Because of the heavy storage requirements, most ISPs don't offer Usenet access. However Google, as well as other specialty services, do offer access to current and archived Usenet message traffic. A variety of specialty software packages, called newsgroup readers, are available to browse and download newsgroup content.

Background     Perl Newsgroups

Browsing Searches

Newsreaders     Newsgroup Services

The value of Usenet discussion groups cannot be overstated! I use them all the time to research technical problems I'm having, plus I answer questions in the newsgroups to give back as much as I take!

Usenet Searches
The two approaches to searching the internet are the same as for browsing the newsgroups - web based services or newsreaders.

With newsreaders, the Search option details vary but in general it's no more difficult than pressing the Search button on the toolbar.

The limitation with searching using newsreaders is that the search only covers those newsgroups and messages which you have downloaded.

Web based searches do not have any such limitations. The searches will cover all newsgroups supported by the online service.

Google Search
I recommend using the familiar Google site for free newsgroup searches. Google has archived 20 years of Usenet messages, covering more than 800 million messages dating back to 1981.

As you can see in the following image of a standard Google search page there is no "Group" option (Group is the short name used by Google for Usenet Newsgroups). You'll have to select the "more" option to get the dropdown list which does contain the "Group" option.

Here's a typical Google search window - with no mention of Newsgroups.

And here you can see Groups as an option of the drop down menu.