USENET considered near death

[Julieta Shem]

Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”

Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Source:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

[Andrew]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

[Retro Guy]

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of
Usenet’s developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin,
shrugging off its possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20
years is a great run for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Andrew
That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

Yep. It reads (to me anyway) as, "Google disconnects from Usenet, no way
Usenet can survive without them."

You would think the author would have taken the time to read in some
news.* groups and find out what's going on. My guess is he has no idea
about the spam problem, no idea that people are standing up to maintain
Usenet despite the (basically) attacks from Google. I doubt he has read a
newsgroup in many years, at least not via ggroups.

[The Doctor]

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of
Usenet’s developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin,
shrugging off its possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20
years is a great run for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Andrew
That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

Yep. It reads (to me anyway) as, "Google disconnects from Usenet, no way
Usenet can survive without them."

Bull!!

Post by Julieta Shem
You would think the author would have taken the time to read in some
news.* groups and find out what's going on. My guess is he has no idea
about the spam problem, no idea that people are standing up to maintain
Usenet despite the (basically) attacks from Google. I doubt he has read a
newsgroup in many years, at least not via ggroups.

The ill informed needs an education!

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by The Doctor

Post by Retro Guy
You would think the author would have taken the time to read in some
news.* groups and find out what's going on. My guess is he has no idea
about the spam problem, no idea that people are standing up to maintain
Usenet despite the (basically) attacks from Google. I doubt he has read a
newsgroup in many years, at least not via ggroups.

The ill informed needs an education!

That's true, but why are you wasting your time and mine posting about it
here? Why not email him or pcmag?
--scott

[Richard Harnden]

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of
Usenet’s developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin,
shrugging off its possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20
years is a great run for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Andrew
That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

Yep. It reads (to me anyway) as, "Google disconnects from Usenet, no way
Usenet can survive without them."
You would think the author would have taken the time to read in some
news.* groups and find out what's going on. My guess is he has no idea
about the spam problem, no idea that people are standing up to maintain
Usenet despite the (basically) attacks from Google. I doubt he has read a
newsgroup in many years, at least not via ggroups.

The photo he used to illustrate his artice is a screen shot of Google
Groups - but not of a usenet group - so I think you're right.

[The Doctor]

Post by Richard Harnden

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of
Usenet’s developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin,
shrugging off its possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20
years is a great run for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Andrew
That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

Yep. It reads (to me anyway) as, "Google disconnects from Usenet, no way
Usenet can survive without them."
You would think the author would have taken the time to read in some
news.* groups and find out what's going on. My guess is he has no idea
about the spam problem, no idea that people are standing up to maintain
Usenet despite the (basically) attacks from Google. I doubt he has read a
newsgroup in many years, at least not via ggroups.

The photo he used to illustrate his artice is a screen shot of Google
Groups - but not of a usenet group - so I think you're right.

The Lame stream media does it again!

[D]

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

they want to keep their bosses happy . . . temporality is continually dying,
and the infallible council may continue changing their minds without notice

[The Doctor]

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

Exactly!

[candycanearter07]

Post by Andrew

  Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
   Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

That article totally misses the point, absolutely clueless.

And this is what I was worried about, potential new users seeing this
and writing off Usenet as a dead service. Most people probably didn't
know what Usenet was beforehand..

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by candycanearter07

. . .

And this is what I was worried about, potential new users seeing this
and writing off Usenet as a dead service. Most people probably didn't
know what Usenet was beforehand..

Surely you can find something else to worry about. How about that asteroid
collision that will trigger an apolyptic event?

Can everyone help the O.P. by suggesting things to be overly dramatic
about?

[Julieta Shem]

[...]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by candycanearter07
And this is what I was worried about, potential new users seeing this
and writing off Usenet as a dead service. Most people probably didn't
know what Usenet was beforehand..

Remember that potential users had not even heard of USENET until now
that Google gave it this amazing press (of the new dead thing). We
could discover that people love dead things or things that won't die.
Die Hard was a popular movie some time. Speaking of movies...

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Surely you can find something else to worry about. How about that asteroid
collision that will trigger an [apocalyptic] event?
Can everyone help the O.P. by suggesting things to be overly dramatic
about?

