I just reposted this article to comp.misc, where we've been keeping up a parallel discussion for years. Usenet doesn't have the sheer numbers it used to, but anyone still there is there because we love it. Usenet's flaws remain unmended, but its strengths remain unfettered. :)

Out of curiosity (as someone who never had the chance to see Usenet at its prime), what are Usenets strengths and weaknesses?

Strengths:

Totally de-centralised - your post on your local NNTP server, and it gets replicated across the NNTP mesh to all the other servers.

Built in threading... Actually HN is very similar to how a fairly busy newsgroup would look back in the day.

Weaknesses:

Posts used to take hours (sometimes days) to replicate across the whole mesh. Not so much nowadays tho.

Text only; no native support for rich media or Unicode (although some might see that as a Strength)

I lurk on comp.misc via Google groups RSS feed:

https://groups.google.com/forum/feed/comp.misc/topics/rss.xm...

I'm on the hunt for a good dedicated Windows NNTP reader, failing that I might have a go at writing my own (that supports text posts only - none of that dodgy binaries rubbish!).

Look what you done now! I'm setting up a newsreader. I'm going back in.