Using USENET

(This is a modification of a document originally written by Mischa Kapushchevsky.)

Summary:

NNTP newsserver: newsstand.cit.cornell.edu
Message upload format: MIME-compliant encoding
CS280 Newsgroup: cornell.class.cs410

Background:

    USENET is a very old part of the internet. USENET is a collection of discussion areas where people can post textual information, readable by anyone who has an access to a newsserver (an NNTP server). It has existed for a very long time, and has evolved greatly. When it was originally conceived, its purpose was to provide a means for efficient exchange of information for educators and researchers at educational institutions across the United States. It quickly grew into a world-wide system of newsserver exchanges, with the topics of discussion ranging from comp.os.linux.setup (a Linux setup discussion group), to rec.toys.lego (a Legos discussion group). There are over 15,000 discussion groups on USENET today, and the number is growing. 

If you want to find out more about USENET and other fun stuff, follow this link to Zen and the Art of the Internet. It is an old but trusty resource, clearly written for beginners on the Internet. 

Accessing USENET:

Getting a newsreader 
    In order to read the newsgroups on USENET, you will need a newsreader. A newsreader is a program that has the ability to connect to the newsserver, retrieve a list of newsgroups, and then retrieve messages in the newsgroups of your choice. The choice of the newsreader depends largely on the operating system on your computer. Nice newsreaders come with both Netscape and Internet Explorer, which you should be able to access no matter what computer you're using. (Actually, if you're using Netscape 4.0 or higher, the Newsreader comes with the Communicator software.)

Setting up the newsreader 
    Now that you got yourself a newsreader, you need to set it up. Newsreaders at Cornell should already be set up right. If you're setting up the Newsreader on your personal computer, go into the Preferences, Options,  Configuration, or WhatHaveYou section of the newsreader that you have. You need to find the place where it asks you for a newsserver. It may be called an NNTP server, or a discussion server, or anything along that line. There, you will enter newsstand.cit.cornell.edu. This is the (so-so) newsserver that Cornell U. runs. You will also need to enter a certain amount of data about yourself, such as your name and e-mail address. Note, it may provide two different spaces for the e-mail address. One of them is "Reply-To:" and another is "From:". The difference is that the reader of the message you post will see the "From:" name, but when the reader on the other side replies to you, the message will be sent to the "Reply-To:" address. Finally, find the setting where the newsreader wants to know what format to use for uploading messages that you write to the server. You will want MIME-compliant encoding. The keyword is MIME -- the newsservers may not be all the same, but they will contain this word. You need it. Do not choose uuencode, for some reason, newsstand chokes on that. You are nearly done. 

Subscribing: 
Now, for the easy part. Once everything is set, go into the part of the newsreader that lets you subscribe to newsgroups. Either you will have to type the group you want to subscribe to in, or you will choose it from thousands available. You want cornell.class.cs410. In fact, if you configured everything beautifully, when you click on the link above, you should be taken to that newsgroup. From here on, using the newsgroup is exactly like reading your e-mail. You read the messages, you post them to the newsgroup. (Alternatively you can reply to the author, but that way the concept of healthy discussion is killed off at birth.)