The User Network

USENET is to local BBSs what the Taj Mahal is to anthills. USENET is an Internet BBS that encompasses thousands of discussion groups and millions of postings. On USENET, you don't just have a "computers" bulletin board, you have boards talk-ing about software, about hardware, viruses, hack-ers, individual operating systems and printers and spreadsheets and ethics and... you name it. Each topic area is called a newsgroup. There are groups engaging in talk about music, cars, sex, SCUBA diving, crime, parachuting, television, books, bestiality, flowers - it makes one dizzy to think about it all. Some newsgroups are moderated. That is, some controlling organization edits the postings or picks and chooses which messages will be given display time. Most groups are an unmoderated free-for-all. One accesses USENET by running a news pro-gram such as "readnews," "news," or "nn." You can read the posted messages, or write one of your own. Messages are sent out to all other participat-ing sites worldwide, which means if you have a question about anything, USENET offers a huge in-temational forum through which to find an answer.