Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

Higgs Boson, 7/3/2011,4:18:28 PM, wrote:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB



Why pay for any of it? There are scores of good free newsreaders and
several free text-based news servers. Using a newsreader for USENET is
a far better experience than using the clunky Google Groups interface.
Besides, Google Groups hasn't been too reliable lately anyway. If I
was forced to use the G2 interface it would be time to give up USENET
for me.

On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 13:18:28 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.

You not only had one of the best email apps you also had one of the
best newsreaders too. In fact Agent was designed primarily for news.
Use Agent for news and you will be better off.

On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 13:18:28 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader?

There are many free newsreaders out there. Agent is the only one I know of
that isn't free.

Is it to access news groups?

Umm...

For that purpose, is Google really so awful?

Yes.

Esp, for people who visit only a few NGs?

Yes, but you're talking about two different things.

newsreader news (NNTP) server

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.

Agent isn't an email client, though it will do that too. I don't particularly
like it for email, though I use it for news.

Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client.

Why would you *ever* use web email? Gack!

I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Email or News? They're two different things.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period.

Yes. I use Agent ($$) for NNTP and Thunderbird (free) for email.

If the latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

NNTP *is* "online". If you mean use Google for NNTP, it sucks so badly it
isn't usable.

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

It would help if you could be more clear. Are you talking about email?
Newsgroups (NNTP)? World news?

Higgs Boson wrote:
Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?


Uh, a free newsreader comes with Windows.

I'm using Outlook Express, augmented by OE-Quotefix.

I use Outlook Express, for both email and usenet. Get my
usenet service from eternal - september (dot org). Works,
for me. Reasonably dependable, too. Virus magnet properties,
no extra charge.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Higgs Boson" wrote in message
...
Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to
access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp,
for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years --
Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based
email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but
now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news,
period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

On 07/03/11 04:46 pm, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader?

There are many free newsreaders out there. Agent is the only one I know of
that isn't free.

Thunderbird (email and news) or SeaMonkey (email, news and browser) both
from Mozilla, are free.

Is it to access news groups?

Umm...

For that purpose, is Google really so awful?

Yes.

Esp, for people who visit only a few NGs?

Yes, but you're talking about two different things.

newsreader news (NNTP) server

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.

Agent isn't an email client, though it will do that too. I don't particularly
like it for email, though I use it for news.

Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client.

Why would you *ever* use web email? Gack!

Hear! Hear! I am a member of dozens of Yahoo! groups but always have
messages as individual emails to my computer, where Thunderbird filters
them into folders depending on the criteria I set.

My ISP dropped newsgroups, but I can still get most of them _via_
eternal-september.org, which is free. news.individual.net retains
messages longer and costs the vast sum of 10 Euros/year -- about US$14
right now.

I have separate folders for each newsgroup.

Perce

"HeyBub" wrote

Uh, a free newsreader comes with Windows.

I'm using Outlook Express, augmented by OE-Quotefix.


No longer. Now you get Windows Live Mail 2011 and it is a poor newsreader.
Well, it reads OK, but responding is not so hot. I'm using the 2010 version
and it is a bit better than my old OE, but they "improved" it to be about
useless for newsgroups.

On 7/3/2011 5:21 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
I use Outlook Express, for both email and usenet. Get my
usenet service from eternal - september (dot org). Works,
for me. Reasonably dependable, too. Virus magnet properties,
no extra charge.

He's confused news reader with news server.

I use e-s too as news server:

http://www.eternal-september.org/

I use Mozilla's Thunderbird as news reader. Also use for email.

e-s is starting to include binaries which google groups excludes.
They also cull out most of the spam that is left in google.

e-s and TB are free and also spam and pop up free.

On Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:24:47 -0400, "Percival P. Cassidy"
wrote:

On 07/03/11 04:46 pm, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader?

There are many free newsreaders out there. Agent is the only one I know of
that isn't free.

Thunderbird (email and news) or SeaMonkey (email, news and browser) both
from Mozilla, are free.

I tried SeaMonkey. It was too bloated and slow. I use Thunderbird, instead
of Agent, for email primarily because it uses a standard file format. I lost
almost ten years of email history and address books when I could no longer use
the email program I was using.

Is it to access news groups?

Umm...

For that purpose, is Google really so awful?

Yes.

Esp, for people who visit only a few NGs?

Yes, but you're talking about two different things.

newsreader news (NNTP) server

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.

Agent isn't an email client, though it will do that too. I don't particularly
like it for email, though I use it for news.

Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client.

Why would you *ever* use web email? Gack!

Hear! Hear! I am a member of dozens of Yahoo! groups but always have
messages as individual emails to my computer, where Thunderbird filters
them into folders depending on the criteria I set.

My ISP dropped newsgroups, but I can still get most of them _via_
eternal-september.org, which is free. news.individual.net retains
messages longer and costs the vast sum of 10 Euros/year -- about US$14
right now.

I have separate folders for each newsgroup.

If you have Individual (I've used them for about six years), why use email for
news?

On Jul 3, 1:41*pm, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 13:18:28 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson

wrote:
(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.

You not only had one of the best email apps you also had one of the
best newsreaders too. *In fact Agent was designed primarily for news.
Use Agent for news and you will be better off.

Like I wrote, they don't have it any more. Just email.

HB

On 7/3/2011 4:18 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB
If you don't like Thunderbird's new reading interface (some do, some
don't), try the free xananews. Use one or the other for a few days and
compare that to your web-based news reading. Unless you only read 1 or
2 groups sporadically, you'll find a news reading client much faster and
easier to use because you can customize it to your habits and preferences.

In article , Higgs Boson wrote:
Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups?

Yes.

OTOH, why would you pay for one? There are plenty of good free ones available.

For that purpose, is Google really so awful?

Yes.

Higgs Boson wrote in news:a634710a-29ff-4619-a1b7-
:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

I used to like the old Netscape browser's newsreader interface. But then
they upgraded it to uselessness before dumping the whole shebang. The I
switched to Xnews. Free, and it does it for me. For discussion of
newsreaders you oif course use the newsgroup
alt.comp.software.newsreaders


For news server I use astraweb. I paid $10 for 25 GB of downloading in
June 2008. I have used less than 1 GB. It has binaries out the kazoo,
with great retention. Check out
http://www.astraweb.com

Higgs Boson wrote:
On Jul 3, 1:41 pm, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 13:18:28 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson

wrote:
(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.

You not only had one of the best email apps you also had one of the
best newsreaders too. In fact Agent was designed primarily for news.
Use Agent for news and you will be better off.

Like I wrote, they don't have it any more. Just email.

Not according to their website.
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/

On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 16:59:05 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Jul 3, 1:41*pm, Gordon Shumway wrote:
On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 13:18:28 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson

wrote:
(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.

You not only had one of the best email apps you also had one of the
best newsreaders too. *In fact Agent was designed primarily for news.
Use Agent for news and you will be better off.

Like I wrote, they don't have it any more. Just email.

Agent still works fine. What you must mean when you say "they" don't
have it, is that your ISP doesn't have its own news server. So you
need to enrol/subscribe to one of the others. There are free ones and
those that charge 3 or 4 dollars a month.

If you paid for your copy of Agent you can still use it paid mode.
If it wants a number, you can email them, give them as much info as
you can. Your name might be enough. You gave it to them in the first
place if you charged buying it, what your email address was at the
time (that might be enough), about when you paid, etc. and they'll
send you your pssword number.

I still use version 1.9. I find version 6 a little complicated

Version 6 doesn't have a free version, only a 30 day trial, but
version 1.9 is stilll around. Even if you buy ver 6, it's only 39
dollars.

P&M

HB

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote

Uh, a free newsreader comes with Windows.

I'm using Outlook Express, augmented by OE-Quotefix.


No longer. Now you get Windows Live Mail 2011 and it is a poor
newsreader. Well, it reads OK, but responding is not so hot. I'm
using the 2010 version and it is a bit better than my old OE, but
they "improved" it to be about useless for newsgroups.

I tried "Windows Mail" Which seems to work similar, but not the same as OE. I
have avoided "live mail"

In article ,
Higgs Boson wrote:
Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?
...snipped...

Use linux and you won't have to pay for ANY software. I haven't paid for
any software except an annual income tax program in more than 7 years.

:wq

--
Better to be stuck up in a tree than tied to one.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

In article
,
Higgs Boson wrote:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

Uh, "news" as it relates to these forums has nothing to do with "news"
like stories of fires and wars and crime and traffic.

These are called "newsgroups" and collectively make up "usenet."
Companies that collect, store, and disseminate the "articles" that you
and I write and post here to alt.home.repair are called "news servers."
Some charge a small fee but many are free.

The software that resides on your computer that deciphers and organizes
and lets you work with all those articles from all those newsgroups is
called a "newsreader" and almost all of those are free to download and
install.

