Each newsgroup is a public bulletin board devoted to a particular topic of discussion. The topic is indicated by the name of the newsgroup. Newsgroup names can seem cryptic, but certain rules usually are followed in creating those names.
Consider the name "rec.gardens.roses".
The first part of the name is a general category, in this case "recreational" (shortened to "rec"). The sections after "rec" get more specific. So "rec" is the general category, "gardens" is a subcategory of "rec" and "roses" is a subcategory of "gardens".
Dots (periods) separate the sections of a newsgroup name.
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