[ Thanks to LinuxLinks for this link.
]
“The importance of Usenet as an environment for discussion has
diminished over recent years given the increasing popularity of
internet forums and blogs. However, the newsgroup community remains
very active and vocal. It continues to be a great resource of
information, and to obtain support from like-minded individuals.
Moreover, Usenet is a popular means of downloading files including
Linux distributions.“Unlike web forums, Usenet does not have a central server or a
dedicated administrator. Instead, Usenet is distributed among a
conglomeration of servers that store and pass messages to each
other. There are several different types of newsreaders. Some
newsreaders are intended primarily for discussions, others are
better suited for downloading files. Newsreaders that help users to
adhere to the netiquette are evaluated by the Good Netkeeping Seal
of Approval (GNKSA). There are also tools which are dedicated for
downloading files only.”