[darrenf]

> Way back, it used to be you got an NNTP server bundled with your ISP which was ok, because you were the only customer who knew what that was and how to use it, so you weren't creating a lot of load on your ISP. Even then, the NNTP server didn't carry much content, wasn't well maintained, didn't save much

In the UK, Demon Internet in the 90s maintained a usenet server for customers and one for non-customers (pubnews.demon.co.uk). They carried plenty, had decent retention, and were very well maintained. And busy too. Demon were the largest consumer ISP at the time IIRC. So, at least over here, what you say doesn’t match my recollections.

(I worked at Demon in 1998; if either news server went down I had to fix it if I could, or raise 3rd line expertise otherwise, 24/7)

[Melatonic]

Anything to do with the later Demonoid?