From: nospam@example.net   
      
   On Thu, 20 Feb 2025, Salvador Mirzo wrote:   
      
   >> It is strange that usenet has disappeared from the common mind. I find it   
   >> excellent! Especially since google disconnected it got even better!   
   >   
   > That's right!  Thanks, Google Inc., for leaving us alone. :)   
      
   =)   
      
   >> There is a challenge though. In todays reincarnation, I find the nr of posts   
   >> more than manageable. But if I think of a scenario where the nr of posts   
   would   
   >> increase tenfold, there would be no chance of catching up, except using the   
   >> narrowest of the narrow sorting based on author and subject line.   
   >>   
   >> Today, I can casually browse and glance at most posts, but with 10x the nr   
   of   
   >> posts, that would not be feasible.   
   >   
   > I already find it unwieldy.  But I don't think we have to follow every   
   > thread.  You can follow that subthread you got yourself involved.  Using   
   > Gnus, there are two things that I do.  Articles that I'd like to   
   > follow-up are ticket---so appear in red for me.  Articles that were   
   > replies to my own posted articles get the highest score and so they   
   > appear in bold.   
   >   
   >  https://0x0.st/8Tsq.png   
   >   
   > I ticked your article just to show you something red.  It wasn't red   
   > before.  Yes, I also only show three letters for each author because I   
   > usually don't care to know who I'm talking to, but since identity does   
   > help to understand what the person is saying, three letters is enough.   
      
   For the moment all works for me with a flat layout based on time of arrival.   
   But   
   should the nr of posts increase, I think I shall have to switch back to thread   
   layout and actually explore scoring like you do to get some nice automation   
   into   
   my reading.   
      
   For the longest time inertia kept me from using colors in alpine, and finally,   
   when I had a slow day in the office I did take some time to customize it, and   
   lo   
   and behold, it did save me a couple of minutes daily by making some things   
   easier to spot, so count that up in a year, and it was a very nice time saving   
   initiative!   
      
   >> I think there is a limit where the usenet model breaks down for most users   
   who   
   >> are not into cli clients.   
   >   
   > Yeah.  It's not going to work for regular people.  However, there's   
   > something that I think it should work for regular people---low volume   
   > NNTP servers.   
      
   Leafnode I think would be quite a nice piece of software for small, local nntp   
   servers.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leafnode   
      
   I use part of its functionality to pull in usenet into my mail client.   
      
   > But it turns out that even mailing lists don't work for regular people   
   > because e-mail doesn't work for regular people.  Even Discord or Slack   
   > doesn't quite work for regular people.  Perhaps nothing works for   
   > regular people.  They do not find ways to tame information on their   
   > computer screens.  Regular people don't want to use desktops anymore;   
   > they want to use their phones.   
      
   This is the truth! I am worried that people are turning more into digital   
   consumers than digital producers. used in such a way, digital technology can   
   become a drain on the soul.   
      
   Computers were supposed to be creative tools! I get the feeling that for many,   
   they have instead become devices of slavery. It is a very sad development. I   
   love text only interfaces, I love reading. I don't own a smart phone and I feel   
   very sad when I'm on a bus or in a subway car and see 99% of people staring in   
   silence into their phones. It seems like quite a dystopia for me. =(   
      
   > NNTP, the USENET, e-mail, these are systems that only the people thristy   
   > for knowledge really use---that 17% of your class of 35.   
      
   I wonder if they will discover it? I was happy when I offered a 1 hour free and   
   voluntary session with the topic of learning the basics of vim, and 11 out of   
   35   
   said it was interesting! =D   
      
   This makes me feel hope!   
      
   >> In every class of about 35, there's always 4-9 or so that "get it" and   
   become   
   >> completely obsessed with the terminal, self-hosting, they buy numerous   
   raspberry   
   >> pis, they stay awake until 5 in the morning tinkering.   
   >>   
   >> Those guys go on the become rock stars!   
   >>   
   >> The rest go to the office at 09 and leave at 17, and that's about it.   
   >   
   > And I think that's fine for us because these about 6 people of every   
   > class of 35 is enough to pack the USENET.  But most of them are not   
      
   This is the truth! Hmm, maybe I should add an hour or two next semester on the   
   topic of retro-computing? ;)   
      
   > here.  That's what's sad.  They should be here.  They would enjoy being   
   > here.  But I think somehow they're not.  This suggests a certain   
   > inertia.  But what I find more likely is that you're overestimating.   
   > Perhaps it's more like 0.35 rock stars in every class of about 35.   
   >   
   > I take it seriously that they could be right---that somehow we should   
   > all be on Discord.  But, no, intelligence always wins and the fact is   
   > that the tools we're using here (for communication) is absolutely   
   > better[1] than the more recent commercial alternatives.   
      
   Well, I do sometimes chat on my business partners mattermost, but only if live   
   audio/video and email is not an option. Fortunately for me, that turns out to   
   be   
   about once or twice a year. ;)   
      
   But the young whipper snappers do chat happily away from time to time, and I am   
   happy that they are just not dragging me into it.   
      
   Only today was one of my younger partners telling the class that my emails are   
   quite something to behold. Long and packed with all the information the person   
   needs to perform the task. At first he found it draining and stressful, but   
   then   
   he learned that I do not demand instant replies when I email (then I call or   
   write in the email that it is urgent) and after a while he learned to   
   appreciate   
   that all information he might need is in the email.   
      
   > [1] Better for fact, knowledge seekers.   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)