Anyone still using usenet?

2026-08-10 00:08 UTC

Title says it. Is anyone still on the newsgroups? For reasons I need to amass a large collection of music in MP3 format, preferably full albums, and I’d like to do it somewhat quickly. Is there a better place to hunt before I buy news server access? I been on land for too many years.

Replies (10)

@Faceman2K23@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-08-10 00:59

lots of people using Usenet. I have 2 main servers on 2 different networks, but some block accounts as backup and a couple of indexers. But for music, especially if its anything unusual, rare, or otherwise difficult to locate elsewhere, get onto soulseek. I use N+ personally and have uploaded ~80TB this year so far and downloaded about 600Gb. I dont do torrents very often so SLSK is how I give back to the community. Soulseek is an old school free file sharing P2P platform, like limewire, kazaa, winmx, ed2k etc. just like the good old days.

Open ##4472889
@wax@feddit.nu 2026-08-10 02:34

What’s the benefit of usenet over torrents?

Open ##4473990
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2026-08-10 02:43

Hell yeah. It’s good to have as an alt source in an arr-stack setup. I prioritise torrent since that helps folks who don’t/can’t pay but it’s there when TL falls or smth.

Open ##4474306
@dis_honestfamiliar@lemmy.sdf.org 2026-08-10 03:13

I use it exclusively. I think it’s better than worrying about torrents. It almost feels obfuscated with the indexer.

Open ##4475233
@stumu415@lemmy.zip 2026-08-10 03:44

I have not used torrents in years after discovering usenet. You can find the most obscure stuff that is impossible to find on torrents. Plus you are not dependent on seeders, nor do you have to seed yourself. Or the frustration that the torrent stops at 99% and you still can’t play. And to top it off the speed is amazing. I do want to give a shout out to Kevin who developed the NZB360 app. It’s the best app for usenet and my most used app on my phone.

Open ##4476163
@503@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-08-10 07:06

I predominantly use Usenet for procuring all my media, except for Switch ROMs, which I rely on torrents via NSWTL. I have 4 indexers and all of them give me “missing parts” error when I try to download Switch ROMs. Music, which I rely on Telegram bots. I am in the process of migrating my streaming library to Navidrome and I haven’t found a better workflow than to send a playlist link to the bot, and downloading the music and then tagging it using Picard.

Open ##4480968
@hexagonwin@lemmy.today 2026-08-10 07:24

for music theres also soulseek, or ripping from streaming platforms (deezer/tidal/qobuz)

Open ##4481414
@Pacers31Colts18@piefed.social 2026-08-10 07:35

Usenet is all I use… highly recommend it.

Open ##4481824
@harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-08-10 06:36

Local public libraries may have CDs you can borrow and rip. If you have a CD drive.

Open ##4485602
@micro@programming.dev 2026-08-10 10:59

I use soulseek for music full albums.

Open ##4486452