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What is Usenet?
Usenet is the set of people who exchange articles tagged with
one or more universally-recognized labels, called "newsgroups"
(or "groups" for short). There is often confusion about the
precise set of newsgroups that constitute Usenet; one commonly
accepted definition is that it consists of newsgroups listed
in the periodic "List of Active Newsgroups" postings which
appear regularly in news.lists.misc and other newsgroups. A broader definition
of Usenet would include the newsgroups listed in the article
"Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies".
An even broader definition includes even newsgroups that are
restricted to specific geographic regions or organizations.
Each Usenet site makes its own decisions about the set of
groups available to its users; this set differs from site
to site.
(Note that the correct term is "newsgroups"; they are not
called areas, bases, boards, bboards, conferences, round tables,
SIGs, echoes, rooms or usergroups! Nor, as noted above, are
they part of the Internet, though they may reach your site
over it. Furthermore, the people who run the news systems
are called news administrators, not sysops. If you want to
be understood, be accurate.)
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