CGaming

The Power of Using Usenet?

My goal in this brief text is to describe what a Usenet server is and the basics of how one works. Those of you who already participate in Usenet may have never given a thought to how the underlying system of this useful part of the internet works. If you have never participated in Usenet before, then perhaps my description will spark your curiosity enough for you to give it a try.

Essentially, a Usenet server is a file server. Its hardware is very similar to something you might find in your company?s server room. It is basically a very fast computer with lots of memory and tons of storage space. The main difference between a Usenet server and a typical file server is the type of data being served and the software they run to perform their respective tasks. A Usenet server runs a specific software package that allows it to function as a Usenet server. Using a dedicated protocol or networking language called NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) a Usenet server collects and stores Usenet articles that have been sent to it from other Usenet servers that it shares information with (this is called peering). NNTP also provides a means for these articles to be read by Usenet clients (end users) and to be forwarded onto its upstream peers.

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What is Usenet?

Usenet is the set of people who exchange articles tagged with one or more universally recognized labels, called “newsgroups” (or “groups” for short). There is often confusion about the precise set of newsgroups that constitute Usenet; one commonly accepted definition is that it consists of newsgroups listed in the periodic “List of Active Newsgroups” postings which appear regularly in news.lists.misc and other newsgroups.? A broader definition of Usenet would include the newsgroups listed in the article “Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies” (frequently posted to news.lists.misc).? An even broader definition includes even newsgroups that are restricted to specific geographic regions or organizations.? Each Usenet site makes its own decisions about the set of groups available to its users; this set differs from site to site.

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Get Started

All you need is a news program such as:

• For Windows:
  News Rover is one of the most feature packed newsreaders available
  www.newsrover.com
  News Pro is a very fast and powerful Newsgroup reader
  www.usenetopia.com
• For Macintosh:
  Thoth is a powerful multi server newsgroup reader
  www.thothsw.com/thoth/

and you also need a news server such as:

• GigaNews - One of the best News Servers around
  www.giganews.com
• Usenetserver - Also a great alternative
  www.usenetserver.com/