So from what I have read and watched.

1. Usenet describes a network service and protocol that runs on top of TCP/IP.

2. Each Usenet server is unique, unique to the kinds of content and discussions it permits, unique to how long that content will be hosted for, and access to each Usenet server requires a unique login.

3. When paying for a subscription to Usenet, you are paying for access to a specific Usenet server, not the service.

4Usenet servers/providers may periodically sync some or all of their content with other servers/providers.

5. You cannot see the discussions or files hosted on a Usenet server without having a paid subscription to that server.

6. Usenet must be accessed from a client application and SABnzbd is very popular and works well on linux.

Do I have that correct?

I've never used it before, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not checking it out earlier, it seems like it's golden era has now come and gone. But I thought maybe I'd give it a go before it disappears into obscurity.

Er, no. Or, at least, mostly no.

Usenet is a network, or a series of networks. Access to it is something entirely other. Depending on your ISP, you may or may not have to pay for access.

This article seems to be a good overview of Usenet: http://www.techsono.com/usenet/faq/usenet-explained

I used to be an avid user of Usenet, particularly of rec.boats, back when I had a boat; of alt.folklore.urban (which gave rise to Snopes); and of the Slackware group I forget precisely what it was called but it helped me a lot in my early days with Slackware (we're talking three decades ago now); but I finally gave up on Usenet.

As the world wide web and forums and "social" media grew, the spam to content ratio on Usenet became too much for me to take. Which is a darned shame, because Usenet was once fun.

But that's just me.

If you wish to access Usenet via Linux, as far as I am concerned, Pan is the way to go.

(Spelling error fixed.)

1 members found this post helpful.