Usenet is not a web-based forum. It has to be *******ized to be made
world-wide-web compatible. You might have several pieces of software on
your computer: A word processor, a web browser, a photo editor, a
spreadsheet program, etc. The *correct* tool to read usenet is a
newsreader. You wouldn't use a spreadsheet program to write a letter,
and it's equally silly to use a web browser to participate in usenet.

So, if you want to get away from google's pathetically poor imitation of
usenet, you need to give up the idea of using a web browser to get here.
Find a news server, get a newsreader, and feel the joy.

Han wrote:
. . . . For
discussion of newsreaders you of course use the newsgroup
alt.comp.software.newsreaders

Just an FYI..., I tried going to the alt.comp.software.newsreaders newsgroup
and there are just 6 messages from 02/26/2011 and 02/27/2011. So, not much
going on there.

"RogerT" wrote in :

Han wrote:
. . . . For
discussion of newsreaders you of course use the newsgroup
alt.comp.software.newsreaders

Just an FYI..., I tried going to the alt.comp.software.newsreaders
newsgroup and there are just 6 messages from 02/26/2011 and
02/27/2011. So, not much going on there.

Some groups don't have OT postings LOL. Ask your question and seewhether
anyone answers. I haven't had any need going there, and gave up lurking
....

On Jul 4, 1:53*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,
*Higgs Boson wrote:









Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? *Is it to access news
groups? *For that purpose, is Google really so awful? * Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. *I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. *If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

.

These are called "newsgroups" and collectively make up "usenet."
Companies that collect, store, and disseminate the "articles" that you
and I write and post here to alt.home.repair are called "news servers."
Some charge a small fee but many are free.

The software that resides on your computer that deciphers and organizes
and lets you work with all those articles from all those newsgroups is
called a "newsreader" and almost all of those are free to download and
install.

Usenet is not a web-based forum. It has to be *******ized to be made
world-wide-web compatible. You might have several pieces of software on
your computer: A word processor, a web browser, a photo editor, a
spreadsheet program, etc. The *correct* tool to read usenet is a
newsreader. You wouldn't use a spreadsheet program to write a letter,
and it's equally silly to use a web browser to participate in usenet.

So, if you want to get away from google's pathetically poor imitation of
usenet, you need to give up the idea of using a web browser to get here.
Find a news server, get a newsreader, and feel the joy.

Thanks, Smitty. What I want is to read Usenet. You said that was a
"Newsreader." Which is the term I used in my initial query. Somehow
got confused with what you called: "news" like stories of fires and
wars and crime and traffic."

Not interested in those.

Everybody on a.h.r seems to think that for newsgroups/forums anything
is better than GG Web-based "newsreader. Agent used to offer it free,
then went to paid, which I used for a while. Trying to remember why I
stopped; maybe because while traveling, I could access Web-based
msgs. ???

Somebody pointed out that Agent "Newsreader" CAN still be purchased
in various "strengths". I don't mind paying the $2.95 for low
volume. But is there something free & GOOD?

Tx to all for helpful input.

HB

(Over at CERN, they're STILL trying to track down MY particle. . Heh,
heh, heh!)

I bought Agent long ago. Was using an older version -- I think 2, or
a little higher? -- but didn't continue to upgrade because I was not
attracted to all the bells & whistles. It's still active on my system.

Higgs Boson wrote:

Somebody pointed out that Agent "Newsreader" CAN still be purchased
in various "strengths". I don't mind paying the $2.95 for low
volume. But is there something free & GOOD?


What operating system do you have on your computer(s)?

I have Windows XP on one and Windows Vista on another.

On the XP computer I use Outlook Express to read Usenet newsgroup messages.
I also downloaded and installed a free program called QuoteFix (not sure if
it is still available). So, to read the newsgroup messages on this Windows
XP computer I am using Outlook Express with QuoteFix.

On the Windows Vista computer I have, I use Windows Mail to read Usenet
newsgroup messages. That's because Windows Vista doesn't come with an
Outlook Express newsreader like Windows XP did. Windows Mail (which is
included in Windows Vista) is similar to Outlook Express.

To get actual access to the Usenet newsgroups, I used two different free
Usenet newsgroup servers (I think that's what they are called). The two
a

news://news.eternal-september.org and

news://nntp.aioe.org .

So, in other words, I get access to the Usenet newsgroup messages through
the two free services named above (instead of having to pay GigaNews or some
other service, and since my ISP's -- Comcast and Verizon -- dropped
providing its customers with access to the Usenet newsgroups). Then, once I
have access to the Usenet newsgroups, I use the free Outlook Express with
QuoteFix and Windows Mail to actually read the messages on the newsgroups.

