"Bob F" wrote:
Brooklyn1 wrote:
"Bob F" wrote:
Dan Espen wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" writes:

I have just got a new machine that doesn't natively come with a
news client so I am faced with buying and setting one up on it, or
not.

As other posters have already mentioned,
there are plenty of free Usenet clients.
I'm using GNUS, (part of Emacs).

There's even "Google Groups". Not really a Usenet client,
but it will get you here.

Anyway, I've always looked forward to your posts and you never
disappoint.

If you find something online that you like better, please
come back and tell us about it.

Sorry, that kill files are all that we have.
I'm sure the guys at Bell Labs that dreamed this up never
anticipated the spammers and trolls, or the idiots.

No kill files available on most online forums I've seem.

do you mean no kill files 'are' available?
Usenet does not supply killfiles, killfiles are available on
newsreaders, typically the free newsreaders do not have killfile
ability. However there's really no need to use a killfile at
rec.gardens, spam is very rare, and posts are rather sparse, often
days pass with no posts... and it's pretty easy to not read posts from
those posters you'd rather not read, just delete those posts unread.

Show me a couple online forums that
offer kill files if you disagree. Obviously, I don't mean online repetitions of
usenet forums, but even there kill files are not an option I've seen.

I already said that newsreaders offer killfiles, the ones you pay
for... the freebies generally do not. I read Usenet with Forte Agent:
http://forteinc.com/agent/
A one time copy costs $29, then $2.95 a month for support:
http://www.forteinc.com/apn/contact.php
It's well worth the 10¢ a day for a newreader that's hassle free.
It's trouble free and has excellent killfile capability, actually has
many features I don't use, there's not enough time in a day to use
even half their features... you'd need to pick, choose, and refuse.
There are many others if you search newsreaders:
http://www.newsreaders.info/recommended-newsreaders.htm