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[OT] seeking news server recommendations

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  [OT] seeking news server recommendations Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2026-07-30 17:30 +0000
    Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations Robert Heller <heller@deepsoft.com> - 2026-07-30 17:37 +0000
    Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-30 18:39 +0100
    Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-07-30 18:44 +0100
    Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "Stanislav N. aka pztrn" <no@email.please> - 2026-07-30 22:44 +0500
      Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-30 18:52 +0100
        Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "Stanislav N. aka pztrn" <no@email.please> - 2026-07-31 01:33 +0500
    Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-07-30 20:07 +0200
      Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> - 2026-07-31 01:01 +0000
        Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-07-31 04:36 +0000
          Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-07-31 09:32 +0100
            Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-31 11:53 +0100
              Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-31 13:32 +0200
                Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-31 12:41 +0100
                Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-07-31 15:15 +0200
                  Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-31 14:35 +0100
                    Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-07-31 17:05 +0200
            Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations "s|b" <me@privacy.invalid> - 2026-07-31 15:12 +0200
              Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-07-31 18:57 +0000
            Re: [OT] seeking news server recommendations rbowman <bowman@montana.com> - 2026-07-31 18:54 +0000

#89256 — [OT] seeking news server recommendations

IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
there other services that work well for light text-only use and
are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
than over US$100 per year?

-- 
Robert Riches
spamtrap42@jacob21819.net
(Yes, that is one of my email addresses.)

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#89257

eternal-september.org

At 30 Jul 2026 17:30:25 GMT Robert Riches <spamtrap42@jacob21819.net> wrote:

> 
> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
> than over US$100 per year?
> 

-- 
Robert Heller             -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364
Deepwoods Software        -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Linux Administration Services
heller@deepsoft.com       -- Webhosting Services

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#89258

On 30/07/2026 18:30, Robert Riches wrote:
> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
> than over US$100 per year?
> 
eternal september is still going

https://www.eternal-september.org/
-- 
“Progress is precisely that which rules and regulations did not foresee,”

  – Ludwig von Mises

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#89259

Robert Riches wrote:

> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.

A year plus a few months ...

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#89260

30.07.2026 22:30, Robert Riches wrote:
> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
> than over US$100 per year?
> 
Why not set up your own and peer with someone who carries interesting 
groups? Your server, no one will shut it down :)

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#89261

On 30/07/2026 18:44, Stanislav N. aka pztrn wrote:
> 30.07.2026 22:30, Robert Riches wrote:
>> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
>> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
>> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
>> than over US$100 per year?
>>
> Why not set up your own and peer with someone who carries interesting 
> groups? Your server, no one will shut it down :)

Getting harder to find the peers


-- 
I would rather have questions that cannot be answered...
...than to have answers that cannot be questioned

Richard Feynman

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#89272

30.07.2026 22:52, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 30/07/2026 18:44, Stanislav N. aka pztrn wrote:
>> 30.07.2026 22:30, Robert Riches wrote:
>>> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
>>> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
>>> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
>>> than over US$100 per year?
>>>
>> Why not set up your own and peer with someone who carries interesting 
>> groups? Your server, no one will shut it down :)
> 
> Getting harder to find the peers

I just open some server's stats page and lurking into it's peers, and so 
on, and so on...

...or you may try to post peering request in news.admin.peering. At 
least it is suggested way to find peers as I read.

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#89262

On 30 Jul 2026 17:30:25 GMT, Robert Riches wrote:

> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
> than over US$100 per year?

NIN will be around until 30 September 2027:
<https://individual.net/>

If you have a subscription, then you don't have to pay extra for it.

Other newsservers:

<https://www.eternal-september.org/>

<https://solani.org/>

<https://usenet.ovh/>

These are all free.

What you can also do (what I have done years ago) is buy a block of 25
GB for $10 at Astraweb: <https://www.astraweb.com/>

If you only use it for text and not binaries, then it'll take years
before you're out of data.

