Considering returning to Usenet

[ISO-Man]

It has been 15+ years I have used Newsgroups. I see some threads about Usenet, but they were old. My main questions are:

1) What is the best service for 'content' and unlimited, then price ?

2) What apps/programs are used for 'reading' ?

It USE to be a simple process of reader connecting to newsgroup server (ISP at the time) and updating threads, you tag what you want, and it dumps the tagged articles to your drive.

Thanks

 

[Fabax01]

Newsbin+Eweka is my go-to for binary files. Newsbin as this newsreader has an (affordable) search function that satisfies my needs (better results than Shemes' GrabIt or Newslazer), and Eweka has the highest retention possible - wait up for a deal, Eweka is not cheap (at least the website advertised prices.)
But I do not search much for modern stuff, you probably need to pay private indexer services for that.
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Now I can also recommend the native Macintosh program "Usenapp" - recently discovered it, the built in search is pretty good.
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Omicron-based "full retention (6000+ days for binaries)" providers comparison

Provider	Pros	Cons
Eweka	Follows EU NTD law (less failed DL)	Pricey
Easynews	Web ui (can search & download stuff through http; no need to install a newsreader = mobile support)	Follows US DMCA law (more failed DL) Pricey
UsenetServer	Search engine webpage Certain offers bundle in Tweaknews access (limited gigabytes)	Follows US DMCA law (more failed DL)
Tweaknews	Follows EU NTD law (less failed DL)	4000+ days retention, not full!
Newshosting	Resells service to others Certain offers bundle in Easynews access (limited gigabytes)	Follows US DMCA law (more failed DL) Resells service to others
Newsgroup Ninja	Cheap	Follows US DMCA law (more failed DL) Weird company history...

Newsreader global** search functionality comparison (test keyword = lt 3.0 firmware)​

​

**=as in, no need to download headers or enter a group -> do XPAT​

• Newsbin Pro: paid software, returns a lot of results - search requires a separate subscription; WIN
• Usenapp: paid software, returns a lot of results - limited search (last month only) without a subscription; Mac OS X
• Usenet Explorer: paid software, search returns a lot of results; WIN
• Shemes' GrabIt: free software, returns many results - limited searches/day OR unlimited with a subscription; WIN
• OEM software*: bundled in with your provider's usenet access, search returns few results; WIN/Mac OS X/Linux
  • Newslazer (Eweka ver.)
  • Usenet Wire (Tweaknews ver.)
  • Newshosting's newsreader (self-explanatory)
• Newsleecher: free software, returns few results - limited searches/day OR unlimited with a subscription; WIN
• Holmez software: MALWARE - sends data (including your auth credentials) to their servers.
  
  • Phantom
  • Tangysoft
  • Momentum

*= It doesn't ask users if they want to enable SSL during the initial setup...
Before downloading anything, please enable it in the connection settings. If you're paranoid, restart the client too.
I'll leave you to judge if it's incompetence or intended by design as a sort of malicious "honeypot".


edit: added comparison tables

 

[ISO-Man]

Newsbin+Eweka is my go-to for binary files. Newsbin as the newsreader has a (cheap) search function that satisfies my needs, and Eweka has the highest retention possible - wait up for a deal, Eweka is not cheap (at least the website advertised prices.)
But I do not search much for modern stuff, you probably need to pay private indexer services for that.

Eweka was my top pick from the research I did. I just wanted input to others preference. As to newsreaders, I am ignorant as it gets since the old days. I do plan to use it on Linux (personal usenet server connected to NAS). Will use windows for about a month or two while I get it all setup.

 

[Fabax01]

Eweka was my top pick from the research I did. I just wanted input to others preference. As to newsreaders, I am ignorant as it gets since the old days. I do plan to use it on Linux (personal usenet server connected to NAS). Will use windows for about a month or two while I get it all setup.

I see, hope linux users can chime in & help ya.
I'm on Mac OS but run a VM with windows for Newsbin
too lazy to learn another newsreader... (Forte Agent, in my opinion the best for discussion groups, went the way of the dodo, too outdated these days.)
And well, wine's a possibility I think.

 

[ISO-Man]

Forte Agent was what I used back in the day (loved it).

NZBGet and SABnzbd are popular (what I found) and seems to support all platforms and open source.