You need a paid (!) subscription to a provider, potentially a subscription to an indexer, plus client software. When Usenet was big, you didn't need a paid sub

You need a paid (!) subscription to a provider, potentially a subscription to an indexer, plus client software. When Usenet was big, you didn't need a paid subscription. Almost every ISP included it for free. I never heard of an indexer. Client software came with your operating system, or it was built in to your e-mail client, or you could download for free. As for today — yes, how awful that you might have to pay for something. Completely terrible. It might even be half the price of a cup of coffee. Completely unacceptable to have to give someone money for something of value. Terrible. Much better to lock oneself inside the mink-lined, free, censored, AI-curated cages of the big data corps. Not thinking is always so much easier and more comfortable than thinking.