4 ms·

This is a strangely rose-tinted view of Usenet. Usenet was a mess well before Eternal September. You can't talk about Usenet without talking about alt.* Afte

This is a strangely rose-tinted view of Usenet. Usenet was a mess well before Eternal September. You can't talk about Usenet without talking about alt.* After alt.* was inagurated, the very first group was (IIRC) alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork. Then there were alt.destroy.the.earth and alt.pave.the.earth, which were bitter enemies despite their opposition to alt.save.the.earth, because if you destroyed the earth there'd be nothing left to pave. Alt was also the home of the Big Seven sex groups, plus piracy in the alt.binaries groups. The talk.* groups had problems as well. Oh, and then there was alt.2600, which purposely had a moderator who rejected any and all postings: you had to hack USENET and assume moderator privileges to post there. I think easily the closest thing we have nowadays to USENET is reddit. And, to be honest, if you average over its entire audience, it's more tame than USENET was.

goatcode 4y ago
>[redd]it's more tame than USENET was Of course it is, it's beholden to advertisers. Chairman Pao saw to its taming, right before getting canned.
not2b 4y ago
You do not recall correctly, not even close. See https://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_alt.htm https://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_alt.htm (and I knew Brian Reid and John Gilmore in those days).
jandrese 4y ago
> Oh, and then there was alt.2600, which purposely had a moderator who rejected any and all postings: you had to hack USENET and assume moderator privileges to post there. This is the kind of internet we lost when it went all corporate.
- throwaway892238 4y ago
  Defacing websites with crude messages and garish colors was the internet's graffiti. Ascii and Demoscene was its street art. Zines and hacker radio were the warehouse art shows. We have all these documentaries about punk music, but so few about punk computing.
seti0Cha 4y ago
I think the difference is, back in usenet times the weirdos were also technical professionals. There wasn't the same need to be concerned for professional reputation so you'd get things like diatribes for fringe political beliefs strewn in among deep technical discussions. I used to lurk in alt.fan.warlord and watch Bram Moolenaar make fun of people's ascii pic signatures. It was a mess, but a technically informed mess, which somehow made it more interesting.
svachalek 4y ago
Yep, having been around for Usenet I don't find Reddit all that different. The main difference is the moderators I guess. But for all the stodgy work related groups on Usenet it was the alt.* groups that caught fire. Reddit is much the same, there are subs for all kinds of serious moderated technical discussion still. Those aren't the popular parts but they weren't popular on Usenet either.
- u801e 4y ago
  Unless you've received an award, have a gold subscription, or have moderation privileges, finding new comments in a thread is not easy. In a news reader, it's trivial.
  - ornornor 4y ago
    old.Reddit.com along with RES and only having handpicked subreddits on your front page (ie none of the default dumpster fire ones) makes Reddit halfway decent.
NoGravitas 4y ago
Don't forget alt.chrome.the.moon and alt.sexy.french.captain.borg.borg.borg!
spc476 4y ago
alt.hackers was another moderated group, but it had no moderator.
- SeanLuke 4y ago
  In fact, I think I had alt.2600 and alt.hackers mixed up.

goatcode 4y ago

>[redd]it's more tame than USENET was Of course it is, it's beholden to advertisers. Chairman Pao saw to its taming, right before getting canned.

not2b 4y ago

You do not recall correctly, not even close. See https://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_alt.htm https://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_alt.htm (and I knew Brian Reid and John Gilmore in those days).

jandrese 4y ago

> Oh, and then there was alt.2600, which purposely had a moderator who rejected any and all postings: you had to hack USENET and assume moderator privileges to post there. This is the kind of internet we lost when it went all corporate.

throwaway892238 4y ago
Defacing websites with crude messages and garish colors was the internet's graffiti. Ascii and Demoscene was its street art. Zines and hacker radio were the warehouse art shows. We have all these documentaries about punk music, but so few about punk computing.

seti0Cha 4y ago

I think the difference is, back in usenet times the weirdos were also technical professionals. There wasn't the same need to be concerned for professional reputation so you'd get things like diatribes for fringe political beliefs strewn in among deep technical discussions. I used to lurk in alt.fan.warlord and watch Bram Moolenaar make fun of people's ascii pic signatures. It was a mess, but a technically informed mess, which somehow made it more interesting.

svachalek 4y ago

Yep, having been around for Usenet I don't find Reddit all that different. The main difference is the moderators I guess. But for all the stodgy work related groups on Usenet it was the alt.* groups that caught fire. Reddit is much the same, there are subs for all kinds of serious moderated technical discussion still. Those aren't the popular parts but they weren't popular on Usenet either.

u801e 4y ago
Unless you've received an award, have a gold subscription, or have moderation privileges, finding new comments in a thread is not easy. In a news reader, it's trivial.
- ornornor 4y ago
  old.Reddit.com along with RES and only having handpicked subreddits on your front page (ie none of the default dumpster fire ones) makes Reddit halfway decent.

NoGravitas 4y ago

Don't forget alt.chrome.the.moon and alt.sexy.french.captain.borg.borg.borg!

spc476 4y ago

alt.hackers was another moderated group, but it had no moderator.

SeanLuke 4y ago
In fact, I think I had alt.2600 and alt.hackers mixed up.