Is the USENET still relevant?

quote:

---

Piracy is still rampant on Usenet

---

quote:

---

It was the "real" internet before the www's.

---

quote:

---

Archie, Gopher, Veronica and Jughead are three standard "finding" tools on the Internet. The Archie database is made up of the file directories from hundreds of systems. When you search this database on the basis of a file's name, Archie can tell you which directory paths on which systems hold a copy of the file you want.

To use Archie, you must Telnet to an Archie server. You can do that by keying in a command such as telnet://archie.internic.net to get to the Archie server at that address and log on by keying in archie when prompted to do so. Once you do your Archie search, you must then go get the file using FTP, the Internet File Transfer Protocol.

A Gopher is a menu system that simplifies locating and using Internet resources. Each Gopher menu at each Gopher site is unique. Gopher menus usually include the other familiar features of the Internet. You can use a Gopher to Telnet to a location or to FTP a file or to do just about anything else--as long as that option is listed on the Gopher menu.

Gopher software makes it possible for the system administrator at any Internet site to prepare a customized menu of files, features and Internet resources. When you use the Gopher, all you have to do is select the item you want from the menu.

The Veronica database is a collection of menus from most Gopher sites. When you do a Veronica search, you are searching menu items. In the course of the search, Veronica builds an on-the-spot menu consisting of just those items that match your request. When the search is finished, Veronica will present you with a customized Gopher menu.

Veronica will not only present you with a list of Gopher menu items, it will also act like a Gopher. The Veronica database of all Gopher menu items is called Gopherspace. Thus, if you used Veronica to search Gopherspace for the word supreme, you would most likely come up with a Gopher-style menu listing the places to get U.S. Supreme Court decisions. At this point, you could simply choose an item, and Veronica would automatically take you there.

Jughead is available at some Gopher sites and uses the menu items on a single Gopher menu as its database.

---

quote:

---

and it's a steep learning curve.

---

quote:

---

I mainly used Forté Agent.

---