Frequently Asked Questions
About News Groups
Don't think of newsgroups as being an electronic dissemination of `news' headlines and stories as they happen. The definition of news as applied to newsgroups means almost anything related to the topic under discussion. Better still, you can pitch in and have your say, either on the issue at hand or on someone else's previously-voiced thoughts, or start a completely new line of talk. Newsgroups are a non-stop rolling discussion on almost any relevant subject which anyone cares to raise. Newsgroups are different to e-mail in that they are a completely public exchange of views. It's like jotting down your thoughts and pinning them to a noticeboard for all to see rather than sending them in a sealed envelope to one particular person.
You may hear newsgroups referred to under the heading of `UseNet'. This harkens back to its beginning as a Unix User's Network which linked a handful of Unix machines in North Carolina. As the Internet grew so did the reach and scope of UseNet discussion groups, eventually becoming newsgroups on all manner of subjects. Just how many newsgroups are there? In Australia you can tap into over 10,000 groups depending on those carried by your ISP. All you need is a special piece of software called a newsreader. Both Netscape and Microsoft products have inbuilt news readers.
Newsgroups follow a simple `hierarchical' naming system which both organise and identify each group. The first few letters of a newsgroup's name shows it belongs to one of these major categories:
- COMP. is used for discussion of all matters relating to computers.
- NEWS. is for information about newsgroups themselves.
- REC. stands for `recreation' and touches on every conceivable form of recreation, hobby or past-time.
- SCI. is for science, from the traditional realms of physics and mathematics to engineering and astronomy.
- SOC. is where social issues are discussed -- cultural, religious, lifestyle and a multitude of other forms of human interaction.
- TALK. is free and wide-ranging discussion on almost any topic, although sometimes it's the discussion rather than the issue which is at the fore.
- MISC. was originally intended to cover any pursuit which didn't belong in the other categories, but to a large extent this role has been assumed by the ALT. newsgroups. The ALT. areas are far and away the most active (and the most controversial) haunts on the Net.
Each of these categories is divided again and again, like a tree branching out from trunk to tip. As you move further from left to right the descriptions become more specific and the nature of the group becomes more apparent.
