Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf.edu!wet!epsilon
From: epsilon@wet.UUCP (Eric P. Scott)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions
Subject: Re: How can others access USENET?
Message-ID: <495@wet.UUCP>
Date: 27 Aug 89 00:03:33 GMT
References: <3337@cbnewsh.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: epsilon@wet.UUCP (Eric P. Scott)
Organization: Wetware Diversions, San Francisco
Lines: 26

In article <3337@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> rws@cbnewsh.ATT.COM (r.w.stubblefield) writes:
>I have recently recommended USENET to some folks that I have
>exchanged e-mail with.  Some of them have asked me how to get
>access to USENET.  Are there any general guidelines I can give them
>on how to obtain USENET access?  Two such folks are on arpanet;
>another is on BITNET.

There's a standard answer to "how do I get access to X"--either
you find someone else who already has it, or you get it yourself.

For the former, start with the lists of Public Access UNIX sites
posted to pubnet,nixpub,comp.misc,alt.bbs.  If there isn't one
near you, consider subscribing to Telenet's PC Pursuit service
(or similar), or one of the services with PDN access (Portal,
Well).

Internet sites have it made--nothing beats NNTP's performance
for feeding news.  BITNET (snicker, chuckle, gag) people are
probably S.O.L. (not to diminish the fine efforts of the PSUVM
folk)--while the software exists, BITNET does not have the
capacity to redistribute a full news feed or anything close to
it, except between adjacent nodes, without seriously disrupting
normal communication.  Most BITNET sites are better off using a
Telebit to exchange news the old-fashioned way, or getting access
to decent network technology.
					-=EPS=-