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Google Groups ending support for Usenet
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Nomen Nescio
Dec 17, 2023, 8:36:54 PM12/17/23
to
Google Groups ending support for Usenet
https://support.google.com/groups/answer/11036538?visit_id=638381921477344227-87081626&p=usenet&rd=1
If you work with Usenet groups in Google Groups, support for these groups is ending soon.
What’s changing?
Starting on February 22, 2024, you can no longer use Google Groups (at groups.google.com) to post content to Usenet groups, subscribe to Usenet groups, or view new Usenet content. You can continue to view and search for historical Usenet content posted before February 22, 2024 on Google Groups.
In addition, Google’s Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) server and associated peering will no longer be available, meaning Google will not support serving new Usenet content or exchanging content with other NNTP servers.
This change will not impact any non-Usenet content on Google Groups, including all user and organization-created groups. Most of the current Google Groups content is not Usenet content and will not be affected.
What do I need to do?
If you don’t actively engage with Usenet content, you don’t need to do anything. Current Usenet users will need to do two things before February 22, 2024 if they want to continue engaging with Usenet content:
Find a new Usenet client. Several free and paid alternatives are available, both web-based and application-based. To find a client, do a web search for "how do I find a usenet text client"
Find a new public Usenet server. The new client you choose will likely have a default server or a set of curated options for you. If not, to find a server, do a web search for "public NNTP servers."
Because Usenet is a distributed system, you do not need to migrate data. All of the Usenet content you can access today on Google Groups should already be synced to the new server you choose. After you select a new client and server, you can reselect the groups you’re interested in.
Why is Google Groups support for Usenet ending?
Over the last several years, legitimate activity in text-based Usenet groups has declined significantly because users have moved to more modern technologies and formats such as social media and web-based forums. Much of the content being disseminated via Usenet today is binary (non-text) file sharing, which Google Groups does not support, as well as spam.
**
https://support.google.com/groups/answer/11036538?visit_id=638381921477344227-87081626&p=usenet&rd=1
If you work with Usenet groups in Google Groups, support for these groups is ending soon.
What’s changing?
Starting on February 22, 2024, you can no longer use Google Groups (at groups.google.com) to post content to Usenet groups, subscribe to Usenet groups, or view new Usenet content. You can continue to view and search for historical Usenet content posted before February 22, 2024 on Google Groups.
In addition, Google’s Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) server and associated peering will no longer be available, meaning Google will not support serving new Usenet content or exchanging content with other NNTP servers.
This change will not impact any non-Usenet content on Google Groups, including all user and organization-created groups. Most of the current Google Groups content is not Usenet content and will not be affected.
What do I need to do?
If you don’t actively engage with Usenet content, you don’t need to do anything. Current Usenet users will need to do two things before February 22, 2024 if they want to continue engaging with Usenet content:
Find a new Usenet client. Several free and paid alternatives are available, both web-based and application-based. To find a client, do a web search for "how do I find a usenet text client"
Find a new public Usenet server. The new client you choose will likely have a default server or a set of curated options for you. If not, to find a server, do a web search for "public NNTP servers."
Because Usenet is a distributed system, you do not need to migrate data. All of the Usenet content you can access today on Google Groups should already be synced to the new server you choose. After you select a new client and server, you can reselect the groups you’re interested in.
Why is Google Groups support for Usenet ending?
Over the last several years, legitimate activity in text-based Usenet groups has declined significantly because users have moved to more modern technologies and formats such as social media and web-based forums. Much of the content being disseminated via Usenet today is binary (non-text) file sharing, which Google Groups does not support, as well as spam.
**
Kairu Hakubi
Dec 19, 2023, 2:52:34 PM12/19/23
to
I knew it would come someday. Every part of the old internet must be erased to make room for the new world order.
So this means we're screwed right? No more communication, no organization, and none of the replacement projects are ready
So this means we're screwed right? No more communication, no organization, and none of the replacement projects are ready
Santayana
Dec 19, 2023, 8:09:32 PM12/19/23
to
On Tue, 19 Dec 2023 11:52:30 -0800 (PST), Kairu Hakubi <sixsided...@gmail.com> said:
> I knew it would come someday. Every part of the old internet must be
> erased to make room for the new world order.
Hardly. This is just Google being Google -- meaning that that they're adding
> I knew it would come someday. Every part of the old internet must be
> erased to make room for the new world order.
yet *another* project to their already overly-long list of binned projects.
Usenet was here BEFORE Google, and will continue to be here AFTER Google.
> So this means we're screwed right? No more communication, no organization,
> and none of the replacement projects are ready
All that you've got to do is to go back to the way that people used to
access Usenet back in the day before Google (and Google Groups) came along.
(FWIW, some of us have never stopped using those methods.)
