AfterDawn: News

Usenet use grows exponentially

Giganews, the gateway used by millions to access Usenet, has reported that they have seen "unprecedented growth" over the past 12 months.

Newsgroups have been around since the 1970s as a source of information and file sharing and many argue today that it is safer and faster than BitTorrent.



Since the company increased retention levels to 240 days, growth has accelerated.

"During September 2008, Giganews completed storage upgrades which increased retention levels to 240 days," Giganews notes. "Shortly thereafter, Giganews' upload traffic jumped to a sustained level averaging well over 400 megabits per second, representing more than 4.3 terabytes of new user generated content and discussions per day. Giganews has seen steady upload growth throughout the decade, but the pace following the recent storage upgrade exceeded all expectations."

Giganews adds that "retention extending 'well beyond' 240 days should be ready by 2009." Giganews is known for their speedy upgrades so users shouldn't have to wait much longer than a few weeks.

A chart of the growth from the source:



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Dec 2008 2:28

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• 32 comments

• windsong

  Great, now if they would only lower their price plan for unlimited! I think Giga is more expensive than anyone else. Im with Newshosting right now at 14 a month but am considering dumping their censoring asses as they have been dropping groups from its servers that are in use bc they dont "approve" of them.

  29.12.2008 02:57 #1

• hikaricor

  This explains why my transfer rates have been struggling so much.

  29.12.2008 04:43 #2

• beanos66

  Quote:Usenet use grows exponentiallyshhh don't tell everyone

  29.12.2008 05:11 #3

• subpopz

  Quote:many argue today that it is safer and faster than BitTorrent.
  How is there even an argument? I'd like to see anyone, anywhere, show me they can maintain a 1.8 Mps download speed on Bitorrent like I get on Usenet. There is no comparison, and no argument that Usenet is vastly superior.
  I go through Newsdemon, however. Giganews is a bit pricey. And who needs that much retention? If you can't get it in 3 months, too bad.

  29.12.2008 09:52 #4

• Hopium

  Quote:I'd like to see anyone, anywhere, show me they can maintain a 1.8 Mps download speed on Bitorrent like I get on Usenet. i download consistently at 2.23 MB/s on a private tracker, the problem is finding shit worth downloading and yeah paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie
  Quote:And who needs that much retention? If you can't get it in 3 months, too bad.
  that same tracker has shlt 3 years old and still seeded well
  keep paying for your usenet schmucks

  29.12.2008 10:07 #5

• bomber991

  Originally posted by windsong: Great, now if they would only lower their price plan for unlimited! I think Giga is more expensive than anyone else. Im with Newshosting right now at 14 a month but am considering dumping their censoring asses as they have been dropping groups from its servers that are in use bc they dont "approve" of them.I'm a newshosting user and I haven't been aware of this. So far it hasn't been a problem, I've still been able to get all my weird pornos, movies, music, games, and software.
  
  Not bad to pay $15 a month and be able to download at the full speed of my 7Mbps connection, that's 820k/s. Nice having movies in 10 minutes.

  29.12.2008 11:31 #6

• duke8888

  I really can't see where the growth is as ISP's are placing caps/limits on file downloading and recently Comcast canceled their agreement with them and no longer offer the 5 Gig DL limit from their server. Other ISP's have also canceled the newsgroups feature with their service which is causing people to cut back on services like this.

  29.12.2008 11:44 #7

• grkblood

  Originally posted by Hopium: Quote:I'd like to see anyone, anywhere, show me they can maintain a 1.8 Mps download speed on Bitorrent like I get on Usenet. i download consistently at 2.23 MB/s on a private tracker, the problem is finding shit worth downloading and yeah paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie
  Quote:And who needs that much retention? If you can't get it in 3 months, too bad.
  that same tracker has shlt 3 years old and still seeded well
  keep paying for your usenet schmuckswow, you must fail at life in epic proportions...
  
  On usenet your d/l speed is basically whatever your ISP caps your speed at. You don't have to depend on seeders and what not to get a good connection. And it's 1000000X safer than torrents. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know that. I can't be too mad at you because your type of behaviour is expected out of a newbie. I doubt your tenure at this site will be a long one....

  29.12.2008 11:52 #8

• bomber991

  Yeah and I'd like to add, if I want something older that's not on usenet, the pirate bay works as a good alternative. I've got no problem waiting 24 hours for an older file once every month or so.

  29.12.2008 12:06 #9

• DVDBack23

  Quote:Quote:many argue today that it is safer and faster than BitTorrent.
  How is there even an argument? I'd like to see anyone, anywhere, show me they can maintain a 1.8 Mps download speed on Bitorrent like I get on Usenet. There is no comparison, and no argument that Usenet is vastly superior.
  I go through Newsdemon, however. Giganews is a bit pricey. And who needs that much retention? If you can't get it in 3 months, too bad.I can hold a 1.66 MB/s (max for my connection) download speed from certain private trackers, and that will be with a measly 4-7 seeders. Doesn't cost me a cent either.

