This was just posted on the Windows newsgroups, but it applies equally to
those on these specialty newsgroups who search before they ask questions.
*Web-searchable (read only) Google Groups Archives for this newsgroup*

NOTE: These are deprecated special-purpose "newsgroups" for Mozilla servers
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.general>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.support.firefox>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.support.thunderbird>
etc.

Which were copied to the following simpler URLs in the great reshuffle:
<https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.general>
<https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.support.firefox>
<https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.support.thunderbird>
etc.

Paul wrote:

> Google Groups stopped adding groups, some time ago.
>
> It has added a ton of its own private groups.
> Which nobody cares about.

Hi Paul,

I often run a search before asking questions, and when researching
issues to help answer others, so I've been involved in this for years.

I think your assumption is not quite accurate, as I have been using Google
Groups archival links for many years, but I didn't do any explicit research
so it's just my "experienced assumption" that Google _does_ add groups.

They're just extremely selective about which groups they bother to add. :)
<alt.usage.english>
<news.software.readers>
<alt.free.newsservers>
<comp.text.pdf>
<alt.comp.software.thunderbird>
<alt.comp.software.firefox>
<rec.photo.digital>
<rec.autos.tech>
<alt.home.repair>
<alt.comp.microsoft.windows>
<microsoft.public.windowsxp.general>
<alt.comp.os.windows-11>
<alt.comp.os.windows-10>
<alt.comp.os.windows-8>
<alt.windows7.general>
<alt.msdos.batch>
<alt.os.linux>
<comp.mobile.android>
<comp.mobile.ipad>
<misc.phone.mobile.iphone>
<alt.comp.freeware>
<comp.sys.mac.apps>
<comp.sys.mac.system>
<comp.sys.mac.advocacy>
<alt.internet.wireless>
<sci.electronics.repair>
<sci.geo.satellite-nav>
etc.

It was well before Google changed their archival links to something easy
to remember when the "N" archives used exactly those monikers, namely:
<https://alt.usage.english.narkive.com>
<https://alt.free.newsservers.narkive.com>
<https://news.software.readers.narkive.com>
<https://comp.text.pdf.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.software.thunderbird.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.software.firefox.narkive.com>
<https://rec.photo.digital.narkive.com>
<https://rec.autos.tech.narkive.com>
<https://alt.home.repair.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.microsoft.windows.narkive.com>
<https://microsoft.public.windowsxp.general.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.os.windows-11.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.os.windows-8.narkive.com>
<https://alt.windows7.general.narkive.com>
<https://alt.msdos.batch.narkive.com>
<https://alt.os.linux.narkive.com>
<https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com>
<https://comp.mobile.ipad.narkive.com>
<https://misc.phone.mobile.iphone.narkive.com>
<https://alt.comp.freeware.narkive.com>
<https://comp.sys.mac.apps.narkive.com>
<https://comp.sys.mac.system.narkive.com>
<https://comp.sys.mac.advocacy.narkive.com>
<https://alt.internet.wireless.narkive.com>
<https://sci.electronics.repair.narkive.com>
<https://sci.geo.satellite-nav.narkive.com>
etc.

At the time I had used a combination of N archives & google groups links
which were the best I could do then to publish web-searchable archives:
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-usage-english>
<https://tinyurl.com/news-software-readers>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-free-newsservers>
<https://tinyurl.com/comp-text-pdf>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-software-thunderbird>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-software-firefox>
<https://tinyurl.com/rec-photo-digital>
<https://tinyurl.com/rec-autos-tech>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-home-repair>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-microsoft-windows>
<https://tinyurl.com/microsoft-public-windowsxp-gen> (30-character limit)
I also had created an easier URL:<https://tinyurl.com/windowsxp-general>
<alt.comp.os.windows-11> At the time this didn't exist for me to set up
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-10>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-8>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-7>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-windows7-general>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-msdos-batch>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-os-linux>
<https://tinyurl.com/comp-mobile-android>
<https://tinyurl.com/comp-mobile-ipad>
<https://tinyurl.com/misc-phone-mobile-iphone>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-freeware>
<https://tinyurl.com/comp-sys-mac-apps>
<https://tinyurl.com/comp-sys-mac-system>
<https://tinyurl.com/comp-sys-mac-advocacy>
<https://tinyurl.com/alt-internet-wireless>
<https://tinyurl.com/sci-electronics-repair>
<https://tinyurl.com/sci-geo-satellite-nav>
etc.

