What Is Usenet
Usenet is a world-wide distributed discussion system. Discussions are classified into "newsgroups" with names based on topics. There are eight primary newsgroup hierarchies, known as "The Big-8", but each organization that operates a Usenet server can have their own hierarchy, and many of "The Big-8" have complementary newsgroups in separate hierarchies for different languages, countries or regions.
In it's most basic operation, discussions are posted to newsgroups in the form of articles or messages by people from their computers. Articles then get stored on the local Usenet server and forwarded to all the servers the server connects to. Each of those servers send articles to their peers, in turn, until all the servers in the world, that have that newsgroup, have a copy of the message in their archives. Other things can effect the normal flow of events, for example, moderated groups do not allow messages until someone that has been appointed as the group moderator reviews and approves the article. In this situation, the article is first mailed to the moderator, and if they approve it the normal store and forward mechanism comes in to play.
Users of Usenet are never lacking in subject areas that they would like to discuss. The Big-8 contain newsgroups covering most areas of social interaction, hobbies, professions and general interests. In the rare event you cannot find a newsgroup for something you are interested, it is fairly simple to create a newsgroup in the 'alt' hierarchy, although it is unlikely that anyone will ever read your article. If you are looking for a laugh, there are even newsgroups populated by users whose soul interest is to argue with or complain about other users of Usenet.
On the modern Usenet, the one which mostly uses the internet for connectivity between servers, articles can be distributed around the world in literally seconds. Large binary files, such as pictures or sound files, can be broken up into smaller pieces and sent around the world where the viewers newsgroup browser will re-assemble all the parts and then display an image in all it's original full-color splendor, or play back your music in its original high-fidelity.
What Usenet is NOT
USENET IS NOT INTERNET
This is one of the most common mis-conceptions about usenet and the internet. The internet is a communications medium used to transfer data from one place to another. It can be used to transfer any digital content: Usenet, web sites, images, music and email. Usenet is a communications medium neutral system used for storage, distribution and viewing articles. Most Usenet traffic now travels over the Internet, but in the past it has been transferred using everything from floppy disks to modems. The old UUCP (unix-to-unix CoPy) protocol, developed to allow transfer of files and remotely execute commands on unix computers, used modems for over a decade as the backbone of Usenet.
Usenet is not a company or individual
No person or group has complete authority over Usenet. News feeds are shared with peers on a voluntary basis. What newsgroups are on a given server are controlled by that servers owner, not by some governing body. Not all articles are stored or forwarded by all servers, even if they do carry a specific newsgroup. Because of the proliferation of spam into all our lives, many servers will check articles to see if they are spam and delete them without passing them on to any of their peers.
Usenet is not complete anarchy however. The "Big-8" is moderated by a group which determines what newsgroups can be created, which need moderation, and eventually which ones need to be removed. Newsgroups in the comp,humanities,misc,news,rec,sci,soc and talk hierarchies must be voted on for either creation or deletion. The general public is welcome to comment on reasons for or against a newsgroup, and are also able to participate in an email vote for the final decision about a newsgroup. Eventually, whatever the final decision, a moderator for the particular hierarchy will send out the command to create or remove a newsgroup.
Similar systems are in place for the language, country and regional hierarchies.
The alt hierarchy is the big exception to the above rules, this hierarchy truly defines the term anarchy. Anyone can create a new newsgroup simply by typing the name for the group they want to make as the newsgroup in their article. Not all servers will carry all newsgroups, and most newsgroups created on a whim will never have any other postings, but it is not uncommon. This is why many of the commercial usenet servers boast of have 100,000+ newsgroups.
Usenet is not a right
Some people misconstrue the concept of "freedom of speech" to mean that others are required to listen, or in the case of Usenet, store and forward, what they have to say. By this theory any nut job, racist, bigot, etc has the right to spew their vitriol on the evening news, uncensored, and everyone should be required to watch. This is simply not true, "freedom of speech" means that no one has the right to beat the racists, bigots and nut jobs to death for saying what they believe, but obviously, as is the case with the evening news, they have the right to choose not to air it. Always remember, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" - AJ Liebling
Usenet is Not Just Text (any more)
In it's original incarnation, Usenet was only capable of sending 7-bit US-ASCII files. This was because it was developed to send messages between 2 US universities over modems. As Usenet moved forward the "need" to transfer binary files such as images, and the ability to communicate in other languages using their native iconography required that a method be developed to transfer files with 8-bit and later Unicode content. Using "Base-64", any file can be translated into acceptable 7-bit values, transferred and then rearranged into the original file on the receiving end.
Usenet is Not Porn
After Base-64 got established as a standard for sending binary files over Usenet, human nature being what it is, some users wanted to transfer images, including pornography, and this eventually led to the general publics mis-conception that Usenet was only used to send porn. It is still used, at least in "the Big-8", for the exchange of ideas and discussions, mixed with the occasional flame war.
Brian McCane has operated a Usenet server since 1987 and the first Usenet index web site since 1993. By visiting his website freenews.maxbaud.net you can use his search tool to locate free and commercial servers and/or newsgroups that you are interested in.
