From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

This is a sincere thank you to all the free NNTP server operators.

I am speaking only for myself. None of the people I mention have endorsed
this message. I name them solely out of respect for their long-standing contributions to the free Usenet ecosystem. I may have missed some.

For decades, a small number of dedicated volunteers have kept free NNTP servers and their peering links alive. They built the infrastructure, maintained the feeds, fixed the breakage, absorbed the abuse, and kept the doors open long after most sane people would have walked away. Without
them, free access to Usenet would have disappeared years ago.

This work was not limited to running servers. It also depended on the
quiet, often invisible labor of peering, including arranging feeds,
maintaining links, negotiating connections, and keeping articles flowing
across a network that has no central authority. Peering is the glue that
holds Usenet together, and the people who handled it deserve recognition
for keeping the entire system functioning even as they're not as public
facing as the free nntp server admins might be to a normal user.

I want to express my sincere thanks to the public faces behind these long-running free servers and the peering work that supported them:

Paolo Amoroso (Aioe)
Roman Racine, Alexander Bartolich, Sabine Schultz (Albasani)
Daniel and Monika Weber, Benjamin Gufler (Solani)
Steen Jensen (Sunsite)
Steve Crook (Mixmin)
Alex de Joode (Dizum)
Ivo Gandolfo (Paganini)
Ray Banana (Eternal September)
Jesse Rehmer (Blueworld)
Retro Guy (NovaBBS, RIP)
Davide Cavion (Narkive)
Marco Mook (peering and backbone work)

I certainly have missed some, but I do not speak for any of them.
I simply respect what they all have built. For everyone. For history.

Their work has given countless people around the globe a no-cost way to endeavor to read, learn, explore, and communicate freely. Their efforts deserve recognition, and their efforts deserve better than the noise that
now dominates this group.

Thank you all, for keeping the free newsservers backbone system alive for
as long as you have. Your efforts mattered then, they still matter.
--
Bofh forbids crosspost/f'up to alt.free.newsservers so this is a multipost.
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

On 09.04.2026 05:59 Uhr Anonymous Contributor wrote:

Marco Mook (peering and backbone work)

The surname is Moock.

I also never operated an NNTP server, so I had exactly 0 peering
sessions. My (now shut down) rslight instance used NNRP to an upstream
server and behaved like a normal newsreader.
--
kind regards
Marco

Send spam to 1775707184muell@stinkedores.dorfdsl.de

--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

On Thu, 9 Apr 2026 20:03:49 +0200, Marco Moock wrote:

Marco Mook (peering and backbone work)

The surname is Moock.

I also never operated an NNTP server, so I had exactly 0 peering
sessions. My (now shut down) rslight instance used NNRP to an upstream
server and behaved like a normal newsreader.

Apologies. That was from memory. I meant no harm.

You've helped on the peering group a lot though.
And you've helped in the free news server groups suggesting sites also.

btw honorable mention goes to Howard Knight who I also forgot to add.

And some (like netfront, samoylyk, neodome, tulanet, wieslauf, news4all)
just don't have known public facing admins to thank for their deeds.

There are many others to thank. I just don't remember them all offhand.
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

[in reply to ReK2 Hispagatos <rek2@usenet_reborn.tui>]

This is a sincere thank you to all the free NNTP server operators.

I am speaking only for myself. None of the people I mention have endorsed this message. I name them solely out of respect for their long-standing contributions to the free Usenet ecosystem. I may have missed some.

For decades, a small number of dedicated volunteers have kept free NNTP servers and their peering links alive. They built the infrastructure, maintained the feeds, fixed the breakage, absorbed the abuse, and kept the doors open long after most sane people would have walked away. Without
them, free access to Usenet would have disappeared years ago.

This work was not limited to running servers. It also depended on the
quiet, often invisible labor of peering, including arranging feeds, maintaining links, negotiating connections, and keeping articles flowing across a network that has no central authority. Peering is the glue that holds Usenet together, and the people who handled it deserve recognition
for keeping the entire system functioning even as they're not as public facing as the free nntp server admins might be to a normal user.

