XPost: alt.comp.linux, alt.comp.software.thunderbird   
   From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Tue, 2/10/2026 6:57 AM, Daniel70 wrote:   
   > On 10/02/2026 3:29 am, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:   
   >> On 2/9/2026 9:38 AM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   >>> On Sun, 8 Feb 2026 13:14:32 +0800, Mr. Man-wai Chang wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> If someone (maybe a student from IT) could write bridges or gateways   
   >>>> to sync Usenet with modern social networks like Facebook, Threads,   
   >>>> Reddit, etc!! It isn't difficult, right? Because Echomail of Fidonet   
   >>>> did it!! :)   
   >>>   
   >>> We already had all that spam crap from Google Groups back when they   
   >>> were gatewaying Usenet, the last thing we need is for the spam crap to   
   >>> return from a new source.   
   >>   
   >> Does Usenet have a general chit-chat newsgroup? Just dump them into it? :)   
   >>   
   > Doesn't every thread in every newsgroup go that way ...... if it 'lives'   
   long enough??   
      
   Actually, no.   
      
   Notice how some "hierarchies" have very very specific groups.   
   There is a group for noobs, where you can ask questions about   
   basics.   
      
   microsoft.public.excel   
     microsoft.public.excel.123quattro   
     microsoft.public.excel.charting   
     microsoft.public.excel.crashesgpfs   
     microsoft.public.excel.interopoledde   
     microsoft.public.excel.links   
     microsoft.public.excel.macintosh   
     microsoft.public.excel.misc   
     microsoft.public.excel.newusers  <===   
     microsoft.public.excel.printing   
     microsoft.public.excel.programming   
     microsoft.public.excel.sdk   
     microsoft.public.excel.setup   
     microsoft.public.excel.templates   
     microsoft.public.excel.worksheet   
      
   In the old days, a group could have a monthly posting called a "FAQ".   
   For example, in the newusers group, there might be a FAQ item   
   explaining how to make relative or absolute cell references. And   
   this might be put in the FAQ, so if a person were to ask "how   
   do I use these cells anyway", the respondent would say "did you   
   read the FAQ?". And the FAQ, being published monthly, would be   
   unlikely to roll off the server. There would always be a copy   
   for a newuser to read.   
      
   And that tells you, the groups don't exist to discuss the weather in Melbourne.   
      
   These are the equivalent of mailing lists. Would you want to be wasting   
   peoples time, by sending a message about "the weather in Melbourne"   
   to thousands of email boxes ? You would get tossed from the list for   
   one transgression.   
      
   USENET "now" is like mailing lists, but without the adult supervision.   
      
   It used to have all of the strictness of mailing lists,   
   but that was only because of the people who were here and   
   why they were here.   
      
   You used to be able to get tossed from here, for the smallest   
   thing. I received my "one warning" once, for replying to a   
   Nike shoe advert and making a joke. Naughty me. Now, Nike shoe   
   adverts are removed by Cleanfeed (it was one of the sample   
   filters on Cleanfeed).   
      
   *******   
      
   The traffic level used to be really high. You could have 200 posts per day   
   in a text group. The opportunities for mischief were endless. By the servers   
   tending to use "accounts" for users, that made it easier for a troublemaker   
   to get "tossed". Someone would contact the "abuse@servername.com",   
   give the M-ID of the offending message and then "off with his head".   
   If you read the Terms Of Service on a USENET server today, the   
   only offense which rates a response is "legally actionable activity".   
   In other words, the administrator on the server, is really not   
   interested in providing the old style "adult supervision" that existed.   
      
   *******   
      
   Imagine you were here.   
      
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/The_Acrop   
   lis_of_Athens_on_June_1%2C_2021.jpg   
      
   You're kicking the stones around, near the building.   
   You would ask "did the people here used to kick these stones around?".   
      
   Well, you're at a ruin, you're looking at the remains of a thing.   
   The streets were carefully swept back in the day. There would be   
   no stones for you to kick. There would be soldiers. There would   
   be law and order around these structures. If you kicked a stone,   
   maybe you would be thrown into a dark hole in the ground to think   
   about what you had done.   
      
   It's hard to say what life was like there, what the rules were,   
   whether "discussing the weather in Melbourne" was allowed.   
      
   Places like talk.misc might well have a wider range of discussions,   
   but if you are a "visitor" to someone elses list, start by   
   reading a bunch of the postings to see exactly how wide-ranged   
   the discussions are. Say for example, you spot zero "fart-jokes".   
   Then your first posting there, might not be a "fart-joke" as a result.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)