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UseNet Introduction
For many Internet users, newsgroups (also known as the UseNet) is the Internet.  For millions of Internet users reading articles in newsgroups is part of their daily routine.

The term UseNet refers to a mechanism that supports discussion groups that allow users from anywhere on the Internet to participate.  The UseNet was originally conceived for the exchange of technical information, but today virtually any subject matter is available somewhere on the UseNet.  If you can think of a topic or subject, there is probably a newsgroup already established for the exchange of information on the topic or subject.
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What Is UseNet?
The UseNet is not a network, but rather a service carried on the Internet.  One way of looking at the UseNet is to think about a huge electronic mail system (email) where messages are sent by and received by anyone or everyone using the UseNet.  Much of the terminology applied to email also applies to the UseNet with the following key exceptions.  On the UseNet "messages" become "articles", and a user "posts" and article rather than "sends" a message.  Also, the software used to access the content of the UseNet is called a "reader".

The UseNet is not managed or controlled by anyone specifically, but is more a matter of communal control.  Once a discussion newsgroup is created, any Internet user can post an article to that newsgroup.  The only exceptions are for what are termed "Moderated Newsgroups", which will be discussed below.

There are no formally established "rules" about the language you use in an article or about your behavior on the UseNet.  However, there are generally accepted principles which have been accepted by the UseNet community as a whole even though there is no real enforcement other than other users' force of opinion.
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Very Brief History of UseNet
UseNet origins lie with the UNIX operating system in a release called V7.  UNIX V7 offered a program called UUCP (UNIX to UNIX Copy), which allowed two machines to transfer files easily.  In 1979, UUCP was used by two Duke University graduate students, Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott, to exchange messages between their two servers.  Soon other users joined the act and used UUCP to provide simple messaging between their respective machines.  Steve Bellovin, who was at the University of North Carolina, went as far as writing a set of shell scripts to provide simple news software between UNC and Duke.  These routines transferred and managed messages and news between the two universities.  In 1980, the system was described to a wide audience at the annual Usenix conference (Usenix is a UNIX user group).

These shell scripts evolved into versions written in the C programming language, which were widely distributed and led to many new types of machines joining the informal news network.  The news software was modified many times and new features were added at each step, resulting in the main feature set for handling the upload and download of content from newsgroups, and managing the articles with news readers.

Apart for the software used in handling the articles within a newsgroup, several news readers have been developed over the years to allow users to access the UseNet through an increasingly "user-friendly" interface.  There are news readers available for virtually every operating system.
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UseNet Behavior
The UseNet does not have a formally established set of rules.  Instead, the network of users and your local system administrator impose limits, although in many cases these limits cannot be enforced.

This lack of ability to provide enforcement provides one of the double-edged swords of the UseNet.  In theory, you can say anything you want on the UseNet, regardless of how many people you hurt or insult.  On the other hand, as a newsgroup reader, you have to put up with this behavior from others.  Luckily, there are some steps you can take to eliminate this type of posting.

There will always be a few individuals that continue their personal attacks on the UseNet, unhindered by either system administrators or co-workers.  As a community viewed in whole, UseNet users are a well-behaved group that follows a set of mutually accepted guidelines for network behavior, which is frequently called "netiquette".
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Moderated Newsgroups
Not all newsgroups are open and free for any type of posting.  There is a set of moderated newsgroups, in which one or more users determine whether or not each article gets posted to the group.  The moderator is usually a volunteer trying to ensure that newsgroup postings remain on-topic.  When the moderator sees an article that is obnoxious, overly insulting or simply off-topic it is deleted.  The moderator can also edit articles to keep users from running on in a rambling manner.

Moderated newsgroups are generally established for very narrowly focused single topic discussion for a specific product or service.  As a result, the traffic posted to the newsgroup remains low.

Being a newsgroup moderator is generally a thankless task not only because it requires quite a lot of time but also because the moderator becomes the focus for any and all complaints regarding what is posted to the newsgroup.  Since the moderator must read each article before it is posted to the newsgroup, it takes longer for articles to appear in the group.  One of the most frequent complaints directed to a moderator concerns the amount of time required to get an article posted to the newsgroup.  Over time some moderated newsgroups become open newsgroups.

A listing of moderated newsgroups and the moderator's name and email address is available from the news.announce.newuser newsgroup.  The header articles in a moderated newsgroup usually makes it clear that the group is moderated and by whom.
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Where To Begin
There are a number of resources available for users new to the UseNet.  These new user resources include a number of files that have been created to help one get off to a good start.  A new users needs to review these basic resources prior to posting articles because users failing to do so will incur the wrath of thousands of users.

Perhaps the best source for these "getting started" files is the news.announce.newusers newsgroup mentioned earlier.  Here are the names of five (5) important articles any new UseNet user should read:

"Rules for Posting to UseNet"

"A Primer on How to Work with the UseNet Community"

"Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about UseNet"

"Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiqutte"

"Hints for Writing Style for UseNet"

NOTE:  If you check the news.announce.newusers newsgroup and cannot find all of the files mentioned, wait a few days and check again.  Each of the files are usually posted on a weekly basis.

The news.announce.newusers newsgroup also includes a complete list of all active newsgroups and their general subject, a list of moderated newsgroups, and guides to information about each newsgroup.

Another fine resource for new UseNet users is the news.answers newsgroup, which as its name implies, provides answers to UseNet questions.  The news.answers newsgroup is also a key source for a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that explain the basics about a newsgroup's subject.
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Writing Postings:  A Good Sense Approach