Related:

• backbone cabal n. A group of large-site administrators who pushed through the Great Renaming and reined in the chaos of Usenet during most of the 1980s.
  During most of its lifetime, the Cabal (as it was sometimes capitalized) steadfastly denied its own existence...
• TINC // [Usenet] Abbreviation: "There Is No Cabal".
  See backbone cabal and NANA, but note that this abbreviation did not enter use until long after the dispersal of the backbone cabal....
• Great Renaming: n. The {flag day} in 1985 on which all of the non-local groups on the {USENET} had their names changed from the net.
  format to the current multiple-hierarchies scheme....
• ib site: [by analogy with {backbone site}] n. A machine that has an on-demand high-speed link to a {backbone site} and serves as a regional distribution point for lots of third-party traffic in email and USENET news.
  Compare {leaf site}, {backbone site}. -- The AI Hackers Dictionary...
• backbone site: n. A key USENET and email site; one that processes a large amount of third-party traffic
  especially if it is the home site of any of the regional coordinators for the USENET maps....
• ewsgroup: [USENET] n. One of {USENET}'s huge collection of topic groups or {fora}.
  Usenet groups can be `unmoderated' (anyone can post) or `moderated' (submissions are automatically directed to a moderator, who edits or filters and then posts the results)....
• forum: n. [USENET, GEnie, CI$; pl. `fora' or `forums'] Any discussion group accessible through a dial-in {BBS}, a {mailing list}, or a {newsgroup} (see {network, the}).
  A forum functions much like a bulletin board; users submit {posting}s for all to read and discussion ensues....
• FAQ list: /F-A-Q list/ or /fak list/ [USENET] n. Syn {FAQ}, sense 2.
  -- The AI Hackers Dictionary...
• leaf site: n. A machine that merely originates and reads USENET news or mail, and does not relay any third-party traffic.
  Often uttered in a critical tone; when the ratio of leaf sites to backbone, rib, and other relay sites gets too high, the network tends to develop bottlenecks....