For the purpose of easier orientation, news articles are organized thematically in newsgroups, which are themselves hierarchically structured. In principle, you compose a message similar to an email, but to a Usenet group, whereby anyone with access to the news server can then read this message and, in addition, the responses of other users are also displayed (discussion/thread).
The worldwide accessible news server of TU Graz (news.TUGraz.at) lists only local groups, which are, with one exception (vc-graz), groups mainly concerning TU Graz (hierarchy tu-graz.*). Thanks to Wolfgang Dautermann there is also an archive on a server of ZID (but ZID does not operate this service).
The access to news servers (or news groups) is done via a news client (or also called news reader). Access can either be protected by an account (i.e. username and password) or restricted to certain networks (IP ranges or domains), but neither of these is the case with the TU Graz news server.
One of many possible news clients is Mozilla Thunderbird, settings can be found in the next section, but there are also apps.
For the TU Graz server, however, there is also a web-based, (except for the tu-graz.anzeigen.* hierarchy) read-only access via webnews.TUGraz.at.
Key Data and Example Configuration
The required data for access and sample configuration for Thunderbird.
The respective articles of the newsgroups are held by the news server of TU Graz for a certain period of time - generally two months, exceptions e. g. tu-graz.lv.*: the content of the groups of this hierarchy is not deleted automatically, but the groups can be emptied via a web interface. The postings in the hierarchy tu-graz.anzeigen.* are only kept for 3 weeks.
In addition to the usual forms of communication, however, netiquette also applies - as it does throughout the Internet. There is also a separate News Netiquette.
Furthermore, many groups have their own charters, which should regulate the behavior (e. g. also the deletion of unwanted postings) in this specific group (or hierarchy) and which are then generally regarded as binding.
The news server of Graz University of Technology also has its own charter, which you should definitely read.
The postings should generally have a reference to the TU Graz or at least provide a meaningful contribution to a general discussion - pure references to publications in other media (blogs, sales portals, …) should be refrained from, as the discussion is to be conducted in this medium.
New Group in the tu-graz Hierarchy
If you want to create a new group in the tu-graz.* hierarchy, please send an email (in case of a group in the tu-graz.lv.* hierarchy this is generally done by the lecturer), stating the desired name of the group and a short description (3-4 words).
If there are no new postings in a group for more than 2 years, the group will be deleted, but the postings will remain in the archive.
The TU Graz server only carries local groups related to TU Graz or VCG.
For (inter)national groups you either have to use the news server of your private ISP - an alternative is Google Groups.
