"So, what’s the lesson for today? Many monetized systems push for more and more users, but the history of BBSs and other early online networks shows clearly that quality is more important than quantity in building authentic online communities."
In this AI hype we are living I think things like #Usenet, #Irc, etc will see a resurgence. I mean, everybody is trying to sell your data to AI, it's on you to find an avenue that's safe and private...
I knew that IMDb had been around a long time but TIL it predates the World Wide Web, as it was initially launched as Usenet group rec.arts.movies in 1990 and moved to the web in 1993. And it's been owned by Amazon since 1998, because of course it has 🙄
Time to kill off one of my oldest subscriptions. Have been using a paid #Usenet provider for nearly 20 years. About 5-6 years ago I could upgrade to a yearly subscription for a big discount (compared to the prices they would introduce shortly after). But I haven't really used Usenet for anything at all in the last years.
Somehow cancelling the subscription gives me FOMO for some reason. Can never get it back for that price again. But then again, why would I want Usenet access again...
"Today, many folks look back with fondness on the early days of computer-based messaging. Depending on age, they may wax nostalgic for #bbses#Usenet, or #webforums. All these technologies still exist, although either barely used or are full of spam. It’s hard not to think that something may have been lost.
Perhaps the future isn’t one of endless growth for all-powerful corporations but a return to smaller, more personal “third spaces” where we can feel comfortable." https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/first-post-a-history-of-online-public-messaging/
#This is my #introduction post, Sharkey edition (it's basically the same one as I posted when I joined mastodon.me.uk).
I am, like many others here, a refugee from other social media sites. In my case, it all started way back in 1990 when I did the #OU DT200 information technology course. This gave me access to their CoSy based conferencing system. From there I explored various #BBSs before joining #CIX. From there I migrated to #Facebook and #Twitter via #Usenet and alt newsgroups.
My posts are likely to cover a variety of areas such as: #Cats, #Photography, #Cooking and #Running. Now that I've got a few more characters to play with I may also post the occasional #rant.
3D illustration for a 2006 issue of the Dutch ComputerTotaal magazine, about the SABNZBD tool, which was (is?) much-used for concatenating multi-part downloads from Usenet newsgroups.
"#USENET, or NetNews, is a text-only social discussions forum, or rather a set of a great many forums, called "newsgroups," carried by multiple servers around the world. Although the original developers closed down their instance in 2010, that was just one server out of hundreds, and many are still running just fine. It never went away – it's still alive, you can get on it for free, and there is a choice of client apps for most OSes to help you navigate."
There was nothing wrong with the underlying technology and methodology of Usenet groups. The issue was unmoderated discussions leading to complete chaos. Arguably Reddit built on this model and attempted to address its shortcomings. Unfortunately the original designers of Reddit fell down the money hole and sold their soul to get rich. Time to bring back Usenet.
What platforms were used in the 80s up to about 1993 or 1994 for Internet servers? It can be #FTP, #Gopher, #telnet, #USENET, the #OldWeb, or anything else that was on the Internet in that era.
My research indicates Solaris was very popular for web servers until Linux took over, and so I suspect it (and SunOS before it) was very popular for the Internet in general, but I'd like to hear from anyone with this sort of experience.
Stop Electron, stop using a browser as if it was an Operating System!!! Go #terminal#cli#TUI use your OS, not the browser for everything! And be liter, more ethical, your computer will love you! Use #Gemini#gopher#usenet#matrix#fediverse on TUI apps #vim#neovim as your text/IDE #mpv for videos and more... !!!
Also fiddling with my #hamster configuration. Originally I just wanted it as a replacement for the leafnode #usenet proxy server on my windows machine, but #thunderbird and #Gmail are making enough problems lately that I wonder if using it as a proxy mail server wouldn't also be reasonable.
I mean, the program is like 5 mb in size, which 20 years ago might have been sizeable, but right now is a drop in the bucket.
In July 1999, someone stole a trailer jammed with Sonic Youth gear out of a Ramada Inn parking lot. Lee Ranaldo immediately sent an email that was reposted to alt.music.sonic-youth:
> Please no pranks, all, this is really serious--
> all the gear we've used to write our last few LPs
> worth of stuff, instruments used for songs old
> and new which if truly lost will mean those songs
> will be lost forever.
I saw on #usenet under the #gemini protocol newsgroup (REAL GEMINI NOT SHIT GOOGLE CRAP) that someone created a guestbook like we used to have back in the day under #gemini very cool indeed! <3
@rss feeds on #usenet <3 with #slrn on the #hispagatos usenet server, part of the new usenet with no binaries, only plain text, no spam, no google only hobbiest, hackers, tinkers and awesome people.
Installed Hamster as a local #usenet server on my windows laptop. It works, is pretty simple to set up, and has a very late-90s aesthetic for the whole program that I thought we left behind in that decade with Pogs and a vague sense of optimism towards the future.
It is rather dense in its particulars though. My current issue: how exactly do I pull news automatically?
I assume it's possible, but I might have to write a script to do it.
The app is written for dial-up internet.
Wenn ich an den Föderationsgedanken denke, fühle ich mich an zwei Ansätze erinnert: #Gravatar als plattformübergreifender "Avatar", und im Blick auf Mastodon an die alten BBS/Mailbox Zeiten... Da gab es die lokale Box, und darüber hinaus konnte man ggf. ins #Usenet gehen... #Fidonet sage ich an dieser Stelle.