Duane Hebert wrote:
> "VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
> news:htsm4s$m9t$1@news.albasani.net...
>
>> Whoosh. Right over your head. So let's see what the thread mentioned:
>
> Apparently.
>
>> "Perhaps if someone knows of a free NNTP server ..."
>> "You mean like my ISP ..."
>> "Doesn't seem to be free (except for read-only access)"
>> "Then how could I post using it?"
>
> Well maybe by paying for it? If you would have said "Then
> how could I post using it when I don't pay..." or something
> along those lines it may have been more clear.
>
> At any rate, I tried the server and when I tried to get the newsgroups,
> it prompted me for a username/password.
>
> I went to their web page and they seemed to offer only
> a read only password.
> http://albasani.net/wiki/FAQ_(English)#Is_there_an_account_just_to_read_news.3F
>
> Since the username and password are readonly...
www.albasani.net
Right on the home page it says "A free and complimentary Usenet server."
Also right on the home page it tells you that you have to register to
get an account to use their services. I said free. I did not say
unregistered. You actually have to ask them for permission to use THEIR
free server. It also means that you have to specify your free login
credentials to connect your newsreader to their NNTP server. Not all
free NSPs have anonymous logins. Fact is, those that do are often the
source of a lot of spam and noise in the newsgroups.
Yes, the FAQ article you mention talks about a free read-only account.
That's a free *anonymous* account. So anyone without permission can
read from their NNTP server. Only those that have asked for and
received permission by way of getting login credentials can *post* using
their NNTP server - but at no time do you pay anything. By requiring a
user to register for a posting account, spam and noise are reduced plus
the owner of those resources can kill accounts because he knows who
posted the offending posts. Registering for a posting account embues an
investment by the user not to commit actions that result in loss of the
account. Anonymous logins incurs no inconvenience to the malicious or
spamming posters.
Follow the link on their home page (to send an e-mail or use their web
form) to request a *free* posting account. You need to use a valid
e-mail address (maybe not your primary e-mail address but one where they
can send back your login credentials). If you're a malignant troll
attempting to disrupt a newsgroup to make it unusable or spammer, you
won't want to use Albasani.
The owner of Albasani is responsive to its users. Took 1 day to get a
reply about whether or not they were going to drop the microsoft.*
newsgroups because of some threat by a wannabe Usenet admin claiming he
is going to spew out rmgroup control messages (and, no, Albasani won't
be honoring the rmgroup from Julien or anyone else). If you want to
ensure some support then don't look at free NSPs. invidual.net is
operating at a German university (Berlin area, I think) and costs around
$16/year ($10 euro) but this is not a commercial operation so it could
disappear when campus policies change and they no longer decide to have
any of their students or staff manage their NNTP servers anymore. Of
course, free NSPs come and go, too, so pick one that has been around for
awhile with a good uptime record. Because Albasani, invidual.net, AIOE,
Eternal-September (aka Motzarella) are free NSPs, they're paying for the
cost of equipment and bandwidth out of their own pocket. As such, they
don't carry the binary newsgroups because of the disk space and
bandwidth that would get consumed by the jerking off porn addicts. You
only get the text (non-binary) newsgroups with the free NSPs.
If you have a need for "personal entertainment" content from the binary
newsgroups then look at commercial NSPs. Some charge a monthly fee,
like Giganews, but some let you buy blocks of bandwidth which could end
up being cheaper depending on how much you download.
This newsgroup is to discuss IE. Free NSPs is off-topic. That's why I
mentioned asking the folks in the alt.free.newsservers group about free
NSPs or suggestions on where to get cheap rates on those that charge a
monthly fee or for blocks of bandwidth.