ARCHIVED: At IU, how can I read Usenet newsgroups?

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

Note: UITS has retired the Indiana University Usenet servers (news.indiana.edu, news.iu.edu, and usenet.ucs.indiana.edu). As a result, you can no longer access Usenet newsgroups from these servers. Also, local (IU) newsgroups are no longer available.

Connecting to the Usenet server

Following is information about connecting to the Usenet server at Indiana University:

Your computer must be connected to the IU network via campus Ethernet, wireless connection, the IU modem pool, or the IU VPN. If you are using an outside Internet service provider (ISP) such as Kiva, BlueMarble, HoosierNet, IQuest, Insight, or AOL, you must use the IU VPN (as opposed to your ISP's server) to access IU's Usenet server. For more information about using the VPN, see the Knowledge Base document About the IU VPN.
Note: The Usenet server accepts connections from IU subnets only. If your computer has an IU IP address, you will be able to connect to the server. If you are having problems connecting to the Usenet server, contact the UITS Support Center. See the Knowledge Base document Contact your campus IT Support Center

Note: Effective September 1, 2006, HoosierNet no longer offers Internet services. Kiva Networking is continuing Internet services for HoosierNet's active customers. For more information, contact Kiva Networking at 812-337-5070, or visit:
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  http://kiva.net/
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Your web browser or newsreader must be configured to use news.iu.edu as the news (NNTP) server.

Newsreaders

You will need to use one of several newsreader programs that allow you to read and post to these groups.

Newsreaders on shared Unix computers

Steel, a shared cluster of Unix computers, offers several programs for accessing Internet services, including trn ("threaded read news", formerly named rn), tin (another newsreader), Pine (an electronic mail and news program), and Lynx (a text-based web browser). To request an account on Steel if you do not already have one, use the UITS Account Management Service web page.

For help with any of these newsreaders, see the references listed at the end of this document. You can also consult the Unix manual pages by entering any of the following commands at the Unix system prompt:

  man trn
  man tin
  man pine
  man lynx

Newsreaders on personal computers and workstations

For personal workstations, a number of newsreader programs are available:

Both trn and tin can be installed on personal Unix workstations.
Many web browsers and mail programs, such as Netscape Messenger, Outlook Express, and Mozilla Thunderbird, offer newsreading capabilities.
For more information about newsreaders for Macintosh, see the Knowledge Base documents ARCHIVED: In Mac OS, what software can I use to read Usenet newsgroups? and ARCHIVED: In Mac OS X, what software can I use to read Usenet newsgroups?
For any platform, many third-party newsreaders are available, such as the following:
- Windows: Forte's Free Agent (freeware) and Agent (pay version)
- Mac OS X: Pineapple News or NewsCarrier
- Linux: Gnews or Pan