I want to express my sincere thanks to the public faces behind these long-running free servers and the peering work that supported them:

Paolo Amoroso (Aioe)
Roman Racine, Alexander Bartolich, Sabine Schultz (Albasani)
Daniel and Monika Weber, Benjamin Gufler (Solani)
Steen Jensen (Sunsite)
Steve Crook (Mixmin)
Alex de Joode (Dizum)
Ivo Gandolfo (Paganini)
Ray Banana (Eternal September)
Jesse Rehmer (Blueworld)
Retro Guy (NovaBBS, RIP)
Davide Cavion (Narkive)
Marco Mook (peering and backbone work)

I certainly have missed some, but I do not speak for any of them.
I simply respect what they all have built. For everyone. For history.

Their work has given countless people around the globe a no-cost way to endeavor to read, learn, explore, and communicate freely. Their efforts deserve recognition, and their efforts deserve better than the noise that now dominates this group.

Thank you all, for keeping the free newsservers backbone system alive for
as long as you have. Your efforts mattered then, they still matter.
--
Bofh forbids crosspost/f'up to alt.free.newsservers so this is a multipost.

Dido +1 I only been part of the federation 3-4 years with our hispagatos node https://news.hispagatos.org but I felt in love with usenet again (not that hard with the
normal http landscape we can now a days, exluding the fediverse) and I plan
to be running our node for many years to come, as long I can finance it and have some
time to keep up with updates/administration etc and health of course.
But back on topic, much claps and recognition to those that never left usenet and kept it up and peer until today.

Happy Hacking
ReK2
--
{gemini,https}://{,rek2.}hispagatos.org - mastodon: @rek2@hispagatos.space [https|gemini]://2600.Madrid - https://hispagatos.space/@rek2 Reticulum Laptop: lxmf@c6dc6bb3a6b0955d102fde5e7613e2af
Reticulum PC: lxmf@46f7530c35cd9cb2e8e6cf6d39064810
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

On Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:12:32 -0000 (UTC), ReK2 Hispagatos wrote:

Dido +1 I only been part of the federation 3-4 years with our hispagatos node
https://news.hispagatos.org but I felt in love with usenet again (not that hard with the
normal http landscape we can now a days, exluding the fediverse) and I plan to be running our node for many years to come, as long I can finance it and have some
time to keep up with updates/administration etc and health of course.
But back on topic, much claps and recognition to those that never left usenet
and kept it up and peer until today.

Happy Hacking
ReK2

I had only heard of hispagatos in passing, where I thought it was a Spanish-language-only service so I apologize that I omitted you.

Looking up who you are and what you're about, what else do folks like me,
who don't know about your service, need to know in terms of nntp or
peering?

Here's what the Internet seems to say about you & your kind service.
(this is copypasta so it's not my own observations)

***** begin copypasta *****
Hispagatos is a well-known international anarchist/hacking/activist
collective (largely Spanish-speaking, hence the name) that provides free privacy-respecting services. Operated by activists rather than hobbyists.

Server: news.hispagatos.org (a "pro-privacy" and "pro-anonymity" server)
Ports: 119, 563 (NNTPS / SSL)

Registration: no registration required for reading. Posting may require authentication depending on the group.

Admin (you seem to be ok with your name in public, but I'll just
use initials in case I misread that. L...s R...o Q...o which is where the
ReK2 l33t comes from (Re-Que).

He is a long-time hacktivist, systems administrator and a vocal public
advocate for digital privacy and decentralized networks and author of Connection Timeout: The PingStarved Chronicles which is a work of "hacker fiction" that heavily reflects his real-life philosophy: a nostalgia for
the "old protocols" (like NNTP/Usenet) and a distrust of modern,
centralized social media.

Philosophy: He runs the node as part of a mission to provide "unrestricted
and uncensored" access to information.
***** end of copypasta *****

Thank you for your post and for maintaining the hispagatos node.

I've been using Usenet free nntp servers for a very long time because I
value the privacy and the text-centric landscape over the modern web.

It's great to see people still peering and keeping the federation strong.
I'm looking forward to seeing your node in the headers for years to come .
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

Anonymous Contributor <anon@example.net> composa la prose suivante:

This is a sincere thank you to all the free NNTP server operators.

I am speaking only for myself. None of the people I mention have endorsed >this message. I name them solely out of respect for their long-standing >contributions to the free Usenet ecosystem. I may have missed some.

For decades, a small number of dedicated volunteers have kept free NNTP >servers and their peering links alive. They built the infrastructure, >maintained the feeds, fixed the breakage, absorbed the abuse, and kept the >doors open long after most sane people would have walked away. Without
them, free access to Usenet would have disappeared years ago.

