There are many differences between Usenet and the Internet, but some of the most important ones are as follows:

  1. Usenet is a public, open-access network where anyone can read and post messages.
  2. The Internet is a private, closed system where only people with specific permissions can access it.
  3. Usenet is more than just a message board; it’s an online community where users can share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
  4. The way that messages are stored on Usenet means that they can be accessed anywhere at any time.
  5. The way that the Internet works means that there’s always someone who can help you with whatever you need to know about the world around you.

If you are not familiar with it, you might think of Usenet as a completely different ‘network’ from the Internet, but are they two completely separate entities or are they ‘inter-connected’? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to that question.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

Screenshot shown above courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Question

SuperUser reader Help My Self wants to know what the difference between Usenet and the Internet is:

Are Usenet and the Internet two completely separate entities, or are they closely ‘inter-connected’ and part of a ‘greater whole’?

First off, if it is “an Internet”, does that mean it’s just a global network of computers, but it’s not like, say, the World Wide Web with hypertext documents? I would like to know what draws the line between the correctness of just saying “the Internet” as opposed to, say, Usenet.

Basically, Usenet is a global network, but doesn’t use the WWW? What does it use then?

The Answer

SuperUser contributor Hennes has the answer for us:

Want to learn more about Usenet and how to get started using it? Then browse on over to read through our awesome Guide to Getting Started with Usenet!

The World Wide Web is a series of standalone servers, which people also reach over the Internet using TCP/IP, and retrieve web pages using the HTTP protocol.

But do not confuse the Web with the Internet. Webpages are but a small part of the Internet, and many other programs used to connect to each other long before the first webpages were ever served. (For that, see the history of WWW.) The one you might be most familiar with is email, which is usually sent via TCP/IP over the Internet using the SMTP protocol, but there are many more.

Also note that in the past, servers would exchange email and Usenet messages over phone lines using UUCP as the protocol – forming an informal UUCPNET – as Internet connections were rare and expensive for a long time.

Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.