Somewhat heartening story:
https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/

rms

On Thu, 31 Aug 2023 08:02:44 -0600, "rms"
<rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:

>Somewhat heartening story:
>https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/

I've heard of this Usenet thing, but heard it's home to all sorts of
freaks 'n' weirdos. I'm not sure I'd fit in there. ;-)

Supposedly the Reddit thing a month back resulted in a noticeable bump
in Usenet traffic too, as people started looking for an alternative.

As much as I love Eternal September (despite its issues) I wish there
was a service that offered an easier on-ramp to Usenet, with a client
pre-configured to use the appropriate servers, and an easier way to
find active* newsgroups for each particular topic. A sort of
questionnaire you fill in when you sign up ("What are you interested
in?") that then picks out some appropriate newsgroups for you. Because
the 100,000+ newsgroups - the vast bulk of them abandoned - and the
usual 'scariness'** of having to fill in server information, are a big
impediment to most people who might otherwise might have an interest
in the medium.

--------------
* Well, as active as Usenet gets, anyway
** Sure, laugh, but a lot people dislike that sort of thing

On Thursday, August 31, 2023 at 8:17:38 AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Thu, 31 Aug 2023 08:02:44 -0600, "rms"
> <rsqui...@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:
>
> >Somewhat heartening story:
> >https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/
> I've heard of this Usenet thing, but heard it's home to all sorts of
> freaks 'n' weirdos. I'm not sure I'd fit in there. ;-)
>
>
>
> Supposedly the Reddit thing a month back resulted in a noticeable bump
> in Usenet traffic too, as people started looking for an alternative.

Reddit's definitely gone to shit since that kerfuffle. It seems like it may
be starting to slowly recover, but hard to say.

That's usually the way with me, I just started to find it useful a few years
ago, and then it goes to shit, Johnny come lately here. I was late to
Usenet but it was good for at least 10 years after I joined. But I was on
Fido through a BBS before that - which I also came to late.

It seems people are using Discord a lot, but it's got the problem with
discovery of things and having to get approved to join each group,
and it seems set up more for voice. I just don't like or get it.

One of the groups I used to read on reddit was reddit/r/dndmemes
The mods put up they moved to some other site, there's pretty much
nothing there. It was getting a bit too restrictive imho before the purge
but it's slowly gaining steam again.

>
> As much as I love Eternal September (despite its issues) I wish there
> was a service that offered an easier on-ramp to Usenet, with a client
> pre-configured to use the appropriate servers, and an easier way to
> find active* newsgroups for each particular topic. A sort of
> questionnaire you fill in when you sign up ("What are you interested
> in?") that then picks out some appropriate newsgroups for you. Because
> the 100,000+ newsgroups - the vast bulk of them abandoned - and the
> usual 'scariness'** of having to fill in server information, are a big
> impediment to most people who might otherwise might have an interest
> in the medium.
>

It's easy to get on with Google groups as I do, but pretty much no on the
rest of that stuff, and you have to know what you're doing so you don't
send badly formatted posts and reply to things from 1996 thinking
they're new. Then there's the flamewars and spam - both which GG
handles poorly, and they can drown out traffic you want to see. Not
that there's much of anything to see anywhere but here.

- Justisaur

Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, August 31, 2023 at 8:17:38???AM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> > On Thu, 31 Aug 2023 08:02:44 -0600, "rms"
> > <rsqui...@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:
> >
> > >Somewhat heartening story:
> > >https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/
> > I've heard of this Usenet thing, but heard it's home to all sorts of
> > freaks 'n' weirdos. I'm not sure I'd fit in there. ;-)
> >
> >
> >
> > Supposedly the Reddit thing a month back resulted in a noticeable bump
> > in Usenet traffic too, as people started looking for an alternative.

> Reddit's definitely gone to shit since that kerfuffle. It seems like it may
> be starting to slowly recover, but hard to say.

> That's usually the way with me, I just started to find it useful a few years
> ago, and then it goes to shit, Johnny come lately here. I was late to
> Usenet but it was good for at least 10 years after I joined. But I was on
> Fido through a BBS before that - which I also came to late.

Better late than never. ;)

> It seems people are using Discord a lot, but it's got the problem with
> discovery of things and having to get approved to join each group,
> and it seems set up more for voice. I just don't like or get it.

It's like IRC these days. I also don't like Discord. :(

> One of the groups I used to read on reddit was reddit/r/dndmemes
> The mods put up they moved to some other site, there's pretty much
> nothing there. It was getting a bit too restrictive imho before the purge
> but it's slowly gaining steam again.

> >
> > As much as I love Eternal September (despite its issues) I wish there
> > was a service that offered an easier on-ramp to Usenet, with a client
> > pre-configured to use the appropriate servers, and an easier way to
> > find active* newsgroups for each particular topic. A sort of
> > questionnaire you fill in when you sign up ("What are you interested
> > in?") that then picks out some appropriate newsgroups for you. Because
> > the 100,000+ newsgroups - the vast bulk of them abandoned - and the
> > usual 'scariness'** of having to fill in server information, are a big
> > impediment to most people who might otherwise might have an interest
> > in the medium.
> >

> It's easy to get on with Google groups as I do, but pretty much no on the
> rest of that stuff, and you have to know what you're doing so you don't
> send badly formatted posts and reply to things from 1996 thinking
> they're new. Then there's the flamewars and spam - both which GG
> handles poorly, and they can drown out traffic you want to see. Not
> that there's much of anything to see anywhere but here.

Google Groups doesn't even have all the newsgroups like the newer ones. :(
--
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