One suggestion that follows-up on yours is to watch Melancholia from
2011. Here's the official trailer:

[Tom Furie]

We could discover that people love dead things or things that won't
die.

That is not dead which may eternal lie...

[The Doctor]

Post by Tom Furie

We could discover that people love dead things or things that won't
die.

That is not dead which may eternal lie...

Exactly!!

[candycanearter07]

Post by Julieta Shem
[...]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by candycanearter07
And this is what I was worried about, potential new users seeing this
and writing off Usenet as a dead service. Most people probably didn't
know what Usenet was beforehand..

Remember that potential users had not even heard of USENET until now
that Google gave it this amazing press (of the new dead thing). We
could discover that people love dead things or things that won't die.
Die Hard was a popular movie some time. Speaking of movies...

Fair enough. I thought USENET was dead too, but looked it up out of
curiosity.

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Surely you can find something else to worry about. How about that asteroid
collision that will trigger an [apocalyptic] event?
Can everyone help the O.P. by suggesting things to be overly dramatic
about?

One suggestion that follows-up on yours is to watch Melancholia from
http://youtu.be/6IZGwvxhXvw

no

[D]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by candycanearter07

. . .

And this is what I was worried about, potential new users seeing this
and writing off Usenet as a dead service. Most people probably didn't
know what Usenet was beforehand..

Surely you can find something else to worry about. How about that asteroid
collision that will trigger an apolyptic event?
Can everyone help the O.P. by suggesting things to be overly dramatic
about?

a cheerful lying in state ceremony could be held after the 22 february
deadline ... here lyeth google2news ... diis manibus ... rest in peace

[Blueshirt]

Post by D
a cheerful lying in state ceremony could be held after the 22
february deadline ... here lyeth google2news ... diis manibus ...
rest in peace

You forgot the 'good riddance' bit...

[D]

Post by Blueshirt

Post by D
a cheerful lying in state ceremony could be held after the 22
february deadline ... here lyeth google2news ... diis manibus ...
rest in peace

You forgot the 'good riddance' bit...

the powers that be are invincible ... no one can fight city hall

[Retro Guy]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023

<snip>

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

I don't think Usenet is going anywhere. google-groups was a false inflation in Usenet numbers. Most ppl there had no idea what is Usenet. I'm guessing some do not understand the notification message they're seeing.

Others are signing up at real news servers. I know I'm seeing an increase in new users on my servers, and I believe others are also.

Usenet may die when the last of us running servers that were Usenet users way back are finally gone. That might not be too long in the future, but a few decades at least.

[Marco Moock]

Post by Retro Guy
Others are signing up at real news servers. I know I'm seeing an
increase in new users on my servers, and I believe others are also.

How much did that since yesterday?

How much in the past?

[Retro Guy]

Post by Marco Moock

Post by Retro Guy
Others are signing up at real news servers. I know I'm seeing an
increase in new users on my servers, and I believe others are also.

How much did that since yesterday?
How much in the past?

My servers are not well known and small, so the numbers are small, but I
see a 650% increase in daily sign-ups yesterday.

[Ivo Gandolfo]

Post by Retro Guy
My servers are not well known and small, so the numbers are small, but I
see a 650% increase in daily sign-ups yesterday.

Me too. Unregistered user's are bored of limit's I have in my
openserver, and asked me to "register" an account via email.
And someone have tryied to "spam" with my server, but he bumped into my
filter on nnrp, and gave me an endless string of errors. I think he got
tired of receiving rejections xD

Sincerely

[The Doctor]

Post by Retro Guy

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023

<snip>

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

I don't think Usenet is going anywhere. google-groups was a false
inflation in Usenet numbers. Most ppl there had no idea what is Usenet.
I'm guessing some do not understand the notification message they're
seeing.
Others are signing up at real news servers. I know I'm seeing an
increase in new users on my servers, and I believe others are also.
Usenet may die when the last of us running servers that were Usenet
users way back are finally gone. That might not be too long in the
future, but a few decades at least.

Spot on correct!