  29.12.2008 13:06 #10

• subpopz

  Quote:
  i download consistently at 2.23 MB/s on a private tracker, the problem is finding shit worth downloading and yeah paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie
  
  That right there points you out as a noob yuppie. Problem is finding shit worth downloading? Yeah, that makes me want to use a horrid P2P system.
  I'd rather have the latest stuff I want as soon as it's available, and not have to deal with waiting for seeds.
  If you're too cheap for $15 a month for superior service, then go ahead and sit and look at your useless nothing-good-on-it private tracker.
  
  And consistently hitting those speeds doesn't mean it holds it. Bitorrent fluctuates as peers come and go, and as parts of the files finish. Usenet speeds, as has already been stated, are limited only by your ISP cap. It hits those speeds and holds them with no fluctuation.
  Torrents will always be #2.

  29.12.2008 15:12 #11

• ucfmoe

  Well said subpopz, Torrents are trash compared to Usenet. Not to mention its probably 99.9% free of malware. A great combo is Newshosting with GrabIt as the front end, it keeps you from having to download the headers.

  29.12.2008 16:58 #12

• b18bek9

  i find myself on private trackers rather then pay for my stuff.... but like most other ppl i usely get 2.25-2.75mb on the tracker i mainly use and to tell u the truth if u have the money and cant get on a private tracker its understandable or even if ur not a torrent person who likes to upload what they downloaded or likes to worry about ratio's and such,its more like u get what u pay for....i encourage alternative ways to fileshare with others so andy way you get what ur looking for works for me.....

  29.12.2008 17:09 #13

• pensfan12

  Quote:Quote:
  i download consistently at 2.23 MB/s on a private tracker, the problem is finding shit worth downloading and yeah paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie
  
  That right there points you out as a noob yuppie. Problem is finding shit worth downloading? Yeah, that makes me want to use a horrid P2P system.
  I'd rather have the latest stuff I want as soon as it's available, and not have to deal with waiting for seeds.
  If you're too cheap for $15 a month for superior service, then go ahead and sit and look at your useless nothing-good-on-it private tracker.
  
  And consistently hitting those speeds doesn't mean it holds it. Bitorrent fluctuates as peers come and go, and as parts of the files finish. Usenet speeds, as has already been stated, are limited only by your ISP cap. It hits those speeds and holds them with no fluctuation.
  Torrents will always be #2.Are all those small "problems" worth $180 a year to avoid?

  29.12.2008 18:40 #14

• djeazyg

  Quote:Quote:Quote:
  i download consistently at 2.23 MB/s on a private tracker, the problem is finding shit worth downloading and yeah paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie
  
  That right there points you out as a noob yuppie. Problem is finding shit worth downloading? Yeah, that makes me want to use a horrid P2P system.
  I'd rather have the latest stuff I want as soon as it's available, and not have to deal with waiting for seeds.
  If you're too cheap for $15 a month for superior service, then go ahead and sit and look at your useless nothing-good-on-it private tracker.
  
  And consistently hitting those speeds doesn't mean it holds it. Bitorrent fluctuates as peers come and go, and as parts of the files finish. Usenet speeds, as has already been stated, are limited only by your ISP cap. It hits those speeds and holds them with no fluctuation.
  Torrents will always be #2.Are all those small "problems" worth $180 a year to avoid?If you download 2 movies, 1 pc game, 1 console game, one MS or Adobe application a month and it pays for it's self. Getting one Adobe app a year and it pays for it's self. You can test these things and see if they are crap before paying full price for something your not going to play, use or watch.
  Torrents are for lazy kids who can't get mommy to pay for usenet. Just like all the P2P apps before torrents. Everybody wants everything to be handed to them with out having to work a little or pay a little for it. Napster started this downward trend. Sad. Although I wish usenet wasn't getting so much attention. It's only going to create problems later.

  29.12.2008 20:14 #15

• b18bek9

  lol oops off topic if u like usenet or whatever and paying for it then use it...if u like torrents and not usenet/newsbins and etc then use it who cares....if u dont have to pay for the same files ur getting then who cares...

  29.12.2008 21:34 #16

• Azuran

  I think we need to calm down on the nerd rage.

  29.12.2008 21:38 #17

• DVDBack23

  To all the insanely intense Usenet fanboys, keep your flaming comments to yourself please...now back to comments based on the article...

  29.12.2008 21:50 #18

• defgod

  Originally posted by DVDBack23: To all the insanely intense Usenet fanboys, keep your flaming comments to yourself please...now back to comments based on the article...
  Thank you. I wouldn't have been able to be so nice about it.
  I say if you want to pay for Usenet go ahead. If you want to use Torrents go ahead. It's your choice. One way or another we will get the software/files we want. Whether you are dumb enough to pay retail for it or get it "for free" by downloading it.

