OT: What replaces usenet?

[Dave]

OK, now that the anti-free-speech nazis have crippled usenet in the name of
protecting the children, what will replace usenet?

I know there are lots of web-based forums on specific subjects, but that
doesn't seem like a good alternative. Web pages load slow, and no specific
forum is going to attract enough traffic to be useful.

Traffic on usenet seems to have dropped about 80% or so now that some majors
aren't even peering.

This sucks.

If people were so concerned about child porn, why couldn't they just have
disabled binary posts, and all posts of any kind larger than about 10K?
This would have taken usenet back to TEXT ONLY, which is the way it should
be. And the text groups like this one would still have enough participation
to be useful.

There has to be a text-only replacement for usenet. What is it? If it
doesn't exist, can we create one? -Dave

 

[Ed Cregger]

OK, now that the anti-free-speech nazis have crippled usenet in the name
of
protecting the children, what will replace usenet?

I know there are lots of web-based forums on specific subjects, but that
doesn't seem like a good alternative. Web pages load slow, and no
specific
forum is going to attract enough traffic to be useful.

Traffic on usenet seems to have dropped about 80% or so now that some
majors
aren't even peering.

This sucks.

If people were so concerned about child porn, why couldn't they just have
disabled binary posts, and all posts of any kind larger than about 10K?
This would have taken usenet back to TEXT ONLY, which is the way it should
be. And the text groups like this one would still have enough
participation
to be useful.

There has to be a text-only replacement for usenet. What is it? If it
doesn't exist, can we create one? -Dave

You don't understand, Dave. The goal is to prevent open communication
between the masses. There will be no common areas of communication that are
capable of distributing information, or organizing political rallies. An
ignorant populace is a controllable populace.

Damn I'm glad I'm old and in poor health. I pit the generations to come.
They will not have any idea of how nice it was to be free. It's a pity, it
really is.

Isn't it amazing what you can get away with if you use only two phrases.

1. "It's for the children"
2. "It's for national security"

I was born in 1946 and I've seen this country change from a democratic
republic to being ruled by multinational corporations. No matter how we
voted, we ended up with the same group of folks with the same goals that
were against "We The People".

Yeah, I know. The kids will read this and snicker. Like I said, they have no
idea of what they are missing. Unfortunately, there is no way that I can
think of that could convey the feeling of being free and thinking that your
destiny was in your own hands. Those days are gone.

I'm too damned old and screwed up to do what needs to be done. Your only
hope for some uncontrolled communications is to get your ham ticket and get
into data transmissions. There once were national bulletin boards and a
packet radio system that could support usenet type groups. The test to get
your license is so easy it is pathetic. No electronics involved. Just 25
common sense questions that anyone could pass with just a weekend of
studying the manual. You'd better get your shit together fast, before the
powers that be screw that up completely on purpose. They want you to be
sheeple.

The Russian people overthrew the Soviet government without firing a single
shot. You too can overthrow this group of gangsters without firing a shot or
breaking the law. Trust me. I'm right on this.

I am not openly advocating the overthrow of our government. I am saying to
stay within the law and vote these bastards out of office. All of them.

Ed Cregger

 

[Dave]

I am not openly advocating the overthrow of our government. I am saying to
stay within the law and vote these bastards out of office. All of them.

Ed Cregger

How can you vote the bastards out of office, when your choice is bastard R
or bastard D???

I think the only way things are going to get better is if we ditch the
representative democracy and convert to a direct democracy.

If you study the history of the U.S., you'll find that there was a GOOD
reason we organized our government as a representative democracy. That
reason no longer exists.

Considering that the representatives aren't even pretending to represent us
anymore, why don't we just re-organize as a direct democracy?

OK, I'd better check out of the motel now before the jack-booted thugs break
down the door. I'm not joking, unfortunately. -Dave

 

[Conor]

OK, now that the anti-free-speech nazis have crippled usenet in the name of
protecting the children, what will replace usenet?

Why, what's the problem? It's fine here.

 

[jaster]

. . .


Before Usenet there were numerous networks of privately run dial-up
Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes). One of the biggest ones, FIDO, even
migrated and still exists on Usenet.

Maybe we'll have to dig up our old BBS software and fire it up. I've
still got mine!

I think that's the right answer. Either restart the old BBS systems or
pay newsgroup providers, like GigaNews, start hosting the newsgroups
themselves and hosting outside of US territory and restrictions.

 

[jaster]

Why, what's the problem? It's fine here.

It depends on you ISP server and news server.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

A p2p kind of usenet comes to mind

Lots of work to make something like that though... and then the question
is... will people start using it or not

Maybe a transition would be best

So far usenet seems far from dead

Bye,
Skybuck.

 

[John Doe]

Dave wrote:

It's referred to as a "duopoly". They take turns.

I think term limits would be ok,

They vote against term limits. The issue came up after Republicans
took control of Congress in 1994. It's been dead since then.
Searching for citations I found a quote "Bring up term limits and
they cringe like Dracula at the sight of a cross."

 

[John Doe]

Why, what's the problem? It's fine here.

It's fine here too. But I do think there is a potential threat, very
much similar to what Dave describes. Has to do with the one-way media
versus communications. The one-way media is still a very powerful
force and probably doesn't like the idea of sharing power with
ordinary people who can through USENET mass communicate without having
to go through someone holding a microphone or moderating a website
forum. Notice Time Warner reacted much more strongly than AT&T. Time
Warner has always been a one-way media company while AT&T has been a
communications company. Before Time Warner axed USENET, Time Warner
censored text posts for content. At the same time, AT&T's less
restrictive reaction is easy to understand, they want to reduce server
usage, to save money, so they have eliminated binary posts.

