<para>This chapter is supposed to be glance over the World of Newsgroups and their <quote>inhabitants</quote>; someone who has never dared to go there before will encounter some strange customs, which may give you a feeling of being a lonely alien without backup; but stay calm, it is not like this. The Usenet is a meeting place for all kinds of normal and not-so-normal folks; it is here where they are distributing a lot of information but also gossip and other stuff.</para>
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<para>References to more detailed and qualified essays on the Usenet can be found at <link linkend="knode-more-info">More Resources</link></para>
<para>An online-reader connects to a newsserver and gives you access to its content. &knode; is an online-reader: you are reading your News and publishing your own <glossterm>articles</glossterm> while the online-reader stays connected.</para>
<para>An offline-reader connects to the Server and fetches only the headers of new articles; then, the connection is closed and you can mark (offline) the articles you are really interested in. When you connect next time the offline-reader fetches the articles you marked and sends the articles you have written whilst offline.</para>
<para>You can look at newsgroups as public bulletin boards and forums, where everybody is allowed to participate. Articles you have published in a newsgroup can be read by everybody subscribed to this newsgroup and, normally, everybody is allowed to publish their articles in a newsgroup.</para>
<para>There are lot of different people meeting and talking in newsgroups; it is seen as some kind of courtesy to obey some rules of manner, the basics of which are listed here.</para>
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<para>Before you ask questions be sure you have read the newsgroup's <acronym>FAQ</acronym> (Frequently Asked Questions) and didn't find the answer.</para>
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<para>If you take part in a discussion be aware of the fact that everybody can read the answer: do not say anything that you would not say to the others if you were facing them; avoid insults.</para>
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<para>Try to avoid crossposting: do not ask a question in more than one newsgroup when you do not know which is the right one. Ask in one newsgroup; if it is wrong, you will be told which is right one.</para>
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<para>Formulate your articles accurately; nobody likes to read an article with lots of typos, even with content worth a Pulitzer. Think of your articles as letters: your letter speaks for you; it represents you; somebody reading your article will draw conclusions about you from it, wrong or right.</para>
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<para>Remember, nobody sees your grin when you are writing an ironic sentence: it may be funny for you, but it can be very serious for the person reading it. It is very difficult to include emotions in an article.</para>
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<para>The most important rule: use your common sense when you are answering or publishing an article.</para>
<para>You will not be surprised about English being the main language on the Usenet; however, there are special trees for German (de.*), French (fr.*) and many other languages. If you are unable to determine the main language of a newsgroup the only possibility is careful listening or a possible explanation in the description of the group in the grouplist.</para>
<para>Nothing else. Strange, but absolutely intended; to solve the riddle: those, most of the time, are shortcuts, acronyms. It is easier to drop some letters than to write the same sentence over and over again.</para>
<para>But what is the meaning of <acronym>RTFM</acronym>? The writer is asking you to read the manual, documentation or <acronym>FAQ</acronym> before asking questions in the newsgroup. It stands for: (R)ead (T)he (F)...ing (M)anual; <acronym>BTW</acronym> this is advice you should adopt.</para>
<para>Wait, what is <acronym>BTW</acronym> now? Another often-seen acronym which means (B)y (T)he (W)ay. It is easy when you know it; to avoid you having to continuously speculate over the meaning of acronyms there is table at he end of this section containing the most-often-used acronyms.</para>
<para>Again, such a strange thing. What is this ;-) meant to be? Turn your head so the left side of your screen is on top; got it? It's a smile with a wink? This is a so-called emoticon; emoticons are an often-used possibility to express emotions, one thing missing in conversation on the Usenet (but there is a substitute, remember? ;-)</para>
<para>It is very difficult to express emotions in email or news; your joking comment appear to be very serious to the recipient and can lead to unmeant reactions or conflicts (flames); so use emoticons to express your intention.</para>
<para>There are a lots of emoticons, which express a great variety of emotions; the interpretation is easy if you turn your head and think of a face.</para>
<para>This PLONK! looks like some comic-sound, does it not? And that is exactly what it is used for. The one who reads it knows he was just added to the killfile of a newsreader; normally this means the recipient of the PLONK! annoyed the sender. The PLONK! is meant to play back the sound of the recipients name hitting the ground in the <glossterm>killfile</glossterm>.</para>
