©1996, I. Borrás

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Bennington College

USENET/NEWSGROUPS


Usenet is a computer-based discussion system that's widely distributed on the Internet. The Usenet software works behind the scenes, copying and relaying the messages users contribute, so that in time every participating computer (called a Usenet site) has an exact copy of every message contributed to the network. The software knows how to organize these messages into topical categories, called newsgroups, which you can read. In addition, you can contribute with your own messages to these newsgroups.

Usenet started in 1979 as a method of sharing information about UNIX computer systems. From its earliest days, though, participants showed even more interest in discussing social and political issues. Today there are thousands of newsgroups on every topic imaginable. Each service provider decides how many of the newsgroups it will make available, but most have at least a few thousand to choose from.

To use Usenet, you must have access to a news server, also called a NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol). A NNTP server is a machine that collects postings, sorts them, and passes them along other servers.

If your Internet provider doesn't offer Usenet, you may still be able to gain access to Usenet via a public news server.

Usenet Newsgroups Categories

Every newsgroup is part of a top-level category, such as comp (computer-related subjects), rec (recreation), or soc (social newsgroups). Every newsgroup has at least one other part to its name, with the part separated by dots (such as k12. ed.art).

Newsgroups are organized into two broad categories:

  1. Standard Newsgroups. These newsgroups have been established by a formal voting procedure. Every Usenet site is expected to carry the standard newsgroups; not all do, however, due to problems with disk storage space.
  2. Alternative Newsgroups. Anyone knowing the correct UNIX command can create a newsgroup in the alternative (alt.*) hierarchy, but no Usenet site is obligated to carry it.

The standard newsgroups fall into the following categories

 

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What is in a Newsgroup?

A newsgroup consists ofarticles, which have been contributed by USENET's participants. They fall into two categories:

  1. Posts. An original message, with a new topic, that somebody contributed
  2. Follow-up Posts. A reply to the original message, which usually contains some quoted text from the original message. The title of a follow-up post usually echoes the original post's title, with the addition of "re:" at the beginning of the title.

To enhance your ability to follow the "thread" of discussion, USENET software can organize posts into groups called threads. 
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Usenet/Newsgroups-related sites

 

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