Post by Retro Guy
--
Retro Guy

[Andy Burns]

Post by Retro Guy
I'm seeing an increase in new users on my servers

Where I've noticed any posters saying the end of G2 might mean they
leave usenet altogether, I've been pointing them to a relevant group on
your servers ...

[Retro Guy]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Retro Guy
I'm seeing an increase in new users on my servers

Where I've noticed any posters saying the end of G2 might mean they
leave usenet altogether, I've been pointing them to a relevant group on
your servers ...

I wouldn't doubt that a majority will no longer post to groups that are
part of Usenet. They may or may not be aware of Usenet, but they'll just
move on to other web based forums which will most likely be a walled
garden that disappears when the site disappears.

The chatter in groups over the last couple of months with g-g users trying
to drag ppl to facebook or reddit instead of a real Usenet server shows
how some think.

Btw, when I mention "my servers" I'm really meaning news.i2pn2.org. I
consider the websites that sync with Usenet to be websites (yes, I know
they run on servers :)

At least with my forums, I could turn into a huge a-hole and start banning
ppl, but they could just find all the groups elsewhere, with all the
messages intact, unlike f-book, reddit, etc.

[The Doctor]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Retro Guy
I'm seeing an increase in new users on my servers

Where I've noticed any posters saying the end of G2 might mean they
leave usenet altogether, I've been pointing them to a relevant group on
your servers ...

Those are the cheap spamtrollers!

[D]

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

(using Tor Browser 13.0.6 to open this suspicious link)
https://uk.pcmag.com/social-media/150146/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Post by Julieta Shem
End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
One of the oldest forms of social media fades away a little more.
by Rob Pegoraro Dec 16, 2023
A social-networking fossil looks even more embedded in sedimentary rock now
that Google plans to retire the Usenet gateway it's maintained at its Google
Groups site since 2001.
The news surfaced Thursday in a "Google Groups ending support for Usenet" post
on the Groups help forum. "Starting on February 22, 2024, you can no longer use
Google Groups (at groups.google.com) to post content to Usenet groups, subscribe
to Usenet groups, or view new Usenet content," the post advises. "You can
continue to view and search for historical Usenet content posted before February
22, 2024 on Google Groups."
Anybody who wants to stay current on Usenet will need to find a new client and
network news transfer protocol server-the post advises Googling for help with
those things-while the non-Usenet parts of Google Groups will remain as they are
today.
For those of you thinking "Use-what?", Usenet offered decentralized social
networking starting in 1980, decades before "fediverse" became a 2023 buzzword.
It consisted of a vast hierarchy of threaded forums called newsgroups,
distributed via a store-and-forward architecture that had individual online
services host their own copies of these forums.
This made Usenet open to people without full-fledged internet connectivity; AOL
carried newsgroups before it added web browsing.
Back in the day, Usenet offered a range of user-generated content as vast and as
weird as Reddit ever has, organized in a naming system that began with short
top-level prefixes (for instance, "sci." for science discussions) and then got
more specific (as in, sci.space.history).
Usenet's strangest subdivision was its "alt." hierarchy, which let anybody
create a newsgroup and therefore contained such oddities as alt.pave.the.earth
(people hypothesizing about covering the planet in blacktop) as well as alt.
binaries.* file-sharing groups (in which people uploaded and downloaded MP3s
years before Napster arrived).
Many of the social-media problems that remain unsolved today, like trolling
and spam, surfaced decades earlier on Usenet. But Usenet's ability to connect
widely separated people with shared interests also sparked long-lived
collaborative projects: The Internet Movie Database began on the rec.arts.
movies newsgroup.
Google got into the Usenet business in 2001 when it bought the newsgroups side
of DejaNews, which had developed a usable web front-end to Usenet that let
people read and post in a browser instead of dedicated "newsreader" apps.
But by then, Usenet was already sinking under the weight of abusive or
irrelevant posts that individual users struggled to control with filters in
their own apps-an early case of content moderation tools proving inadequate to
the task.
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the growing
uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet's developers,
"Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run for anything."
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.

[end quote]

[The Doctor]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Google drops, nothing ended.

[Blueshirt]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of
Usenet’s developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin,
shrugging off its possible demise: “Times and technologies
change--20 years is a great run for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

What an ignorant article... clearly written by somebody who never
understood what Usenet actually was and wasn't. Google Groups was
never Usenet. Anybody believing otherwise is just plain ignorant.