Higgs Boson wrote:
Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

I use Thunderbird, Version 2.0.0.24 or something like that. I don't
care for the Ver 3x, to many bells and whistles.
My ISP has newsgroups included but they were having problems and got
so slow that I eventually went to http://www.aioe.org/ it's free, it's
fast, it has some limits that I've never exceeded. Text only...
And that's how I do it......

On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 13:55:47 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Jul 4, 1:53*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,
*Higgs Boson wrote:









Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? *Is it to access news
groups? *For that purpose, is Google really so awful? * Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. *I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now I'm
sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. *If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

.

These are called "newsgroups" and collectively make up "usenet."
Companies that collect, store, and disseminate the "articles" that you
and I write and post here to alt.home.repair are called "news servers."
Some charge a small fee but many are free.

The software that resides on your computer that deciphers and organizes
and lets you work with all those articles from all those newsgroups is
called a "newsreader" and almost all of those are free to download and
install.

Usenet is not a web-based forum. It has to be *******ized to be made
world-wide-web compatible. You might have several pieces of software on
your computer: A word processor, a web browser, a photo editor, a
spreadsheet program, etc. The *correct* tool to read usenet is a
newsreader. You wouldn't use a spreadsheet program to write a letter,
and it's equally silly to use a web browser to participate in usenet.

So, if you want to get away from google's pathetically poor imitation of
usenet, you need to give up the idea of using a web browser to get here.
Find a news server, get a newsreader, and feel the joy.

Thanks, Smitty. What I want is to read Usenet. You said that was a
"Newsreader." Which is the term I used in my initial query. Somehow
got confused with what you called: "news" like stories of fires and
wars and crime and traffic."

Not interested in those.

Everybody on a.h.r seems to think that for newsgroups/forums anything
is better than GG Web-based "newsreader. Agent used to offer it free,
then went to paid, which I used for a while. Trying to remember why I
stopped; maybe because while traveling, I could access Web-based
msgs. ???

Somebody pointed out that Agent "Newsreader" CAN still be purchased
in various "strengths". I don't mind paying the $2.95 for low
volume. But is there something free & GOOD?

Tx to all for helpful input.

A "newsreader" is the client software that you run on your computer to read
Usnet articles. "Agent" and "Gravity" are examples of "newsREADERS".

A "News server" is the thing in the cloud that the news reader connects to, to
serve the articles to your newsREADER. Most newsREADERS are free, with the
obvious exception of Agent. News SERVERS include "ThunderNews", "GigaNews",
"Individual", and the one run by the makers of Agent, "Agent Premium News".
Individual is cheap, about $14 a year, though doesn't have binary groups.
ThunderNews is around $7/month, IIRC, and APN is $3/month for 15GB. *ANY* of
which is better than Googlie Groups.

HB

(Over at CERN, they're STILL trying to track down MY particle. . Heh,
heh, heh!)

I bought Agent long ago. Was using an older version -- I think 2, or
a little higher? -- but didn't continue to upgrade because I was not
attracted to all the bells & whistles. It's still active on my system.

You don't need to upgrade. There are many other free news readers, as well.

" wrote in
:

On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 13:55:47 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Jul 4, 1:53*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,
*Higgs Boson wrote:









Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? *Is it to access
news groups? *For that purpose, is Google really so awful? * Esp,
for people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte
Agent. Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. *I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now
I'm sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. *If
the latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

.

These are called "newsgroups" and collectively make up "usenet."
Companies that collect, store, and disseminate the "articles" that
you and I write and post here to alt.home.repair are called "news
servers." Some charge a small fee but many are free.

The software that resides on your computer that deciphers and
organizes and lets you work with all those articles from all those
newsgroups is called a "newsreader" and almost all of those are free
to download and install.

Usenet is not a web-based forum. It has to be *******ized to be made
world-wide-web compatible. You might have several pieces of software
on your computer: A word processor, a web browser, a photo editor, a
spreadsheet program, etc. The *correct* tool to read usenet is a
newsreader. You wouldn't use a spreadsheet program to write a
letter, and it's equally silly to use a web browser to participate
in usenet.

So, if you want to get away from google's pathetically poor
imitation of usenet, you need to give up the idea of using a web
browser to get here. Find a news server, get a newsreader, and feel
the joy.

