A discussion group on the Internet. Just as e-mail and the Web are two distinct services on the Internet, newsgroups are part of the "Usenet" (user network), which is another service, or facility, on the Internet. Although a newsgroup topic can be newsworthy, newsgroups have nothing to do with the daily news; thus, the term is somewhat misleading.
Newsgroups are organized into categories and subcategories, with the alt (alternative) category having the most diversity (see newsgroup categories). Preceding the Web by more than a decade, newsgroups started in the late 1970s as a message board for Unix and related technical issues. They continue to prosper alongside the Web, although the Web has its own discussion groups (see forum).
Newsgroups start by someone posting an initial query or comment. As others reply, the text forms a chain of related postings called a "message thread." Newsgroups are similar to blogs, but usually have more questions and answers, whereas the blog is often used for general commentary (see blog). Newsgroups are also a source for MP3 files and pictures (see newsgroup categories).
Newsreader software (an NNTP client) is used to "subscribe" to newsgroups and read and post messages. A newsreader, which may be a stand-alone application or part of an e-mail program or Web browser, offers many features such as searching for and automatically subscribing to newsgroups that match some criteria.
The Usenet Network
Some newsgroups are moderated; some are not. They originate from many sources and are hosted on many systems. With more than 100,000 newsgroups, an ISP may decide which newsgroups, if any, to offer customers and how long postings remain online. There are also dedicated Usenet providers that do not discriminate and store most newsgroups indefinitely. See NNTP, Deja.com, syndication format and newsgroup categories.
Newsgroups are organized into categories and subcategories, with the alt (alternative) category having the most diversity (see newsgroup categories). Preceding the Web by more than a decade, newsgroups started in the late 1970s as a message board for Unix and related technical issues. They continue to prosper alongside the Web, although the Web has its own discussion groups (see forum).
Newsgroups start by someone posting an initial query or comment. As others reply, the text forms a chain of related postings called a "message thread." Newsgroups are similar to blogs, but usually have more questions and answers, whereas the blog is often used for general commentary (see blog). Newsgroups are also a source for MP3 files and pictures (see newsgroup categories).
Newsreader software (an NNTP client) is used to "subscribe" to newsgroups and read and post messages. A newsreader, which may be a stand-alone application or part of an e-mail program or Web browser, offers many features such as searching for and automatically subscribing to newsgroups that match some criteria.
The Usenet Network
Some newsgroups are moderated; some are not. They originate from many sources and are hosted on many systems. With more than 100,000 newsgroups, an ISP may decide which newsgroups, if any, to offer customers and how long postings remain online. There are also dedicated Usenet providers that do not discriminate and store most newsgroups indefinitely. See NNTP, Deja.com, syndication format and newsgroup categories.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Growth in political content sharing and creation since fall 2006
- What do users do online Fall 2006 Spring 2008 Forward or post someone else’s political commentary or writing 5% 11% Sign up to receive email from the candidates or campaigns 3 9 Forward or post someone else’s political audio or video recordings 3 6...
- Blog posts 2008-08-15
- Video: Picking a Linux distribution
- Video: Picking a Linux distributionSuSE 11 not ready for prime time.Check the forums. Lots of problems with multi-boot, hard drives, especially raid, others - check their forum.I tried it on brand new machine. Had trouble with Seagate Cheetah drive and adaptec raid. Tried 10.3, went smooth as silk.If you have...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-05
- How OpenDNS, PowerDNS and MaraDNS remained unaffected by the DNS cache poisoning vulnerability
- The short answer is being paranoid about tackling a known vulnerability. It's 2001, and Daniel J. Bernstein DJB, author of the then popular djbdns security-aware DNS implementation, is applying basic math principles to raise awareness on what's to turn into the "sky is falling" critical Internet vulnerability in 2008, in...
- Blog posts 2008-07-25
- Pay $50 extra for XP on a PC? You've gotta be kidding me!
- Pay $50 extra for XP on a PC? You've gotta be kidding me!Welcome to reality...[b]Whatever happened to the idea that computing would change the world, and that free and fair competition is the basis of a free market society? [/b]Uh... I don't know what ivory tower you grew up in,...
- Discussion threads 2008-06-19
- Is your ISP throttling your network connection?
- Is your ISP throttling your network connection?let's start with "false advertising."if companies advertise a certain speed, and charge for it, but don't deliver it, then customers will have a reason to get upset.my worry is that ISP's will develop their own "Internet Mall Farms" that have priority over other internet...
- Discussion threads 2008-06-15
- Passwordx (zip)
- Unprotects passwords sheets & workbook,unhide sheets, Text correction options Proper Lower Uppercase Trim, Macaddress, System info, Tools menu & Macro on/off - Beep on/of, Reset Menubar, Newsgroup link, Version 2008 April extended options.
- Software downloads 2008-04-17
- nntPocket (prc)
- nntPocket is the premier NNTP newsgroup reader for Palm OS. nntPocket features include: One handed navigation on Treo handheld devices, 5 way navigation on devices with the 5 way button, Full screen support on the T3, T5, and TX, Store messages on your memory card, view messages by thread, Search...