[rek2 hispagatos]

Post by Blueshirt
What an ignorant article... clearly written by somebody who never
understood what Usenet actually was and wasn't. Google Groups was
never Usenet. Anybody believing otherwise is just plain ignorant.

I agree 100% also Usenet is having a comeback people is tired of bloated web
pages with trackers and cookies and shit.

[The Doctor]

Post by rek2 hispagatos

Post by Blueshirt
What an ignorant article... clearly written by somebody who never
understood what Usenet actually was and wasn't. Google Groups was
never Usenet. Anybody believing otherwise is just plain ignorant.

I agree 100% also Usenet is having a comeback people is tired of bloated web
pages with trackers and cookies and stuff.

pcmag is out to lunch!

Post by rek2 hispagatos
--
- https://keyoxide.org/A31C7CE19D9C58084EA42BA26C0B0D11E9303EC5

[Andy Burns]

Post by rek2 hispagatos
I agree 100% also Usenet is having a comeback people is tired of bloated web
pages with trackers and cookies and shit.

At best, some old-time users coming back, but I've seen a couple of "If
google goes, I'll probably give-up" responses.

Not many new/young users around ... and I sense the old timers don't
want to invite people who can't find it for themselves?

[Grant Taylor]

Post by Andy Burns
Not many new/young users around ... and I sense the old timers don't
want to invite people who can't find it for themselves?

Are we talking about Usenet and / or mainframes now?

[The Doctor]

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of
Usenet’s developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin,
shrugging off its possible demise: “Times and technologies
change--20 years is a great run for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support
What an ignorant article... clearly written by somebody who never
understood what Usenet actually was and wasn't. Google Groups was
never Usenet. Anybody believing otherwise is just plain ignorant.

Any comment areas?

Nope! time for a SM rant!

[Richard Harnden]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Here's a much better article:

<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/12/15/google-groups-is-dropping-usenet-support-and-that-is-a-good-thing/>

[The Doctor]

Post by Richard Harnden

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/12/15/google-groups-is-dropping-usenet-support-and-that-is-a-good-thing/>

Grand!

[D]

Post by Richard Harnden

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

<https://www.ghacks.net/2023/12/15/google-groups-is-dropping-usenet-support-and-that-is-a-good-thing/>

(using Tor Browser 13.0.6)
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/12/15/google-groups-is-dropping-usenet-support-and-that-is-a-good-thing/

Post by Richard Harnden
Google Groups is dropping Usenet support, and that is a good thing
Martin Brinkmann
Dec 15, 2023
Google
Listen to article 2 minutes
Google announced this week that it plans to cut the ties to the Usenet in
Google Groups. Starting February 22, 2024, Google Groups users can no longer
post content to Usenet groups, subscribe to Usenet groups or view Usenet
content published after February 22.
Native Google Groups content and communities continue to be available, as the
change does not impact them. Google notes further that it will disband its
Usenet infrastructure. These servers can not be used anymore to interact with
the Usenet according to the announcement.
Google explains that activity in text-based Usenet groups has declined over
the years. Large parts of the userbase have moved on to "more modern
technologies and formats". The majority of content that is available on the
Usenet is either binary files or spam, according to Google.
The Spam problem
While Google mentions that spam is a problem, it fails to point out that most
of the spam posted to text-based Usenet groups originates from Google Groups.
In fact, many Usenet regulars started to use filters to weed out anything
that comes from Google Groups as a method to eliminate spam in their
subscribed groups.
The tie cutting is therefore a welcome change for many Usenet users who are
subscribed to text-based groups on the Usenet. Come February 2024, spam will
drop to levels that are significantly lower than current levels.
What users can do about it
The shutting down of the news server is the main problem for users. They need
to find another service that offers newsgroup access. One free option to
access text-based groups is provided by Eternal September.
Besides having to find a new provider, users need to find a new client as well.
Several free clients are available, including Mozilla Thunderbird, which
supports newsgroups. You can check out Wikipedia's list of Usenet readers here.
Content posted before February 22, 2024 continues to be available on Google
Groups, according to Google.
Closing Words
Google ending support for Usenet in Google Groups and disbanding its
infrastructure is certainly disruptive for users who used the service to
interact with the Usenet. On the other hand, it resolves a long-standing spam
problem that Google did nothing about.
Now You: do you use the Usenet?