Thanks, Smitty. What I want is to read Usenet. You said that was a
"Newsreader." Which is the term I used in my initial query. Somehow
got confused with what you called: "news" like stories of fires and
wars and crime and traffic."

Not interested in those.

Everybody on a.h.r seems to think that for newsgroups/forums anything
is better than GG Web-based "newsreader. Agent used to offer it free,
then went to paid, which I used for a while. Trying to remember why I
stopped; maybe because while traveling, I could access Web-based
msgs. ???

Somebody pointed out that Agent "Newsreader" CAN still be purchased
in various "strengths". I don't mind paying the $2.95 for low
volume. But is there something free & GOOD?

Tx to all for helpful input.

A "newsreader" is the client software that you run on your computer to
read Usnet articles. "Agent" and "Gravity" are examples of
"newsREADERS".

A "News server" is the thing in the cloud that the news reader
connects to, to serve the articles to your newsREADER. Most
newsREADERS are free, with the obvious exception of Agent. News
SERVERS include "ThunderNews", "GigaNews", "Individual", and the one
run by the makers of Agent, "Agent Premium News". Individual is cheap,
about $14 a year, though doesn't have binary groups. ThunderNews is
around $7/month, IIRC, and APN is $3/month for 15GB. *ANY* of which
is better than Googlie Groups.

HB

(Over at CERN, they're STILL trying to track down MY particle. . Heh,
heh, heh!)

I bought Agent long ago. Was using an older version -- I think 2, or
a little higher? -- but didn't continue to upgrade because I was not
attracted to all the bells & whistles. It's still active on my
system.

You don't need to upgrade. There are many other free news readers, as
well.

As mentioned before, Xnews is free.
Astraweb has great retention, and I am still using the subscription I
paid $10 for in June in 2008. From this subscription of 25GB downloads I
have so far used 1 GB.

So this cost me so far less than $0.30/month, and it is fully paid up
with 95% of the paid for access still available.

On Jul 4, 7:44*pm, Han wrote:
" wrote :





On Mon, 4 Jul 2011 13:55:47 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Jul 4, 1:53 am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,
Higgs Boson wrote:

Straight question.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access
news groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp,
for people who visit only a few NGs?

(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte
Agent. Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
But when they discontinued NG access, I went to a Web-based email
client. I guess I could still use Agent just for email, but now
I'm sot in me ways.

Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If
the latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Have been puzzling about this for some time.

Enlightenment, anyone?

HB
HB

.

These are called "newsgroups" and collectively make up "usenet."
Companies that collect, store, and disseminate the "articles" that
you and I write and post here to alt.home.repair are called "news
servers." Some charge a small fee but many are free.

The software that resides on your computer that deciphers and
organizes and lets you work with all those articles from all those
newsgroups is called a "newsreader" and almost all of those are free
to download and install.

Usenet is not a web-based forum. It has to be *******ized to be made
world-wide-web compatible. You might have several pieces of software
on your computer: A word processor, a web browser, a photo editor, a
spreadsheet program, etc. The *correct* tool to read usenet is a
newsreader. You wouldn't use a spreadsheet program to write a
letter, and it's equally silly to use a web browser to participate
in usenet.

So, if you want to get away from google's pathetically poor
imitation of usenet, you need to give up the idea of using a web
browser to get here. Find a news server, get a newsreader, and feel
the joy.

Thanks, Smitty. *What I want is to read Usenet. *You said that was a
"Newsreader." *Which is the term I used in my initial query. *Somehow
got confused with what you called: "news" *like stories of fires and
wars and crime and traffic."

Not interested in those.

Everybody on *a.h.r seems to think that for newsgroups/forums anything
is better than GG Web-based "newsreader. *Agent used to offer it free,
then went to paid, which I used for a while. *Trying to remember why I
stopped; maybe because while traveling, I could access Web-based
msgs. ???

Somebody pointed out that Agent "Newsreader" CAN still be purchased
in various "strengths". *I don't mind paying the $2.95 for low
volume. *But is there something free & GOOD?

Tx to all for helpful input.

A "newsreader" is the client software that you run on your computer to
read Usnet articles. *"Agent" and "Gravity" are examples of
"newsREADERS". *

A "News server" is the thing in the cloud that the news reader
connects to, to serve the articles to your newsREADER. *Most
newsREADERS are free, with the obvious exception of Agent. *News
SERVERS include "ThunderNews", "GigaNews", "Individual", and the one
run by the makers of Agent, "Agent Premium News". Individual is cheap,
about $14 a year, though doesn't have binary groups. ThunderNews is
around $7/month, IIRC, and APN is $3/month for 15GB. **ANY* of which
is better than Googlie Groups.

