Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google Groups ending support for Usenet

support.google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 207 posts

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#41

Post by Paul-Craft »

jart wrote: post #29
thfuran wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much money is Google making from Usenet support?

It doesn't matter how much money USENET makes one company, what matters is what it represents. Surrendering USENET entirely to abuse means we're losing one of the last vestiges of the ARPANET. It brings great shame and dishonor that Google won't fight for it.

As the song goes, "We haven't seen that spirit here since 1969." Okay, so maybe it's more like 1989, a few years before Eternal September[1] in 1993, when the deluge started for real.

But, I'll tell you what we're not losing when Google drops support for USENET: the archives. And, IMO, that's where the real value in Google Groups[2] lies, and has for decades.

---

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September

[2]: Née DejaNews -- oh, how we miss you!

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#42

Post by ChrisClark »

jart wrote: post #29
thfuran wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much money is Google making from Usenet support?

It doesn't matter how much money USENET makes one company, what matters is what it represents. Surrendering USENET entirely to abuse means we're losing one of the last vestiges of the ARPANET. It brings great shame and dishonor that Google won't fight for it.

Why are we losing it? It's only Google Groups that will stop posting to Usenet. Most spam was coming from there anyway.

If you want to use Usenet, just get a news reader, don't go through Google.

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#43

Post by [deleted] »

zafiro17 wrote: post #9

The nightmare is over? I've used Usenet for years. Most serious users filter out any post originating from G2 to do away with Google posts. It's been a huge source of spam and annoyance. Usenet gets better as it gets smaller, honestly. Most groups are carcasses these days, but several have regular use. comp.misc, misc.news.internet.discuss, and sci.misc are active. Several groups in the comp* hierarchy are active. Th…

[deleted]

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#44

Post by PhasmaFelis »

kazinator wrote: post #27
danans wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2) There is no administrative ostracism. Nobody gets kicked out by brownshirts for expressing their view. To be clear, you are on record as equating content moderation on private platforms with Nazism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung#:~:text=The%20S... .

I see; I was not aware that there is a specific connection between Nazis and the "brownshirt" term, though it is obviously a reference to some kind of uniform.

> I was not aware that there is a specific connection between Nazis and the "brownshirt" term

...Uh huh. What, exactly, did you think it meant? You clearly had something in mind.

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#45

Post by blihp »

dataangel wrote: post #20
zafiro17 wrote: post #9

The nightmare is over? I've used Usenet for years. Most serious users filter out any post originating from G2 to do away with Google posts. It's been a huge source of spam and annoyance. Usenet gets better as it gets smaller, honestly. Most groups are carcasses these days, but several have regular use. comp.misc, misc.news.internet.discuss, and sci.misc are active. Several groups in the comp* hierarchy are active. Th…

Is there a broader tutorial for this, newsgroups mostly missed me, I don't really grok how they fit into the greater internet or how their hosting works or why you have to pay a separate provider

In the dark ages when internet access was limited and/or via dialup for most of us, there were several tools and protocols to work with what we had: email, ftp and usenet were some of the main ones. Usenet was basically a primordial set of distributed forums platform (and quasi-social network) where copies of the data were stored locally. It was how a lot of information got disseminated prior to the mid-90's when the web took off and then over.

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#46

Post by tap-snap-or-nap »

stonogo wrote: post #16
jvolkman wrote: post #4

Most importantly, > You can continue to view and search for historical Usenet content posted before February 22, 2024 on Google Groups.

Google has a history of not living up to that particular claim: https://www.electricmonk.nl/log/2005/12/21/how-google-fucked... https://thenextweb.com/news/google-groups-stopped-indexing-u... https://www.vice.com/en/article/jp5a77/google-a-search-compa... https://www.reddit.com/r/usenet/comments/3ggogo/google_has_l... https://groups.google.com/g/comp.arch.embedded/c/zKo883p9AJQ

I doubt that corporations have the right intentions when acquiring public services. In fact, I'm inclined to believe there is a conflict of interest, and their objective may be to prevent these services from flourishing, or to sabotage them in the long term. Immediate sabotage would cause public outrage, so it's likely more subtle. This concern is evident in the recent acquisitions of GitHub and Twitter.

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#47

Post by Nursie »

kazinator wrote: post #36
friend_and_foe wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he's equating the different flavors of self professed socialists who get into a tizzy any time someone makes a joke online with Nazism. And also, I think it is deliberately hyperbolic so that only people with a sense of humor will refrain from getting in said predictable tizzy about it.

No I'm not; I just don't associate "brownshirt" with Nazis. In my mind, I always see someone handing out parking tickets or something. It also conveys low status. Rules are made by higher status people in white shirts, but interpreted rigidly by lower status in brown/green/blue/...

No, brownshirt is most definitely a Nazi thing, paramilitary thugs.

If you've been throwing that term around for a while, this might explain any odd reactions you've got.

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#48

Post by danans »

kazinator wrote: post #27
danans wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2) There is no administrative ostracism. Nobody gets kicked out by brownshirts for expressing their view. To be clear, you are on record as equating content moderation on private platforms with Nazism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung#:~:text=The%20S... .

I see; I was not aware that there is a specific connection between Nazis and the "brownshirt" term, though it is obviously a reference to some kind of uniform.

> I see; I was not aware that there is a specific connection between Nazis and the "brownshirt" term,

I genuinely appreciate and commend your honesty about the fact that you didn't previously know that.

Separately, it's an unfortunate that even on this forum, the term Brownshirt has been watered down to the point that it's lost its Nazi association completely, much like other Nazi terminology that has been rehabilitated in recent years.

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#49

Post by danans »

mtmail wrote: post #22
danans wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2) There is no administrative ostracism. Nobody gets kicked out by brownshirts for expressing their view. To be clear, you are on record as equating content moderation on private platforms with Nazism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung#:~:text=The%20S... .

In this context it means moderators or people behaving like authority. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the%20Browns...

There is only one definition of Brownshirt, despite contemporary attempts to ameliorate it. Here it is:

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-sa

Re: Google Groups ending support for Usenet

#50

Post by danans »

Vt71fcAqt7 wrote: post #21
danans wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2) There is no administrative ostracism. Nobody gets kicked out by brownshirts for expressing their view. To be clear, you are on record as equating content moderation on private platforms with Nazism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung#:~:text=The%20S... .

*Only to grammar nazis.

No, the definition of Brownshirt is pretty unambiguous:

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-sa

There isn't an alternative grammatical parsing that changes that.

Post reply on HN