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Opensuse Slides Reviving Usenet Usenet Big-8 Management Board https://www.big-8.org [email protected] About Me ● Training Engineer for SUSE Linux ● Board Member for B8MB ● Volunteer for Tor Proje!t ● All around nerd What is Usenet? Usenet is a #orldwide distributed discussion net#or$. %t is the original long-form messaging system that predates the Internet as #e know it. What is Usenet? )Usenet is li$e a herd of performing ele(&ants with diarrhea. Massive* diffi!ult to redire!t* a#e-inspiring* entertaining* and a sour!e of mind-boggling amounts of ex!rement #hen you least expe!t it.) ,-.ene S(a+ord, 1992 How does it work? Users read and send articles (messages) on a News server. That server exchanges articles with other 4ews servers in the net#ork. The !olle!tion of servers is kno#n as the Usenet. Benefits of Usenet ● 5pen ● 5wned b' no one ● 6ecentrali7ed ● 8esilient ● Sim(licit' ● 8esistant to !ensors&i( Organization Usenet is organi7ed into Newsgrou(s. Ea!& grou( is generally a topic for discussion for that grou(. Newsgrou(s are organi7ed into &ierar!&ies. alt.bit!oins is in the alt.9 &ierar!&' sci.cr'(t is in the sci.9 &iear!&' The Usenet Big-8 comp.* sci.* misc.* soc.* news.* talk.* rec.* humanities.* The Big-8 Management Board ● :reates #ell-named, #ell-used ne#sgroups in the Big-8 Usenet hierarchies ● Ma$es ne!essary adjustments to existing groups ● 8emoves groups t&at are not #ell-used ● "ssists and encourages the sup(ort of a !anonical Big-8 ne#sgroup list b' Usenet sites A Little History... %n /08;< There #as no internet The #as onl' the "8 ANET and fe# had ac!ess It was commonly accepted at the time that to join the ARPANET took political connections and $100,000. Better than email Email had been around for years before Usenet* but it was limited to the (eo(le using the same !omputer There #as no way to dire!tly tal$ to peo(le outside with the A8 "NET https=>>toda'.duke.edu/1;/;>;?>usenet.html https=>>###.!s.un!.edu>@istor'>Earl'Adulthood.html The Rise and Fall of the Usenet The beginning Year Sites (approx) Articles/Day (average) 1979 3 2 1980 15 10 1981 150 20 1982 400 50 1983 600 120 1984 900 225 1985 1300 375 1986 2500 500 1987 5000 1000 1988 11000 1800 AManaging Usenet” David Lawren!e https=>>en.wi$ipedia.org>#i$i>Usenet ds https=>>ma((a.mundi.net>ma(s>mapsC;1/>index.&tml The Eternal September Spam htt(=>>usenet.ee>maps>gra(&D-n-1;1;;E;1.png Back from the Dead? Dead Board Sometime in 20/E* all of the members of the Big-8 Management board ste((ed do#n or had their memberships la(se without anyone to ta$e up the mantle Dead Board Fithout the Big-8 board* no new newsgroups !ould be !reated, old ones !ould not be removed, and changes !ould not be made to existing ne#sgroups. Dead Board .rou(s that had once been moderated were now completely silent without a moderator. %t loo$ed li$e the death of much of the Usenet #as finall' at hand. A Thread from Reddit A Glimmer of Hope Shortl' aGer conta!ting former board members, we #ere asked by them if we !ould tell a little about ourselves #ith t&e goal of ta$ing over the board. My Goals for the B8MB ● See the B8MB sta+ed wit& a!tive volunteers. ● Ma$e !onta!ts with !urrent Usenet providers to ensure that the !anoni!al list of Big-8 newsgroups is observed and used. ● Begin a!!e(ting 8H6Is for new newsgroups. Growth is lifeJ ● Begin auditing unused* outdated ne#sgroups ● Ma$e !onta!ts with journalists* KouTubers, and others in the IT #orld to get the #ord out that Usenet is in fa!t alive and #ell and to drive new users to it. Handing over the Keys Work... 5ver t&e next fe# wee$s, I set u( a ne# web and mail server for our o#n needs. "nd then the #eb server w&ere the website had been hosted cras&ed before we were able to a!!ess it. Waiting Another Member Progress and Successes Why Questions to be Answered F&y are #e doing thisL Does an'one even care about Usenet an'moreL S&ould an'one careL Why are we doing this? Does anyone even care about Usenet anymore? Should anyone care? The Future ● Spread the word ● Meep on being a normal and stable board Stories