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1993-11-21
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5KB
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!crl.dec.com!decwrl!decwrl!looking!brad
Message-ID: <S615.706b@clarinet.com>
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 1:00:04 EST
Expires: Wed, 22 Dec 93 1:00:04 EST
Newsgroups: clari.net.newusers,news.answers
From: brad@clarinet.com (Brad Templeton)
Reply-To: clarinet@clarinet.com
Followup-to: poster
Approved: brad@clarinet.com
Subject: ClariNet Electronic Newspaper Introduction (Oct/92)
Lines: 103
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu clari.net.newusers:118 news.answers:14922
Archive-name: clarinet/intro
Introduction to ClariNet
Welcome to the ClariNet Electronic Publishing network. ClariNet provides
an "electronic newspaper" and more, in formats used by popular electronic
conferencing systems. You can read and access a full range of electronic
news on your own computer, with your own software, at your own pace.
[If you're reading this and you're not a ClariNet subscriber, you can
get subscription information on ClariNet by mailing to info@clarinet.com,
browsing ftp.clarinet.com or phoning 1-800-USE-NETS or +1 408 296 0366.]
The primary format for ClariNet news is the USENET message interchange
format, which is used by a wide variety of electronic conferencing systems.
USENET began in 1979 when two universities hooked together their Unix
computers to exchange messages. Since then, the number of hookups has
grown, and currently USENET is the largest electronic conference in the
world.
USENET has no central authority or structures. Sites simply share messages
and pass them on to their neighbours. When you post a message, your
computer sends it on to all your neighbours, and they tell two friends,
and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on, until the entire network
receives the message.
These systems were created for both discussion and the dissemination of
announcements. The structure of the network, however -- a free form
anarchy -- was great for plain open discussion, but left no mechanism for
the electronic publishing of copyrighted material.
The ClariNet network was created in parallel to allow for this. It uses
the same file format and transmission mechanisms, so subscribers can read
the news with no extra effort. Unlike USENET, however, it is controlled,
and subscription fees are charged to pay the copyright holders.
This manual is primarily for those with some familiarity with USENET. If
you are unfamiliar with USENET, a later chapter provides some extra
information. Your system will also contain documentation for USENET tools
and newsreaders.
All news on USENET and ClariNet is divided into what are known as
"newsgroups." A newsgroup can be an electronic conference (like a bulletin
board), a channel for the distribution of software, an edited discussion,
or an electronic publication. Almost all ClariNet newsgroups are
electronic publications -- in most cases, categories of news.
You can think of many ClariNet newsgroups as vaguely analogous to pages in
a newspaper. Our baseball group, for example, has all the information that
you will find on the baseball pages of a newspaper.
Differences:
Those familiar with USENET should be able to ease right into reading
ClariNet news. All ClariNet newsgroups begin with the prefix "clari" and
fall into one of a small number of product hierarchies. You subscribe to
and read these groups in the same manner as USENET groups.
There are some fundamental differences, however, that you will want to
consider:
o ClariNet articles have a meaningful headline prepared by a professional
journalist. You can scan the headlines quickly to see what you wish to
read.
o ClariNet articles are keyworded using the topics the article covers.
o ClariNet articles aren't discussions, they are news. There are no
followups, though reference chains exist.
o ClariNet articles come with a wide variety of extra headers providing
useful classifying information about the article.
o ClariNet articles come fast, and network links are designed to propagate
them quickly. They also become stale more quickly, turning into
"yesterday's news."
o ClariNet articles on big stories are updated frequently. Each update
cancels the previous article and adds a new one with the latest details.
You will thus find lots of gaps in ClariNet newsgroups where canceled
articles used to be.
o As a consequence of the above, ClariNet feeds generate hundreds of
cancel messages every day.
o ClariNet articles are all copyrighted, and may not be distributed
without permission. See the licence terms.
o Most ClariNet articles are crossposted to 2-4 groups, if their subject
matter falls in multiple categories.
o You can't reply to, or follow-up ClariNet articles. They are
publications, not discussions. Some groups exist for the discussion of
ClariNet and articles within it. Most ClariNet groups are marked as
"moderated," but you may not submit to them, even by mail.
o Some ClariNet articles make heavy use of underlining as understood by
many newsreading programs. (Underlining is done by prefacing a character
with an underbar and a backspace.)
[ Note to regular readers -- we will not be putting out diffs with changes
to these documents. Rather, we announce news about ClariNet in the groups
clari.net.announce and clari.net.admin ]