This work was not limited to running servers. It also depended on the
quiet, often invisible labor of peering, including arranging feeds, >maintaining links, negotiating connections, and keeping articles flowing >across a network that has no central authority. Peering is the glue that >holds Usenet together, and the people who handled it deserve recognition
for keeping the entire system functioning even as they're not as public >facing as the free nntp server admins might be to a normal user.

I want to express my sincere thanks to the public faces behind these >long-running free servers and the peering work that supported them:

Paolo Amoroso (Aioe)
Roman Racine, Alexander Bartolich, Sabine Schultz (Albasani)
Daniel and Monika Weber, Benjamin Gufler (Solani)
Steen Jensen (Sunsite)
Steve Crook (Mixmin)
Alex de Joode (Dizum)
Ivo Gandolfo (Paganini)
Ray Banana (Eternal September)
Jesse Rehmer (Blueworld)
Retro Guy (NovaBBS, RIP)
Davide Cavion (Narkive)
Marco Mook (peering and backbone work)

I certainly have missed some, but I do not speak for any of them.
I simply respect what they all have built. For everyone. For history.

Their work has given countless people around the globe a no-cost way to >endeavor to read, learn, explore, and communicate freely. Their efforts >deserve recognition, and their efforts deserve better than the noise that >now dominates this group.

Thank you all, for keeping the free newsservers backbone system alive for
as long as you have. Your efforts mattered then, they still matter.

NUO (news.usenet.ovh) is up for several years now.
Main hierarchies distributed fr.*, big8 (news, comp, humanities, misc, rec, sci,
soc, talk), alt and linux.*. (but also: de, it, be, uk, pl etc. Over 10000 groups available)

I am (Jean-Paul) the administrator of that server ;-)

--
NUO: https://news.usenet.ovh/
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

I had only heard of hispagatos in passing, where I thought it was a Spanish-language-only service so I apologize that I omitted you.

No need to apologize, we only been around on usenet(back) a short time especially comparing with how old is usenet.

Looking up who you are and what you're about, what else do folks like me,
who don't know about your service, need to know in terms of nntp or
peering?

Here's what the Internet seems to say about you & your kind service.
(this is copypasta so it's not my own observations)

haha OMG let me reply to each of those sentences point by point.

***** begin copypasta *****
Hispagatos is a well-known international anarchist/hacking/activist collective (largely Spanish-speaking, hence the name) that provides free privacy-respecting services. Operated by activists rather than hobbyists.

mostly true, but I think that LLM got it wrong is not that we are not hobbyist is that most of us also work many years in the cyber security side ( the ones that did not
already left because of burn out) we pay our bills but our real passion comes after work, that is when we are activist of digital rights, privacy, and political concerned in real live having participated in ocuppy wall street, the Barcelona and Madrid "indignados" and other latin american activities since we are people from the "US/Spain/Latin America"

Server: news.hispagatos.org (a "pro-privacy" and "pro-anonymity" server) Ports: 119, 563 (NNTPS / SSL)

Sounds correct at first glance :D

Registration: no registration required for reading. Posting may require authentication depending on the group.

this is 100% wrong we only allow people by invitation, we usually invite people in our community and also well known free software, digital freedom activist, Linux advocates, and hackers(not cybercriminals)

https://hackingisnotacrime.org <--- this org explains it better than I could.

Admin (you seem to be ok with your name in public, but I'll just
use initials in case I misread that. L...s R...o Q...o which is where the ReK2 l33t comes from (Re-Que).

50% wrong, I used to run a hacker culture video show in Spanish,
and my "public" nickname is ReK2( have other nicks that are not associated ) it is associated with my name is even in my C.V. since I had
appeared in some books and documentaries in the last 30 years.
but no my real name is not even near that and ReK2
comes from I was (still sometimes) a graffiti artist, I so
we can say ReK2 is my public/main profile associated with me
but I have others as I see fit in the past for privacy, and
annonimity.

He is a long-time hacktivist, systems administrator and a vocal public advocate for digital privacy and decentralized networks and author of Connection Timeout: The PingStarved Chronicles which is a work of "hacker fiction" that heavily reflects his real-life philosophy: a nostalgia for
the "old protocols" (like NNTP/Usenet) and a distrust of modern,
centralized social media.

