hello

[floofer]

im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>

[Sebastian]

Am 17.06.22 um 23:51 schrieb floofer:

> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>

Welcome to this newsgroup floofer!

[Dan Skunk]

On 2022-06-17 17:51, floofer wrote:
> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>

Welcome! Seems to be a pain for many to set up. :s

[Slime Lowlife]

In article <t8lk17$ej9$1...@dont-email.me>, Sebastian

Howdy! It's quiet these days, but some people are still around.

[uni_rule]

On Wed, 22 Jun 2022 08:33:31 -0400, Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>On 2022-06-17 17:51, floofer wrote:
>> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>
>
>Welcome! Seems to be a pain for many to set up. :s

Even the most relatively easy ways to set this up besides Groups such
as with ES and Thunderbird is a bit of a pain to just find. Nobody
explains it and mentions of Usenet on the broader net are almost
exclusively about paying for binary piracy. Just figuring out where to
go is enough of a hurdle that it even scares away the hipsers that are
usually into old platforms like this. Even telnet is easier to set up,
which leads to a really odd state of affairs where BBS's are more
popular than newsgroups in the current year.

[Freddy1X]

Welcome.
Some of us oldtimers are expecting a revival of AFF any time now.

--
buy one, get one free.

/|>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>\|
/| I may be demented \|
/| but I'm not crazy! \|
/|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<\|
* SPAyM trap: there is no X in my address *

[Anonkitty]

uni_rule <lossanto...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Jun 2022 08:33:31 -0400, Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>On 2022-06-17 17:51, floofer wrote:
>>> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>
>>
>>Welcome! Seems to be a pain for many to set up. :s
> Even the most relatively easy ways to set this up besides Groups such
> as with ES and Thunderbird is a bit of a pain to just find. Nobody
> explains it and mentions of Usenet on the broader net are almost
> exclusively about paying for binary piracy. Just figuring out where to
> go is enough of a hurdle that it even scares away the hipsers that are
> usually into old platforms like this.

Can confirm. I initially set out to join Usenet specifically as a forum
thing out of my curiosity for vintage UNIX stuff yet it still took
me forever to figure out what `.newsrc` and `/etc/nntpserver` even were.

Not to mention Neomutt's obtuse manual being
more confusing than helpful (T.T).

> Even telnet is easier to set up, which leads to a really odd state of
> affairs where BBS's are more popular than newsgroups in the current year.

That reminds me: I'm still somewhat new to Usenet but I'd wager that it's
normal nowadays for 90% of groups to be either ghost towns or overrun with
nutty conspiracy spam, right? Don't get me wrong I like groups like this
one where there's moderate activity but even here, there doesn't seem to be
much point to this place beyond just "we're on Usenet uwu".

[Sebastian]

Am 26.06.22 um 13:53 schrieb Anonkitty:

> uni_rule <lossanto...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, 22 Jun 2022 08:33:31 -0400, Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>

<...>

>
>> Even telnet is easier to set up, which leads to a really odd state of
>> affairs where BBS's are more popular than newsgroups in the current year.
>
> That reminds me: I'm still somewhat new to Usenet but I'd wager that it's
> normal nowadays for 90% of groups to be either ghost towns or overrun with
> nutty conspiracy spam, right? Don't get me wrong I like groups like this
> one where there's moderate activity but even here, there doesn't seem to be
> much point to this place beyond just "we're on Usenet uwu".

There are some exceptions to that 90% spam or ghosttown phenomenon, e.g.
comp.misc, comp.infosystems.gemini, comp.infosystems.www.servers.unix
and this newsgroup, alt.fan.furry.
But most newsgroups are full of spam or haven't seen activity since
years, that's true, sadly.

In another NG someone mentioned that nowadays most people seem to only
use the Usenet for downloading latest series, films and games
anonymously for free, which in my eyes is rather pathetic.

There was a furry NNTP-network once with a fur. hierarchy, by the way.

What I also think is that those who posted here from Google Groups
thought they'll get a notification from Google that there has been a new
post or response in the newsgroup, which Google never implemented, so
those people might think that nobody responded to them and then assumed
that this newsgroup is totally dead.

