Usenet Walkabout

[autographedcat]

So tonight we moved our Usenet servers to our new data centre. All went pretty smoothly, aside from one stripped rackmount screw that we had to expend a good deal of effort dislodging.

Usenet was one of my first real online communities. I hung out on a few BBSes before I got on the Internet proper, and UMNews on BITNET was a sort of proto-usenet, but, really, it was on newsgroups that I first really became a PART of the online world. There was no world-wide web then. There was only e-mail, and glorious Usenet.

Which brings me to Russ Allbery's Usenet Rant. I once had a copy of this printed out and posted over my desk. It's a constant reminder of why I do what I do for a living, and why I do what I do in my spare time. It's why I've poured my heart into sustaining projects like JediMUD and FilkNet.

Go read it. Here, there be wisdom: http://www.usenet2.org/rant.txt

Comments

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

*hugs you through the busy season* -H...

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Ah, it's been a couple of years since I read that rant. It's still just ... spot on.

Thank you for being one of the people who keep the communities going.

[cellio]

Thank you for the rant pointer. I used to be a Usenet regular but drifted away due to all the spam and other junk. It's a real pity that a few selfish people can ruin a community for the rest of us.