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How to Search Today's Usenet For Programming Information?

Posted by timothy on from the it's-all-been-mined-out dept.

DeadlyBattleRobot writes "I've been using Usenet searches since about 1995 to get programming information, sample code, etc., mostly for those standard APIs that are never documented well enough in the official documentation. At first I used dejanews, and now Google Groups (Google bought dejanews). Over the last few years, I've noticed a steady decline in the quantity of search results on programming topics on Usenet from Google, increasing difficulty with their search UI and result pages, and today I find I'm completely unable to get a working Usenet search on their advanced group search page. I'm used to searching on 'microsoft.*' or 'comp.*,' sometimes supplemented with variations like '*microsoft*' or 'comp*.' As an example, try to find a post from the 1996-1998 time period on 'database' in either the comp.* or microsoft.* hierarchies, and if you can do it, please show your search expression. There should be thousands of results, but I'm getting the result 'Your search — database group:comp.* — did not match any documents.'"

10 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Wait.. what? by StudMuffin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Usenet had groups that didn't have *.sex.* or *.beastiality.* in it? Man, I missed a LOT during the 90's...

    --
    Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel. -
    1. Re:Wait.. what? by B3ryllium · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, the correct spelling is:

      alt.startrek.wesley.crusher.die.die.die.beastiality

    2. Re:Wait.. what? by B3ryllium · · Score: 2, Funny

      Death by interspecial snu-snu.

  2. yoRu moronsz. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    hi, you must be noob to the internets. this usenet thing went the way of horse drawn buggies and panning for gold. I would suggest you use the web that is world wide (www). this will help you significantly. thank you sir.

    1. Re:yoRu moronsz. by Smallpond · · Score: 3, Funny

      The web? Oh, the thing where we were going to link together all of the world's information? Sorry. You can't link to dynamic pages and you might get sued for linking to someone else's content. The web doesn't exist. Just a lot of separate island websites.

  3. Re:Unfortunately... by Nermal6693 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am so not going to a site called expert sex change.com :o

  4. visit Pen Island.com--free pens! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    expertsexchange.com?

    Sorry good sir, not falling for it.

  5. Where did you get that idea? by pjt33 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What regex library do you use which precludes a match for microsoft.* also being a match for *.beastiality.* ?

  6. Re:I've noticed the same thing... by bXTr · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm an old Usenet hand and I think that it's had its day. A lot of it comes down to the great unwashed being allowed on my lovely, geeky Internet.

    I'm pretty sure people on the Internet back then were unwashed to begin with.

    --
    It's a very dark ride.
  7. Re:Unfortunately... by quenda · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am so not going to a site called expert sex change.com :o

    They are the best. You should avoid http://www.discountgenderreassignment.com/ .