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These
articles are provided as a public service by various volunteers.
They are few but valuable. Learn them well.
Among the periodic postings are lists of active newsgroups, both "standard"
(for lack of a better term) and "alternative." These lists are maintained
by David Lawrence and periodically posted to the news.lists.misc newsgroup.
They reflect his personal view of Usenet, and as such are not "official" in
any sense of the word. However, if you're looking for a description of
subjects discussed on Usenet, or if you're starting up a new Usenet site,
David's lists are an eminently reasonable place to start.
PROPAGATION
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In the old days, when UUCP over long-distance dialup lines was the
dominant means of article transmission, a few well-connected sites had
real influence in determining which newsgroups would be carried where.
Those sites called themselves "the backbone."
But things have changed. Nowadays, even the smallest Internet site
has connectivity the likes of which the backbone admin of yesteryear
could only dream. In addition, in the U.S., the advent of cheaper
long-distance calls and high-speed modems has made long-distance
Usenet feeds thinkable for smaller companies.
There is only one pre-eminent site for UUCP transport of Usenet in the
U.S., namely UUNET. But UUNET isn't a player in the propagation wars,
because it never refuses any traffic. UUNET ch
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