Newsgroup

The newsgroups (newsgroups in English) are a means of communication within the Usenet system in which users read and send text messages to different boards distributed among servers with the possibility of sending and replying to messages.

The system is technically different, but works in a similar way to discussion groups on the World Wide Web. Like the Internet itself, like email and instant messaging, newsgroups work over the Internet. example:

There are client programs for reading and writing to newsgroups, usually integrated with an email client program. Posts are usually topical and the traffic is huge, so only the most recent posts appear. Some news groups are moderate.

There are eight main hierarchies, each dedicated to discussions of one type of topic:

• comp.*: Computer-related topics.
• news. ♪: Discussion of the Usenet itself.
• sci.*: Scientific topics.
• humanities. ♪: Discussion of humanities (such as literature or philosophy).
• rec. ♪: Discussion of recreational activities (such as games and hobbies).
• soc. ♪: Socialization and discussion of social issues.
• Talk. ♪: Controversial topics such as religion and politics.
• misc. ♪: Miscellaneous (all that does not enter the remaining hierarchies).
• alt.* alternative to talk, but it is used by P2P users.