There are a fair number of commercial Usenet providers still in operation,
both in the United States as well as in Europe.
You're looking at $50-60 a year for a commercial provider; if you want a
free provider, try https://www.eternal-september.org/
If you want to keep posting through your Gmail account, you can either post
through your eternal-september.org account, or use a mail2news gateway (like
the one I'm using right now.)
All you need is to invest a little time to learn a new way of doing things,
and perhaps, a little bit of money.
Fuck Google.
rajah dodger
Dec 19, 2023, 11:15:01 PM12/19/23
to
Santayana wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Dec 2023 11:52:30 -0800 (PST), Kairu Hakubi
> <sixsided...@gmail.com> said:
>
> > I knew it would come someday. Every part of the old internet must be
> > erased to make room for the new world order.
>
> Hardly. This is just Google being Google -- meaning that that they're
> adding yet another project to their already overly-long list of
> On Tue, 19 Dec 2023 11:52:30 -0800 (PST), Kairu Hakubi
> <sixsided...@gmail.com> said:
>
> > I knew it would come someday. Every part of the old internet must be
> > erased to make room for the new world order.
>
> Hardly. This is just Google being Google -- meaning that that they're
> binned projects.
>
> You're looking at $50-60 a year for a commercial provider; if you
> want a free provider, try https://www.eternal-september.org/
>
I've set up eternal september using an old XanaNews reader.
> want a free provider, try https://www.eternal-september.org/
>
Seems to work. I'll see if this shows up in my Gmail while Google is
still letting the usenet flow.
Rajah Dodger
Mecca B
Dec 20, 2023, 2:41:25 AM12/20/23
to
Well, I'm sure I'll run into you guys somewhere on the Internets.
Santayana
Dec 20, 2023, 12:34:03 PM12/20/23
to
On Wed, 20 Dec 2023 04:14:55 -0000 (UTC), From: "rajah dodger" <rajah...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
Another provider that is worth a look is called Usenet Farms. They're rather
different from other commercial Usenet providers, in that they allow sign-up
with only a valid email address. (The email address is used to send you your
username and password, and additional required information to sign-in.)
The other factor that sets them apart is that their trial period is measured
by the bandwidth you use, as opposed to a fixed time-period. Their trial is
a *very* generous 10 GB.
If you read only text-based groups, 10 GB is going to last you a *very* long
time. They also have a dashboard so you can see how much bandwidth you have
used to date.
This leads-in to my other point, which is: you do NOT have to use the same
provider to both read and post. I post through mail2news gateways, as can be
seen from my posting headers.
wrote:
different from other commercial Usenet providers, in that they allow sign-up
with only a valid email address. (The email address is used to send you your
username and password, and additional required information to sign-in.)
The other factor that sets them apart is that their trial period is measured
by the bandwidth you use, as opposed to a fixed time-period. Their trial is
a *very* generous 10 GB.
If you read only text-based groups, 10 GB is going to last you a *very* long
time. They also have a dashboard so you can see how much bandwidth you have
used to date.
This leads-in to my other point, which is: you do NOT have to use the same
provider to both read and post. I post through mail2news gateways, as can be
seen from my posting headers.
Kairu Hakubi
Dec 21, 2023, 6:36:06 PM12/21/23
to
okay thanks guys. I WOULD get into usenet for the first time in 2023, wouldn't I. I'll check that out. But the e-future's still looking pretty bleak to me.
Nomen Nescio
Jan 20, 2024, 1:28:08 AMJan 20
to
On Thu, 21 Dec 2023 15:36:03 -0800 (PST), Kairu Hakubi <sixsided...@gmail.com>
said:
> okay thanks guys. I WOULD get into usenet for the first time in 2023,
> wouldn't I. I'll check that out. But the e-future's still looking pretty
> bleak to me.
This isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I, for one, am rather glad that
Google Groups support for usenet is going away. Google Groups has always
encouraged a monoculture, and monocultures (whether on the Internet or in
nature), are usually BAD news.
I've looked over the poster list, and there can't be more than a half-dozen
(at most) who are NOT using Gmail/Google groups to post to ASSD. Google has
encouraged a culture of apathy and dependency, and those two traits are going
to bite people squarely on the ass this coming February 22nd.
The bitter irony is that Usenet, which was built to be (and still is) a
censorship-resistant ecosystem, will have been effectively undone courtesy
of the takedown of a Google-sponsored monoculture. It's not that Usenet (or
ASSD) will no longer exist -- rather, it'll wither and eventually die on the
vine because the vast majority of the remaining users are too fucking stupid
and/or lazy to learn how to do things the way they used to be done.
