Contrary to the name, there is actually very little “news” in the newsgroups. Newsgroups are basically an electronic bulletin board. Depending upon your online-service or Internet Service Provider (ISP), you should have access to about 12,000 newsgroups (currently there are nearly 26,000). With this many newsgroups there is probably at least one out there for everyone.

USENET, the international newsgroup network, is much like the Internet itself…no single agency is in charge. The system connects computers from around the world. The system administrators decide which newsgroups to supply. Very few systems supply all of the newsgroups.

It consists of a set of “newsgroups” with names that are classified hierarchically by subject. “Articles” or “messages” are “posted” to these newsgroups by people on computers with the appropriate software — these articles are then broadcast to other interconnected computer systems via a wide variety of networks. Some newsgroups are “moderated”; in these newsgroups, the articles are first sent to a moderator for approval before appearing in the newsgroup. Usenet is available on a wide variety of computer systems and networks, but the bulk of modern Usenet traffic is transported over either the Internet or UUCP.

There are a couple of methods for finding the newsgroups that will be of interest to you. If you are using Netscape Navigator (in the news window) go to options and select Show All Newsgroups. The newsreader will then display all the newsgroups that are available from your service provider. Be aware, this may take a few minutes to complete. A list of all newsgroups will then appear on the left side of the screen. Simply click on the title of the newsgroups to obtain all of the messages. (The options menu will give you several choices for the sorting of these messages.)

Microsoft’s Outlook and Outlook express also provide newsreaders.

Newsgroups are arranged in subgroups which makes them easier to list. A newsgroup name starts with a subgroup header followed by one or more descriptive words, separated by “.”

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) are an important part of USENET culture. These list and answer the kinds of questions that beginner’s ask, and provide a good introduction to each group. They are often an excellent source of information on the subject matter of the group.

Usenet is many things, here’s a brief list of what it isn’t:

1. Usenet is not an organization. No person or group has authority over Usenet as a whole. No one controls who gets a news feed, which articles are propagated where, who can post articles, or anything else. There is no “Usenet Incorporated,” nor is there a “Usenet User’s Group.” You’re on your own.

2. It is not a democracy. Since there is no person or group in charge of Usenet as a whole — i.e. there is no Usenet “government” — it follows that Usenet cannot be a democracy, autocracy, or any other kind of “-acy.”

3. It is not fair. After all, who shall decide what’s fair? For that matter, if someone is behaving unfairly, who’s going to stop him?

4. Usenet is not a right. Some people misunderstand their local right of “freedom of speech” to mean that they have a legal right to use others’ computers to say what they wish in whatever way they wish, and the owners of said computers have no right to stop them.

5. It is not a public utility. Some Usenet sites are publicly funded or subsidized. Most of them, by plain count, are not. There is no government monopoly on Usenet, and little or no government control.

6. It is not an academic network. It is no surprise that many Usenet sites are universities, research labs or other academic institutions. Usenet originated with a link between two universities, and the exchange of ideas and information is what such institutions are all about. But the passage of years has changed Usenet’s character. Today, by plain count, most Usenet sites are commercial entities.

7. Usenet is not an advertising medium. Because of Usenet’s roots in academia, and because Usenet depends so heavily on cooperation (sometimes among competitors), custom
dictates that advertising be kept to a minimum. It is tolerated if it is infrequent, informative, and low-hype.

8. It is not the Internet. The Internet is a wide-ranging network, parts of which are subsidized by various governments. It carries many kinds of traffic, of which Usenet is only one. And the Internet is only one of the various networks carrying Usenet traffic.

9. It is not a UUCP network. UUCP is a protocol (actually a “protocol suite,” but that’s a technical quibble) for sending data over point-to-point connections, typically using dialup modems. Sites use UUCP to carry many kinds of traffic, of which Usenet is only one. And UUCP is only one of the various transports carrying Usenet traffic.

10. Usenet is not a United States network. It is true that Usenet originated in the United States, and the fastest growth in Usenet sites has been there. Nowadays, however, Usenet extends worldwide. The heaviest concentrations of Usenet sites outside the U.S. seem to be in Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan.