wolfnose.org
/ fur
/ usenet
/ getstart.htmlThe easiest way to learn how to use Usenet is to watch how others use it. Start reading the news and try to figure out what people are doing and why. After a couple of weeks you will start understanding why certain things are done and what things shouldn't be done.
"A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community" [Rospach]
If you are reading this web page on a modern web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer then it may already contain all the software you need to read news. Try following the links below, starting from the top.
If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) has done a good job of setting up your default configuration, then this may be your simplest way of accessing news.
This is one of a number of news servers set up specifically for use by furries. You may find it provides a better quality of service than your own ISP. It will also allow you to read articles posted to furrynet.
This is an open news server that can be accessed by anyone. It will allow you to read news, but will not allow you to post. Don't expect this to be particularyly fast.
If the links above did not work for you then you may want to start out using a web-based news service to test the waters until you are ready to setup your own news reader.
These allow you to search, read and post to Usenet using just a web browser. Probably the most famous is Deja-News. The alt.lifestyle.furry posts can be found in the Deja.com forum: alt.lifestyle.furry. In order to post, you will need to set up a "my-deja" account (its free), but anyone can search and read news. The big disadvantage with services like Deja is that they are comparatively slow, and you do need to be online while you are using it.
Even if you have a proper newsreader, you may still find its worth having a Deja account on standby so you can read and post if your away from home (at work :), or if your main system fails. Alt.lifestyle.furry is a community, and you may find that you need its support most when your hard drive has just crashed.
It is possible to read and post to Usenet using just an e-mail account. Infact when I first started reading alt.lifestyle.furry this was the way I had to do it. The service I used at reference.com now seems to be defunct, but there are other mechanisms still available. This can still be useful if you don't have full internet access. Use the latest instructions for up to date services.