[uni_rule]

Even the "easy" ways of getting here are still absolutely burried. I
only found out about ES out of coincidence, otherwise I would've
thought you could only get here by paying for a usenet server meant
primarily for binaries. I only found out that Thunderbird was a NNTP
client because of a post /already on usenet/. In the current state of
things no layman will ever get here by accident, and no one really has
any interest in changing that. Not even Google themselves. With
Google's prehensity to kill services I'm surprised groups even still
exists. Not that it's very expensive to run, but just because it makes
them no money.
Sent via Agent on an old thinkpad I dug out an ewaste bin

[Dan Skunk]

On 2022-06-25 8:32 a.m., Freddy1X wrote:
> Sebastian wrote:
>
>> Am 17.06.22 um 23:51 schrieb floofer:
>>> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>
>> Welcome to this newsgroup floofer!
>
> Welcome.
> Some of us oldtimers are expecting a revival of AFF any time now.
>

Seems unlikely when no one can access it. :(

[Dan Skunk]

On 2022-07-03 4:05 p.m., Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:
> On Sun, 3 Jul 2022 14:44:24 -0400, Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com>
> declaimed the following:

> Really? I've been accessing it for decades. Also have ALF in my
> newsgroup list.
>
> Now... If by "no one" you mean the "modern, low-attention span, instant
> gratification" "if it can not be found in a high bandwidth, always live,
> web-browser session then it doesn't exist" type... I might agree.
>
>
Basically that. Telling people to find a server, then configure a client
to connect to it isn't going to work as well as click on this picture
and go.

[Anonkitty]

Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Now... If by "no one" you mean the "modern, low-attention span, instant
>> gratification" "if it can not be found in a high bandwidth, always live,
>> web-browser session then it doesn't exist" type... I might agree.
>>
>>
> Basically that. Telling people to find a server, then configure a client
> to connect to it isn't going to work as well as click on this picture
> and go.

I don't think NNTP users actually want approachability, though. AFAIK
anytime it happened (eternal september, Google Groups and the proliferation
of binary groups) it's been decried and mocked due to the accompanying
influx of spam and the deterioration in quality of discussion.

There seems to be a bit of pride in being the few renegade hipsters that
engage with social media as if it were 1992 and compared to the fast-paced,
chaotic, corporate blunder of modern social media, there actually is a
point to using Usenet, IRC and BBSs over more modern alternatives TBH.

The smarter the system, the dumber the user, it seems nowadays.

[Dan Skunk]

For me, I think I'd prefer the activity over the pride of being in a
shrinking group of hipsters.

[Slime Lowlife]

In article <t9vjc6$1dh4$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Dan Skunk

It's hard to find the optimal point; as soon as something shows signs
of life, you get the spam & hate.

[tom]

On Sun, 26 Jun 2022 15:33:16 +0200

Sebastian <sga...@DIESPAMMERSgmail.com> wrote:

> What I also think is that those who posted here from Google Groups
> thought they'll get a notification from Google that there has been a
> new post or response in the newsgroup, which Google never
> implemented, so those people might think that nobody responded to
> them and then assumed that this newsgroup is totally dead.

People really shouldn't be accessing usenet from google groups. Most
the the usenet spam comes from google and google doesn't do anything
about it so people (including me) just delete and hide any messages
with the google groups headers in our spam filters.

[tom]

On Sun, 26 Jun 2022 15:33:16 +0200
Sebastian <sga...@DIESPAMMERSgmail.com> wrote:

> here was a furry NNTP-network once with a fur. hierarchy, by the way.

I am planning on starting up my own NNTP server and hopefully carrying
a.f.f when I can afford some final hardware upgrades to move my servers
off of the cloud and back into the closet. Peering seems daunting to
navigate.

[Dan Skunk]

Why doesn't google do anything about it? :(

[tom]

On Wed, 14 Sep 2022 21:36:58 -0400
Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> >
> > People really shouldn't be accessing usenet from google groups. Most
> > the the usenet spam comes from google and google doesn't do anything
> > about it so people (including me) just delete and hide any messages
> > with the google groups headers in our spam filters.
> >
> Why doesn't google do anything about it? :(

Because Google is a huge monopoly, Antitrust and RICO Act isn't
enforced anymore so they don't have to care. They don't have any
accountability either, you can't even call them.

[Arlo]

On 6/17/22 17:51, floofer wrote:
> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>

Welcome! I'm also very new, first Usenet post ever.
--
Arlo "Batlam" the Bat
https://batsaregreat.neocities.org/

[tom]

On Tue, 29 Nov 2022 13:00:54 -0500
Arlo <batl...@protonmail.invalid> wrote:

> Welcome! I'm also very new, first Usenet post ever.

>Arlo "Batlam" the Bat
>https://batsaregreat.neocities.org/

>The theme was made to look warm, like coffee and a raspberry muffin on
>a crisp autumn day.

I really like your website's theme! Warm, like foxes. :3 Now I want some
coffee.

[Anonkitty]

Arlo <batl...@protonmail.invalid> wrote:
> Welcome! I'm also very new, first Usenet post ever.

Welcome to Usenet! We've got fluffies :3

Also looking at your signature, I'm surprised that neocities is more than just
an archive of 90s web design tackiness nowadays, but I guess I shouldn't be
surprised to find modern neocities users on Usenet of all places.