Correct I wrote a cyberpunk book, but not also just a systems administrator,
a unix engineer, and a offensive security proffesional now a days red teamer

Philosophy: He runs the node as part of a mission to provide "unrestricted and uncensored" access to information.
***** end of copypasta *****

so mostly ok :) but not all haha

Thank you for your post and for maintaining the hispagatos node.

thank you.

I've been using Usenet free nntp servers for a very long time because I
value the privacy and the text-centric landscape over the modern web.

agree 100%

I actually like more than free that it is run by community/users rather than like back in the day ISP's or companies(google.... )

It's great to see people still peering and keeping the federation strong.
I'm looking forward to seeing your node in the headers for years to come .

thank you, let's keep it up for many years!
I also use a lot gopher and gemini.


Happy Hacking
ReK2
--
{gemini,https}://{,rek2.}hispagatos.org - mastodon: @rek2@hispagatos.space [https|gemini]://2600.Madrid - https://hispagatos.space/@rek2 Reticulum Laptop: lxmf@c6dc6bb3a6b0955d102fde5e7613e2af
Reticulum PC: lxmf@46f7530c35cd9cb2e8e6cf6d39064810
--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.admin.peering

On Sun, 12 Apr 2026 23:20:48 +0200, Jean-Paul wrote:

NUO (news.usenet.ovh) is up for several years now.
Main hierarchies distributed fr.*, big8 (news, comp, humanities, misc, rec, sci,
soc, talk), alt and linux.*. (but also: de, it, be, uk, pl etc. Over 10000 groups available)

I am (Jean-Paul) the administrator of that server ;-)

Much appreciated your efforts helping the Usenet community to survive.

My well-meaning copypasta on hispagatos needed correction, so may I ask if
the description below needs corrective measures to describe your mission?

All below is copypasta from a variety of sources, including your web site:

The history of NUO (news.usenet.ovh) is tied both to the broader evolution
of Usenet and the specific efforts of independent operators to keep "free" text-based Usenet alive in the 21st century.
Technical Timeline (Contextual)
1979-1980: Usenet is invented at Duke/UNC.
1990s: The "Golden Age" where most people accessed Usenet through
their university or ISP.
2008-2010: Major ISPs stop providing newsgroups, leading to the
free-access "Dark Ages" (often wrongly blamed on kiddie porn).
2019-2020s: NUO emerges as a primary French-based alternative to keep
the fr.* and linux.* hierarchies accessible to the public
without a monthly subscription fee.

The Mission:
NUO was created to provide a reliable, free-of-charge entry point for the
"Text Usenet" community. As many large ISPs (like Verizon, Comcast, and
AT&T) dropped Usenet support in the late 2000s, and commercial providers shifted focus to paid binary downloads, independent servers like NUO became essential for maintaining the original discussion-based hierarchies.

The domain usenet.ovh and the server news.usenet.ovh began appearing in
peering discussions and "Free Newsserver" lists around late 2019 to early
2020 when headers start appearing consistently in 2020. Before that date,
the domain was largely inactive or parked.

It started as a small instance on OVHcloud infrastructure (hence the name)
but there is no connection with OVH other than the purchase of the domain
name. It was established by the administrator Jean-Paul (llp) to fill a gap
in the French-speaking (fr.*) and technical hierarchies after several other free European servers went offline or became unreliable.

Initial Mentions:
You will find the earliest public mentions of the server in groups like alt.free.newsservers and fr.comp.usenet.lecteurs-de-news, where it was recommended as a fast, European-based alternative for text users. A major
spike in NUO's history occurred in February 2024, when Google officially
turned off the ability for users to post to Usenet via Google Groups. Over time, it moved from a "completely open" model to a registration-required
model. This change was necessary to stop bots from using the server to
flood the network with junk.

NUO is recognized alongside legendary "free" pillars like Eternal September (2005) and Aioe (2004). These servers are often run as "labors of love" by individual hobbyists who absorb the costs of bandwidth and storage
themselves.

NUO stands for News.Usenet.Ovh
https://news.usenet.ovh/
news.usenet.ovh
The news.usenet.ovh:119/563 server is freely accessible for reading.
To post messages, you need an account (request contact@usenet.ovh)

The account id shows up in cleartext in the headers, so choose wisely.
Injection-Info: news.usenet.ovh; posting-account="jeanpaul".

--- Synchronet 3.21f-Linux NewsLink 1.2