[end quote]

e.g. double-clicking <news:news.admin.net-abuse.usenet> works great using
a dedicated newsreader, but experts say this does not work in Thunderbird;
also, many usenet news servers have retained all or part of "googlegroups"
posted articles, so they too will have "content posted before 22 february
2024" and with the looming spam void expected after google cuts the chord,
some spam has always come from other servers so who can predict that they
won't do their level best to pick up the slack? troll farms are pervasive

[noel]

Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support Author: Rob
Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support


I agree its nothing like it used to be, but dying?

Past 24 hours Articles In: 74139

[The Doctor]

Post by Julieta Shem

Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support Author: Rob
Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support
I agree its nothing like it used to be, but dying?
Past 24 hours Articles In: 74139

Pcmag is an online rag!

[Julieta Shem]

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support

[...]

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

I agree its nothing like it used to be, but dying?
Past 24 hours Articles In: 74139

Cool info. Is that with or without spam?

[noel]

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support

[...]

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by noel
I agree its nothing like it used to be, but dying?
Past 24 hours Articles In: 74139

Cool info. Is that with or without spam?

I'd imagine it would include some spam that gets past our filters, but I
don't see any in the groups I sub to. It doesnt include anything from
google who are ousted for some time.

[Julieta Shem]

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support

[...]

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by noel
I agree its nothing like it used to be, but dying?
Past 24 hours Articles In: 74139

Cool info. Is that with or without spam?

I'd imagine it would include some spam that gets past our filters, but I
don't see any in the groups I sub to. It doesnt include anything from
google who are ousted for some time.

Great info. Thanks!

[The Doctor]

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support

[...]

Post by noel

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-

support

Post by Julieta Shem

Post by noel
I agree its nothing like it used to be, but dying?
Past 24 hours Articles In: 74139

Cool info. Is that with or without spam?

I'd imagine it would include some spam that gets past our filters, but I
don't see any in the groups I sub to. It doesnt include anything from
google who are ousted for some time.

Great info. Thanks!

pcmag is out to lunch!

[Richard Harnden]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Another article:

<https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/18/google_ends_usenet_links/>

"
Google Groups has announced it will end support for Usenet – a
significant change that undoes one of the early decisions that propelled
the search and ads giant to dominance.

Usenet predated the world wide web by more than a decade and comprised a
federated set of newsgroups – threaded conversations that weren't vastly
different to the format still used by communities like the Linux Kernel
Mailing List. Most newsgroups used the Network News Transfer Protocol
(NNTP) so its content could be shared across the constellation of
servers accessed by end users. Those servers were needed because in the
early days of the public internet it was not always easy to retrieve
info from distant servers without waiting an eternity. And with early
internet accounts usually limited by connection time rather than
download capacity, federated content made a lot of sense.

Myriad newsgroups proliferated, and in 1995 a biz called Deja archived
as many of them as it could find and made them searchable – at about the
same time early search engines like AltaVista and Yahoo! did likewise
for the web.

Deja eventually floundered, and in 2001 then three-year-old Google
acquired its Usenet archive [...]
"

They have an active comments section. The article is currently on thier
home page, so should get quite busy.

[Andrew]

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion. Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

[Andy Burns]

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion.  Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

Not a particularly active thread as far as slashdot goes (or used to go)
more of a "feh, who cares?"

[The Doctor]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion.  Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

Not a particularly active thread as far as slashdot goes (or used to go)
more of a "feh, who cares?"

Shasldimwits!

[Andrew]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe
that crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion.  Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all
already posted and moved on.

Not a particularly active thread as far as slashdot goes (or used to go)
more of a "feh, who cares?"

Look at the comment counts on the other articles, should I change the
Subject above for this reply?
"Slashdot considered near death - USENET".
Remember the "Slashdot effect"? That was decades ago.