-- 
s|b

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#89280

On 2026-07-30, s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
> On 30 Jul 2026 17:30:25 GMT, Robert Riches wrote:
>
>> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are
>> there other services that work well for light text-only use and
>> are either free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather
>> than over US$100 per year?
>
> NIN will be around until 30 September 2027:
><https://individual.net/>

Thank you (and others) for the correction.  I'm glad my
computer's memory isn't as faulty as my own.

> If you have a subscription, then you don't have to pay extra for it.
>
> Other newsservers:
>
><https://www.eternal-september.org/>
>
><https://solani.org/>
>
><https://usenet.ovh/>
>
> These are all free.
>
> What you can also do (what I have done years ago) is buy a block of 25
> GB for $10 at Astraweb: <https://www.astraweb.com/>
>
> If you only use it for text and not binaries, then it'll take years
> before you're out of data.

Excellent suggestions!  Thanks!

-- 
Robert Riches
spamtrap42@jacob21819.net
(Yes, that is one of my email addresses.)

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#89289

On 31 Jul 2026 01:01:38 GMT, Robert Riches wrote:

> On 2026-07-30, s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
>> On 30 Jul 2026 17:30:25 GMT, Robert Riches wrote:
>>
>>> IIRC, news.individual.net is shutting down in a few months.  Are there
>>> other services that work well for light text-only use and are either
>>> free-of-charge or for around US$10-20 per year rather than over US$100
>>> per year?
>>
>> NIN will be around until 30 September 2027:
>><https://individual.net/>
> 
> Thank you (and others) for the correction.  I'm glad my computer's
> memory isn't as faulty as my own.

Sad to see them go. I've used individual since my at-the-time ISP dropped 
usenet. I don't remember exactly when but it was still free. 10 Euros was 
still a bargain.

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#89309

rbowman wrote:

> I've used individual since my at-the-time ISP dropped
> usenet. I don't remember exactly when but it was still free. 10 Euros was
> still a bargain.

I wonder if NIN have tried to find a buyer?

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#89311

On 31/07/2026 09:32, Andy Burns wrote:
> rbowman wrote:
> 
>> I've used individual since my at-the-time ISP dropped
>> usenet. I don't remember exactly when but it was still free. 10 Euros was
>> still a bargain.
> 
> I wonder if NIN have tried to find a buyer?

No one has ever made a profit out of usenet.


-- 
"An intellectual is a person knowledgeable in one field who speaks out 
only in others...”

Tom Wolfe

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#89320

On 2026-07-31 12:53, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 31/07/2026 09:32, Andy Burns wrote:
>> rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> I've used individual since my at-the-time ISP dropped
>>> usenet. I don't remember exactly when but it was still free. 10 Euros 
>>> was
>>> still a bargain.
>>
>> I wonder if NIN have tried to find a buyer?
> 
> No one has ever made a profit out of usenet.

Maybe the binary servers.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.
        ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

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#89325

On 31/07/2026 12:32, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2026-07-31 12:53, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> On 31/07/2026 09:32, Andy Burns wrote:
>>> rbowman wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've used individual since my at-the-time ISP dropped
>>>> usenet. I don't remember exactly when but it was still free. 10 
>>>> Euros was
>>>> still a bargain.
>>>
>>> I wonder if NIN have tried to find a buyer?
>>
>> No one has ever made a profit out of usenet.
> 
> Maybe the binary servers.
> 
Our experience back in the day was that they were the most expensive to 
host and maintain.
We refused to touch the binary newsgroups

It was great when torrents took that traffic away - and the world wide web.


-- 
     “I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the 
greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most 
obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of 
conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which 
they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by 
thread, into the fabric of their lives.”

     ― Leo Tolstoy

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#89348

On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:32:30 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:

> On 2026-07-31 12:53, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
> > No one has ever made a profit out of usenet.
 
> Maybe the binary servers.

