The Guide - Understanding and Using Newsgroups

USENET

	What are Newsgroups?
	Different ways to use Newsgroups
	Getting setup with Newsgroups
	Reading messages in a Newsgroup
	Posting a message to a newsgroup
	Newsgroup Netiquette
	VSNL Specific Newsgroups
	A Glossary of Terms
	Getting more help

Related Links

1.	Index of Glossaries
2.	Usenet Acronyms Dictionary
3.	Email & Usenet Abbreviations

Understanding and Using Newsgroups
A Glossary of Terms
by Peter Doshi

There are many new terms and acronyms you might run across while getting accustomed to news. Here's a few to give you a jump start.

Acronyms: AFAIK -- As far as I know BTW -- By the way FAQ -- Frequently Asked Questions (see below) HAND -- Have a nice day HTH -- Hope this helps IMO -- In My Opinion IMHO -- In My (Humble/Honorific) Opinion (often the ``humble'' is tongue and cheek OTOH -- On the other hand RTFM -- Read the [fine] manual

FAQ: A document which answers Frequently Asked Questions about a topic. You are expected to check here before asking for help, because chances are, many people might have already asked that same question, making it a Frequently Asked Question.
Flame: A particularly nasty message. (This word also applies to regular email)
Lurker: Somebody who just reads news but never posts
Moderated: A newsgroup is said to be Moderated when there is a `moderator', a person who must approve all message before posting. The process will appear the same to you, but will explain why it might take some time before your message appears in a newsgroup. The idea is that a moderated is likely to have more useful content, devoid of spam and useless, off-topic posts.
Newsreader: Software which handles Usenet
News Server: The machine which all newsreaders connect to. Usually, there is a local news server for wherever you might be. At VSNL the news server is named news.vsnl.net.in
Posting: verb. The action of sending in a message to a newsgroup. The type of message does not matter. It can be a reply or even a new message. Both constitute an action called posting.
Posts: noun. A message in a newsgroup
Smileys: Also called emoticons. Here are some examples:
:) - Smile
:^) - Smile (with a nose)
:-) - Another smile with a nose
:( - Frowning
:-( - Frowning (with a nose)
;-) - Wink and smile
and the list goes on...
Spam: An excessive number of identical postings to multiple newsgroups. This practice is discouraged because of its drain on network resources. In a more general sense, it can also mean an excess of any data, such as an extremely large file posted to a newsgroup.
Thread: A particular discussion inside a newsgroup which has many posts or replies to the original article.
Usenet: Another word for "News", which stands for the "User's Network" The collection of all newsgroups.

Getting more help