[Arlo]

Thanks! Too late for coffee for me tonight, but I'll take a raspberry
muffin.
--

[Arlo]

Heck yeah, fluffies!

There's still a lot of post-ironic GeoCities throwbacks there, but I'm
starting to see some renewed interest in personal websites as an
alternative to big social media networks. It's cool to see sites spring
up that are more expression than eyesore and aren't just a page of links
going elsewhere. I'm also hoping more furries come around to the idea of
having their own sites instead of using Twitter or similar as their hub.
Not terribly likely, but I can dream.

[Anonkitty]

Arlo <batl...@protonmail.invalid> wrote:
> I'm also hoping more furries come around to the idea of having their own
> sites instead of using Twitter or similar as their hub. Not terribly
> likely, but I can dream.

Considering how prevalent furries seem to be in STEM, they kind of already
do, it's just that their projects resemble large (yet insular) social
networks and web apps more than they do some Geocities-style personal page.
Projects like FurAffinity and Barq show that furries build spaces for
furries to gather and exchange, not really to express themselves in isolation.

[Arlo]

I checked out Barq since I'd only heard of it in passing. It's
refreshing to see a furry network distinguish itself from the rest by
purpose - "Use Telegram for general chatting and use barq for Q&A and
discussing a topic," for example. I also like its apparent focus on
finding local connections and organizing in-person activities.

It's true there's a desire for shared furry spaces that personal sites
alone don't provide. Web design is a medium not everyone has a drive to
use, but I'd still like to see some linked from FA pages and the like.
There's cool stuff out there.

[Brian W. Antoine]

And then there are us old farts. :)

[Anonkitty]

I am younger than you may think. I'm just using Usenet because I'm a huge
retro UNIX nerd. It may be the type, maybe the lack of users, perhaps even
some way in which their respective UIs and automations shape user behavior,
but retro intercom systems like Usenet or IRC are just way more laid-back
and civil compared to modern mainstream social media.

[~keith]

Hey, same here! I've heard tales about the ~mythical land of Usenet~,
but I never got around to finding a server & joining it until now. :-P

Anyways, hi Arlo and floofer (and everyone else here)!

[Brian W. Antoine]

Or maybe it doesn't matter how young you are. :)

I've seen people I met here decades ago, grow up, marry, and now I get
to be a bad influence on their kids.

Welcome to alt.fan.furry :)

[Slime Lowlife]

In article <87sfhak...@keithhacks.cyou>, ~keith <ke...@invalid.tld>
wrote:

> Hey, same here! I've heard tales about the ~mythical land of Usenet~,
> but I never got around to finding a server & joining it until now. :-P
>
> Anyways, hi Arlo and floofer (and everyone else here)!

Hello as well. I'm another old fart who comes round once in a while to
see if anyone still remembers this place.

[Agris]

On Thu, 05 Jan 2023 06:41:49 -0600
Slime Lowlife <fa...@email.com> wrote:

> Hello as well. I'm another old fart who comes round once in a while
> to see if anyone still remembers this place.

Hi Keith!

[Nomen Nescio]

uni_rule <very-real-email-i-assure@yo.u> writes:

> With
> Google's prehensity to kill services I'm surprised groups even still
> exists. Not that it's very expensive to run, but just because it makes
> them no money.

Google have one of the biggest archives of Usenet posts, from times when
Usenet was much more popular. Many searches on Google show some Google
Groups post in the first few results. Once people click on it, Google
get some metadata about their searches, plus shows them some ads. So,
maybe they still make some money out of newsgroups. Not much, but still.

[Nomen Nescio]

"Anonkitty" <anon...@nowhere.invalid> writes:

> That reminds me: I'm still somewhat new to Usenet but I'd wager that it's
> normal nowadays for 90% of groups to be either ghost towns or overrun with
> nutty conspiracy spam, right? Don't get me wrong I like groups like this
> one where there's moderate activity but even here, there doesn't seem to be
> much point to this place beyond just "we're on Usenet uwu".

Depends on what you like to discuss. Check these:

alt.atheism
talk.politics.guns
talk.politics.misc
rec.arts.tv
rec.food.cooking
alt.arts.poetry.comments
uk.d-i-y
alt.computer.workshop
alt.home.repair
comp.os.linux.advocacy
sci.electronics.design
soc.retirement
alt.slack
alt.comp.os.windows-10
talk.origins
misc.phone.mobile.iphone
comp.mobile.android
rec.music.rock-pop-r+b.1950s
comp.arch
comp.os.vms
comp.lang.python
comp.lang.c
comp.lang.c++
alt.comp.freeware
sci.crypt
comp.os.linux.misc
comp.sys.mac.advocacy

et cetera

[Coyo]

On Fri, 17 Jun 2022 21:51:01 +0000
floofer <floofe...@gmail.invalid> wrote:

> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>

Emacs and cheese.

