Subject: Re: Introducing RootBadger ? Usenet-style social discussion for the modern web

On Wed, 8 Jul 2026 19:35:56 -0700
Pluted Pup <plutedpup@outlook.com> wrote:

Overlooked is open access for reading. All the commercial "social"
media restrict readership to members only, and I consider that to
be a fatal error. There is no way for a "free speech" site to keep
outsiders from reading it, that makes it a closed site.

There's a case, I think, for a members-only *section* - for e.g. topics
people wanna chit-chat about, but may not feel comfortable having show
up in a Web search - but yeah, this. Any site/service that requires me
to sign up just to see what the place is like is one that I am highly disinclined to sign up for.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Introducing RootBadger ? Usenet-style social discussion for the modern web

Root Badger <admin@rootbadger.com> writes:

On 2026-06-07, Daniel Cerqueira <dan.list@lispclub.com> wrote:

--=-=-=
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Rootbadger <admin@rootbadger.com> writes:

I have been working on a new project called RootBadger:

https://rootbadger.com

[...]

And please share it with friends who might be interested in a modern=20
Usenet-style social platform.

I don't mean to be rude, but why?

We have Usenet, right here, with great software to make use of it. Why
fragment old and now little Usenet?

It would make more sense to develop software for Usenet (a search
engine?), or spend the time in marketing Usenet; from my humble point of
view.

=2D-=20
The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that
refuse military service. ~ Albert Einstein

--=-=-=
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc"

--=-=-=--

Simply put, I created RootBadger because modern social media is a
mess, and Usenet, while still interesting, has become troll heaven for
a lot of people.

I wanted to build something with the spirit of Usenet, but without all
the garbage that drove people away. A place with topic-based groups,
threaded discussions, and a more old-school Internet feel, but
presented as a modern social platform.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-net



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Introducing RootBadger ? Usenet-style social discussion for the modern web

But free speech does not mean flooding groups, harassing users, doxxing people, impersonating others, posting malicious links, running
fake-account spam, or wrecking every discussion on purpose.

That is where the tools come in: email verification, new-user posting
limits,
rate limits, link scanning, spam scoring, disposable email checks,
duplicate post detection, moderation queues, and admin controls for
banning accounts, email domains, IPs, IP ranges, and spam domains.

So the idea is simple: protect open discussion, but keep out the garbage
that makes open discussion impossible.

I think spam measures like scoring, dup post dect, moderation, banning and rate limits, new user posting limits and the like are good. I would even recommend that dormant accounts get flagged or deactivated after a time.

However, email and IP based identity verification (I know the IPs are more
for threat intel) aren't necessary. This encourages an already centralized ecosystem to be rooted even further, that being email providers. I just
don't see a need where it makes any sense to reinforce their stronghold on
the internet space even further.

Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about running an email connector. Better
to use maybe some kind of authenticated RSS feed for users who want notifications sent to them rather than by email. Especially if it is meant
to not be publicly accessible groups/discussions, it would be an OPSEC
error to assume that gmail isn't reading your private groups through email
and feeding it to one of their AI projects.

Password resets are a threat vector regardless, so to use simple user
account numbers and recovery passwords or keyphrases (which are much
harder to accidentally allow, I would imagine that is) would be better.
Much like GMails Recovery passphrases. Which can be salted and hashed much like passwords without needing to worry about data breaches exposing user emails more than they already are. Also, you wouldn't need to worry about trusting Gmail or Outlook to be an IDp for your users. A keyphrase is something that you can write down, you can't write down a one time
recovery link.

Frankly, if you were to use and endorse any features that contributed to
this ecosystem of these large tech companies (Think oAuth IdPs) and
somehow contribute to or utilize their analytic frameworks I would
absolutely obstain from you product.

Final word:

Sometimes the rules that we put in place and the definitions we place on
"free speech" to encourage civility discussion serve as the framework for
the opression of the free speech we claim to encourage.

Much thought must be put into how one governs their discussion body since
you have the ability, and liability to ensure that freedom of expression
is preserved or to destroy it completely.

Be a form of benevolent dictator for life

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: Introducing RootBadger ? Usenet-style social discussion for the modern web

@admin@rootbadger.com

BTW, I forgot to mention in my last post. Can you provide a bit more of a detail description of exactly what you are looking for in the platform? I
feel that depending on my understanding of what you are actually trying to achieve I may have mis-placed some of my concerns or come to the incorrect conclusions. I would prefer to be corrected if this were the case and am rather interested in what you want this to be more than a place for free discussion but without the garbage.

I guess what I am asking is what your view for the typical forum dynamic.
What kind of accountablity are you looking for when it comes to offending users and what constitutes the fine line between barely permissible and infraction. Perhaps this is a bit much that I am asking and the answer is simpler than I assume. But hey, you don't know if you don't ask, am I
right?

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)