[D]

Post by Andrew

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe
that crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet

snip

Post by Andrew
Look at the comment counts on the other articles, should I change the
Subject above for this reply?
"Slashdot considered near death - USENET".
Remember the "Slashdot effect"? That was decades ago.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=slashdot+effect . . . seems the reverse could
happen too, i.e. parroting the popular "official" cover story to attract
the insensate to their mercantile clickbait might also boost their "goo"

[The Doctor]

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
Title: End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
Author: Rob Pegoraro
Date: December 16, 2023
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
In early 2000, I wrote a column for the Washington Post about the
growing uselessness of many newsgroups in which I quoted one of Usenet’s
developers, computer-science professor Steve Bellovin, shrugging off its
possible demise: “Times and technologies change--20 years is a great run
for anything.”
Almost 24 years later, that quote has held up better than Usenet.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion. Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

Stupid as stupid can be!

[Blueshirt]

Post by The Doctor

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who
believe that crap.

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet

Post by The Doctor

Post by Andrew
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I
did weigh in on the Slashdot discussion. Unfortunately it was
around 10 hours after that article was posted and the
ill-informed had all already posted and moved on.

Stupid as stupid can be!

Stupid is as stupid does...

[D]

snip

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion. Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

they are only doing their duty . . . propagating the narrative

[immibis]

Post by D
snip

Post by Andrew

Post by Julieta Shem
https://www.pcmag.com/news/end-of-an-era-google-groups-to-drop-usenet-support

Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion. Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

they are only doing their duty . . . propagating the narrative

Do all Dizum anonymous users appear as "D <***@mixmin.net>", or are
you just one person who is sometimes very intelligent and sometimes very
retarded?

[Richard Harnden]

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion.  Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

I like this reply:
<https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23167544&cid=64095553>

Quoting the whole thing ...

"
The whole article totally misrepresents what is happening.

Usenet relies on distributed servers all over the world. These servers
have administrators and one of their main tasks is to filter out the
spam, they talk to each other - often via usenet - and swap Spamassassin
settings - not via usenet because the spammers are watching there too.
Then you have Google Groups. Around 98% (could be more) of the spam in
usenet gets there via GG, and Google simply does not f***ing care. Back
at the start of November, some groups were getting thousands of
thai-language spam messages a day, all entered via GG. That is when the
admins started using spamassassin and I believe the spamassassin
settings the admins use only check messages entered via Google Groups
(although that could be incorrect), they certainly get a higher weighting.
It got to the stage where the consensus amongst the admins was moving
towards ceasing to accept messages input via GG.
Then someone found a way to get a bug-report into Google's system, I
think some Android developers use Usenet and that was how he managed it.
It was less than a week later that Google decided to drop Groups, in a
few weeks time they will no longer accept postings, not even from usenet
servers where the admins actually care.
Usenet is not dead, what is happening here is that the main vector for
spam is closing its doors. My own opinion is that this was never about
spam, it was a DOS attack on usenet.
The reaction to Google's announcement on the forums (newsgroups) where
this was being discussed was rejoicing.

If anyone wants to look at some newsgroups which were being hit really
hard until the 2nd/3rd of November, try
comp.lang.cobol
comp.lang.fortran
comp.lang.c (36314 spams in the first 10 days of October)
comp.lang.c++
comp.arch
sci.lang.japan
news.cyber23.de
There were a fair number of other groups affected. When the admins
started attacking this s*** they sent "delete" requests out to their
peers so they could take out the garbage themselves, a lot of the
discussion in recent weeks is about identifying false-positives and
tweaking the settings accordingly.
I'm assuming Google ignored these requests so it should be possible to
see the damage there.
"

[Andrew]

Post by Richard Harnden

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe
that crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion.  Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all
already posted and moved on.

