[ih] Preparing for the splinternet

[Miles Fidelman]

John Levine via Internet-history wrote:
> According to Dan York via Internet-history <york at isoc.org>:
>> I think NNTP had similar issues with the UX of news readers… but I also think there were larger issues there with
>> companies seeking to use news as a means to keep people inside their new walled gardens.. and also to provide moderated
>> experiences. (But that could be a whole other email thread.)
> I still run a moderated newsgroup which gets significant traffic.
I THINK, that DoD's logistics folks, still use NNTP as the platform for 
JOPES groups (anybody know for sure?).

>
> The problem with usenet wasn't the UI, which for the most part was the same as for
> mail programs (Thunderbird still does both.)  It was that like any freeish push medium,
> it was overrun with spam.  By the time we got the spam under control, most of the users
> had moved on to other places.
>
>
For a very short time, AOL was distributing an open source new server, 
that supported private newsgroups.  It was a really great alternative to 
running a listserver.

Unfortunately When AOL was sold, it went away.

It's a shame - NNTP has all the hooks for global identity and access 
control, based on crypto.  There's a real opportunity to build an open, 
distributed forum capability that isn't some technical abortion like 
Discord.  (Anybody want to collaborate on such a beast?)

Miles

-- 
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.  .... Yogi Berra

Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works and no one knows why.  ... unknown