USENET?

[Randy Pratt]

On Mon, 9 Mar 2009 07:14:26 -0700

> For text, I'd recommend slrn.  Gary is already using mutt, so I'd
> suggest he go that route, or alternatively, try mutt's nntp patch and
> use mutt instead.  Works perfectly well and it's what I use.  If reading
> news is going to be a regular thing, then setting up a local server of
> some sort (to pull down feeds from one or more providers) may be a
> useful addition, though slrn does does provide a companion program to do
> something similar.
> 
> Binary groups, on the other hand, are generally best handled by a GUI
> client.  If you know what you're doing, command-line programs like nget,
> nzbperl, etc. may be preferrable or useful additions.
> 
> The thing to keep in mind is that irrespective of what client one is
> using, it's the quality of the feed that matters most.  At least for
> non-casual use.  For a top notch feed, expect to pay out a few extra
> bucks per month.  That typically gives you a host of other benefits that
> would include a complete hierarchy, high retention levels, unrestricted
> download speeds, web access, multiple connections, multiple servers,
> NNTPS, HTTPs, Clarinet, and a direct line to customer support.

Even though this has nothing to do with FreeBSD, its worth mentioning
that pulling down headers for a news group can use a lot of disk space
and consume a lot of time.  The OP might consider using one of the NZB
aggregator sites and using a client that is NZB capable.  This, of
course, is most useful for binaries.  The other tools usually required
for these multipart postings are also in the tree.  A little bit
of Googling will cover learning how to use them.

Back to my lurking corner ;-)

Randy