There are two important newsgroups for learning about how Usenet and
    newsreader software works:

    - news.announce.newusers contains periodic postings that everybody
      is asked to read before posting anything to Usenet.  (In theory,
      all new users are subscribed to news.announce.newusers
      automatically.  But in practice not all newsreader software does
      that, so that many people violate the guidelines given there
      simply because they don't know about them.)

    - news.newusers.questions is described as "Q & A for users new to
      the Usenet".  But new and long-time users can ask or answer
      questions about Usenet and newsreader software there.  There's an
      important article, "Welcome to news.newusers.questions! (weekly
      posting)", that everyone is asked to read before posting to
      news.newusers.questions.  (See below for ways to get a copy of
      that article.)

    The following postings in news.announce.newusers might be considered
    the "mandatory course" for new users:

        Introduction to news.announce.newusers
        What is Usenet?
        Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
        Rules for posting to Usenet
        A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
        Hints on writing style for Usenet
        Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette

    The articles mentioned above are downloadable via ftp from
    rtfm.mit.edu in the following files:

    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/>
            Welcome to news.newusers.questions! (weekly posting)
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news-announce-intro/part1>
            Introduction to news.announce.newusers
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/what-is-usenet/>
            What is Usenet?
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet-faq/>
            Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/posting-rules/part1>
            Rules for posting to Usenet
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet-primer/>
            A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
   <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet-writing-style/>
            Hints on writing style for Usenet
    <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/emily-postnews/part1>
            Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette

    For rtfm.mit.edu instructions, see <q:1.13> "Where are FAQ lists
    archived?"