Another definition of "offline" pertains to the system administrator of
a mail and news site (usually a UUCP site) who reads mail and news while
the machine is not physically connected to the network, usually with
some friendly third-party utility.  This usage is common in the Waffle
community.

It is often the case that your server can provide you with an automatic 
transfer method to send you mail and news. This is called a "feed" and 
can be received by modem using the UUCP protocol (among other methods).

There is no big difference with the "offline reading" concept except
that it is a little more automated.  If your home machine runs on a
multi-tasking system, or you can dedicate it to mail and news all
night long (when you're asleep -- probably easy to do) you can even
set it to call the server regularly.  You can also start feeding other
machines if you wish.

The disadvantage is that traditionally, getting a feed has been a lot
more complicated, needlessly so, than using an offline reader.  Another
disadvantage is that some providers charge more for a uucp connection
on top of a shell connection or slip connection.

One advantage of the uucp approach is that uucp is designed to _only_
transfer files.  You don't have to worry about your ProComm script
accidentally leaving you logged in for nine hours on a long-distance
connection until you find it in the morning, waiting for you to press
`Enter'.  If a uucp connection is idle, the other system will disconnect,
since it's not expecting anyone to be there to press `Enter'.  You can
also more confidently set your machine to dial up at 3:00 am when system
response is quickest, the phone lines to your provider are never busy,
and any long-distance charges drop as low as they go.

Also, it is almost always easier to get a free uucp connection than a
free shell account with offline-friendly capabilities (for instance,
most FreeNet sites don't).

SNUUPM is a package designed to allow simple installation of the full
UUPC, SNews, and PMail (Pegasus Mail) packages.

uufree is another such installation and configuration suite, but none
of the included packages is shareware, and the installation time has
been kept to an absolute minimum -- and most of the configuration can
easily be done by the site giving you the uucp feed.

At the start, especially if you want few newsgroups, you may want
to begin with an offline news reader and then maybe move to a
feed when you feel more confident.