I don't think they will succeed without a major fight. If those things
do come to pass, the USENET will go out with a bang instead of a
whimper.

 

[Robin Bignall]

It depends on you ISP server and news server.

Use an international news server. News.individual.net costs 10 euros
a year.

 

[Franc Zabkar]

OK, now that the anti-free-speech nazis have crippled usenet in the name of
protecting the children, what will replace usenet?

I know there are lots of web-based forums on specific subjects, but that
doesn't seem like a good alternative. Web pages load slow, and no specific
forum is going to attract enough traffic to be useful.

Traffic on usenet seems to have dropped about 80% or so now that some majors
aren't even peering.

I don't think there's been a conscious effort by the powers-that-be to
cripple Usenet. It's just that web based forums have taken over due to
the overwhelming ignorance of the average Internet user. Furthermore,
I doubt that any ISP likes to provide the massive storage resources
required to host thousands of newsgroups, so it's no surprise that no
ISP actively promotes their Usenet service.

What I find particularly annoying is those web forums that pilfer
Usenet content and make it look like their own, and then ask you to
register to view it.

- Franc Zabkar

 

[Dave]

I don't think there's been a conscious effort by the powers-that-be to
cripple Usenet. It's just that web based forums have taken over due to
the overwhelming ignorance of the average Internet user.

OK, are there any GOOD web based forums? I would define good as, pages load
FAST, interface is intuitive (not requiring a "help" button), posts are
totally UNmoderated and uncensored, anyone can post without registering
first, plenty of participation and most posts are on topic. Do these exist?
I don't care about the subject. I'm just wondering if any web based forum
could ever come close to being as useful as usenet. Somehow I doubt it.
But any web based forum that complied with all of my specs listed above
MIGHT come close.

Furthermore,
I doubt that any ISP likes to provide the massive storage resources
required to host thousands of newsgroups, so it's no surprise that no
ISP actively promotes their Usenet service.

I've thought (seriously) of setting up my own usenet server, at home. I've
got the technical know-how to do it. What I'm lacking is time. That, and
the bandwidth. I'm not sure how I'd pay for the bandwidth. But storage
resources? I don't care how many terabytes is required, choose a number and
I'll build it. Several times over. (redundancy, y'know) And no Asus crap,
as I'll want it to be RELIABLE. It will of course be running linux then.
I'd be surprised if there's not a dedicated usenet server distro already.

What I find particularly annoying is those web forums that pilfer
Usenet content and make it look like their own, and then ask you to
register to view it.

- Franc Zabkar

And people fall for that? It would be humorous if it wasn't so
athetic. -Dave

 

[Dave]

How can you vote the bastards out of office, when your choice is bastard
R

I think term limits would be ok

I don't. Moving one year at a time in the wrong direction is no better than
moving 4 years at a time in the wrong direction.

, and also a rule that no lawyers can run
for office..

That's a little harsh. I don't like lawyers much either, but if I truly
believed that one could represent the peoples' interests well, I'd vote for
him.
But the way I see it, representative democracy simply does not work, as the
only way you get to be a representative is to be filthy rich...and thus no
representative will ever vote the will of the populace. -Dave

 

[Dave]

A p2p kind of usenet comes to mind

Holy shit. After all the crap skybuck posts, he comes up with an idea that
is ****ING BRILLIANT!!!

Lots of work to make something like that though... and then the question
is... will people start using it or not

Billions of linux fanatics around the world (including me) would love to dig
our teeth into this. Unfortunately, it's a bit above my head. I'm good
with hardware and OS and apps, not so good with programming. Somebody
please write the code for this? -Dave

 

[Dave]

The Usenet I'm using is the same Usenet that I used 12 years ago.
If people can't be arsed to get a Usenet account not provided by
their ISP, screw 'em.

Bill - You haven't noticed yet, but traffic on all text-only groups has
dramatically declined. I'm not talking less SPAM, I'm talking less overall
volume. Less volume is a snowball type of thing. Imagine if traffic to
this particular group dropped to say, 2 - 3 posts a week. How useful would
the group be then? You and I could post, but who would answer? You see
this as a problem for other people who are too stupid or lazy to seek usenet
service outside their ISP. I see this as a problem for usenet in general.
The goal was admirable. The method is extreme, though. -Dave

 

[david]

There has to be a text-only replacement for usenet. What is it? If it
doesn't exist, can we create one? -Dave

Some short-sighted ISPs have stopped carrying it. There are still ways
to access Usenet traffic, some of them free, some of them not.

 

[Dave]

Some short-sighted ISPs have stopped carrying it. There are still ways
to access Usenet traffic, some of them free, some of them not.

Yes, but the point is, with all the reduced traffic, is it going to be worth
accessing, free or not? -Dave

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "Dave"

Yes, but the point is, with all the reduced traffic, is it going to be worth
accessing, free or not? -Dave

You're still here.

(And yes, so am I)

 

[Dave]

Yes, but the point is, with all the reduced traffic, is it going to be
worth

You're still here.

(And yes, so am I)

And new music is still released on vinyl, believe it or not. -Dave

 

[david]

Yes, but the point is, with all the reduced traffic, is it going to be
worth accessing, free or not? -Dave

Not all groups are as troll-infested as this one.