Note these are all so old they link to the now-deprecated Google Groups
which had recently been DejaNews archived at that time of formation:
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.usage.english>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/news.software.readers>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.free.newsservers>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.text.pdf>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.software.thunderbird>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.software.firefox>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.photo.digital>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.autos.tech>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.home.repair>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>

<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general>
<alt.comp.os.windows-11> At the time this didn't exist for me to set up
<http://www.pcbanter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=52> for Windows 10
<http://www.pcbanter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=50> for Windows-8
<http://www.pcbanter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=48> for Windows-7
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.msdos.batch>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.os.linux>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.mobile.android>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.mobile.ipad>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/misc.phone.mobile.iphone>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.freeware>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.sys.mac.apps>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.sys.mac.system>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.sys.mac.advocacy>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.internet.wireless>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sci.electronics.repair>
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sci.geo.satellite-nav>
etc.

Which, after the great reshuffling, currently boil down to the following
much easier to remember and logically derived Google Groups search links:
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.usage.english>
<https://groups.google.com/g/news.software.readers>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.free.newsservers>
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.software.thunderbird>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.software.firefox>
<https://groups.google.com/g/rec.photo.digital>
<https://groups.google.com/g/rec.autos.tech>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.home.repair>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>
<https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general>
<alt.comp.os.windows-11>
<alt.comp.os.windows-10>
<alt.comp.os.windows-8>
<alt.windows7.general>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.msdos.batch>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.os.linux>
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android>
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.ipad>
<https://groups.google.com/g/misc.phone.mobile.iphone>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware>
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.mac.apps>
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.mac.system>
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.mac.advocacy>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.internet.wireless>
<https://groups.google.com/g/sci.electronics.repair>
<https://groups.google.com/g/sci.geo.satellite-nav>
etc.

In summary, I "think" Google _does_ add groups when _they_ see fit.
They just do NOT see fit to add Windows variants as archived groups.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully elucidate group search archival URLs.

On Mon, 27 Mar 2023 21:35:08 +0100
Andy Burnelli <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:

