Questions Frequently Asked by New Newsgroup Users: Difference between revisions
From Usenet Big-8 Management Board
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!Visit Other Websites | !colspan="2"|Visit Other Websites | ||
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|[http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/usenet/guide/index.html The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Usenet] | |[http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/usenet/guide/index.html The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Usenet] | ||
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|[http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GAPB,GAPB:2005-09,GAPB:en&q=%22getting+started+with+newsgroups%22 Getting Started with Newsgroups] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GAPB,GAPB:2005-09,GAPB:en&q=%22getting+started+with+newsgroups%22 Getting Started with Newsgroups] | ||
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|[http://www.catb.org/%7Eesr/faqs/smart-questions.html How to Ask Quesions the Smart Way] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.catb.org/%7Eesr/faqs/smart-questions.html How to Ask Quesions the Smart Way] | ||
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|[http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm How Newsgroups Work] | |colspan="2"|[http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm How Newsgroups Work] | ||
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|[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ Internet FAQ Archives] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ Internet FAQ Archives] | ||
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|[ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/Introduction_to_the_*.answers_newsgroups Introduction to the *.answers newsgroups] | |colspan="2"|[ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/Introduction_to_the_*.answers_newsgroups Introduction to the *.answers newsgroups] | ||
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|[http://www.newsgruppen.de/nnqlinks.html news.newusers.questions Links Page] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.newsgruppen.de/nnqlinks.html news.newusers.questions Links Page] | ||
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|[ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/ MIT news.announce.newusers archive] | |colspan="2"|[ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/ MIT news.announce.newusers archive] | ||
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|[http://www.newsreaders.com/guide/netiquette.html Newsreaders.com Introduction to Netiquette] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.newsreaders.com/guide/netiquette.html Newsreaders.com Introduction to Netiquette] | ||
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|[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] | ||
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|[http://www.povray.org/resources/newsgroups/oetut.php Outlook Express Newsgroup Tutorial] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.povray.org/resources/newsgroups/oetut.php Outlook Express Newsgroup Tutorial] | ||
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|[http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/ie/community/columns/newsgroups101.mspx Outlook Express newsgroups 101 (Microsoft)] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/ie/community/columns/newsgroups101.mspx Outlook Express newsgroups 101 (Microsoft)] | ||
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|[[RFCs|RFC 1855: Guidelines on Netiquette (1995)]] | |colspan="2"|[[RFCs|RFC 1855: Guidelines on Netiquette (1995)]] | ||
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|[http://www.itc.virginia.edu/newsgroups/ University of Virginia FAQs] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.itc.virginia.edu/newsgroups/ University of Virginia FAQs] | ||
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|[http://www.newsville.com/cgi-bin/getfaq?file=news.groups/FAQ:_User_s_Guide_to_the_Changing_USENET Stanley: User's Guide to the Changing Usenet] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.newsville.com/cgi-bin/getfaq?file=news.groups/FAQ:_User_s_Guide_to_the_Changing_USENET Stanley: User's Guide to the Changing Usenet] | ||
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|[http://www.usenetsupport.com/ UsenetSupport.com (Giganews)] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.usenetsupport.com/ UsenetSupport.com (Giganews)] | ||
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|[http://www.patik.com/guides/usenet Using Usenet Newsgroups] | |colspan="2"|[http://www.patik.com/guides/usenet Using Usenet Newsgroups] | ||
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!colspan="2"|Visit Newsgroups Designed for New Newsgroup Users | !colspan="2"|Visit Newsgroups Designed for New Newsgroup Users | ||
Revision as of 13:35, 8 July 2010
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.
- The name of a newsgroup is its mailing address.
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.
- GARNA: "Get a real newsreader, [amigo]."
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 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 Big-Eight 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.
How do I get answers to my other questions?
- Why can't I see the newsgroup?
- Why can't I see posts that other people see?
- Why can't I see my posts?
- How do I post pictures to the newsgroup?
- Why is everybody yelling at me for posting pictures to the newsgroup?
- What is HTML?
- Why don't people like HTML?
- WHAT IS A 'CAPS LOCK KEY'?
- Can't somebody get rid of all that spam?
- How do I post a message to every newsgroup in the world?
- How do I keep from seeing all the pornographic pictures?
- How do I get to see all the pornographic pictures?
- How can I post my pornographic pictures to a newsgroup?
- Is everybody as sarcastic and short-tempered as you are?
