This is simply a primer and a bit of history on Usenet. If you already know what usenet is, you don't need to bother reading this. This thread goes along with the webbits thread. Sort of an internet searching theme. With webbits you learn to search the www (and parts of the deep web if you tried different combinations). Here you venture into the internet's basements and dungeons to search. Most of usenet is unmoderated. It's a free-for-all. So be warned. There are some things you can't "unsee."
Long before forums... before email... about 10 years before the WWW there was usenet.
Usenet is the world's largest online community, and I'm betting most people here haven't even heard about it. Some of the most important geek topics were started on usenet ( 20 year usenet timeline:
Usenet is basically just a collection of servers (computers) running nntp (network news transport protocol) software, that allow clients (my computer or your's) to download or upload to them. There are no central servers. All of the servers share information with each other.
Usenet is made up of newsgroups. Newsgroups are put into a hierarchies of subjects. Take a quick look at the active newsgroup list and you will see what I'm taking about:
Usenet used to be all text, but with broadband came attatchments. Anything that can be digitized is on usenet (at some point). Any song, movie, software, photo....you name it...it's there. The only problem is that right now, a daily newsfeed is around 8TB (and rapidly growing). That means that 8TB of data or so are uploaded daily. Most large news servers can only keep that data for a few weeks at most, so you have to know where to look, and you have to be quick.
The first thing you need to do is find yourself a news server (or two). It's easy to find a free news server, but they are mostly text only servers. Most isp's either run their own news server or outsource to a company that provides newsfeeds. Check and see if your isp offers usenet access. Even if your isp offers usenet access they might censor out all the "good" newsgroups. A lot of isp's censor out all of the alt.binaries.* newsgroups (alt.binaries.* are where the "attatchments" are posted). If your isp doesn't offer usenet access and you can't find a free server, you might want to try out a premium usenet server. It's usually anywhere from $5 - $20 a month, and worth every penny.
Once you have a usenet account somewhere you will need a news client (news reader). A newsreader looks similar to an email client. I use a program called Pan. If you use Windows or Mac you'll have to find one that you like. Here's a list:
Now that you have a usenet provider and a news client (that you set up properly, following the instructions) you need to find what you are looking for. There are over 90,000 newsgroups, and a lot of the titles are misleading. Google took over Dejanews in the early 90's. Deja used to archive usenet articles for searching. Surf over to
Downloading is an art in itself. Most files are split into multiple parts and encoded. You will have to download all of the parts, join them together and then decode them. I highly recommend reading this beginner's guide:
It isn't as difficult as it sounds. In fact, today, most newsreaders do mostly everything for you. But, you still need to know what you're doing.
For right now, just stick to lurking and leeching. I would highly advise you to steer clear of posting anything. Flaming someone on usenet has different consequences as opposed to here on NB.
So that's the primer. If there is interest in usenet ( more than there was in network security :| )I can get into more advanced searching techniques.
List of active newsgroups:
Archive of usenet articles from 1981 - 1982:
20 year usenet timeline:
Google groups:
Public news servers:
Long before forums... before email... about 10 years before the WWW there was usenet.
Usenet is the world's largest online community, and I'm betting most people here haven't even heard about it. Some of the most important geek topics were started on usenet ( 20 year usenet timeline:
You must be registered for see links
). Almost all of the internet jargon we use today (flaming, trolling, spam, sockpuppets, FAQ, etc.) started on usenet. Emoticons were even born on usenet Usenet is basically just a collection of servers (computers) running nntp (network news transport protocol) software, that allow clients (my computer or your's) to download or upload to them. There are no central servers. All of the servers share information with each other.
Usenet is made up of newsgroups. Newsgroups are put into a hierarchies of subjects. Take a quick look at the active newsgroup list and you will see what I'm taking about:
You must be registered for see links
Usenet used to be all text, but with broadband came attatchments. Anything that can be digitized is on usenet (at some point). Any song, movie, software, photo....you name it...it's there. The only problem is that right now, a daily newsfeed is around 8TB (and rapidly growing). That means that 8TB of data or so are uploaded daily. Most large news servers can only keep that data for a few weeks at most, so you have to know where to look, and you have to be quick.
The first thing you need to do is find yourself a news server (or two). It's easy to find a free news server, but they are mostly text only servers. Most isp's either run their own news server or outsource to a company that provides newsfeeds. Check and see if your isp offers usenet access. Even if your isp offers usenet access they might censor out all the "good" newsgroups. A lot of isp's censor out all of the alt.binaries.* newsgroups (alt.binaries.* are where the "attatchments" are posted). If your isp doesn't offer usenet access and you can't find a free server, you might want to try out a premium usenet server. It's usually anywhere from $5 - $20 a month, and worth every penny.
Once you have a usenet account somewhere you will need a news client (news reader). A newsreader looks similar to an email client. I use a program called Pan. If you use Windows or Mac you'll have to find one that you like. Here's a list:
You must be registered for see links
Now that you have a usenet provider and a news client (that you set up properly, following the instructions) you need to find what you are looking for. There are over 90,000 newsgroups, and a lot of the titles are misleading. Google took over Dejanews in the early 90's. Deja used to archive usenet articles for searching. Surf over to
You must be registered for see links
and use my webbits thread to find what you are looking for. Be patient. Finding the right newsgroups on usenet is time consuming, but once you find what you're looking for, it's like finding the One Piece. You will sh1t yourself when you see what is on usenet. Downloading is an art in itself. Most files are split into multiple parts and encoded. You will have to download all of the parts, join them together and then decode them. I highly recommend reading this beginner's guide:
You must be registered for see links
It isn't as difficult as it sounds. In fact, today, most newsreaders do mostly everything for you. But, you still need to know what you're doing.
For right now, just stick to lurking and leeching. I would highly advise you to steer clear of posting anything. Flaming someone on usenet has different consequences as opposed to here on NB.
So that's the primer. If there is interest in usenet ( more than there was in network security :| )I can get into more advanced searching techniques.
List of active newsgroups:
You must be registered for see links
Archive of usenet articles from 1981 - 1982:
You must be registered for see links
<---yeah I just posted a gopher link U_U20 year usenet timeline:
You must be registered for see links
Google groups:
You must be registered for see links
Public news servers:
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
