Thanks for the link to that site. I added it. I'm just reading
through your site now. I added a link to your page with Usenet info
on it. I'm debating whether to redo my site in Mambo or something
like Drupal. I still can't think of a domain name.
Specifically, why are you against Google Groups? It's a crappy piece
of software filled with bugs but what is the difference between that
and a newsreader (besides Google spying on people). I've never heard
the arguements against it and I am curious.
I note that David D. has already responded to that question, too, from
another perspective. I don't see the spam myself, because my feed has
good filtering, so thanks, David, for that contribution.
My own opinions...
<rant>
Usenet doesn't need to be webified, and many of the users that post to
it via GoogleGroups (and other web-based gateways, but more on that in a
moment) know nothing about using it: quoting, snipping, attributing,
etc. Or even what the hell it *is*. And these unnecessary clunky
gateways don't help at all -- particularly the ones that try to take
credit for them by making Usenet groups look like their own onsite
resources. (Tech Note: It's fixed now, but for a while GG was even
screwing up the References headers; if GG doesn't know how *they* work,
they have no business writing an interface.)
GG is just the most visible example. They all suck.
Here's my boilerplate for web-gateway-posted Usenet posts:
<paste>
USENET THEFT
You can probably access this public Usenet newsgroup directly with some
fine news client like slrn or pan or knode or others [1], rather than
some clunky web interface, unless, say, you're at firewalled at work and
IT hasn't favorably responded to your request for Usenet (NNTP)
capability. Do *yourself* a favor: check out your options and take
control of your own Usenet experience.
[1]Even with a piece of crap you already have, like Outlook Express,
which, as bad as it is, still beats web interfaces for this activity
that wasn't meant for webification.
</paste>
I'm pretty tool-oriented, so I similarly don't pound nails with a band
saw or tighten bolts with a bread knife; and frankly don't respect the
skills of those who do and don't wish to share a workshop with them.
</rant>
I don't contribute much on-topic stuff in here and a.w.w, because I'm a
novice and I'm here to learn from the gurus. Being no wizard, my
on-topic contributions are pretty much limited to the occasional
page-check in a browser that a poster doesn't have installed. But I do
know Usenet, know what a resource it is, respect it, know how it works,
know how it can be fuxored by kooks and idjits and the "ill do what i
want an u cant stop me bwahahaha lol" crowd -- so please excuse the short
rant on something else that I was asked about that I do understand.
