Usenet -- back in the day ...

Google has fully integrated the past 20 years of Usenet archives into Google Groups, which now offers access to more than 700 million messages dating back to 1981.

This is by far the most complete collection of Usenet articles ever assembled and a fascinating first-hand historical account.

Some of the especially memorable articles and threads are collected in this timeline.

Notable by absence from that list is this original and this update.

It's like diggin' up the floor in the Cellar. You never know where the bodies are hidden.

My one claim to fame on Usenet was when I posted the location for an alpha version of Mosaic for the Macintosh. At this point (1994?) Mosaic (the first graphical web browser... something of a predecessor to both Netscape and Internet Explorer) was only available for the Unix X windows system, and folks who heard about it but didn't have access to X were salivating at the prospect of a version to run on a more commonly available platform.

I received a rebuke from Marc Andreesen himself, telling me that I ought not to have done that since it was limited release and they would have PUBLISHED the location if they had wanted everybody to download it.

I replied with an apology, saying I hadn't known it was meant to be private. I included a copy of the Usenet posting where I had found the location; the author was someone who worked in Marc's lab at UIUC.

Golly, there were some usernames I haven't heard in a *long* time on that search. Atrw93 ferinstance. And one entry confirms the realname that kml otherwise denies. :-)

Then there's quotes like:

"You know what? As a Unix professional running a huge organization practically without PCs, I feel like a Mercedes S-class owner who is constantly told that he'll have to drive an Escort next year. After all, EVERYONE ELSE is driving them. Really popular car. Easy to find parts and mechanics and dealerships. And the cup holders are really nifty" .