If they wouldn't make a profit they wouldn't exist anymore. I think the
little ones disappeared, but Astraweb is still here and so are Giganews
and Eweka.

-- 
s|b

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#89349

On 31/07/2026 14:15, s|b wrote:
> On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:32:30 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> 
>> On 2026-07-31 12:53, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> No one has ever made a profit out of usenet.
>   
>> Maybe the binary servers.
> 
> If they wouldn't make a profit they wouldn't exist anymore. 

You really dont know do you.
They wre sunbsidised by ISPs because people wanted them. Then they were 
farmed out to fewer bigger organisations where at best they broke even,. 
Most of what's left are university hosted and funded

> I think the
> little ones disappeared, but Astraweb is still here and so are Giganews
> and Eweka.
> 
They charge a fortune

-- 
In a Time of Universal Deceit, Telling the Truth Is a Revolutionary Act.

- George Orwell

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#89357

On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:35:52 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 31/07/2026 14:15, s|b wrote:
> > On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:32:30 +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> > 
> >> On 2026-07-31 12:53, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> >>
> >>> No one has ever made a profit out of usenet.
> >   
> >> Maybe the binary servers.
> > 
> > If they wouldn't make a profit they wouldn't exist anymore. 
 
> You really dont know do you.

To be clear: I was talking about the newsservers offering *binaries*.

> They wre sunbsidised by ISPs because people wanted them. Then they were 
> farmed out to fewer bigger organisations where at best they broke even,. 

And yet, servers that offer paid access to binaries are still around.

At one point, lots of ISPs were all too happy when there were complaints
about pedophile newsgroups*. They took the chance and closed down their
own newsservers.

When I got cable in 2000 my ISP had its own newsserver, binary
newsgroups included. At one point they decided there was to be a limit
to "external traffic". So people started to share (massively) on the
internal newsgroups where the traffic didn't count. Then, in 2011, the
ISP shut down the Usenet servers, claiming 'Usenet is obsolete. There
are alternatives on the Internet. Check out Google Groups!'

> Most of what's left are university hosted and funded

For those who are interested in free access to text newsgroups there's
not a lot of choice left. I've been NIN for ages and when they started
asking 10 euro/year I happily paid.
 
> > I think the
> > little ones disappeared, but Astraweb is still here and so are Giganews
> > and Eweka.

> They charge a fortune

To offer *binaries*. They're still around, but according to you they're
struggling to break even? If that is so, then why are they still around?




* Of which there were a handful, but instead of closing access to those
newsgroups they shut down their servers to save money.

-- 
s|b

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#89347

On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:32:16 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

> I wonder if NIN have tried to find a buyer?

The service is/was provided by the Free University of Berlin. I don't
think they ever intended it to be commercial. IIRC the 10 euro/year
(after years of free service) was a necessity, because of the success of
the server.

As soon as I got their message I mailed and asked them to reconsider,
but no go. )-:

-- 
s|b

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#89361

On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:12:39 +0200, s|b wrote:

> As soon as I got their message I mailed and asked them to reconsider,
> but no go. )-:

The graphic on the homepage isn't quite 'It's dead, Fred!' but close. 

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#89360

On Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:32:16 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

> rbowman wrote:
> 
>> I've used individual since my at-the-time ISP dropped usenet. I don't
>> remember exactly when but it was still free. 10 Euros was still a
>> bargain.
> 
> I wonder if NIN have tried to find a buyer?

https://individual.net/

"Farewell, Usenet!! The era of Usenet is over"

Hardly a good sales pitch. A sale might be complicated since it is run by 
FU Berlin. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_University_of_Berlin

I don't know how, or why, eternal-september.org is funded. Others like 
newshosting start at $10/mo but also offer other services.

People love to hate Reddit but the truth is r/linuxmint has much more 
traffic that alt.os.linux.mint.  The focused subreddits are not bad. 
General ones like the local one tend to be trash. 

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