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USEnet Newsgroups

"USEnet" is the formal name given to the collection of thousands of newsgroups that are also sometimes called "netnews" or any of another zillion names. USEnet began as a way for academics to exchange news and information, and has blossomed into an incredible information resource covering thousands of topics. The biggest advantage of USEnet over the Web is that it is far more dynamic; you can not only read information that others have written, you can request information and ask specific questions about your problems. If you do it properly, you can get expert responses to your specific situation from any of millions of USEnet readers, which is something no web site can provide.

USEnet is a much more "free wheeling" environment than the web (although not nearly so much as IRC is). If you have not used it before, it is essential that you learn about it before trying to post questions; if you don't, you risk annoying the people whom you want to help you. Mistakes are commonly made by newcomers, but the tolerance for some mistakes is low because there are a number of resources available to "newbies" and it is expected that responsible USEnetters will employ them before posting.

Next: Basic USEnet Guidelines

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