swintec , somitho , removed and dbmaven run this FAQ, and may be reached through the message feature here.

This FAQ is maintained as a means to help users and visitors gain a better understanding of the Usenet and the related newsgroups. It is by no means an exhaustive guide, but should be a good primer on getting new users up and running.

swintec , somitho , removed and dbmaven run this FAQ, and may be reached through the message feature here.

This FAQ is maintained as a means to help users and visitors gain a better understanding of the Usenet and the related newsgroups. It is by no means an exhaustive guide, but should be a good primer on getting new users up and running.

Usenet was created in 1979 by two Duke University graduate students; Tom Truscott, and Jim Ellis; as a way for schools and users to have a mail / news posting system without the expense of ARPANET.

To put it simply, Usenet is a non-centralized system for the exchange of data among a huge array of topics, with each topic split up into "newsgroups". What originally started as text based discussion between users, has led to include the exchange of binaries which include music, photos and video files.

No one person or group in particular own the usenet, however anyone is able to maintain there own usenet server should they choose to. To explore the rumors of the so-called cabal, please google search "usenet cabal"; and see 2.3a "Usenet Cabal".

The "Cabal" as it is called was a group of administrators who put order and control during the chaos on usenet during most of the 1980's and early 1990's. This Cabal no longer exists and should not be speculated on. Should you wish to find information regarding the Usenet Cabal of the 1980's or the current rumors of a cabal conspiracy please use Google or refer to this Wikipedia article.

While no one owns usenet, a very small amount of newsgroups are moderated. These newsgroups have charters which everyone, including the moderators, must follow. After a post is made to the newsgroup, it gets emailed to the moderators who will review it and determine if it follows charter guidelines. If it doesn't violate the guidelines, it will then be posted to the newsgroup.

A newsgroup is a discussion group within one of the hierarchies on usenet (alt, sci, free, comp, etc..). When looking at a newsgroup on most newsreaders, the posts generally look like an email inbox and posts when opened look very similar to emails.

In no particular order of preference these are a few of the news readers available for the windows operating system.

- Forte Agent
- NewsBin
- NewsLeecher
- Turnpike
- GrabIT
- MesNews
- Outlook/Outlook Express
- NewsMan Pro
- Xnews
- Opera M2
- XanaNews
- XPN
- Bintube

If you have a news reader you would like included here, please use the feedback form to submit it for addition.

Here are a few assorted Mac news readers. Should you wish to have a newsreader not included in this list added, please add it via the Feedback form.

- Unison
- Opera M2
- OSXNews
- Xnntp
- Hogwasher

Here are a few newsreaders for unix/linux. If you find a news reader that is not included here, and would like it included please submit it via the feedback form.

- TIN
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- Turnpike (Runs under wine)
- KLibido
- KNode
- Knews
- PAN
- Arachne
- Sylpheed
- XPN

The providers listed here, in no particular order or preference are only a small handful of the Usenet providers you could use. All of them provide paid services, and generally have binary retention of 300 days or more. Should you like to add one to this list, please add it via the feedback form for approval.
- Astraweb
- Giganews
- Newshosting
- Usenetnow
- Blocknews
- SuperNews
- UsenetServer
- Bintube
- Binverse

Many ISPs in the past gave access to there customers, in fact it was almost a given that you had access with your monthly subscription. Today, due to political pressure, cost cutting and citing dwindling customer usage, many ISPs have removed this "perk" as an option. A quick News search here on DSLR will bring up many stories over the years of these decisions.

There are still some ISPs that give access to there subscribers, a quick list of known ISPs that do so is below, although it is certainly not all of them out there. Please use the feedback form to add others.

- Charter
- Shaw
- Tek Savvy

Google Groups is a service provided by Google (Formerly known as Deja News) for users to access newsgroups. It only provides text access and does NOT provide binary access; at this time. Users may post from any e-mail address, or there Google Account/Gmail. See Google Groups for further information.

SSL, in regards to a usenet service, is encryption between two points, you and the usenet provider. Its uses are primarily to avoid throttling, and traffic shaping however it is heavily marketed as a means to "protect your activities from prying eyes". This could be debated as to whether it is really necessary or not, but we will not get into that here.

Today, most newsreaders have been updated to support SSL connection functionality and it is as simple as checking a couple of check boxes to enable SSL.

The main SSL port is 563 (nntps), with other alternative ports depending on provider.

If your newsreader does not support SSL yet, you may be able to use STunnel. Read below for the proper steps (which were originally written for GrabIt)
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There is a work around allowing SSL encryption download from the newsgroups if you use Grabit as your client which does not have SSL yet. I have tested it and it works.

Below are instructions for installing and configuring Stunnel for Windows. OSX and Linux users should visit »www.stunnel.org/faq for instructions on how to compile and configure Stunnel.

Stunnel setup (Windows)
Download the latest Windows Binaries from »www.stunnel.org/download/binaries.html and install the program.
After installing, go to "Start>Programs>Stunnel>Install Service". You should receive confirmation that the service is installed.
Next, go to "Start>Programs>Stunnel>Edit stunnel.conf" Stunnel.conf is a plaintext file with all of Stunnel's options. Make these changes:

Find the line ";client = yes" and remove the semicolon ; . A semicolon at the start of a line causes it to be ignored, which you want to override. Add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

[nntp]
accept = 119
connect = secure.usenetserver.com:563

The service name in [brackets] can be anything. The "accept =" field is the port your Usenet client connects to, generally 119. The "connect =" field is the IP/domain and port of the secure server you are forwarding traffic to.

Save these changes and close stunnel.conf.
Go to "Start>Programs>Stunnel>Service Start" or "Run Stunnel". The program's icon should appear in the taskbar.
News Client Setup
These steps are not particular to any news client and should be simple changes in most clients.

Change the server address in the client settings to "127.0.0.1" or "localhost".
Make sure the client is set to connect to the same port used in the "accept =" field in stunnel.conf. This will almost always be port 119.
Save these changes. Test settings by updating headers or downloading an article. When you hover your mouse over the Stunnel icon, it should display "x session(s) active" where x is the number of connections you have configured in your client.

A web reader is simply a web / browser based means to view newsgroups and there associated content. Typically offered as an add-on service to existing subscriptions. For the casual user, web readers can be great as they allow for access no matter where you are, assuming you have access to a web browser.

Webreaders typically allow for the queuing, downloading, extracting and viewing of usenet material.

Some have even been modified to work on cell phone browsers. Typically allowing users to view photos and video files.

Slyck Slyck is a website which is widely respected among the usenet community as providing accurate and detailed information.
UsenetJunkieUsenet Junkie is similarly recognized by the community, such as Slyck.
Usenet PortalSimilar to the above two, for resources.

If you would like another guide/resource published feel free to drop me an IM.