A number of Usenet posters have made very nasty complaints about Google Groups, a service where many people, including me, post to Usenet. I don't understand why. Could someone explain it?
One says Google uses "non standard" displays and adds extraneous characters. I haven't seen any such thing, nor has anyone reproduced what they saw.
Another says Google allows abuse. I'm not sure what that means. Google does limit posts per person, so you can't go out and flood the Internet.
Let's be honest: when it comes to Usenet posting, some people get extremely emotional about it, as if any deviation from some supposed 'standard' (which may not even exist) will End Life As We Know It. This could be a technical standard, definition of newsgroup scope (always contentious), or what constitutes a fact vs. opinion.
Consequently, I take such complaints with a grain of salt. However, the number of complainers seem to be growing.
Also, there's been talk about loss of Usenet access by some ISPs. Pulling such acess seems very odd to me since many people still use Usenet. I wonder if there's confusion because certain risque groups are being pulled, but only those groups.
Any comments appreciated. [public replies, please]