What is Usenet ? You can think of Usenet as a discussion forum where people get together to pour in their thoughts and ideas and discuss stuff on a range of subjects. Usenet, you could say, was here to stay much before the world-wide web came to prevail over human interactions over electronic methods of communication. For those who wonder 'what is Usenet', you could look at it as a basic file-sharing mechanism put in place by folks from the Duke University in the 1970's, where information could be shared, photos could be stored and matters could be discussed on-line. If you have heard of the command line, which formed the basis of communication before the mouse took over the on-line means of communication, you probably have a response to the question, 'What is Usenet?' Usenet has historically been known under the 'pseudo name', if you would like, 'NEWSGROUPS'. However, the name 'NEWSGROUPS' may actually be a misnomer, in that it is not a group that is used for news distribution; rather, Usenet was used exclusively for discussions and file sharing. In line with the client-server mechanism, the Usenet had two parties to its operations – the NEWS READER and the NEWS SERVER. If you are looking for a piece of information on the Usenet and if you use your computer browser to fetch that information located in a server elsewhere, your browser becomes the News Reader and the system that you get in touch with for your information becomes the News Server. What is Usenet as an idea? Usenet is nothing but an enormous global system of communication, discussion and file sharing, where millions of users from around the world get together to discuss their interests in thousands of different groups that have emerged out of hierarchies. The users have a program installed in their systems, which are called 'Clients', which work over the internet to request a program called the 'SERVER'. The Client program called the NEWSREADER connects to a remote server that provides the information requested by the client. The requested information could be in the form of texts or have 'attachments'. When you, as a client, send a piece of information to a discussion forum, you are said to have 'posted' the information. The attachment could be anything, ranging from text or photos or music, software or videos. These are embedded to the text of the articles that you send and are sent across along with what you post. These articles are then shared across the world for other Usenet users to view, discuss and contribute. Problems associated with the way the Usenet was being used have prompted some of the Universities to stop using the service. However, Usenet is still among the most popular uses of the internet. Want to learn more about Usenet and related networking technologies ? The Website http://usenetreviewz.com is Marion Marshall's website where he reviews Usenet and related technologies. Visit and learn about easynews and usenet. Also read my articles at : Marion Marshall's articles and check out my bookmarks at Marion Marshall's bookmarks
Web-based Discussion Groups Versus Usenet Discussion groups have gained in popularity as the need to obtain the opinions of many people from different parts of the world increases. usenet is a system that is well organized and mainly deals with discussion groups whose participants are based all over the world. To use the system, one has to make an effort to learn how it works and get the right program in place to get started. On the other hand, there are web-based discussion groups also known as forums. Most of the message boards or forums are free to use and very easy to access. Whereas on Usenet you will need to use a newsreader, the web-based discussions simply use the browser as the main tool for making it all possible. Most people have now found themselves at a crossroads as to which is best to go with when it comes to choosing either the web-based groups or Usenet. It is always important to weigh the different features each option has to provide to make a good decision. Whereas the web-based groups are easy to access and do not have lots of requirements for a person to begin using them, they are not as permanent compared to what Usenet has to offer. They have fewer options and are much smaller compared to the wide range of information and services the Usenet system has to offer. This makes it apparent that it is much better to choose Usenet if you are to enjoy different options and variety when it comes to the needs of the discussion group. Most people prefer the web-based discussion groups due to the fact that they make it very easy to share ideas and thoughts as well as opinions without taking too long to learn how to use the different tools as compared to Usenet. However, compared to what the latter has to offer to the discussion groups, it is a much better choice although the choice really depends on the preferences of the individual involved. Web-based discussion groups can be used to start private forums. This simply means that you could start a discussion group targeting members of your family or a certain group of people such as friends where you can share different opinions. The same is the case with Usenet, although now with Usenet you also get to share files with a wider majority of people from all over the world, something which most discussion groups are still trying to accomplish. Marion Marshall specializes in writing and advising people on Usenet technologies. By visiting his website http://usenetreviewz.com you can learn about usenet and astraweb. Read my other articles at Marion Marshall's article and also check out my Bookmarks at Marion Marshall's bookmarks. |
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