- Software downloads 2008-04-09
- Newsgroup Image Collector (gz)
- Newsgroup Image Collector NIC is the perfect tool for collecting images from Usenet newsgroups. NIC can search one or more newsgroups for images by scanning each posted message. When a message contains image content, the image is downloaded to your computer. You control which newsgroups to search and you can...
- Software downloads 2008-04-09
- Netscape Navigator X (dmg)
- Netscape Navigator X is a browser-only release. It does not contain an e-mail client, newsgroup reader, or HTML composer. Users of the Netscape 7.x suite may choose not to install Netscape Navigator 9 to avoid the loss of these features. You can have the best of both worlds by keeping...
- Software downloads 2008-03-03
- Lawsuit: Comcast is a 'totalitarian' business
- Lawsuit: Comcast is a 'totalitarian' businessThere is a REASON . . . .that they are known as CRAPCAST!!!RE: Lawsuit: Comcast is a 'totalitarian' businessCharter was using a similar tactic when they cut the bandwidth to they newsgroup servers down to 128k and claimed no knowledge of the slow down.Comcast didn't...
- Discussion threads 2008-02-20
- Newsgroup Commander Pro (exe)
- Newsgroup Commander Pro will help you to find any information you're looking for in news group archives. The program allows the fastest email messages downloading from selected newsgroups. Software extracts information from newsgroups using multiple include/exclude keyword filters based on article contents and subjects. A built-in List Editing menu allows...
- Software downloads 2008-01-18
- 001Micron IE Password Recovery (exe)
- 001Micron IE Password Recovery easily recovers all deleted, lost or forgotten internet explorer http and https website saved password for any email login account/Newsgroup accounts, Magazine or Web forms, Dial up passwords and other similar password protected application.Restore all type of Internet Explorer saved passwords including FTP account passwords, IE...
- Software downloads 2008-01-16
- ABC Amber SeaMonkey Converter (zip)
- ABC Amber SeaMonkey Converter is intended to help you keep your important e-mails, newsletters, newsgroup mails organized in one file as hypertext system. It is a very useful tool which converts your e-mails from SeaMonkey to any document format (CHM, PDF, HTML, RTF, HLP, TXT Ansi, TXT Unicode, and DOC)...
- Software downloads 2007-12-11
- Newsgroup Image Collector (exe)
- Newsgroup Image Collector NIC is the perfect tool for collecting images from Usenet newsgroups. NIC can search one or more newsgroups for images by scanning each posted message. When a message contains image content, the image is downloaded to your computer. You control which newsgroups to search and you can...
- Software downloads 2007-12-10
- Newsgroups Viewer (txt)
- Keep track of your favorite newsgroup. This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.
- Software downloads 2007-12-09
- Newsgroups and Starting the Newsgroup Reader
- Newsgroup readers, or newsreaders, are used to gain access to various types of newsgroups, to download and read news messages, and to post replies to them. Newsgroups can offer valuable information from people who use the same products and technologies that one uses, or they can be used to find...
- White papers 2007-12-01
- Newsgroup Commander (exe)
- Newsgroup Commander is a fast way to find any information you're looking for in news group archives and RSS channels. The program allows the fastest messages downloading from selected newsgroups and RSS. Software allows you to search, read, reply, and send new messages using a simple, yet handy, and interface....
- Software downloads 2007-11-22
- Earthlink Password Recovery (exe)
- Email password recovery tool can recover passwords of auto complete strings including E-mails/Newsgroup accounts, FTP passwords, online shopping, Magazine forms, and other similar password protected IE and windows applications. The Software is simple, easy to use with graphical user interface and supports multilingual passwords. Tool can recover passwords of websites...
- Software downloads 2007-11-22
- FastTrackNews (exe)
- FastTrackNews is a free portable RSS feed reader and news aggregator. The program reduces the time and effort needed to regularly check mass media Websites for updates and can be used as news and blog browser. Once subscribed to a feed, FastTrackNews is able to check for new content at...
- Software downloads 2007-11-09
- Tamava Reader (exe)
- Better user experience - clear and modern user interface, no useless fancy features. Easy configuration--we tried to simplify the configuration as much as possible, with only the most usefull parameters. Image Thumbnails and SlideShow - very easy to see downloaded images, the thumbnails are updated automatically for each new downloaded...
- Software downloads 2007-10-24
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Access the latest Intel and industry best practices
-
Designed specifically to address the concerns of senior IT managers at organizations with more than 100 employees, the Intel Premier IT Professional Program provides best practices via local and e-Seminars and a members-only Web site.
- View the Intel Premier IT Professional web-site tour >>
- BNET Industries
- Check out BNET's newest resource for managers and executives. Need to do research on your competitors? Don't have time to read every trade pub? BNET Industries is the new source for daily news, insights, and research on 11 major industries and 9,000 public companies.
-
- The technology industry from a different angle
-
- See what's hot in the auto industry
-
- Stay on top of the energy industry
