In message <
IUCdnYIJhsJj8zv4...@brightview.co.uk> at Tue,
16 Jan 2024 11:56:45, Ian Goddard <
ian...@austonley.org.uk> writes
>Hans Vogels wrote:
[]
>> I connected it through a bookmark.
>> Being a Dutchman the name Usenet does not ring a bell or custom.
>> Can you explain a dummy how to connect to Usenet to get to SGM?
Yes, the term "usenet" isn't necessarily known even by many of those who
use it; they tend to talk about "news" or "newsgroups".
[]
>You will need two things, a service provider (or server or feed) and a
>Usenet client (or newsreader).
>
>First the server.
[]
>First try your ISP. It used to be fairly common, at least in the UK,
>that a news feed would be included in the bundle. It's less common now
>but my ISP, PlusNet still provides it so that's what I use. In the
Ditto ...
... though I use E-S as a backup and for when I'm connecting other than
via a PlusNet connection (such as at friends' houses), as the PlusNet
news server won't talk to me then.
E-S is free (though donations are welcomed); I think it's entirely
text-only, which is fine for most genealogy purposes. NIN - alias "the
Berlin server", I think because it's at the university of Berlin, or at
least started there - was, indeed, only ten euros a year last I heard.
>donations and the second by a subscription which, AFAICR was about a
>tenner a year, probably Euro but maybe from the UK GBP but not
>expensive. Perhaps other group members can add further recommendations.
Add at this point that more or less any server will carry many genealogy
newsgroups, not just SGM (I'm reading this in SGB, for example).
Also note not to be worried if you come across the word "subscribe";
people often talk about "subscribing" to newsgroups, but all that means
is that you tell (via your client software) the server that you want to
take such-and-such a newsgroup - no money is involved (beyond the single
annual sub to the server if any), you can "subscribe" to as many 'groups
as you like.
"Client" means the software (or "newsreader") you use to access the news
server. There are several free ones, some of them of considerable
antiquity! But they still work fine. (_Some_ of the older ones won't
work with _some_ news servers because they - the servers - implement a
new[ish] form of security; there are utilities - the best-known being
stunnel [free] - that work as "man in the middle" and implement this.
PlusNet and E-S do not require this.) Probably the best-known of the
very old clients is Agent (in full, Forte Free Agent).
Using a client, once you've set it up with the server(s) you've chosen,
is rather like using mail software; many in fact are combined mail/news
softwares, which is handy if you want to send a personal reply to a
poster (assuming the poster has revealed a valid email address, which of
course many don't), rather than a followup to the 'group. (Doing so is
frowned upon if your reply is something that would be of general
interest to the 'group, but there are often situations where it's
appropriate.)
I'd probably recommend Thunderbird: not because it's the best newsreader
(though it seems quite usable to me), but because (a) it's up-to-date
enough to not need stunnel, and (b) it's widely-enough used that you're
probably more likely to find someone to help you with problems than some
of the others. Most news servers will have a TB-specific page telling
you how to set it up with them; I'm pretty sure E-S does, for example.
Plus, if by any chance you're already using TB for email, you'll already
be familiar with how it works, so won't have much new to learn.
[]
Once you get over the initial learning, you'll find using a ("proper" as
many of us say!) news client is far better than using Google Groups -
certainly, those reading your posts will like your posts more.
[]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too
dark to read." - Groucho Marx