From Newsgroup: alt.free.nntp

For almost two years I've been relatively unresponsive via e-mail, but
life circumstances have changed, and wanted to post an update and invite
for new users.

Since Usenet's inception there have been requests for archives [1]. Many
know the story of DejaNews and GoogleGroups. Archival efforts from that
point forward have been focused on providing web-based archives. While
these have some advantages, in my humble opinion, nothing compares to
using a newsreader.

My Usenet server's purpose is to be a repository for as much Usenet
content as I can pull together and share with the world. No authentication
is required to read, and everyone is invited to use it, copy it, share it, etc.

If you're interested in researching how the Internet came to be and how we keep repeating history, the net.* hierarchy from before "The Great
Renaming" is not only deeply insightful, but also quite amusing.

The current state of the archive is not well organized and there are many
gaps to be filled [2]. Most hierarchies still in use today have articles
going back to at least the early 2000s, but you'll find a good deal of the
Big 8 go back to the 1990s, and some since "The Great Renaming" in 1987.
Over time these gaps will be filled.

To access the archive, configure a newsreader to use news.blueworldhosting.com. It is available on port 119 or port 563 (encrypted). No authentication is required for reading. If you want to
post using my server, please send an e-mail to have an account created.
Over the last year I was very bad about doing this, but believe I have
gotten through the backlog. If you're still waiting for my reply, please
send a new e-mail.

[1] See Message-IDs <bnews.osu-dbs.159> and <bnews.ecn-pb.121> on news.blueworldhosting.com for one such request dated November 1982.
[2] Article numbering is not chronological. To see the full range of a newsgroup it is necessary to download all headers. I will update https:// usenet.blueworldhosting.com with further status information soon.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.free.nntp

On Mon, 1 Sep 2025 03:59:35 -0000 (UTC), Jesse Rehmer wrote :

I will update https://
usenet.blueworldhosting.com with further status information soon.

What would be fantastic, if it exists, is to replicate the ability for
anyone, without an nntp engine, to search & copy a link to articles found.

Google did it, but as you know, it's now no longer updated after Feb 2024.
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.free.newsservers
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.free.newsservers>

This replicated that engine, but it's broken more often than not.
<https://alt.free.newsservers.narkive.com/>

This was kindly added by retro guy, as I recall, in the summer of 2024.
<https://www.novabbs.com/tech/thread.php?group=alt.free.newsservers>

And, at some point, this was added, but I'm not sure if it's working.
<https://newsgrouper.org/alt.free.newsservers>

Obviously, what is truly needed is what Google did, which is:
a. An obvious link that is easy to remember
b. That does a search on common text newsgroups
c. Which spits out a single URI to a single article or thread

Something like this URI for a search engine would be perfect...
<https:// usenet.blueworldhosting.com/g/alt.free.newsservers>
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.free.nntp

On Mon, 1 Sep 2025 16:13:58 -0000 (UTC), Marion wrote:

On Mon, 1 Sep 2025 03:59:35 -0000 (UTC), Jesse Rehmer wrote :

I will update https://
usenet.blueworldhosting.com with further status information soon.

What would be fantastic, if it exists, is to replicate the ability for anyone, without an nntp engine, to search & copy a link to articles
found.

Google did it, but as you know, it's now no longer updated after Feb
2024.
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.free.newsservers
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.free.newsservers>

This replicated that engine, but it's broken more often than not.
<https://alt.free.newsservers.narkive.com/>

This was kindly added by retro guy, as I recall, in the summer of 2024.
<https://www.novabbs.com/tech/thread.php?group=alt.free.newsservers>

And, at some point, this was added, but I'm not sure if it's working.
<https://newsgrouper.org/alt.free.newsservers>

Obviously, what is truly needed is what Google did, which is:
a. An obvious link that is easy to remember b. That does a search on
common text newsgroups c. Which spits out a single URI to a single
article or thread

Something like this URI for a search engine would be perfect...
<https:// usenet.blueworldhosting.com/g/alt.free.newsservers>

There are have been a number of attempts at making something to replace
Google Groups. You've pointed out a few and another:

https://i2pn2.pugleaf.net/groups/alt.free.newsservers

I'm not a developer, nor am I particularly interested in making the
archive available via the web. Others have done or are doing that.

Web application software, regardless of the underlying language, is
typically buggy and full of vulnerabilities. I foresee headaches and
potential risk/harm to Usenet with web-based software that has not
undergone robust vulnerability review, and is not developed by a
community.

Most of the efforts in this area seem like a one-person show. That's not sustainable, but should a community come together to develop and take ownership of a tool that's useful and is regularly updated/patched, I'd be interested in it.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.free.nntp

Marion <marion@facts.com> posted:

And, at some point, this was added, but I'm not sure if it's working.
<https://newsgrouper.org/alt.free.newsservers>

That's my site and it is working, except for UK users who our government's over-the-top Online Safety Act has forced me to block.

If you click "Search" at the top-right of the group page you get a
page where you can search for posts of that group by substrings of
subject and/or author and/or maximum date.

When you click into one of the posts found, there is a "Permalink" link
at the bottom which gives a direct link to that post in the form:
https://newsgrouper.org/<message-id>

I'm afraid it's not practical for me to support full-text search of posts,
or searching more than one group at a time.
--
Colin Macleod ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ https://cmacleod.me.uk

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