from the Usenet A Grad Student in Finland a (free) operating system %Im doing a (free3 operating s'stem (just a hobb'* won't be big and (rofessional li$e gnu3 for 38N2E8N3 "T clones. … %Ive currently ported bash2/.;83 and g!!2/.E;3* and things seem to #ork. T&is implies that IIll get something pra!ti!al within a few months, and IId li$e to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are wel!ome* but I won't promise IIll implement them =-3 Subject: LINUX is obsolete "s most of you kno#* for me M%4%X is a hobb'* somet&ing t&at % do in the evening #&en I get bored writing books and there are no major wars, revolutions* or senate hearings being televised live on :44. M' real job is a professor and resear!&er in the area of operating s'stems. "s a result of my o!!u(ation, I think I know a bit about where operating are going in the next decade or so. Advertisement 6o 'ou (ine for the ni!e da's of minix-1.1, w&en men #ere men and #rote t&eir o#n devi!e driversL "re 'ou #ithout a ni!e (roject and just d'ing to !ut 'our teet& on a 5S 'ou can tr' to modif' for 'our needsL "re 'ou finding it frustrating #&en ever'thing wor$s on minixL 4o more all- nig&ters to get a niG' program wor$ingL T&en this post mig&t be just for 'ou :-) Kremvax From Russian with Love Well, toda'* 8E;E;/* this is at last the So!ialist Union of Soviet Republi!s joining the Usenet net#ork and sa'ing hallo to everybody. -- M. :&ernen$o* Mos!o#* USS8 This isn't funny. I hope you get so much mail in response to this that 'ou're reading it for a #eek straight. F**$ you. get out of our net#orkJJJ %f your net !onta!t is used as another channel for government-authored (ro(aganda* not too many of us will be interested in reading your messages. Fo#J %s this for real? Honest-to-god Russia? Gee. I never thought t&at %Id see it. Does this impl' that Unix is behind the %ron !urtainL % want to voice m' support of those #ho feel that the )April Fool's" jo$e about the USSR on the USENET #as bad form. Particularly when it a((eared in #hat many of us had !ome to rely on as the authoritative sour!e for nuews about the network. FelcomeJ PHrom an isolated C%A outpostQ Does an'one seriousl' doubt that :hernen$o, #ho has no ex(ertise in foreign polic', and (robabl' !an't spea$, let alone write, in another language, would post something to the netL That joke was in good taste. An'one who feels ta$en in b' that jo$e should ask him/herself why the net is so central to his/her li e. Cypherpunks Untraceable Digital Cash " co(y of my paper "Untraceable Digital Cas&, Information Mar$ets, and Blac$4et is now at t&is URL: ###.la#.miami.edu>Rfroomkin>articles>t!may.htm T&is is my position paper for t&e panel dis!ussion ).overnmental and Social Implications of Digital Mone') at t&e u(!oming Computers, Freedom, and Privac' (CFP) :onferen!e in San Fran!is!o, Mar!& 1/-/E* /00S. T&is paper summarizes several of t&e ideas I oGen focus on. " mu!& longer version of t&is paper is slated to ap(ear later t&is 'ear in t&e ne# Vernor Vinge re-issue of "True Names.) M' paper, "True Nyms and Cr'(to Anar!&'*) deals wit& t&e issues of pseudon'ms, digital mone', and cr'(to anar!&' at lengt&. TTim May Communities The point is this= !ommunities are islands whic& cause their members to ada(t their o#n interests to the dominant interests, or to change those interests through argumentation. T Tim Ma' Anarchy So* #&at !an be meant by sa'ing t&e :'(&er(unks list #as an )anar!&')L F&at most of us meant* surely* #as that t&ere #as no leaders&i( save t&at of leading throug& oneIs #ords. No ruling board of directors* no elections* no voting (ro!ess* no )top.) 2)no top*) "no ar!&*) anar!&'3 --Tim May alt.tasteless vs rec.pets.cats % &ave two !ats - Sooti$in 2Sooti for s&ort) a 1-year old female, and :&oad. :&oad 2stu(id name3 is a neutered tom #&o #as dum(ed on me b' m' s!umbag ex-roommate 2&e &ad been given it b' one of the two #omen &e #as dating at the time). I'm not #hat 'ou #ould !all a real studl' t'(e gu' 2although % &ave a lot of #omen friends3* so #&en % date itIs reall' important to me.
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