> This was just posted on the Windows newsgroups, but it applies equally to
> those on these specialty newsgroups who search before they ask questions.
> *Web-searchable (read only) Google Groups Archives for this newsgroup*
>
> NOTE: These are deprecated special-purpose "newsgroups" for Mozilla servers
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.general>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.support.firefox>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mozilla.support.thunderbird>
> etc.
>
> Which were copied to the following simpler URLs in the great reshuffle:
> <https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.general>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.support.firefox>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/mozilla.support.thunderbird>
> etc.
>
> Paul wrote:
>
> > Google Groups stopped adding groups, some time ago.
> >
> > It has added a ton of its own private groups.
> > Which nobody cares about.
>
> Hi Paul,
>
> I often run a search before asking questions, and when researching
> issues to help answer others, so I've been involved in this for years.
>
> I think your assumption is not quite accurate, as I have been using Google
> Groups archival links for many years, but I didn't do any explicit research
> so it's just my "experienced assumption" that Google _does_ add groups.
>
> They're just extremely selective about which groups they bother to add. :)
> <alt.usage.english>
> <news.software.readers>
> <alt.free.newsservers>
> <comp.text.pdf>
> <alt.comp.software.thunderbird>
> <alt.comp.software.firefox>
> <rec.photo.digital>
> <rec.autos.tech>
> <alt.home.repair>
> <alt.comp.microsoft.windows>
> <microsoft.public.windowsxp.general>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-11>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-10>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-8>
> <alt.windows7.general>
> <alt.msdos.batch>
> <alt.os.linux>
> <comp.mobile.android>
> <comp.mobile.ipad>
> <misc.phone.mobile.iphone>
> <alt.comp.freeware>
> <comp.sys.mac.apps>
> <comp.sys.mac.system>
> <comp.sys.mac.advocacy>
> <alt.internet.wireless>
> <sci.electronics.repair>
> <sci.geo.satellite-nav>
> etc.
>
> It was well before Google changed their archival links to something easy
> to remember when the "N" archives used exactly those monikers, namely:
> <https://alt.usage.english.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.free.newsservers.narkive.com>
> <https://news.software.readers.narkive.com>
> <https://comp.text.pdf.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.software.thunderbird.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.software.firefox.narkive.com>
> <https://rec.photo.digital.narkive.com>
> <https://rec.autos.tech.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.home.repair.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.microsoft.windows.narkive.com>
> <https://microsoft.public.windowsxp.general.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.os.windows-11.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.os.windows-8.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.windows7.general.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.msdos.batch.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.os.linux.narkive.com>
> <https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com>
> <https://comp.mobile.ipad.narkive.com>
> <https://misc.phone.mobile.iphone.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.comp.freeware.narkive.com>
> <https://comp.sys.mac.apps.narkive.com>
> <https://comp.sys.mac.system.narkive.com>
> <https://comp.sys.mac.advocacy.narkive.com>
> <https://alt.internet.wireless.narkive.com>
> <https://sci.electronics.repair.narkive.com>
> <https://sci.geo.satellite-nav.narkive.com>
> etc.
>
> At the time I had used a combination of N archives & google groups links
> which were the best I could do then to publish web-searchable archives:
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-usage-english>
> <https://tinyurl.com/news-software-readers>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-free-newsservers>
> <https://tinyurl.com/comp-text-pdf>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-software-thunderbird>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-software-firefox>
> <https://tinyurl.com/rec-photo-digital>
> <https://tinyurl.com/rec-autos-tech>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-home-repair>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-microsoft-windows>
> <https://tinyurl.com/microsoft-public-windowsxp-gen> (30-character limit)
> I also had created an easier URL:<https://tinyurl.com/windowsxp-general>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-11> At the time this didn't exist for me to set up
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-10>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-8>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-os-windows-7>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-windows7-general>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-msdos-batch>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-os-linux>
> <https://tinyurl.com/comp-mobile-android>
> <https://tinyurl.com/comp-mobile-ipad>
> <https://tinyurl.com/misc-phone-mobile-iphone>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-comp-freeware>
> <https://tinyurl.com/comp-sys-mac-apps>
> <https://tinyurl.com/comp-sys-mac-system>
> <https://tinyurl.com/comp-sys-mac-advocacy>
> <https://tinyurl.com/alt-internet-wireless>
> <https://tinyurl.com/sci-electronics-repair>
> <https://tinyurl.com/sci-geo-satellite-nav>
> etc.
>
> Note these are all so old they link to the now-deprecated Google Groups
> which had recently been DejaNews archived at that time of formation:
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.usage.english>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/news.software.readers>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.free.newsservers>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.text.pdf>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.software.thunderbird>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.software.firefox>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.photo.digital>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/rec.autos.tech>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.home.repair>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>
>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-11> At the time this didn't exist for me to set up
> <http://www.pcbanter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=52> for Windows 10
> <http://www.pcbanter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=50> for Windows-8
> <http://www.pcbanter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=48> for Windows-7
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.msdos.batch>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.os.linux>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.mobile.android>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.mobile.ipad>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/misc.phone.mobile.iphone>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.comp.freeware>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.sys.mac.apps>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.sys.mac.system>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.sys.mac.advocacy>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.internet.wireless>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sci.electronics.repair>
> <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sci.geo.satellite-nav>
> etc.
>
> Which, after the great reshuffling, currently boil down to the following
> much easier to remember and logically derived Google Groups search links:
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.usage.english>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/news.software.readers>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.free.newsservers>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.software.thunderbird>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.software.firefox>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/rec.photo.digital>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/rec.autos.tech>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.home.repair>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-11>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-10>
> <alt.comp.os.windows-8>
> <alt.windows7.general>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.msdos.batch>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.os.linux>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.ipad>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/misc.phone.mobile.iphone>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.freeware>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.mac.apps>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.mac.system>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.mac.advocacy>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.internet.wireless>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/sci.electronics.repair>
> <https://groups.google.com/g/sci.geo.satellite-nav>
> etc.
>
> In summary, I "think" Google _does_ add groups when _they_ see fit.
> They just do NOT see fit to add Windows variants as archived groups.
> --
> Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
> which, in this case, is to faithfully elucidate group search archival URLs.

