this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2023
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Hi, I keep hearing this everywhere, what exactly is usenet and how do I use it? (sorry if this is derailing the point of your question)
Usenet was originally intended for sharing information but then it moved into being sort of the first social media platform then it kind of transitioned back into being mostly used for file sharing.
I can totally saturate my 1 gig internet connection with Usenet. Can download at incredible speeds. No need to ever upload. No logs of what I download. Almost instant access.
You need an indexer and you need a provider. Then you use sabnzbd to queue up what you want to download. It’s not free but depending on how much you plan to download, it’s a bargain.
For indexers I suggest drunkenslug or nzbplanet. For a provider I suggest NewsDemon or Usenet.farm. They are both good independent providers who have helped Usenet stay alive and not succumb to corporate greed.
Have you always needed a separate indexer? I vaguely recall using Usenet a decade ago and being able to download directly from the thread I was browsing. Do some providers include an indexer with the Usenet subscription?
I guess you could manually scroll through boards and download files that you want but so much of the stuff uploaded is heavily obfuscated so the advantage of an indexer is you can search for a file name and find it quickly and easily
You'll find bits and pieces, but many indexers (and their uploaders) heavily obfuscate and password their stuff. You'll never find it with nzbking or binsearch or manually downloading headers in a newsreader like it was common 15-20 years ago. Pretty much like a private torrent tracker.
This was very insightful, thank you!
They open registration a few times a year so just keep an eye out.
I know a lot of people are steering clear of Reddit (and the Usenet subreddit's moderators appear to be stepping down) but it seems like openings were announced there quite consistently.
I'm not sure if there's an easier method to stay in the loop like email notifications for example
You would need to set up something to monitor web page changes like maybe every 12-24 hours or so. You would be monitoring https://drunkenslug.com/register
I'm not an expert in that area but in the past have had some success with Chrome browser extensions like Distill Web Monitor https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/distill-web-monitor/inlikjemeeknofckkjolnjbpehgadgge
I might make it my new tab screen and ballpark it off of past trends
As far as I'm aware they've closed new registrations for now but you could try one of the other indexers for now until they open back up! I'm waiting for them to open up myself.