We use cookies to understand how the site is used and to improve it. You can accept them, or carry on with them switched off.
Also known as: Big Eight, Big-8
The eight hierarchies governed by a formal creation process: comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc, and talk. A proposal passes through public discussion and a vote before a newgroup control message is issued, which keeps the group list curated and small compared with alt.*. Nearly every server carries all eight in full. Binary groups are absent from them by policy rather than by accident.
Browse all terms in Core Usenet Concepts, or see the full Usenet glossary.