Re: usenet access and the future of comp.sys.apple2

[alawther@spammenot.mac.com (Anthony Lawther)]

Steven <diespammers@killspammers.com> wrote:

> On 10/26/10 8:55 AM, datajerk wrote:
> > On Oct 26, 12:10 am, Jerry<a2tinke...@gmail.com>  wrote:
> >> My ISP (Telus), one of the biggest in Canada, recently turned off
> >> their USENET feed to the rest of the net.  That is, I can still read
> >> all the old articles on it, but they no longer take in new posts from
> >> upstream servers.  It is only a matter of time and they will turn off
> >> their NNTP server.
> >>
> >> So I may switch ISPs.
> >>
> >> For now I'm using google groups to keep up with the comp.sys.apple2.*
> >> groups.
> >>
> >> I have a hunch, though, that Telus won't be the last ISP to drop
> >> USENET.
> >>
> >> So the reason I'm posting here is to wonder out loud what we ought to
> >> do in terms of keeping the Apple II folks connected, should USENET
> >> cease to be a possibility for more and more folks.
> >>
> >> I recall that there have been threads here about various other Apple
> >> II forums, and the consensus as I recall was to stick with the common
> >> one, usenet.
> >>
> >> So perhaps it's just my problem, but if this is a trend that will
> >> ultimately affect the rest of us, what should we do?
> >>
> >> What other forums currently exist?  At least we should make them well-
> >> known.
> >>
> >> Jerry
> >
> > Maintaining a USENET feed is not a technical or costly challenge.  I
> > imagine that ISPs drop USENET when the one admin that was not
> > technically challenged left and none were left to maintain it.
> >
> > I use a number of other non-USENET forums.  We all do.  And they do
> > have a number of advantages (rich media).  But, they all are
> > centralized, and when gone, they are truly gone.  And, none of them
> > have support for offline usage (that I know of).
> >
> > Mailing lists are another option.  And I subscribe to many.  However,
> > this is something that I wish never happened.  USENET would have been
> > a better option.  However, email is the lowest common denominator.
> > Email is the one thing that you can get on any device, any time, and
> > almost anywhere (even behind firewalls).
> >
> > Given the options I prefer USENET.  It's robust, redundant, can be
> > read offline, and I have been using it since the 80's.  And, I do not
> > see it going away.  Google stepped up.  Many ISPs and other
> > organizations provide NNTP services and always will.
> >
> > I use Google Groups for USENET from my desktop (OS/X).  I used to use
> > Free Agent (Windows), but have not found a good OS/X equivalent
> > (suggestions), so GG it is.  However, on my iPhone/iPad I use
> > NewsTap.  NewsTap is a USENET reader that supports offline and looks
> > great on the iPad (it's a bit cumbersome on the iPhone).  However,
> > NewsTap need access to an NNTP server.  For NNTP I use Xmission.com.
> > It's $10/month for a shell account (and who doesn't want a shell
> > account :-)  All users have access to their NNTP servers.  Will it go
> > away too?  Who knows?  But, I know the founder and know that USENET is
> > close to his heart too (and he is not technically challenged).  I'm
> > not worried.
> >
> > Lastly, as long as USENET remains the domain of anonymous binary
> > exchange, then I do not see it disappearing anytime soon.  However, I
> > could see some binary only NNTP services threatening the existence of
> > text.  But, I see too many that care enough to not let that happen.
> > At least not in my lifetime.
> >
> > comp.sys.apple2.* forever
> 
> !
> Try Thunderbird

I use MacSOUP and currently connect to nntp.aioe.org. It's free, text
only and I've had no trouble with it over the last 5 months. I found it
by Googling "free usenet server"; the first link allowed me to search
for free, publicly available newsgroup servers that carry the groups I'm
interested in. More information can be found at
http://www.aioe.org/index.php?home

I'm in a different situation to the OP as my regular ISP still carries
USENET, but only allows access from the inside and I've been away from
home for work, using a different provider.

Regards,
Anthony.