Google Groups ending support for Usenet
Google is ending support for posting and reading live Usenet content through Google Groups, leaving only a searchable archive of messages posted before February 22, 2024. Many long‑time users welcome the move because Google Groups has become a major source of Usenet spam, but there is widespread concern over the long‑term fate and completeness of Google’s Usenet archives, originally acquired from Deja News. Commenters highlight that text‑only Usenet still survives via independent servers and specialized clients, though it has largely become a niche, more “elite” alternative to modern centralized platforms like Reddit and Facebook.
Overall reaction to Google dropping Usenet posting
- Many celebrate this as positive for Usenet; Google Groups is described as the dominant source of current Usenet spam.
- Some see it as “Google being dumped” rather than Google choosing to leave, noting admins were already filtering or discussing de-peering Google due to spam.
- Others argue this affects mainly casual users who depended on Google’s web interface; traditional users with NNTP clients and separate providers are largely unaffected.
State of Usenet in 2024
- Text groups are low-traffic but not dead; cited as still active: comp.lang.* (C, awk, lisp, python, fortran), comp.unix., comp.sys.raspberry-pi, comp.sys.acorn, sci.misc, comp.misc, misc.news.internet.discuss, alt.folklore.computers, alt. social groups.
- Several posts stress that Usenet “gets better as it gets smaller” and caters to dedicated participants, akin to ham radio.
- Many commercial Usenet providers now focus almost entirely on binaries/pirated media. Text-focused access is often via free or niche providers (e.g., Eternal September, Panix), and some providers don’t even understand moderated groups.
Clients, UX, and “why bother”
- Recommended clients: Thunderbird, tin, slrn, Pan, claws-mail, sylpheed, alpine, neomutt.
- Multiple comments praise Usenet clients as “peak discussion UI”: fast keyboard navigation, strict threading, and per-message read/unread tracking that enable long-running, structured discussions better than Reddit/HN.
- Counterpoint: most people now prioritize ease, images, mobile, and central platforms, so Usenet is framed as a lifestyle choice for those disliking modern social media.
Archives and preservation concerns
- Users value Google’s historical Usenet archive more than its posting gateway and fear it may eventually degrade or vanish, citing prior loss, broken indexing, and blocked groups.
- Some note that Internet Archive and Giganews hold large Usenet dumps (often as mbox/tar), but access and search tooling are poor.
- Calls appear for better public, searchable access to the old Deja News data.
Running servers and decentralization
- Technically trivial to run NNTP servers for small, controlled networks; the bottleneck is social adoption and peering, not resources.
- Text traffic volume is reported as tiny (under ~100MB/day), but full Usenet including binaries is massive.