Messages sent to utk.edu first come to a smtp server which does a ph lookup by alias, name or nickname. Based on the result of that lookup the message is either sent on to the specified address or returned to the sender with a message indicating why it couldn't be delivered. TNS will follow the recommendations in Standards Track RFC 2142 by implementing aliases or mailbox names for common services in the ns.utk.edu and utk.edu domains. Network News Service Network news service is UTK's implementation of Usenet, a worldwide network of computers that run the netnews software. Usenet is a public forum for the exchange of ideas in the form of news articles that are broadcast to member sites.
Net users can post articles, reply by email, or simply read news groups using the news programs.
The news messages are as diverse as the persons who send them. To bring some structure into this collection of users and their ideas, news articles are classified into news groups according to subject matter. A newsgroup can be thought of as a bulletin board or forum devoted to one topic. It is estimated that there are over 50,000 newsgroups. Our goals are to provide access to as many available news groups as possible, and to make local newsgroups Web-accessible.