<https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23167544&cid=64095553>
Quoting the whole thing ...
"
The whole article totally misrepresents what is happening.
Usenet relies on distributed servers all over the world. These servers
have administrators and one of their main tasks is to filter out the
spam, they talk to each other - often via usenet - and swap Spamassassin
settings - not via usenet because the spammers are watching there too.
Then you have Google Groups. Around 98% (could be more) of the spam in
usenet gets there via GG, and Google simply does not f***ing care. Back
at the start of November, some groups were getting thousands of
thai-language spam messages a day, all entered via GG. That is when the
admins started using spamassassin and I believe the spamassassin
settings the admins use only check messages entered via Google Groups
(although that could be incorrect), they certainly get a higher weighting.
It got to the stage where the consensus amongst the admins was moving
towards ceasing to accept messages input via GG.
Then someone found a way to get a bug-report into Google's system, I
think some Android developers use Usenet and that was how he managed it.
It was less than a week later that Google decided to drop Groups, in a
few weeks time they will no longer accept postings, not even from usenet
servers where the admins actually care.
Usenet is not dead, what is happening here is that the main vector for
spam is closing its doors. My own opinion is that this was never about
spam, it was a DOS attack on usenet.
The reaction to Google's announcement on the forums (newsgroups) where
this was being discussed was rejoicing.
If anyone wants to look at some newsgroups which were being hit really
hard until the 2nd/3rd of November, try
comp.lang.cobol
comp.lang.fortran
comp.lang.c (36314 spams in the first 10 days of October)
comp.lang.c++
comp.arch
sci.lang.japan
news.cyber23.de
There were a fair number of other groups affected. When the admins
started attacking this s*** they sent "delete" requests out to their
peers so they could take out the garbage themselves, a lot of the
discussion in recent weeks is about identifying false-positives and
tweaking the settings accordingly.
I'm assuming Google ignored these requests so it should be possible to
see the damage there.
"

Thank you, thank you (bows).
Yes, I'm Vlad over there. There's a lot of the underpinning technical
stuff I don't understand but I have been following the debates here and
that is where a lot of that posting came from.

[D]

Post by Richard Harnden

Post by Andrew
Slashdot.org is carrying that story today (my timezone) and it is
amazing the number of supposedly tech-orientated people who believe that
crap.
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet
I did not bother complaining to zdnet or the original author, I did
weigh in on the Slashdot discussion.  Unfortunately it was around 10
hours after that article was posted and the ill-informed had all already
posted and moved on.

<https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23167544&cid=64095553>
Quoting the whole thing ...
"
The whole article totally misrepresents what is happening.
Usenet relies on distributed servers all over the world. These servers
have administrators and one of their main tasks is to filter out the
spam, they talk to each other - often via usenet - and swap Spamassassin
settings - not via usenet because the spammers are watching there too.
Then you have Google Groups. Around 98% (could be more) of the spam in
usenet gets there via GG, and Google simply does not f***ing care. Back
at the start of November, some groups were getting thousands of
thai-language spam messages a day, all entered via GG. That is when the
admins started using spamassassin and I believe the spamassassin
settings the admins use only check messages entered via Google Groups
(although that could be incorrect), they certainly get a higher weighting.
It got to the stage where the consensus amongst the admins was moving
towards ceasing to accept messages input via GG.
Then someone found a way to get a bug-report into Google's system, I
think some Android developers use Usenet and that was how he managed it.
It was less than a week later that Google decided to drop Groups, in a
few weeks time they will no longer accept postings, not even from usenet
servers where the admins actually care.
Usenet is not dead, what is happening here is that the main vector for
spam is closing its doors. My own opinion is that this was never about
spam, it was a DOS attack on usenet.
The reaction to Google's announcement on the forums (newsgroups) where
this was being discussed was rejoicing.
If anyone wants to look at some newsgroups which were being hit really
hard until the 2nd/3rd of November, try
comp.lang.cobol
comp.lang.fortran
comp.lang.c (36314 spams in the first 10 days of October)
comp.lang.c++
comp.arch
sci.lang.japan
news.cyber23.de
There were a fair number of other groups affected. When the admins
started attacking this s*** they sent "delete" requests out to their
peers so they could take out the garbage themselves, a lot of the
discussion in recent weeks is about identifying false-positives and
tweaking the settings accordingly.
I'm assuming Google ignored these requests so it should be possible to
see the damage there.
"

23 february 2024 is only 63 days away and counting . . . the predicted
">98%?" spam-reduction could translate into many other servers picking
up at least some of the slack, and beefing up existing troll farms, to
fill the void . . . sort of meet the new boss, worse than the old boss