I read someone's comment the other day about how their ISP claimed
that "no one uses newsgroups anymore."

My own ISP has made the same comment to me when I've called to
complain about inadequate Newsgroup service. They seem to feel that
their customer base uses Usenet in only a marginal fashion. They act
as though they couldn't be bothered.

This newsgroup, in particular, seems to be vibrant and well
subscribed. The chess newgroups that I lurk on seem to be in the same
condition.

When I look at the Netscan statistics, I see signs that there are many
active groups.

Why this attitude by the ISP's?

I use two newsgroup providers, TeraNews being my backup, because my
ISP's provider is often out of whack. TeraNews is fine for a backup
but is often down.

However, I've had complaints from some that they don't see my posts
when they come through my ISP's provider (Voicenet, I believe) because
their system does not pick up the posts.


Hi Tom,

The "Techs" from SNiP have said the same thing to me many times, I am one of
the "few" usenet users on their system.

The Voicenet server seems to be working better than when they attempted to
host their own servers. I currently use a free news server out of Berlin,
Germany. They are strictly a text server and do not carry binary newsgroups.
http://news.cis.dfn.de/

Wayne