Google groups access message

[Surf Dance Chris]

This message comes up above the group when accessing through Google groups:

“Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new content from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of historical data will still be supported as it is done today.”

How else can the group be accessed? I used to access RRC through aol groups, then moved to google groups once aol stopped supporting it.

[Dave Althoff, Jr.]

Surf Dance Chris <***@aol.com> wrote:
: This message comes up above the group when accessing through Google groups:
:

: ?Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new
: Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new
: content from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of
: historical data will still be supported as it is done today.?

: How else can the group be accessed? I used to access RRC through aol
: groups, then moved to google groups once aol stopped supporting it.

It sure seems to me that Google is being remiss in not having a search
built for "how to access Usenet without Google Groups" or even a help page
showing alternatives. Maybe that's coming.

For the moment, at least, I can recommend eternal-september.org . For info,
check out their web site at www.eternal-september.org . Be sure to get that
www in there or the page won't load. There are other servers out there,
including some that are not $free, and that's where you want to look if you
are looking for binaries groups in addition to the standard text
heirarchies. Since r.r-c is in rec.* it's going to be carried on just about
any server.

Finding a server you can read and post from is only half the battle. You
also need a newsreader. I'm a poor source of advice there, as I use rtin,
which is a tin variant that runs on a UNIX command line (TERMINAL window in
MacOS...) and you might want something a little...prettier. I do have one
for iOS, NewsTapLite, which is decent, but I don't use it much because it
won't share a .newsrc file with rtin so that I can keep track of what I
have and haven't read. In fact that's one of the things I like about
tin...because it runs on a command line, I can log in remotely to a command
line session on my desktop machine and run it from there, and not have to
worry about my .newsrc getting out of sync.

(the .newsrc is the file that keeps track of what newsgroups you are
subscribed to, and more important, which messages you have already read)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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[Surf Dance Chris]

It was probably there all along and I didn’t notice it, but there is a “learn more” option to the right if the message, which brings you to a page that says this:

“ Google Groups ending support for Usenet
If you work with Usenet groups in Google Groups, support for these groups is ending soon.

What’s changing?
Starting on February 22, 2024, you can no longer use Google Groups (at groups.google.com) to post content to Usenet groups, subscribe to Usenet groups, or view new Usenet content. You can continue to view and search for historical Usenet content posted before February 22, 2024 on Google Groups.

In addition, Google’s Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) server and associated peering will no longer be available, meaning Google will not support serving new Usenet content or exchanging content with other NNTP servers.

This change will not impact any non-Usenet content on Google Groups, including all user and organization-created groups. Most of the current Google Groups content is not Usenet content and will not be affected.

What do I need to do?
If you don’t actively engage with Usenet content, you don’t need to do anything. Current Usenet users will need to do two things before February 22, 2024 if they want to continue engaging with Usenet content:

Find a new Usenet client. Several free and paid alternatives are available, both web-based and application-based. To find a client, do a web search for "how do I find a usenet text client"
Find a new public Usenet server. The new client you choose will likely have a default server or a set of curated options for you. If not, to find a server, do a web search for "public NNTP servers."
Because Usenet is a distributed system, you do not need to migrate data. All of the Usenet content you can access today on Google Groups should already be synced to the new server you choose. After you select a new client and server, you can reselect the groups you’re interested in.

Why is Google Groups support for Usenet ending?
Over the last several years, legitimate activity in text-based Usenet groups has declined significantly because users have moved to more modern technologies and formats such as social media and web-based forums. Much of the content being disseminated via Usenet today is binary (non-text) file sharing, which Google Groups does not support, as well as spam.”

[Heather Kendrick]

Post by Surf Dance Chris
“Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new
Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new content
from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of historical data
will still be supported as it is done today.”
How else can the group be accessed? I used to access RRC through aol groups,
then moved to google groups once aol stopped supporting it.

I use a server, news.individual.net, which costs 10 euro/year. (It’s based
in Germany, though I’m not.) I have always preferred using a local
newsreader client as opposed to Google, although I’m not that happy with
the newsreader I have right now. I am a Mac user and use Hogwasher, which is
adequate at best; I still miss the defunct MT-Newswatcher, which did
everything I wanted it to and more.

[Richard Bannister]

Welp, that's it for me. Not going to install and use a special piece of software for something that only has occasional new posts.

It was fun while it lasted.

-
www.superiorsolitaire.com

[GodsOnSafari]

Post by Richard Bannister
Welp, that's it for me. Not going to install and use a special piece of software for something that only has occasional new posts.
It was fun while it lasted.

I could be sad about it but I mean, at this point my interaction with RRC is that I flag lots of stuff as spam in the hopes it would lead to superior blocking of those posts as some kind of secret olive branch to the people still doing this stuff and wanting at least the hope of a community to be retained. It's sad, but plenty of other people moved on with nary a tear who had a lot more investment and involvement with the community that was built here.

[Heather Kendrick]

Post by GodsOnSafari

Post by Richard Bannister
Welp, that's it for me. Not going to install and use a special piece of
software for something that only has occasional new posts.
It was fun while it lasted.

I could be sad about it but I mean, at this point my interaction with RRC is
that I flag lots of stuff as spam in the hopes it would lead to superior
blocking of those posts as some kind of secret olive branch to the people
still doing this stuff and wanting at least the hope of a community to be
retained. It's sad, but plenty of other people moved on with nary a tear who
had a lot more investment and involvement with the community that was built
here.

I like knowing you’ve still been around, even if in silent mode!

[Surf Dance Chris]

Update: the message appearing at the top while accessing the board says the change will go into affect on February 22 instead of February 15.

[BobRahe]

I find eternal-september.org fine and use Mozilla Thunderbird for a
news reader. May not be fancy enuf for everyone but adequate for the few
groups I read. And since I use TB for mail as well the fact news fits in
to the interface like mail is a plus.

Bob

Post by Surf Dance Chris
“Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new content from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of historical data will still be supported as it is done today.”
How else can the group be accessed? I used to access RRC through aol groups, then moved to google groups once aol stopped supporting it.

[BobRahe]

Interestinng article in SlashDot today on Usenet:


<https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet>

Bob

  I find eternal-september.org fine and use Mozilla Thunderbird for a
news reader. May not be fancy enuf for everyone but adequate for the few
groups I read. And since I use TB for mail as well the fact news fits in
to the interface like mail is a plus.
Bob

Post by Surf Dance Chris
“Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new
Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new
content from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of
historical data will still be supported as it is done today.”
How else can the group be accessed? I used to access RRC through aol
groups, then moved to google groups once aol stopped supporting it.

[Surf Dance Chris]

Post by BobRahe
<https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/12/20/2147253/the-rise-and-fall-of-usenet>
Bob

That was pretty interesting, thanks for sharing. Sounds like it’s not just RRC that’s been full of spam recently.

[Maddox Cox]

Post by Surf Dance Chris
“Effective February 15, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new content from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of historical data will still be supported as it is done today.”
How else can the group be accessed? I used to access RRC through aol groups, then moved to google groups once aol stopped supporting it.

Tbh... I'm not surprised. A lot of posts as of late are pretty much spam and/or replies to twenty year old posts that aged like crap. And I was born in 2004... Literally like one of only ten users born after 1995-ish that even remotely use Usenet.