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Usenet is not controlled by a big corporation, that is what threatens its existence. You didn't need Meta or X or Instagram to exchange information. Algorithms

Usenet is not controlled by a big corporation, that is what threatens its existence. You didn't need Meta or X or Instagram to exchange information. Algorithms didn't decide what you get to see or not. You weren't forced to consume large amounts of ads and you weren't tracked. This is very bad! :) Can we, somehow, revive Usenet or build a better version of it?

gerikson 3y ago
The role of Usenet now is filled by the fediverse.
- PostOnce 3y ago
  It's filled (sadly) by Reddit and not much else. I hope the fediverse somehow wins but it doesn't look likely any time soon
  - blashyrk 3y ago
    I tried Lemmy for a bit and found it to be nothing more than a tiny Reddit clone. And I don't mean just the software aspect of it, rather the content and moderation.
    - rightbyte 3y ago
      Wasn't being a Reddit clone the point though?
      - gerikson 3y ago
        Reddit recreated the social structure of Usenet. Shared infrastructure, but the subreddits managed themselves. Topics, threads... all similar to Usenet. Better multimedia support, of course. Even the phenomenon of anonymous posters (because accounts didn't require an email for a long time), flames, crossposting... all very like usenet.
        rightbyte 3y ago
        Usenet did not have moderators right? Reddit was more of a "run-a-forum as a service". But the Big Drama made it clear that it's Reddit's forum, not yours. Bait and switch.
        gerikson 3y ago
        Usenet did have moderation, as per this Reddit post (ironically): https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/m2dtcg/usenet_moderation_process/ https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/m2dtcg/us... Usenet preceded modern social media so the current discussions about who owns content didn't apply. Reddit was remarkably open in the beginning. Anon accounts, light moderation, open API... it's when they decided to try to extract more value that it became really shitty.
        kergonath 3y ago
        > Usenet did not have moderators right? It depends on the newsgroup. Some of them did. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup
        SyberShock 3y ago
        There are still active, moderated newsgroups. The majority of them have dried up, but some are still relevant.
        mcv 3y ago
        The one thing Reddit didn't copy from usenet was the decentralisation. In that sense, I guess Lemmy is a step forward.
      - fluidcruft 3y ago
        Discoverability and fragmentation seem to be the problems on Lemmy. Groups are small (not really a problem, the smaller subreddits with active and engaged people are better IMHO) but it's really difficult and high-effort for groups to form. Reddit did seem to have that part working well. I think people have gone into Discord (which sucks/I cannot stand).
- JohnFen 3y ago
  I'm not aware of anything that fills the role that Usenet filled. What does this? I'd be very interested in such a thing.
SyberShock 3y ago
People are working on this. In particular Retro Guy has one very good web front end that is really the only viable replacement for Google Groups at this point. Look for Rocksolid Light (rslight) on gitlab. The source code is here: https://gitlab.com/rslight-public/rocksolid-light https://gitlab.com/rslight-public/rocksolid-light The live demo site is here: https://news.novabbs.org/rocksolid/index.php https://news.novabbs.org/rocksolid/index.php It has a retro look on purpose. There are several themes included and it is really easy to create a new theme CSS file. You can run a peer to carry text groups on a raspberry pi or a cheap VPS. Visit the rocksolid.* hierarchy on Usenet if you have questions about running a peer. Please don't ask questions about Rocksolid here on HN, as that would not benefit the people learning in the newsgroups. Disclosure: I am not the maintainer of Rocksolid Light and I am not promoting my own product. I just like the software and I think the maintainer has the right ideas and right attitude of retro-styled usability in his project.

gerikson 3y ago

The role of Usenet now is filled by the fediverse.

PostOnce 3y ago
It's filled (sadly) by Reddit and not much else. I hope the fediverse somehow wins but it doesn't look likely any time soon
- blashyrk 3y ago
  I tried Lemmy for a bit and found it to be nothing more than a tiny Reddit clone. And I don't mean just the software aspect of it, rather the content and moderation.
  - rightbyte 3y ago
    Wasn't being a Reddit clone the point though?
    - gerikson 3y ago
      Reddit recreated the social structure of Usenet. Shared infrastructure, but the subreddits managed themselves. Topics, threads... all similar to Usenet. Better multimedia support, of course. Even the phenomenon of anonymous posters (because accounts didn't require an email for a long time), flames, crossposting... all very like usenet.
      - rightbyte 3y ago
        Usenet did not have moderators right? Reddit was more of a "run-a-forum as a service". But the Big Drama made it clear that it's Reddit's forum, not yours. Bait and switch.
        gerikson 3y ago
        Usenet did have moderation, as per this Reddit post (ironically): https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/m2dtcg/usenet_moderation_process/ https://www.reddit.com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/m2dtcg/us... Usenet preceded modern social media so the current discussions about who owns content didn't apply. Reddit was remarkably open in the beginning. Anon accounts, light moderation, open API... it's when they decided to try to extract more value that it became really shitty.
        kergonath 3y ago
        > Usenet did not have moderators right? It depends on the newsgroup. Some of them did. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup
        SyberShock 3y ago
        There are still active, moderated newsgroups. The majority of them have dried up, but some are still relevant.
      - mcv 3y ago
        The one thing Reddit didn't copy from usenet was the decentralisation. In that sense, I guess Lemmy is a step forward.
    - fluidcruft 3y ago
      Discoverability and fragmentation seem to be the problems on Lemmy. Groups are small (not really a problem, the smaller subreddits with active and engaged people are better IMHO) but it's really difficult and high-effort for groups to form. Reddit did seem to have that part working well. I think people have gone into Discord (which sucks/I cannot stand).
JohnFen 3y ago
I'm not aware of anything that fills the role that Usenet filled. What does this? I'd be very interested in such a thing.

SyberShock 3y ago

People are working on this. In particular Retro Guy has one very good web front end that is really the only viable replacement for Google Groups at this point. Look for Rocksolid Light (rslight) on gitlab. The source code is here: https://gitlab.com/rslight-public/rocksolid-light https://gitlab.com/rslight-public/rocksolid-light The live demo site is here: https://news.novabbs.org/rocksolid/index.php https://news.novabbs.org/rocksolid/index.php It has a retro look on purpose. There are several themes included and it is really easy to create a new theme CSS file. You can run a peer to carry text groups on a raspberry pi or a cheap VPS. Visit the rocksolid.* hierarchy on Usenet if you have questions about running a peer. Please don't ask questions about Rocksolid here on HN, as that would not benefit the people learning in the newsgroups. Disclosure: I am not the maintainer of Rocksolid Light and I am not promoting my own product. I just like the software and I think the maintainer has the right ideas and right attitude of retro-styled usability in his project.