Niouzenet
This newsgroups federation has to again find faith and law


Little chronology
    Alain has the beginning idea. It is that if each newsgroup has only one source, the reliability of the information is many more good.
    Thierry enrichs this idea, particularly to do a real inter-servers system.

    Thierry has the idea to do a Charter.

    Together, Alain and Thierry write this Charter.

    Alain imagines NiouZeCoord, an organism to regulate.

    Divergences between Alain and Thierry.

    Thierry creates Niouzenet with Kloo. Then Alain comes back and helps them.

    Thierry, with others, form NiouZeCoord, but without Alain who refuses.

    Alain thinks that NiouZeCoord don't respect several principles of the Charter. Chiefly, in october 1997,Thierry makes a solemn promise and then don't want to do it. Only in january 1998, it is done and Alain has to very much fight to obtain this, against the others contributors who follow Thierry.

    From february the 17th, there is discussion about the way to feed the Niouzenet groups. Alf, who is in NiouZeCoord do some private tries about a sort of feed called pool.

    Alain denounces this dereliction of the Charter, with others ones.

    Thierry and most if the NiouZeCoord members don't see derilection, because it was private tries.

    Alf writes a message against Alain. Alain says that it is an squalid message, out of the human dignity. He asks for the abdication of Alf.

    The NiouzeCoord members and the contributors say that Alain is going too far, that he is a dictator and they insult him. Even for his private life.

    Alf abdicates.

    NiouZeCoord says that Alf must return in NiouzeCoord.

    Alain says that no organisation accept that one of his member may say such things. Alain is again insulted, more and more, by the contributors, without any help. The Netiquette is out of Niouzenet.

    Pee-Wee is a contributor that see this and tries to understand and create a dialog between Alain and the others. It is impossible.

Alain Beyrand, March 1998, the 7th



French News Groups
    The News Groups are living places where users exchange informations about a precise subject. It is a precious way of communications in the Internet, many more interactive than the Web.

    There are two main categories of News Groups.
    • Those in the Usenet System, with many more that 17.000 News Groups, present on many servers, each one feeding the others, and conversely.
    • The independent NewsGroups , where messages are on only one server, any users taking informations from this server.
    • And there are mixed News Groups, as those of Microsoft. Users read news through Usenet (around 10%), or directly (around 90%).
    The Usenet system has big defaults, the main cause being the use of feeds.
    • The same information has to be on many servers, and there are no process of verification. So some messages are lost, are seen on some servers, not on others...
    • The updates are done in large intervals. The propagation of a message may vary from some minutes to some hours, sometimes more than 10 or 20 hours.
    • The cross-posting (one message to several News Groups) is many more dangerous than the multi-posting (several identical messages to several NG), because it is easier to do, and because all the answers are also cross-posted. This cross-posting is used by lazy users who don't choose the best NG, and chiefly by publicity and damned nuisance.
Usenet the Dinosaur
    • Usenet was in late for using accents, now it is in late for using Html, so it is an old thing, hard to change.
    • Usenet is not free. Many providers now don't allow access to Usenet, or allow a bad access... and it is discouraging for new users.
    So, the only justification of Usenet is historical. It is a system too heavy to evolve.

    The category of non redundant News Groups removes all these default. A centralised access on one server, like for the Web sites, quick updates, the same information for all, the cross-posting is impossible between two servers, and the access is really FREE.

    Alas there are today no important system of non redundant News Groups, to propose a large inventory of subject...

    But it comes ! In august 1997, was created in France the system NiouZeNet, federation of such independent News Groups. Alas, as it is explain in this site, its ethic is only written on its sites, but not applied in the newsgroups.

    Alain Beyrand, August 1997

    (two address of the Niouzenet sites (same content) : http://www.vienneinfo.org/niouzenet, http://www.stingray.ch/niouzenet)

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