"Henry" wrote in message
...
Mark² wrote:


Never worked out how posting to another group would prove you could
post to the group you really wanted to post to in the first place. ;-)

Exactly.
It is not uncommon for a particular group to go on the blink, while
another
(such as a test group) works OK.

You don't understand how NNTP software works.. It's essentially
a big database.. All the groups are stored in the same place and
managed by the same computer. You can't have some groups not
working while the others do work. It's not possible.

Thankfully, usenet is reiable enough that the occasional test posts
remain
insignificant in number...since most folks have no problem and don't need
a
test.

Thankfully most people know HOW to use test groups.

There are THOUSANDS of test posts sent to test groups every day. alt.test
is a very busy group and that's only ONE of the many test groups.

The fact these test groups are well used is WHY you don't see large
amounts
of test posts showing up in working newsgroups.

Many noobs are enlightened by fellow users who point out that it's a
courtesy to use test groups for test posts. If nobody mentions it,
how would would a noob ever know ?


Troll