Nic wrote:

> There are some of us that view google inc, as becoming too large to
> intrusive, and in general a bu$y body on the internet, and in bed with
> very greedy people, the less of google and the internet will become a better place,

I'm with you that Google is everything bad you said above, where, let's be
very clear, my Android phone has _no Google Account_ on it, and I replaced
all the canonical Google apps with their FOSS equivalents, such as
Google Play Store ===> replaced by the FOSS Google Play store client
Google YouTube client ===> replaced by the FOSS YouTube client
Google GMail MUA ===> replaced by the FOSS Google Email Account client
Google Maps ===> replaced with FOSS offline map routing & traffic
etc.
<https://i.postimg.cc/Bnyr9fP1/account01.jpg> Android works better w/o Google

Because of what you say above about Google, which I agree with, I disable
all the Google packages on my non-rooted Android, and my phone works fine.
<https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFqVwD/updateallapps10.jpg> Disable Google packages

The problem is there are very few Google apps which have no direct
one-to-one replacement, where, for example, I use Google Voice on the iPad
because it does NOT create an account on that iPad (whereas doing so on
Android _does_ create an account on Android, which I refuse to allow).
<https://i.postimg.cc/NG5pHyBx/aurora10.jpg> No need for a Google Account

I do all the necessary privacy based actions, for example, I spoof my
device when I use the FOSS Google Play Store client to scrape for apps.

And even though I use the FOSS Google Play Store client to obtain most of
my apps, I only use it _once_ in my lifetime as I save it all to Windows.
<https://i.postimg.cc/c4PrjSwx/aurora19.jpg> Save all APKs upon install

Which has FOSS software for installing on any Android by sliding it over.
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows

Where my point is that I divorce myself from Google (and Microsoft) as
much as is humanly possible - which - let's be clear - takes intelligence.

Now back to the web-searchable permanent archives...

If you have a _better_ solution than to anonymously search through those
Google dejanews permanent web-searchable archives, I'm all ears.

What do you have to offer?

An example of when I need to search for something, e.g., let's say I want
to display YouTube audio & video from Android onto my Windows PC without
any advertisements inserted by Google, so I know of the "newpipe" keyword.

How would I search the Usenet archives to find threads about that process?

Unfortunately, the only way I know of to access the Windows archives is
to go on VPN and then bring up a web browser and then search the archives.
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>

Here's a search, for example, but it's just one of many examples to test.
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/search?q=newpipe.net>

That search finds four discussions with those keywords in them, e.g.,
*Tutorial: How to wirelessly mirror Android YouTube sans ads onto Windows/Linux/macOS with scrcpy/sndcpy/newpipe running on Android*
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/c/GNjMuBzHt0c/>

For Firefox, or Thunderbird, or PDF, I could just as well have searched
for how to create a PDF of the entire Internet in one step (which, believe
it or not, is possible but I'd limit it to only a few pages of a web site).
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf>

Here's the search for example, of how to create a cross-linked PDF of
an entire web site that can be opened up in Firefox & mailed with Tbird.
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf/search?q=create%20pdf%20of%20web%20site>

In that single search, I found out how to (a) create a cross-linked
accurate PDF of an entire web site that I can go to using (b) Firefox,
which I can then mail to anyone using (c) Thunderbird (by way of example).

