[HN Gopher] End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
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       End of an Era: Google Groups to Drop Usenet Support
        
       Author : derefr
       Score  : 61 points
       Date   : 2024-01-06 17:37 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.pcmag.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.pcmag.com)
        
       | shrubble wrote:
       | This might be in Usenet's best interest actually, considering the
       | huge torrent of spam coming from Google's Usenet connectivity.
        
       | pvg wrote:
       | Big recent discussion
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38649554
        
       | shever73 wrote:
       | It's great to see that spam will drop on the few text-based
       | newsgroups I'm still subscribed to. I detest what Google has done
       | to newsgroups, and I'd love for there to be another credible
       | archive.
        
       | ajdude wrote:
       | I am honestly happy to see this. I am in several discussion
       | related newsgroups and almost all of the spam that we get from
       | Google groups and it's to the point where a lot of people are
       | just blocking Google related messages.
       | 
       | I'm happily using Eternal September ( https://www.eternal-
       | september.org/ ) and I use Thunderbird as a usenet client.
        
       | mg wrote:
       | Is Lemmy the new Usenet?
       | 
       | Looks like there is quite some action already:
       | 
       | https://lemmyverse.net
        
       | spiritplumber wrote:
       | Wake me up when September ends...
        
         | dehrmann wrote:
         | At this point, Usenet is in the Eternal August.
        
         | augustk wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September
        
       | LanzVonL wrote:
       | YAAAY! Many people have taken to blocking all Google Groups
       | posters on Usenet, it's quite literally THE only remaining spam
       | vector there.
        
         | paulmd wrote:
         | you're not wrong about google groups being a major vector for
         | spam, but it is funny to watch people approve of gatekeeping
         | interoperability when it's the one THEY care about.
         | 
         | the imessage thing is the same as google groups, or if google
         | ran an open SMTP relay, it's gonna result in a ton of spam and
         | people don't care as long as THEY get a personal win.
        
           | aaomidi wrote:
           | These aren't comparable and honestly it's disingenuous to
           | compare them.
           | 
           | iMessage does not have open groups for random people to join
           | and participate on.
           | 
           | All the spam control can be done on the client side (e.g.
           | message requests handled entirely separately rather than just
           | landing in your messaging apps front page).
           | 
           | Have yall used other messaging apps? You know this is a
           | solved problem in them? Facebook messenger, signal, telegram
           | (only with premium unfortunately).
           | 
           | In the Usenet case here, Google has the power to disable the
           | spam vectors. They simply don't give a shit.
        
       | DonHopkins wrote:
       | I sure hope they don't delete the archives, which contain my
       | greatest troll of all time:
       | 
       | https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.video.classic/c/WQ62u7...
       | 
       | Don Hopkins Dec 8, 1992, 6:23:20 AM alt.games.video.classic
       | 
       | en...@cs.montana.edu (Jacob Cormier) writes:
       | 
       | >Hasn't anyone here played Star Wars, the arcade game?!? It's the
       | best! If I ever see that at an arcade again, I will whip out my
       | credit card and buy it on the spot! I had a version for my
       | Commidor64, but it was garbage.
       | 
       | My housemate brought home a Star Wars machine one day, and it
       | became an important part of our lives. A very well designed game!
       | After you blow up the Death Star, there's just enough time for
       | bong hit.
       | 
       | -Don
       | 
       | https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.video.classic/c/WQ62u7...
       | 
       | tjg...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu Dec 8, 1992, 5:35:54 PM
       | alt.games.video.classic
       | 
       | What is the bong hit in Star Wars?
       | 
       | https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.video.classic/c/WQ62u7...
       | 
       | Richard Stueven Dec 8, 1992, 10:31:28 PM alt.games.video.classic
       | 
       | >>In (an earlier article), (someone) wrote (something like) "In
       | Star Wars, after you blew up the Death Star, there was just
       | enough time for a bong hit."
       | 
       | >In article 75...@ultb.isc.rit.edu, tjg...@ritvax.isc.rit.edu ()
       | writes: What is the bong hit in Star Wars?
       | 
       | Heh, heh. :-)
       | 
       | gak
       | 
       | --- Richard Stueven g...@wrs.com attmail!gakhaus!gak 107/H/3&4
       | I'm always more outspoken after a few pints of Guinness.
        
         | floren wrote:
         | whoa, ritvax! A blast from my alma mater's past!
        
           | DonHopkins wrote:
           | Didn't RIT teach incoming freshmen about balancing their use
           | of video games and drug paraphernalia in the orientation
           | session? ;) Or was it still too hard to get weed on the East
           | coast in 1992?
        
             | floren wrote:
             | Well I started in '05 and my freshman dorm floor lost 1 guy
             | to World of Warcraft and 1 guy to weed... I don't remember
             | anything but maybe orientation could have been improved
             | with a quick "don't forget to go to class occasionally"
             | briefing.
        
         | deafpolygon wrote:
         | Damn, nice to see my alma mater mentioned here. My 1st year was
         | learning how to send e-mail using ritvax.. good times.
        
       | DonHopkins wrote:
       | But it is so useful for training LLMs on penis enlargement pill
       | spam and uuencoded porn!
        
       | bdw5204 wrote:
       | Are there any alternatives for the Usenet archive? Even if Google
       | says they aren't removing access to that immediately, it's got to
       | be a matter of time before they delete the archives probably as
       | part of a total shutdown of Google Groups.
        
         | aaomidi wrote:
         | Internet Archive
        
       | boring-alterego wrote:
       | As someone who uses the older Usenet material to maintain some
       | ancient computing equipment, we have been backing up as much as
       | possible to the Internet archive.
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | (2023)
       | 
       | Discussion from December:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38649554
        
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