No, they'd rather die than spending the effort to learn something new apart
from their precious point-and-drool interfaces. I think that the authorities
will be popping champagne corks on February 22nd, as they watch and observe
groups like this implode. (Christ, this place is already a bloody ghost town
after Jaxah got himself busted by being stupid.)
said:
> okay thanks guys. I WOULD get into usenet for the first time in 2023,
> wouldn't I. I'll check that out. But the e-future's still looking pretty
> bleak to me.
Google Groups support for usenet is going away. Google Groups has always
encouraged a monoculture, and monocultures (whether on the Internet or in
nature), are usually BAD news.
I've looked over the poster list, and there can't be more than a half-dozen
(at most) who are NOT using Gmail/Google groups to post to ASSD. Google has
encouraged a culture of apathy and dependency, and those two traits are going
to bite people squarely on the ass this coming February 22nd.
The bitter irony is that Usenet, which was built to be (and still is) a
censorship-resistant ecosystem, will have been effectively undone courtesy
of the takedown of a Google-sponsored monoculture. It's not that Usenet (or
ASSD) will no longer exist -- rather, it'll wither and eventually die on the
vine because the vast majority of the remaining users are too fucking stupid
and/or lazy to learn how to do things the way they used to be done.
No, they'd rather die than spending the effort to learn something new apart
from their precious point-and-drool interfaces. I think that the authorities
will be popping champagne corks on February 22nd, as they watch and observe
groups like this implode. (Christ, this place is already a bloody ghost town
after Jaxah got himself busted by being stupid.)
Kairu Hakubi
Feb 4, 2024, 3:10:37 PMFeb 4
to
Look, I'm the first to oppose Google's massively illegal monopoly, but having a simple "go to URL and visit website" interface is definitely a good thing. The web thrived under that between the Usenet days and the accursed shift to social media. Many of us found this place because we searched for things relating to asstr and what happened, so the ability to quickly see and join the discussions can only be good. Not that it did us much good in the long run, but for a second there we got false hope, and what else do we have?
Nomen Nescio
Feb 5, 2024, 1:04:03 AMFeb 5
to
On Sun, 4 Feb 2024 12:10:34 -0800 (PST), Kairu Hakubi <sixsided...@gmail.com>
said in response to Message-ID: <3eb9d089af8e3121...@dizum.com>:
Message-ID: <9e5ba61eeee9e2cd...@dizum.com>
> Look, I'm the first to oppose Google's massively illegal monopoly,
Yeah, right! All the while you are not only taking full advantage of that
'massively illegal monopoly', but even becoming heavily dependent upon it.
Unlike you, I haven't abandoned my principles because Google's service is so
simple.
> but having a simple "go to URL and visit website" interface is definitely
> a good thing. The web thrived under that between the Usenet days and the
> accursed shift to social media. Many of us found this place because we
> searched for things relating to asstr and what happened, so the ability to
> quickly see and join the discussions can only be good.
I disagree. To use a Biblical aphorism, you sold your birthright for a mess
of pottage. In the name of convenience, you deliberately avoided learning
skills that would have kept you independent, not to mention secure, over the
long haul.
Google Groups users are like the farmer's turkeys in the barnyard, all of
them utterly convinced as to what good lives they lead, as compared to the
wild turkeys in the bush: the farmer brings them grain in the mornings, they
have this nice heated barn to shelter in, when it rains or snows...
Then Thanksgiving comes, and the farmer slaughters the whole flock.
(I'll still be here after Thanksgiving...)
> Not that it did us much good in the long run, but for a second there we
> got false hope, and what else do we have?
Nothing, since you appear to be completely uninterested in any alternatives.
said in response to Message-ID: <3eb9d089af8e3121...@dizum.com>:
Message-ID: <9e5ba61eeee9e2cd...@dizum.com>
> Look, I'm the first to oppose Google's massively illegal monopoly,
'massively illegal monopoly', but even becoming heavily dependent upon it.
Unlike you, I haven't abandoned my principles because Google's service is so
simple.
> but having a simple "go to URL and visit website" interface is definitely
> a good thing. The web thrived under that between the Usenet days and the
> accursed shift to social media. Many of us found this place because we
> searched for things relating to asstr and what happened, so the ability to
> quickly see and join the discussions can only be good.
of pottage. In the name of convenience, you deliberately avoided learning
skills that would have kept you independent, not to mention secure, over the
long haul.
Google Groups users are like the farmer's turkeys in the barnyard, all of
them utterly convinced as to what good lives they lead, as compared to the
wild turkeys in the bush: the farmer brings them grain in the mornings, they
have this nice heated barn to shelter in, when it rains or snows...
Then Thanksgiving comes, and the farmer slaughters the whole flock.
(I'll still be here after Thanksgiving...)
> Not that it did us much good in the long run, but for a second there we
> got false hope, and what else do we have?
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