[Coyo]

On Tue, 29 Nov 2022 13:00:54 -0500
Arlo <batl...@protonmail.invalid> wrote:

> On 6/17/22 17:51, floofer wrote:
> > im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>
>
> Welcome! I'm also very new, first Usenet post ever.

Bat detected, dispensing brushies.

[Coyo]

On Thu, 05 Jan 2023 06:41:49 -0600
Slime Lowlife <fa...@email.com> wrote:

Not dead yet.

[Coyo]

Not like "modern" web is any better. Gopher and Gemini better.

[Coyo]

I've got a personal site on SDF, but once I have a bit more money I'll
have a site. Considering the impermanence of the web, it's best to keep
it as a portable archive.

[Coyo]

FurAffinity was bought out by IMVU. IMVU is basically owned by China.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/25/imvu-35-million-funding/

Don't use something owned by China. Especially if you're Chinese!

Censorship is bad.

[Coyo]

On Fri, 16 Dec 2022 14:45:18 -0000 (UTC)

TikTok furries, am I right?

[Coyo]

On Mon, 26 Dec 2022 17:05:14 -0800

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFaoLPPRGc&list=PLop3s1hMlSJKXqmuFjK7gbJh2WAyllTTY&index=3

Reject Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Onlyfans,

welcome to the Desert of the Real.

[Coyo]

On Wed, 22 Jun 2022 08:33:31 -0400
Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On 2022-06-17 17:51, floofer wrote:
> > im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>
>

> Welcome! Seems to be a pain for many to set up. :s

Emacs lisp is not for everyone.

[Coyo]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:11:57 -0400
uni_rule <lossanto...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 22 Jun 2022 08:33:31 -0400, Dan Skunk <dans...@hotmail.com>

> wrote:
>
> >On 2022-06-17 17:51, floofer wrote:
> >> im new to this. it was a pain for me to set up in <gnus>
> >
> >Welcome! Seems to be a pain for many to set up. :s

> Even the most relatively easy ways to set this up besides Groups such
> as with ES and Thunderbird is a bit of a pain to just find. Nobody
> explains it and mentions of Usenet on the broader net are almost
> exclusively about paying for binary piracy. Just figuring out where to
> go is enough of a hurdle that it even scares away the hipsers that are
> usually into old platforms like this. Even telnet is easier to set up,
> which leads to a really odd state of affairs where BBS's are more
> popular than newsgroups in the current year.

The ironic thing is that Usenet is actually pretty new, compared to
even older networks. Usenet evolved from UUCPnet, and wasn't really
possible in its current form without high speed NNTP (TCP/IP)
connections over the big-I Internet.

Before NNTP, you had to dial over the phone between UUUCPnet servers to
exchange netmail. The UUCP G protocol was elaborate and bulky, so you
needed a relatively stable and high speed copper line for it. While
most of us who remember dialup remember the AOL 56k modems, there was a
time when you felt blessed by the stars if you could get 33 baud.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XLZ4Z8LpEE behold the 1930s era boudot
code teletype. Do you feel old yet?

[tom]

On Tue, 20 Jun 2023 07:58:32 -0500
Coyo <co...@spammers-belong-in.hell> wrote:

> FurAffinity was bought out by IMVU. IMVU is basically owned by China.
>
> https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/25/imvu-35-million-funding/
>
> Don't use something owned by China. Especially if you're Chinese!
>
> Censorship is bad.

Didn't they buy it back and mismanage it again?

[tom]

On Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:10:08 -0500
Coyo <co...@spammers-belong-in.hell> wrote:

> The ironic thing is that Usenet is actually pretty new, compared to
> even older networks. Usenet evolved from UUCPnet, and wasn't really
> possible in its current form without high speed NNTP (TCP/IP)
> connections over the big-I Internet.
>
> Before NNTP, you had to dial over the phone between UUUCPnet servers
> to exchange netmail. The UUCP G protocol was elaborate and bulky, so
> you needed a relatively stable and high speed copper line for it.
> While most of us who remember dialup remember the AOL 56k modems,
> there was a time when you felt blessed by the stars if you could get
> 33 baud.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XLZ4Z8LpEE behold the 1930s era
> boudot code teletype. Do you feel old yet?

Do you know how I could do UUCP peering today?

[Nomen Nescio]

>> Usenet evolved from UUCPnet, and wasn't really possible in its current
>> form without high speed NNTP (TCP/IP) connections over the big-I Internet.

Why?

>> Before NNTP, you had to dial over the phone between UUUCPnet servers
>> to exchange netmail. The UUCP G protocol was elaborate and bulky, so
>> you needed a relatively stable and high speed copper line for it.

> Do you know how I could do UUCP peering today?

http://sdf.org/?join