HB

(Over at *CERN, they're STILL trying to track down MY particle. . Heh,
heh, heh!)

I bought Agent long ago. *Was using an older version *-- I think 2, or
a little higher? -- but didn't continue to upgrade because I was not
attracted to all the bells & whistles. *It's still active on my
system.

You don't need to upgrade. *There are many other free news readers, as
well.

As *mentioned before, Xnews is free.
Astraweb has great retention, and I am still using the subscription I
paid $10 for in June in 2008. *From this subscription of 25GB downloads I
have so far used 1 GB.

So this cost me so far less than $0.30/month, and it is fully paid up
with 95% of the paid for access still available.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I use FREE AOL, and honestly dont understand what a news reader
is..........

it comes up as http://groups.google.com/group/alt.home


I have had my AOL e mail address at least 15 years it works fine and
is easy to remember

"bob haller" wrote in message
...
On Jul 4, 7:44 pm, Han wrote:
" wrote
:





I use FREE AOL, and honestly dont understand what a news reader
is..........

it comes up as http://groups.google.com/group/alt.home


I have had my AOL e mail address at least 15 years it works fine and
is easy to remember

One of the advantages of a news reader is that you can pre-select the groups
you're interested in reading daily, then when you open the news reader it
automatically downloads all the new messages on only the groups you are
interested in and displays them a group at a time. Much easier than having
to navigate to each group you are interested in like in Google Groups.

On 04 Jul 2011, bob haller wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I use FREE AOL, and honestly dont understand what a news reader
is..........

it comes up as http://groups.google.com/group/alt.home

You are mistaken - you don't use AOL to read newsgroups, you are using
Google groups. As far as I know, AOL hasn't had its own Usenet service
since 2005.

I have had my AOL e mail address at least 15 years it works fine
and is easy to remember

Your email host isn't relevant to this discussion.

RogerT wrote:
To get actual access to the Usenet newsgroups, I used two different
free Usenet newsgroup servers (I think that's what they are called). The
two a

news://news.eternal-september.org and

news://nntp.aioe.org .

So, in other words, I get access to the Usenet newsgroup messages
through the two free services named above (instead of having to pay
GigaNews or some other service, and since my ISP's -- Comcast and
Verizon -- dropped providing its customers with access to the Usenet
newsgroups). Then, once I have access to the Usenet newsgroups, I
use the free Outlook Express with QuoteFix and Windows Mail to
actually read the messages on the newsgroups.

Hmm. I use Comcast for internet connectivity but Earthlink is my ISP.

Earthlink provides GigaNews as part of its service, no extra charge.

What is the purpose of paying for a newsreader? Is it to access news
groups? For that purpose, is Google really so awful? Esp, for
people who visit only a few NGs?
Or do people pay for a newsreader to follow the news, period. If the
latter, why not just go to news sources on-line?

Who/What asked you to pay for a newsgroup reader?

At least Thunderbird, Outlook Express, & Window$ Live are free!

--
@~@ You have the right to remain silent.
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^ ^ 18:56:01 up 5 days 3:19 0 users load average: 1.01 1.02 1.05
�借貸! ��騙! ��交! �打交! �打劫! �自殺! 請考慮綜� (CSSA):
http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_...sub_addressesa

On Sun, 03 Jul 2011 15:41:53 -0500, Gordon Shumway wrote:

:On Sun, 3 Jul 2011 13:18:28 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:
:
:(Note: I had one of the BEST email clients for years -- Forte Agent.
:Swift, powerful, sophisticated.
:
:You not only had one of the best email apps you also had one of the
:best newsreaders too. In fact Agent was designed primarily for news.
:Use Agent for news and you will be better off.

I've been using Agent since it was in beta (when it was free). I bought
a version looooong time ago and haven't bothered to upgrade. I'm using
1.93xxx. Does NG and email great, don't know why I'd want to change.
There's several newer versions of Agent, but I've got other things to do
and spend my money on. I'm pretty sure newer Agent versions would be
able to take the data from my current Agent (I've kept a whole lot of
that), but don't know if and how I'd move my Agent data over to another
kind of email/NG client.

Dan

PS Seems like every time I go to Google Groups for a search it gets
clunkier and less useful. Maybe I've just forgotten how to use it, don't
know. It's nice for finding things not specific to one newsgroup... or
WAS nice!


Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net