Whether we also like modern stuff or insist today is Sep 11622, 1993,
we're all here to talk. Usenet is no longer the most popular
conversation site, but the quality sure is a lot higher here.
I am a fan of Usenet. I loved it when I first met it, back in the 90s,
and I'm very glad to see it enjoying a modest revival. Usenet is simply people talking to others, about shared interests, all over the world.
It's true free speech; there is no one who can tell me I'm not allowed
to post to Usenet. The freedom shows in the vicious arguments, but also
in how users approach that.
By its nature, Usenet discourages low-effort posts. On Reddit, some quip often ends up as the top comment, upvoted by those who chuckle at it. Facebook is similar, swarming with low-effort memes and bogus tips in
the endless quest for engagement. Here on Usenet, we still talk, and our words stand or fall based on what we say.
I never should have left. It was reasonable to take a hiatus when I
married and had a child, but when I started to feel the lack of social
media, I made the mistake of going to Facebook instead. At the time,
nobody realized that these sites would train us to be more narcissistic,
but the effects became evident quickly. In retrospect, I wish I'd
returned to Usenet and helped in the fight. Usenet and I would both be better.
I'm here now. I've come back, and I'm staying.
Whether we also like modern stuff or insist today is Sep 11622, 1993,
we're all here to talk. Usenet is no longer the most popular
conversation site, but the quality sure is a lot higher here. Once
again, just like in the old days, we've fallen into a state where the
dopes can't find it. With Google Groups gone and dedicated regulars
keeping core groups alive and a few new people trickling in, this is a
good time to reintroduce smart, disaffected people to Usenet.
Let's do this.
Verily, in article <103k80p$3kgcj$7@dont-email.me>, did
ant@zimage.comANT deliver unto us this message:
Ditto. However, not much activities like its old days. :(
There's more than I expected, honestly. I feared it would be deserted
except for spam and kooks, but I see some groups still thriving.
Some things haven't changed. Talk.origins is still people yelling at
each other all day. I even saw someone in alt.config speaking of
newsfroups. The culture's intact. We just need a few more people.
Verily, in article <103kieg$3n90t$2@dont-email.me>, did
ant@zimage.comANT deliver unto us this message:
Melissa Hollingsworth <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:
There were way more spams before Google disconnected its Groups from the usenet.
Yes, others have said that. I would like Usenet to recover, and maybe
this time we can keep the spammers out when they get intereested.
Some things haven't changed. Talk.origins is still people yelling at
each other all day. I even saw someone in alt.config speaking of
newsfroups. The culture's intact. We just need a few more people.
Ha, that will never change. ;)
BTW, are you the same Melissa Hollingsworth from the Olympics?
No, I'm a completely different person.
Verily, in article <103k80p$3kgcj$7@dont-email.me>, did
ant@zimage.comANT deliver unto us this message:
Ditto. However, not much activities like its old days. :(
There's more than I expected, honestly. I feared it would be deserted
except for spam and kooks, but I see some groups still thriving.
Some things haven't changed. Talk.origins is still people yelling at
each other all day. I even saw someone in alt.config speaking of
newsfroups. The culture's intact. We just need a few more people.
On 26.06.2025 10:55 Uhr Melissa Hollingsworth wrote:
Whether we also like modern stuff or insist today is Sep 11622, 1993,
we're all here to talk. Usenet is no longer the most popular
conversation site, but the quality sure is a lot higher here.
This was one reason I joined in 2021.
Aside from mailing lists and special forums, Usenet is one of the best discussion platforms I've ever seen.
Verily, in article <b2gHW16 +vNUGfEYdxgaNqrPcjAJxyx/mUh1gcN3s4bE=@writeable.com>, did running_man@writeable.com deliver unto us this message:
It's federated design is also a huge boon. Let's
say Google wants to suck up to Trump and starts
censoring Google Groups of certain themes he doesn't
approve of.
Security concerns have also spurred a revival of interest in IRC. If
this keeps up, we're going to be dialing up to each other's BBSes.
On 26/06/2025 21:18 Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> wrote:
On 26.06.2025 10:55 Uhr Melissa Hollingsworth wrote:
Whether we also like modern stuff or insist today is Sep 11622,
1993, we're all here to talk. Usenet is no longer the most popular
conversation site, but the quality sure is a lot higher here.
This was one reason I joined in 2021.
Aside from mailing lists and special forums, Usenet is one of the
best discussion platforms I've ever seen.
It's federated design is also a huge boon. Let's
say Google wants to suck up to Trump and starts
censoring Google Groups of certain themes he doesn't
approve of.
On 27.06.2025 01:52 Uhr Melissa Hollingsworth wrote:
If this keeps up, we're going to be dialing up to each other's BBSes.
That won't work properly in the world of VoIP.
On 27.06.2025 01:52 Uhr Melissa Hollingsworth wrote:
Verily, in article <b2gHW16 +vNUGfEYdxgaNqrPcjAJxyx/mUh1gcN3s4bE=@writeable.com>, did running_man@writeable.com deliver unto us this message:
It's federated design is also a huge boon. Let's
say Google wants to suck up to Trump and starts
censoring Google Groups of certain themes he doesn't
approve of.
Security concerns have also spurred a revival of interest in IRC. If
this keeps up, we're going to be dialing up to each other's BBSes.
That won't work properly in the world of VoIP.
Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> wrote:
On 27.06.2025 01:52 Uhr Melissa Hollingsworth wrote:
If this keeps up, we're going to be dialing up to each other's
BBSes.
That won't work properly in the world of VoIP.
Experiments some few years ago looked like you get 28k over VoIP via a
56k modem (USR5637).
