If you are using Google Groups to read this, you will now need to switch to a
different way to access RMCR - to be able to see recent posts, to reply, or to
start new threads.

You will simply need to install a new app called a Newsreader, and point it to
a News Server. Once you’ve done that, you will be able to read old and new
posts, reply, etc.

There are a lot of different apps available, most with a monthly charge, but
also some very inexpensive or free products that work perfectly well. For
example, there is Thunderbird: https://www.thunderbird.net/ which allows
access to RMCR and is free.

Once you’ve installed Thunderbird, as a one time configuration you would point
it to a Server - “Eternal September” is free:
https://www.eternal-september.org

Once you’ve done this - which takes only a half hour or so - you will be able
to read and participate in RMCR!

More detail:

There are two parts needed to replace Google Groups: a server to provide
the content, and then a client to present it on your device.

Here are good instructions on configuring Thumderbird with Eternal
September: https://groups.google.com/g/alt.usage.english/c/NgImZXOS8oM

Both of these are free and supported by contributions. Here is a review:
https://www.newsgroupreviews.com/eternal-september.html

Eternal September generally works well, but is sometimes slow or even
unresponsive. Thunderbird is needlessly complicated but is absolutely
perfectly usable - once you get the hang of it.

If you are willing to spend five dollars and up a month, there are any
number of services available, generally with both the server and a
client provided. newsgroupreviews.com has a good list.

You might want to get a better client for a one time charge. Usenapp was
suggested here, and it is somewhat more flexible than Thunderbird:
https://www.usenapp.com About $30 US dollars.

The downside of all this is that the free stuff was designed by
programmers for programmers. As a retired one myself, I know we don’t
perceive the world like normals and the interfaces are cluttered with
extraneous detail. You just got to get used to these products - but RMCR
is worth it!

Comments from RMCR regulars:

Although Eternal September is free, I experienced too many problems
with it. Sometimes it would be offline for several days.
Taking advice of others on a different group, I spent about $8 a few
years ago and bought umpteen gigabytes of downloads from
blocknews.com which I download using Thunderbird.

Graham

Not free but cheap enough I think: news.individual.net

Works for me.

/Martin

I use supernews.com, but it's on the pricy side. There are also
some free usenet servers, but, in many cases, you get what you pay for.
-Owen

About news.individual.net:

"Spam (e.g. unsolicited advertisements) is filtered out automatically by
the server.
[...]
Our server does not publish any personal information about the user in
posting headers that the user does not publish himself. In particular, the
user's IP address is not visible to third parties.
[...]
"How much is an account?
10 EUR per year, including the applicable VAT. Contract duration is one
year, after which the subscription can be renewed for another year by
paying 10 EUR again (we will remind you in time). Cancellation is not
necessary.[...]
You can choose from the following payment options: The online payment
service provider PayPal, as well as payment by bank transfer to a German
bank account of Freie Universität Berlin (with IBAN and BIC)."

https://news.individual.net/overview.php

Detailed configuration guides for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Android and
iPhone/iPad:
https://news.individual.net/config.php

Chris J

Supernews

Frank

Hope this helps!

dozens of pages have been put into explaining people how to go back in time several decades and go on this usenet technology from way back when. That energy and time could have been put into migrating to a more up to date technology.
RMCR could have joined the 21st century.
Roland van G. put it well. Even though a bunch of RMCR stalwarts continues to post or read on usenet, that would still mean the forum would be dying. Due to conflicts and increasing rudeness and just plain boredom (some members don't even pretend to like classical music; they just love the sound of their own voice) the membership attrition rate is substantial, and once access via google queries is out not a single new poster will come.
Howie / Mandryka linked his old topic on Debussy Preludes, from 2010 and 2022. The difference between those two incarnations was horrifying, how this place has been wrecked by just a handful (less really: two or three) posters.
that means it's over. it will be a shrinking bunch of old guys talking about same old.

In article <d1fc64f3-5422-4d9c-a0dd-335904c14fdan@googlegroups.com>,
Herman <herstx@yahoo.com> wrote:
>RMCR could have joined the 21st century.

If the 21st century means writing for free for for-profit companies
that will do anything for money, then count me out. As far as I'm
concerned, we're getting to the future by ditching the megacorp.
Unless you want fewer & fewer people in charge of more & more, this
is the way everything needs to go. That Usenet was *already* there,
to some degree, is one of its glories. And the tech giants are
dangerous.

>... once access via google queries is out not a single new poster
>will come.

What a ridiculous assertion. Although I won't claim to believe
we're about to get a big jolt of new people either. It's mostly
an old man's topic, unfortunately. That isn't about Usenet.

Notsure01 a pensé très fort :
> There are a lot of different apps available, most with a monthly charge, but
> also some very inexpensive or free products that work perfectly well. For
> example, there is Thunderbird: https://www.thunderbird.net/ which allows
> access to RMCR and is free.

The best is french (but translated in english !) :

http://www.mesnews.net/gb/

On Feb 21, 2024 at 3:40:16 PM EST, "Herman" <herstx@yahoo.com> wrote:

> dozens of pages have been put into explaining people how to go back in time
> several decades and go on this usenet technology from way back when. That
> energy and time could have been put into migrating to a more up to date
> technology.
> RMCR could have joined the 21st century.
> Roland van G. put it well. Even though a bunch of RMCR stalwarts continues to
> post or read on usenet, that would still mean the forum would be dying. Due to
> conflicts and increasing rudeness and just plain boredom (some members don't
> even pretend to like classical music; they just love the sound of their own
> voice) the membership attrition rate is substantial, and once access via
> google queries is out not a single new poster will come.
> Howie / Mandryka linked his old topic on Debussy Preludes, from 2010 and 2022.
> The difference between those two incarnations was horrifying, how this place
> has been wrecked by just a handful (less really: two or three) posters.
> that means it's over. it will be a shrinking bunch of old guys talking about
> same old.