How would you do the same search WITHOUT using Google Groups on VPN?
(If you know how, then you're a much smarter person than I am.)

Bear in mind, most Usenet archives are not forever like Google archives are
(although some, especially the payware ones, go back pretty extensively).

But I always propose general purpose free solutions because my goal is
always to help everyone attain the capabilities that I have.

So if you know of a better way than to use the google groups search engine
over VPN without logging into it, then please do let me know how you do it.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully try to solve the Usenet search issue.

On 29-03-2023 04:51 Nic <Nic@none.net> wrote:

> There are some of us that view google inc, as becoming too large to intrusive, and in general a bu$y body on the internet, and in bed with very greedy people, the less of google and the internet will become a better place,

Everybody complains about the weather but nobody does a thing about it.
What do you know that's better for searching usenet articles?
David Knight?

On Tue, 28 Mar 2023 20:27:46 -0400
Andy Burnelli <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:

> Nic wrote:
>
> > There are some of us that view google inc, as becoming too large to
> > intrusive, and in general a bu$y body on the internet, and in bed with
> > very greedy people, the less of google and the internet will become a better place,
>
> I'm with you that Google is everything bad you said above, where, let's be
> very clear, my Android phone has _no Google Account_ on it, and I replaced
> all the canonical Google apps with their FOSS equivalents, such as
> Google Play Store ===> replaced by the FOSS Google Play store client
> Google YouTube client ===> replaced by the FOSS YouTube client
> Google GMail MUA ===> replaced by the FOSS Google Email Account client
> Google Maps ===> replaced with FOSS offline map routing & traffic
> etc.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/Bnyr9fP1/account01.jpg> Android works better w/o Google
>
> Because of what you say above about Google, which I agree with, I disable
> all the Google packages on my non-rooted Android, and my phone works fine.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFqVwD/updateallapps10.jpg> Disable Google packages
>
> The problem is there are very few Google apps which have no direct
> one-to-one replacement, where, for example, I use Google Voice on the iPad
> because it does NOT create an account on that iPad (whereas doing so on
> Android _does_ create an account on Android, which I refuse to allow).
> <https://i.postimg.cc/NG5pHyBx/aurora10.jpg> No need for a Google Account
>
> I do all the necessary privacy based actions, for example, I spoof my
> device when I use the FOSS Google Play Store client to scrape for apps.
>
> And even though I use the FOSS Google Play Store client to obtain most of
> my apps, I only use it _once_ in my lifetime as I save it all to Windows.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/c4PrjSwx/aurora19.jpg> Save all APKs upon install
>
> Which has FOSS software for installing on any Android by sliding it over.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows
>
> Where my point is that I divorce myself from Google (and Microsoft) as
> much as is humanly possible - which - let's be clear - takes intelligence.
>
> Now back to the web-searchable permanent archives...
>
> If you have a _better_ solution than to anonymously search through those
> Google dejanews permanent web-searchable archives, I'm all ears.
>
> What do you have to offer?
>
> An example of when I need to search for something, e.g., let's say I want
> to display YouTube audio & video from Android onto my Windows PC without
> any advertisements inserted by Google, so I know of the "newpipe" keyword.
>
> How would I search the Usenet archives to find threads about that process?
>
> Unfortunately, the only way I know of to access the Windows archives is
> to go on VPN and then bring up a web browser and then search the archives.
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>
>
> Here's a search, for example, but it's just one of many examples to test.
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/search?q=newpipe.net>
>
> That search finds four discussions with those keywords in them, e.g.,
> *Tutorial: How to wirelessly mirror Android YouTube sans ads onto Windows/Linux/macOS with scrcpy/sndcpy/newpipe running on Android*
> <https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/c/GNjMuBzHt0c/>
>
> For Firefox, or Thunderbird, or PDF, I could just as well have searched
> for how to create a PDF of the entire Internet in one step (which, believe
> it or not, is possible but I'd limit it to only a few pages of a web site).
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf>
>
> Here's the search for example, of how to create a cross-linked PDF of
> an entire web site that can be opened up in Firefox & mailed with Tbird.
> <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.pdf/search?q=create%20pdf%20of%20web%20site>
>
> In that single search, I found out how to (a) create a cross-linked
> accurate PDF of an entire web site that I can go to using (b) Firefox,
> which I can then mail to anyone using (c) Thunderbird (by way of example).
>
> How would you do the same search WITHOUT using Google Groups on VPN?
> (If you know how, then you're a much smarter person than I am.)
>
> Bear in mind, most Usenet archives are not forever like Google archives are
> (although some, especially the payware ones, go back pretty extensively).
>
> But I always propose general purpose free solutions because my goal is
> always to help everyone attain the capabilities that I have.
>
> So if you know of a better way than to use the google groups search engine
> over VPN without logging into it, then please do let me know how you do it.
> --
> Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
> which, in this case, is to faithfully try to solve the Usenet search issue.

