Oddbean new post about | logout
 Which topics? 
 so far just media. But later today im gonna install a reader on my daily driver and see if there is more than just priracy and porn out there. Super curious to see if people still use it for discussion.  
 I've been Usenet curious for a long time. Where should I go to get started? 
 I kind of hate to say it, but Reddit is a good place to start. Give me a moment and I can bring up a post that has pretty much all the providers.

It's interesting. You need a provider. Sometimes an indexer can help. I don't think indexers are totally necessary, but they help find content. and then you need a client to grab whatever topics are subscribed to. 
 network map:  
https://mediavoid.io/map.svg

Right now, I'm using eweka for my provider. According to the internet, it has better renteion, and you can find older content easier there.  
 What client are you using? Are you using a search in the client to get around having an indexer? 
 I use nzbgeek as an indexer, thats hooked into prowlarr for search then I use sanzbd for my binary downloader.  
 Do you trust the SSL and logs or do you VPN everything? 
 Reading more about Usenet, apparently SSL is sufficient, but being the paranoid bastard that I am, I still run shit through VPN. 
 The way I read it is this. If you trust the services aren't IP logging, the SSL isn't getting hacked by any TLAs. If you don't trust them VPN keeps them from doxxing your IP. 
 Nzbgeek, vipernews, and sabnzbd. Just completed my first ever usenet DL. Something I wanted but couldn't find on torrent too.

Thank you again for your help and answering questions.