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

[datajerk <datajerk@gmail.com>]

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!