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Usenet Basics (N=Newbies Only; E=Everybody; T=Techies Only)

How It Works
Each part of the Internet was designed to carry certain types of data; that is, they use different "transfer protocols." For instance: Usenet articles are sent from one news server to another much like email, via Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP). The articles I post to my server are forwarded to my server's "mailing list" of other news servers, which then send the articles to their list of servers, and so on. Usenet articles ripple out from the originating site, taking varying amounts of time and various routes to travel to you.

Since posted articles are treated like email, Usenet was never meant to handle binary material; just ASCII text. To work around this, early net gods devised ways of converting (encoding) binaries into text for posting to "bulletin boards" (the ancestors of Usenet), and then back to their original binary form (decoding) after downloading. Many encoding schemes are available, but UUencode/UUdecode is the accepted Usenet standard. A good newsreader can detect binaries and perform all of the encoding/decoding for you. Many email programs do the same, enabling you to send binary files via SMTP, converted into ASCII.

Pieces of information traveling over the Internet are called packets. Mail and news servers have packet size limits, which vary widely. Many binary files (programs, sounds, multimedia) are quite large when encoded. In order to handle this situation, Usenet provides that large articles can be broken into several pieces and linked together. We call these multipart posts. More about all this later on in the downloading section.

Netiquette in Large Binaries Newsgroups
  1. [N] LOOK FOR A FAQ before you post even a single question. In most newsgroups that provide them, the FAQ is posted only about twice a month.

  2. [N] LURK AND LEECH for at least a few weeks before posting anything, including questions. Find out what's welcome or taboo first. Observing a while will also help you avoid the mistake of duplicating very recent or tired posts by rushing to contribute without knowing the group's history.

  3. [N] RTFM (read the freakin' manual). Learn how to use your computer, software and basic Internet tools like search engines. While others are willing to help out, don't expect to be spoonfed. Even if you're not a newbie, you can get up to speed on any area of the Net that is new ground to you with these free resources:

  4. [N] DON'T SHOUT unless you mean it, and then you better be right, eh? In posts and email, THIS IS SHOUTING. Turn off that caps lock.

  5. [E] CONSERVE BANDWIDTH, loosely defined as the amount of information that can flow through a channel. All Usenet resources are limited. The ever-increasing demands on news servers have led to tons of lost posts, shorter retention times and dropped newsgroups. Wasting bandwidth is the Usenet equivalent of littering -- there's really no excuse for it and it hurts the whole community, especially in terms of allocating resources. Please remember that the majority of users are still on dial-up lines. Bandwidth wasters are:
Spam and Scams
  1. [E] Responding to spam makes you a spammer, too (surprise!). Besides, you don't think those mass advertisers are actually reading the newsgroups, do you? Replying to their posts is the equivalent of talking back to a recording on the telephone. There's no need to post a spam alert, either. Anyone with a few hours of Usenet experience can recognize it as well as you can.

  2. [E] Another type of spam is an off-topic discussion that just won't die out, especially if YOU perpetuate it. These usually start with a "troll" -- an inflammatory or controversial remark intended to lure responses and clog up the system.

  3. [E] If you're in a fighting mood, learn what you can do about spam by reading news.admin.net-abuse.usenet and by searching for "antispam" on the web or in DejaNews, an archive for Usenet posts (http://www.deja.com)

  4. [N] "Make money fast" pyramid schemes are not only illegal, they're outright stupid, since you have to post your name and address in order to participate. Expect a lot of trouble but zero cash. These posts also qualify for instant cancellation by Usenet administrators.

The Myth of Anonymity
  1. [N] There's enough information in the headers of your posts for the authorities to identify you, even if you use a fake name and email address.

  2. [N] To the wise guys: You'd be amazed at how cooperative your Internet Service Provider can be about closing an account and sharing information with law enforcement agencies. They'd rather lose your small fee than harbor a criminal or troublemaker. In Usenet, behave like you're in a public place and under scrutiny, because you are.

  3. [N] To the good guys: Since the "information superhighway" is public, you may encounter the same type of population mix you'd meet on any busy cosmopolitan thoroughfare, including con artists, thieves and psychopaths. You'd be wise to keep your real identity out of Usenet. No need to make it easy for them.
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