Verily, in article <slrn105sbna.1ibsg.candycanearter07 @candydeb.host.invalid>, did candycanearter07
@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid deliver unto us this message:
While it would be nice for google to have cared and remove their spam, ultimately having no google peering is better than wha we had before.
I agree. It was better before Google, and it's becoming better again.
It's funny and scary to think how many of these behemoths like Google
were welcomed when they first appeared. They seemed to spring from our culture, but they only took advantage of it.
Melissa Hollingsworth <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:
Verily, in article <slrn105sbna.1ibsg.candycanearter07
@candydeb.host.invalid>, did candycanearter07
@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid deliver unto us this message:
While it would be nice for google to have cared and remove their spam,
ultimately having no google peering is better than wha we had before.
I agree. It was better before Google, and it's becoming better again.
It's funny and scary to think how many of these behemoths like Google
were welcomed when they first appeared. They seemed to spring from our
culture, but they only took advantage of it.
I miss DejaNews!!
Verily, in article <b2gHW16 +vNUGfEYdxgaNqrPcjAJxyx/mUh1gcN3s4bE=@writeable.com>, did running_man@writeable.com deliver unto us this message:
It's federated design is also a huge boon. Let's
say Google wants to suck up to Trump and starts
censoring Google Groups of certain themes he doesn't
approve of.
Security concerns have also spurred a revival of interest in IRC. If
this keeps up, we're going to be dialing up to each other's BBSes.
Verily, in article <slrn10644no.1m5pa.candycanearter07 @candydeb.host.invalid>, did candycanearter07
@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid deliver unto us this message:
Melissa Hollingsworth <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote at 08:52 this Friday (GMT):
Verily, in article <b2gHW16
+vNUGfEYdxgaNqrPcjAJxyx/mUh1gcN3s4bE=@writeable.com>, did
running_man@writeable.com deliver unto us this message:
It's federated design is also a huge boon. Let's
say Google wants to suck up to Trump and starts
censoring Google Groups of certain themes he doesn't
approve of.
Security concerns have also spurred a revival of interest in IRC. If
this keeps up, we're going to be dialing up to each other's BBSes.
I think the revival of BBS systems would be pretty rad.
Me too. I would *love* to do that, actually. There are a handful around
-- they're mostly telnet these days, requiring other Internet access
first, but a few do still take dialup.
I don't see us reverting to DSL technology, but distributed wireless
meshes are pretty interesting. We never should have let corporations
take control of Internet access. I'd love to set up a mesh in my area.
Verily, in article <slrn1067tg4.1hph3.candycanearter07 @candydeb.host.invalid>, did candycanearter07
@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid deliver unto us this message:
Melissa Hollingsworth <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote at 14:09 this Monday (GMT):
Verily, in article <slrn10644no.1m5pa.candycanearter07
@candydeb.host.invalid>, did candycanearter07
@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid deliver unto us this message:
I'm pretty sure the pubnix SDF also has dialup access to their terminal.
Oh, awesome.
I don't see us reverting to DSL technology, but distributed wireless
meshes are pretty interesting. We never should have let corporations
take control of Internet access. I'd love to set up a mesh in my area.
Me too, but I don't really know how...
How serious are you? I'm current acquiring the knowledge. I've been out
of tech for a while, but this is important. People need and deserve to
know that the real Internet is still out there underneath the
algorithmically pushed content.
Melissa Hollingsworth <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote at 17:46 this Tuesday (GMT):
Verily, in article <slrn1067tdt.1hph3.candycanearter07 @candydeb.host.invalid>, did candycanearter07 @candycanearter07.nomail.afraid deliver unto us this message:
Monday (GMT):
Melissa Hollingsworth <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote at 14:07 this
When Deja News first appeared, some people were horrified that somebody >> > out there had been recording all our conversations.
I thought that was the whole point? Flood fill and all.
Not sure what you mean. Before Deja popped up with its archive, news messages just expired when no one was spooling them any more.
Oh, were there no other archive servers?
Verily, in article <1044fdq$3p433$2@dont-email.me>, did
ant@zimage.comANT deliver unto us this message:
Probably, but not big as DejaNews and Google Groups. I can't remember
which. I wonder if there are any now.
A lot of people mention something called Karchive, though I haven't
visited it.
By its nature, Usenet discourages low-effort posts. On Reddit, some quip often ends up as the top comment, upvoted by those who chuckle at it. Facebook is similar, swarming with low-effort memes and bogus tips in
the endless quest for engagement. Here on Usenet, we still talk, and our words stand or fall based on what we say.
Also: no edits.
On Sat, 09 Aug 2025 12:47:11 +0042, yeti wrote:
That sometimes saves the day, because "rewriting history" is near to
impossible.
Basically the same problem as with VCS/SCM.
Please elaborate.
One could use supersedes, but I don't think nowaday Usenet servers
don't respect this anymore.
Also: no edits.
That sometimes sucks, if you have updates to add or typos to slay.
That sometimes saves the day, because "rewriting history" is near to impossible.
Basically the same problem as with VCS/SCM.
Remotely related:
RFCs use an "Obsoleted by:" information which get patched into the
original RFC. If this is good enough for RFCs, I see no reason against
an "Updated-By:" header in posts. This would not break the existing references chain, which currently seems the biggest problem for
supersedes.
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc977>
But sure this just will stay a dream.
I've no idea why my local servers ignore Cancel and Supersede, but that probably only hints at I'm overlooking lots of stuff I should have fine
tuned after installing. I had a long break with news servers and
currently other stuff is nearer to the top of my to do list while
yelling for attention, but I hope to dive into NNTP deeper again.
Also: no edits.
Yes indeedy. If we choose to send a message out, it's sent out forever.
I'd love to attract more smart people back to Usenet. Its anonymity
might appeal to the security-conscious.
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