what is usenet?

Usenet (also called newsgroups) is like a giant forum with thousands of groups each with their own particular tastes and interests. From the mundane to the informative, from the mild to the totally bizarre, just like the web, if you can imagine it, there's probably a group caters to it.

These groups act just like a webforum, in that you can post questions, answers, and using a type of program called a newsagent, you can even download files from something called a usenet binary (note that the word binary is pronounced with a short 'i' as in trash bin, not binary, as in 0's and 1's). If you to have ever used Google Groups or something like that, or if you've ever been to a page that says something like alt.biz.whatever, you have used usenet. For example, here is a link to the usegroup (through Google Groups) comp.os.linux.misc, which is a group for people who want to discuss topics concerning the linux operating system:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.misc/...

The main way many people interact with usenet is via e-mail. If you use something like Outlook Express and and you have a good ISP, then you're ready to start "subscribing" to different newsgroups. If you are ineterested in getting the most out of usenet, then you'll probably need help with stuff like configuring NNTP settings, and usually, your ISP tech support that will help you out with this. If you want to use the binaries for file sharing, then just use the same settings for your newsagent program provided by your ISP.

There are many other great things about usenet, Mostly people post questions just like in Yahoo Answers, but let's say you are a fan of The Beatles, well, you can just go to the Beatles group, and download photos and flyers of the Beatles (or whomever) and it's all through your email client. Also, let's suppose you wanted to watch an instructional video on how to program in C++... Well, if you find the right group, you just might find what you're looking for.

I have seen things on usenet that I could never find on someplace like torrent. For example, for a couple of semesters, I had a roommate who was a med student. He would search through usenet for videos on weird stuff like gastroenterological surgery...or just crazy stuff like that...and wow... he would actually find them.

I have been around a bit, and I have noticed that usenet is still strong, but it doesn't have quite the influx of new people like it once did. I suspect it's because people have found it more convenient to post on webforums, create video blogs on Youtube, or even ask questions on Yahoo Answers. Also, back in the day, a user could log into their email account at work, and even if they weren't allowed to surf the web, they could still go through usenet or just their email server if they knew their way around, and fetch webpages from the internet, even when network administrator restricted internet usage. Good luck, and hope this helps.

Usenet are newsgroups. One of the oldest communication methods on the internet...