o=o=o NEWSGROUPS o=o=o¢ by Alan Sharkis, Editor¢ OHAUG Newsletter¢ ¢ A NEWSGROUP makes it possible for¢ people with a common interest to post¢ messages containing questions,¢ answers to those questions, opinions,¢ announcements, etc., and have those¢ messages get seen and potentially¢ answered by all who subscribe to the¢ newsgroup. In order to subscribe,¢ you must have an Internet Service¢ Provider who has newsgroups as part¢ of his service. Most do. GEnie does¢ not currently handle newsgroups on¢ its regular dial-up service, but¢ might on its deluxe Internet service¢ (I haven't checked.) Until three¢ months or so ago, however, GEnie made¢ available digests of the newsgroup¢ most important to us as 8-bitters as¢ Atari text files for downloading. ¢ The files are still there, but Genie¢ has not received new ones since that¢ time.¢¢ Once subscribed to a newsgroup, and¢ there are thousands of them, you're¢ likely to have several features¢ besides the individual messages you¢ read. In the newsgroup most¢ important to us as 8-bitters,¢ comp.sys.atari.8bit, there is a¢ regularly updated FAQ feature. FAQ¢ means "frequently asked questions,"¢ and it includes the questions and¢ answers in an organized list. If you¢ landed here from Mars and had never¢ heard of the classic Atari, but had¢ orders from your leader to find out¢ all you could about it, the FAQ is a¢ good place to start. There is also a¢ regularly-updated LIST OF VENDORS AND¢ DEVELOPERS on comp.sys.atari.8bit¢ that is longer and more complete than¢ you could ever imagine.¢¢ Each newsgroup has a specific method¢ of subscribing. It usually involves¢ your sending the person in charge of¢ the newsgroup an Internet E-Mail¢ message with the single word,¢ "subscribe" in its body or subject¢ line. Since the message will contain¢ your address, all that you'd need is¢ the address to send it to. Services¢ like America Online and AT&T Worldnet¢ only require that you type in the¢ name of the newsgroup on a form, and¢ they subscribe or unsubscribe for¢ you. What's more, they have a¢ listing of many thousands of¢ newsgroups that you can just choose¢ off a screen. That's the way I did¢ it (I'm spoiled!)¢¢ The amount of information that one¢ gets on newsgroups is overwhelming. ¢ However, much of it is opinion,¢ rather than fact. Sometimes the¢ language of a message gives you the¢ impression that what you are reading¢ is opinion. So, people tend to get¢ intense when speaking about their¢ favorite likes and dislikes. On the¢ other hand, some people use¢ abbreviations like IMHO (in my humble¢ opinion) to preface everything they¢ write. What you have to watch out¢ for is the guy that categorically¢ states what might be fact, and is not¢ disputed in replys. Your own¢ experience with the product he was¢ describing might be completely¢ different.¢¢ You will also see topics and threads¢ continue through some twenty-or-so¢ messages over a period of weeks at¢ times. Other times, it's just a guy¢ selling or looking for a particular¢ game, and there are no responses. If¢ there's enough controversy in a¢ message, you'll see people line up on¢ sides of the issue. You can jump in,¢ or just LURK (read without writing);¢ the choice is yours.¢¢ I feel that newsgroups are similar to¢ message bases on a BBS, particularly¢ a networked BBS, with one important¢ difference. There are much tighter¢ controls on what is on-topic or¢ off-topic, and the controls come from¢ the users themselves. There is no¢ moderator, but EVERYONE can act as a¢ moderator. FLAMING (deragatory¢ references to a person or product)¢ and SPAMMING (delivering a message¢ across several newsgroups whether its¢ flaming or not; on-topic or not) are¢ usually not tolerated.¢¢ One thing that you will see in¢ messages is that a reply will quote¢ from the message to which it is¢ responding. The quotes should be¢ just a few lines from the point to¢ which the responder is responding;¢ not the entire original message.¢ Otherwise people get tired of seeing¢ the same text all the time. If the¢ software you're using allows quoting,¢ by all means use it. People can¢ follow the thread more easily that¢ But, use it judiciously!¢¢ Joining a newsgroup, particularly¢ comp.sys.atari.8bit, can do more to¢ strengthen a feeling of community¢ than anything else I have seen¢ (IMHO!)¢¢ o=o=o=o=o¢¢
