most news servers only hold articles for a short time depending on how the news administrator has set up the system.
- Google also provides a method for creating new Google Groups that are Google-specific; such groups are not a part of the Usenet and do not circulate on Usenet news servers.
- Google is not a traditional news service provider. Neither the newsgroup archives nor the non-Usenet Google Groups can be accessed by a newsreader.
What is the difference between a web forum and Usenet?
- On Usenet, articles are copied from the originating site to other participating sites; web forums are hosted by one internet site.
- Usenet groups can be accessed using a newsreader; web forums are accessed using an internet browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, etc.).
- The person who controls the host site for the web forum controls the forum; there is no such central administration for Usenet.
Who's in charge of this system?
- Nobody. It's decentralized.
- Everybody who uses it. Drive carefully. Buckle your Usenet seatbelts.
- News administrators. They decide what newsgroups are carried on their news servers.
- Moderators of groups (if the group is moderated).
- Hierarchy administrators. They make up lists that may or may not be carried by news administrators. The Big-Eight Management Board is an example of hierarchy administration, except that the Board has eight lists to think about.
What is the Big-8?
- It is a consortium of eight Usenet hierarchies. The eight lists are all managed by Usenet Big-8 Management Board.
| comp.* | Computer topics, both hardware and software. |
|---|---|
| news.* | Administration of the Big 8, as well as about Usenet and Netnews in general, and related topics. |
| sci.* | Science and technology. |
| humanities.* | The humanities. |
| rec.* | Recreational topics, including music, sports, games, outdoor recreation, hobbies, crafts, ... |
| soc.* | Socializing, society, and social issues. |
| talk.* | Endless discussion, largely about politics. |
| misc.* | A mixture of newsgroups that don't fit the other 7 hierarchies. Many are about the practical aspects of everyday life. |
- For more information, see the history of the Big-8.
What is a mail-to-news gateway?
- It is a site that translates news into mail and (sometimes) mail into news.
- If it is uni-directional, the translation only goes in one direction. People can read input from one source but not respond to it.
- If it is bi-directional, the translation goes in both directions. Users receive all input both from the mailing list and the newsgroup and may reply to any post/e-mail by using e-mail or a newsreader.
- Links to mail-to-news gateways.
Other questions
Why can't I see newsgroup XYZ?
Check with your Usenet provider. They should have a list of all newsgroups that they provide. Some local groups may not be available from all providers and some providers provide groups that others don't.
Why can't I see posts that other people see?
Check to see if you haven't created a filter to ignore or delete them.
Why can't I see my posts?
If you post to a moderated group, it may take time for that message to be approved and added to the group.
How do I post pictures to the newsgroup?
If it is absolutely necessary to share a picture, a best practice would be to link to a picture on a service like imgur.com. Most newsgroups in the Big-8 hierarchies do no allow anything except text (with a very few exceptions).
What is HTML and why don't people like it in on Usenet?
HTML is that code that looks like <h>hello world</h>. It makes your message hard to read. It's best to just use plain text.
Can't somebody get rid of all that spam and trolls?
Because Usenet is de-centralized, it is up to you to filter out any kind of content that you don't like. See our tutorial: Filtering Spam with Thunderbird
How do I post a message to every newsgroup in the world?
Don't. It's a good way to get banned by your provider.
How do I keep from seeing content that I don't like?
Don't subscribe to groups with that content and filter any content that happens in groups that you are subscribed to?
How can I post pictures to a newsgroup?
Find an alt.binaries newsgroup where your pictures will be on-topic and post them there.
Is everybody as sarcastic and short-tempered as you are?
No, I'm super chill and level headed. I don't know what you're talking about.
Other Websites
Visit Newsgroups Designed for New Newsgroup Users
| news:news.announce.newusers Google news.announce.newusers |
Explanatory postings for new users. (Moderated) |
| news:news.answers Google news.answers |
Repository for periodic USENET articles. (Moderated) |
| news:news.groups.questions Google news.groups.questions |
Where can I find talk about topic X? |
| news:news.groups.reviews Google link to news.groups.reviews |
What is going on in group or mailing list named X? (Moderated) |
| news:news:news.lists.misc Google news.lists.misc |
News-related statistics and lists. (Moderated) |
| news:news.misc Google news.misc |
Discussions of USENET itself. |
| news:news.newusers.questions Google news.newusers.questions |
Q & A for new users of Usenet. (Moderated) Official n.n.q. homepage |
| news:news.software.readers Google news.software.readers |
news.software readers--GARN, Amigo! |
| Whatever You Do, Don't Visit This Newsgroup Unprepared :-O | |
|---|---|
| news:news.groups can be a little hard on newcomers. Proceed with caution! | |
| Read Google's news.groups archive to see what I mean. | |
