Sandman
What you're used to is irrelevant. A thread is a series of messages on usenet that are related to each other via the References header. This is how a standards-compliant news reader should sort messages, i.e. if a message has a Message-ID in the References header, it is a reply to that message.

The standard is to keep as many Message-ID's in the header as possible, and also that the original topic post should be the first Message-ID in the header.

So, if a post has Message-ID's in the References header, it's a reply to another post, and part of that thread, regardless of any other changes.

One can change the subject line, which may change the *subject* of that part of the thread, but that does not in any shape, way or form create a new thread.

Hope that helps.

Eric Stevens
I can see how it could work that way but in all the years I have subscribed to Usenet (more than 20) and in all the newsgroups I have read in that time, I have never known it to work that way.

Sandman
That's perfectly ok, no need to know the details at all really. But now you know. :)

Eric Stevens
In part, that could be partly an artifact of the way the news reader I have predominantly used, Agent, has been set up.

Sandman
Yeah, you should get yourself a decent news reader. I know you're used to it by now, but damn, Agent is crap.

Eric Stevens
But the question has been raised from time to time and the conclusion has always been new subject means new thread.

Sandman
Well, glad to have been of help.

Eric Stevens
Not really. Just more background noise.