  29.12.2008 23:49 #19

• grkblood

  @DVDback
  
  Seriously? I just read through all of the comments and I saw nobody supporting usenet post any "flaming comments". Actually this all started from a torrent fanboy with comments like "paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie" and "keep paying for your usenet schmucks". Now should supporters of usenet drop to this guys level? Probably not. Should usenet supporters get warned or whatever that was while the guy that started the whole thing gets a free pass? Definately not. Seems like your playing sides, thats not really cool.
  
  Torrents do serve there purpose by the way. I am an avid fight fan and finding all the fights I want is an impossible task on usenet. So for stuff like that torrents are for me. New stuff = usenet, Old stuff = most likely private tracker.
  
  By the way, I was unaware that there was a download war. I've never heard of usenet and torrent fanboys until today. :)

  30.12.2008 08:21 #20

• SProdigy

  It's a really great time to be on usenet, as this time of the year, Hollywood is leaking DVD screeners for Oscar hopeful movies, even before the flicks hit theaters. Keep your eyes peeled!

  30.12.2008 10:25 #21

• geestar20

  I use torrents aswell as newsgroups, the only time I use torrents is for small files since my upload speeds sucks ass! My download speeds are really good. I would rather pay the small $11 dollars a month for a news server like Astraweb than seed for a few days and suck down my bandwidth to get my ratio back up.

  30.12.2008 10:27 #22

• DVDBack23

  Originally posted by grkblood: @DVDback
  
  Seriously? I just read through all of the comments and I saw nobody supporting usenet post any "flaming comments". Actually this all started from a torrent fanboy with comments like "paying for WareZ makes you a fcuking yuppie" and "keep paying for your usenet schmucks". Now should supporters of usenet drop to this guys level? Probably not. Should usenet supporters get warned or whatever that was while the guy that started the whole thing gets a free pass? Definately not. Seems like your playing sides, thats not really cool.
  
  Torrents do serve there purpose by the way. I am an avid fight fan and finding all the fights I want is an impossible task on usenet. So for stuff like that torrents are for me. New stuff = usenet, Old stuff = most likely private tracker.
  
  By the way, I was unaware that there was a download war. I've never heard of usenet and torrent fanboys until today. :)Actually, a Usenet fanboy started the flaming. Read the 4th post in, by subpopz. Im not playing sides.

  30.12.2008 11:51 #23

• gullzway

  Quote:Quote:Usenet use grows exponentiallyshhh don't tell everyoneExactly. Seems like there has been a lot of "Breaking the first Rule of Usenet" lately.

  31.12.2008 07:24 #24

• tankdog

  shhh don't tell everyone
  
  couldnt agree more.

  5.1.2009 18:54 #25

• edisongs

  Whatzamatter witchu people? Usenet is an urban myth; doesn't really exist. Kinda like the Apocalypse!
  Let's keep it that way.
  
  You torrentors go back asleep. Nothing happening here.

  5.1.2009 19:55 #26

• avoidz

  You think paid-for illegal downloads will last forever? Yeah, I'm sure the corporations aren't watching...

  5.1.2009 22:15 #27

• edisongs

  Bow to them ye faithful.
  Give your soul.
  Nothing lasts forever but the struggle of truth against darkness.
  
  What ever way we overcome, so be it. The Kingdom belongs to the people of God.
  
  "He shall break the teeth of the mighty; He shall dash them with a rod of iron".

  5.1.2009 22:36 #28

• zorb43

  Originally posted by edisongs: Bow to them ye faithful.
  Give your soul.
  Nothing lasts forever but the struggle of truth against darkness.
  
  What ever way we overcome, so be it. The Kingdom belongs to the people of God.
  
  "He shall break the teeth of the mighty; He shall dash them with a rod of iron". Please do not quote the Bible ... It makes people nervous ...

  7.1.2009 08:50 #29

• gehx

  I pledge my allegiance to USENET. USENET FTW!!!

  8.1.2009 17:40 #30

• edisongs

  I try not to be offensive. Sometimes it just happens! I couldn't find anything in the Kama Sutra that was appropriate.
  
  Plus, I'm not nervous about what other people believe! Their demons can't magically affect me unless I let them. So quit fearing fables and set your mind free. The pen is still mightier than the sword.

  24.1.2009 18:52 #31

• zorb43

  Originally posted by edisongs: I try not to be offensive. Sometimes it just happens! I couldn't find anything in the Kama Sutra that was appropriate.
  
  Plus, I'm not nervous about what other people believe! Their demons can't magically affect me unless I let them. So quit fearing fables and set your mind free. The pen is still mightier than the sword. Hahaha ... I agree ! Well said !

  25.1.2009 07:32 #32