Usenet Newsgroup Terms - Killfile

 

A set of filters setup to determine which user's newsgroup posts will be read/downloaded or ignored. A killfile is a utility found in most newsreaders which allows one to avoid seeing, to move or to delete newsgroup posts which fit certain rules, which you can set. All newsreaders do it in a different way. They also call killfiles by different names. They are often not even files. It is very difficult for most users to read all posts to a Usenet newsgroup. It is therefore very useful to have a method of sorting those posts which interest you from those which do not. In some Usenet newsgroups, Advertisements are indicated by ADVERT in the subject line. You may wish to see or not see Advertisements. Many other similar conventions exist. If you do not wish to see posts on a particular subject, some killfiles allow you to kill any posts with specific words in the Subject: line. Others have an even more powerful facility, and allow you to kill a whole thread, which includes any follow ups even when the Subject: line has been changed.