Paul Alsing just posted a possible alternative way from a web browser to read
and presumably post to RMCR:
https://www.novabbs.com/arts/thread.php?group=rec.music.classical.recordings

I'm planning to try this, but there might not be time left before midnight to
show the results on Google Groups.

And Herman is, of course, correct that RMCR is not as interesting as it used
to be. As an old guy myself, I naturally miss the old days... But as a person
who enormously enjoys music and all the different interpretations of great
works, having a group of people who feel the same way is very valuable.

There may not be as many, but are still several fellow enthusiasts here.

For some reason, I am reminded of this, (apparently true) story:

Billy Rose was a very successful impresario who in the 1940"s asked Stravinsky
to write a score: Scènes de ballet.

It seems that Rose found it somewhat lacking ("doesn't have that swing")?

Rose telegraphed Stravinsky: "YOUR MUSIC GREAT SUCCESS STOP COULD BE
SENSATIONAL SUCCESS IF YOU WOULD AUTHORISE ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT RETOUCH
ORCHESTRATION STOP BENNETT ORCHESTRATES EVEN THE WORKS OF COLE PORTER."

To which Stravinsky telegraphed back: "SATISFIED WITH GREAT SUCCESS".

RMCR has been, at times, "sensational", but I still think it can be a great
success!

Hope to see most folks there tomorrow...

I'm trying novaBBS - seems to work fine from my web browser. Just required that I choose an id and password - nothing to install or configure!

On Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 4:15:20 PM, Notsure01 wrote:
>
> I'm trying novaBBS - seems to work fine from my web browser. Just required that I choose an id and password - nothing to install or configure!

Yep! Good news. I like the old-school interface. Reminds me of university, sitting in the computer room at the Student Union. At any rate, novaBBS appears to have a robust search tool, too.

And you, Notsure01, made my roll call!

On Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 12:06:35 PM UTC-8, Notsure01 wrote:
>
> The downside of all this is that the free stuff was designed by
> programmers for programmers. As a retired one myself,

You were a programmer ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
It does not show.

> I know we don’t perceive the world like normals

Is this the main reason you prefer to post anonymously?

> and the interfaces are cluttered with extraneous detail.

Programs "designed" by programmers for programmers
don't usully have "interfaces" -- except for command line
interpreters (if they can even be called "interfaces").

> You just got to get used to these products - but RMCR
> is worth it!

Nah! Why would anyone learn any new skills just to hear
from the same old crowd? We will all be dead pretty soon
anyways.

> Hope this helps!

Like all your other advice ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Cheers!

MELMOTH <theomonk@free.fr> wrote:
> Notsure01 a pensé très fort :
>> There are a lot of different apps available, most with a monthly charge, but
>> also some very inexpensive or free products that work perfectly well. For
>> example, there is Thunderbird: https://www.thunderbird.net/ which allows
>> access to RMCR and is free.
>
> The best is french (but translated in english !) :
>
> http://www.mesnews.net/gb/

For iPhone and iPad a very good alternative (German):

https://apps.apple.com/de/app/newstap-usenet-newsreader/id292410356

There is also a full featured free version supporting one News server and
two newsgroups only.

Juergen

On Thursday, February 22, 2024, MINe109 wrote:

> I'm posting this from Google Groups. Will rmcr still exist on Google Groups in parallel with Usenet?
>
> I assume this will post on GG but not Usenet.

There is some strangeness going on now where posts made with Google Groups to RMCR are appearing only on Goggle Groups!

This is not how this is supposed to work - at least that is my understanding. RMCR has always been a Usenet group, and Google Groups was a simplified interface that allowed access to Usenet. Based on the messages from Google, it seemed like there would no longer be a way to post to RMCR from Google Groups, and no way to see new posts made to RMCR via different means.

I'm not sure whether what we are seeing right now is temporary or not!

On 2/22/24 11:04 AM, Notsure01 wrote:
> On Thursday, February 22, 2024, MINe109 wrote:
>> I'm posting this from Google Groups. Will rmcr still exist on Google
>> Groups in parallel with Usenet?
>> I assume this will post on GG but not Usenet.
>
> There is some strangeness going on now where posts made with Google
> Groups to RMCR are appearing only on Goggle Groups!
>
> This is not how this is supposed to work - at least that is my
> understanding. RMCR has always been a Usenet group, and Google Groups
> was a simplified interface that allowed access to Usenet. Based on the
> messages from Google, it seemed like there would no longer be a way to
> post to RMCR from Google Groups, and no way to see new posts made to
> RMCR via different means.
>
> I'm not sure whether what we are seeing right now is temporary or not!

If Google Groups were intended to continue but without linking Usenet,
the scary announcement should have been worded differently.

This won't show on GG, I guess.

My guess is this strangeness is just temporary, a typical slapdash implementation by Google. I no longer have an active Google account - perhaps someone who does can keep the crowd at Google Groups informed as the situation develops...

Thanks.