I don't have a way to search archives, than the retention of a spcific newserver, perhaps this might be the time to begin some sort of de centralised archive platform, where those that want those archives would start thier own archiving process. It might work for non binary/text materials.

mike wrote:
> On 29-03-2023 04:51 Nic <Nic@none.net> wrote:
>
>> There are some of us that view google inc, as becoming too large to intrusive, and in general a bu$y body on the internet, and in bed with very greedy people, the less of google and the internet will become a better place,
>
> Everybody complains about the weather but nobody does a thing about it.
> What do you know that's better for searching usenet articles?
> David Knight?

I think you mean Howard Knight.. http://al.howardknight.net/

Nic wrote:

> I don't have a way to search archives, than the retention of a
> spcific newserver, perhaps this might be the time to begin some
> sort of de centralised archive platform, where those that want
> those archives would start thier own archiving process.
> It might work for non binary/text materials.

Understood. The lack of a suitable general purpose login free
free extensive search engine _other_ than "google groups" search
(which, let's be clear, has nothing, per se, to do with "google groups"
is _why_ it's the best general purpose privacy aware free method
I, myself can come up with.

The reason I brought up that I replace all the canonical Google apps
with their FOSS equivalents was to fundamentally agree with you on
the inherent evil (in terms of privacy) of most Google applications.

But the reason I brought up Google Voice on the iPad (as opposed to
using Google Voice on Android) was to make the point that an intelligent
use of Google applications which have no substitutes, is required.

There are no substitutes that work as well as the read-only Google
Groups archives of most Usenet newsgroups (as outlined in the OP).

There just isn't.

My suggestion?
a. Go on VPN
b. Bring up a web browser that you only use for Google Groups
(for me, that's Firefox but it could be any browser
that you don't find particularly useful for other purposes)
c. Point it to http://groups.google.com/g/<name of newsgroup>
and run your search of that particular Usenet archive.

It used to be that headers were available for those who do not
log into that search engine, but they stopped that so the Howard
Knight archives aren't useful without that message-id information.

If you can find something better, I'm all ears.

Frank Miller wrote:

>> Everybody complains about the weather but nobody does a thing about it.
>> What do you know that's better for searching usenet articles?
>> David Knight?
>
> I think you mean Howard Knight.. http://al.howardknight.net/

I never log into the google groups search engine where it used to be that
you could get the headers, including the message-id, without logging in.

But now you can't get the headers anymore - and I never log into Google
Groups so I don't know if even logging in provides those headers.

Does it?

If someone has logged into the groups.google.com/g/<name of usenet ng>,
can you let the rest of us know if the all-important message-id is given?

Without that all-important message-id, I don't think Howard Knight is
useful as a search engine to provide links for others to follow, is it?

Op 29-03-2023 om 02:57 schreef Nic:
> I don't have a way to search archives, than the retention of a spcific newserver, perhaps this might be the time to begin some sort of de centralised archive platform, where those that want those archives would start thier own archiving process. It might work for non binary/text materials.

That's pretty much what dejanews was before it got into the hands of Google.