From Newsgroup: comp.misc

I help test a small discussion site that might be interesting to people who still like topic-first conversations:

https://www.rootbadger.com

RootBadger is a web forum, but it borrows the parts of Usenet that still make sense: readable threads, named groups, topical hierarchies, and titles that actually say what a thread is about. It is not trying to replace Usenet. It is more like "what if a modern web board kept the useful namespace idea instead of turning everything into one feed?"

The groups are under rb.* so they do not pretend to be the global Usenet tree. There are areas like rb.comp, rb.rec, rb.sci, rb.soc, rb.talk, rb.alt, plus language and regional spaces. There are also specific groups for Linux, programming, computer security, privacy, radio, books, music, news, cryptids, science, politics, and a few odd corners.

One part I like is called BurrowCraft. It is just a posting guide: use a clear subject, put the post in the right group, quote only the useful bit, write in short paragraphs, and leave people something worth replying to. Pretty basic, but useful when a forum is trying not to become another noisy comment stream.

If anyone here misses structured groups but does not want another giant social network, it may be worth a look. I would be interested in what old Usenet users think should be copied, avoided, or done differently.
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From Newsgroup: comp.misc

Verily, in article <rbnote-d9df6dd679fa6b967a803093@example.invalid>,
did mara.vale@example.invalid deliver unto us this message:

If anyone here misses structured groups but does not want another giant social
network, it may be worth a look. I would be interested in what old Usenet users
think should be copied, avoided, or done differently.

What advantages does it offer over real Usenet?
--
The True Melissa - Canal Winchester - Ohio
United States of America - North America - Earth
Solar System - Milky Way - Local Group
Virgo Cluster - Laniakea Supercluster - Cosmos
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From Newsgroup: comp.misc

On 2026-06-21, Mara Vale <mara.vale@example.invalid> wrote:

I help test a small discussion site that
might be interesting to people who still like
topic-first conversations:

https://www.rootbadger.com

RootBadger is a web forum, but it borrows the
parts of Usenet that still make sense: readable
threads, named groups, topical hierarchies,
and titles that actually say what a thread is
about. It is not trying to replace Usenet. It
is more like "what if a modern web board kept
the useful namespace idea instead of turning
everything into one feed?"

The groups are under rb.* so they do not pretend
to be the global Usenet tree. There are areas
like rb.comp, rb.rec, rb.sci, rb.soc, rb.talk,
rb.alt, plus language and regional spaces. There
are also specific groups for Linux, programming,
computer security, privacy, radio, books,
music, news, cryptids, science, politics,
and a few odd corners.

One part I like is called BurrowCraft. It is
just a posting guide: use a clear subject,
put the post in the right group, quote only
the useful bit, write in short paragraphs, and
leave people something worth replying to. Pretty
basic, but useful when a forum is trying not
to become another noisy comment stream.

If anyone here misses structured groups but
does not want another giant social network, it
may be worth a look. I would be interested in
what old Usenet users think should be copied,
avoided, or done differently.

Good luck advertising such in USENET,
as USENET isn't just a place to
exchange words, but a religion
emotionally invested in by a
multitude of adherents. At
best will you stir up the
religious fundamentalism
of the worst of them.
--
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
| alt.troll.adam-h-kerman: proof that the |
| internet sometimes gets something right | ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
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From Newsgroup: comp.misc

Mara Vale <mara.vale@example.invalid> wrote:

I help test a small discussion site that might be interesting to people who still like topic-first conversations:

https://www.rootbadger.com

RootBadger is a web forum, but it borrows the parts of Usenet that still make sense: readable threads, named groups, topical hierarchies, and titles that actually say what a thread is about. It is not trying to replace Usenet. It is
more like "what if a modern web board kept the useful namespace idea instead of
turning everything into one feed?"

Weird, some posts have "metadata" like Usenet headers, such as
Message-ID and User-Agent, yet I can't find anything in the docs
about accessing it via NNTP and attempts to connect to
rootbadger.com from a newsreader fail with "connection refused".

I don't understand why anyone would do this and not make it
accessible over NNTP as well as the Web interface. I've never
posted to Usenet from a Web interface even though there have been
and still are various ones available (Google Groups being the main
one in the past, of course). Why would I embrace a new platform
that doesn't give me the option to use a real client of my choice
instead of just one official web interface?

There are various independent NNTP servers separate from Usenet,
many with their own Web interfaces. Sometimes they're even carried
by some Usenet news servers even though they're not officially part
of Usenet. That would be a more attractive proposition than some Usenet-inspired web forum that misses the main attractions of
Usenet for me, which are enabled by NNTP access.
--
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