Local news servers popular
News servers are becoming a popular method for local broadband users to access information and share opinions. Established in 1980, Usenet (news servers) is one of the oldest computer network communications systems and is still in widespread use.
The ability of store and access binary files on these news servers – which includes audio-video material and software – extended the functionality of this very mature service. This became popular in South Africa over the last few years due to the introduction of broadband in South Africa.
Two of the most popular news servers are nntp://news.is.co.za and nntp://news.saix.net. These servers are hosted and maintained by Internet Solutions and SAIX respectively, but are populated from international news hosts which garners content for local users.
Newshost (http://www.newshost.za.net/) keeps archives of all binary files listed on the main USENET servers in South Africa, including the IS and SAIX news servers.
The fact that these services are all hosted locally means that ADSL subscribers can make use of more affordable local-only bandwidth accounts to access content.
News servers tend to be frequented by more advanced Internet users due to the technical nature of extracting binary files from the hosts.
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