Editing History of the Internet (section)

===UUCP and Usenet===
{{Main|UUCP|Usenet}}

In 1979, two students at [[Duke University]], [[Tom Truscott]] and [[Jim Ellis (computing)|Jim Ellis]], originated the idea of using [[Bourne shell]] scripts to transfer news and messages on a serial line [[UUCP]] connection with nearby [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]. Following public release of the software in 1980, the mesh of UUCP hosts forwarding on the Usenet news rapidly expanded. UUCPnet, as it would later be named, also created gateways and links between [[FidoNet]] and dial-up BBS hosts. UUCP networks spread quickly due to the lower costs involved, ability to use existing leased lines, [[X.25]] links or even [[ARPANET]] connections, and the lack of strict use policies compared to later networks like [[CSNET]] and [[BITNET]]. All connects were local. By 1981 the number of UUCP hosts had grown to 550, nearly doubling to 940 in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/uucp-internals/|title=UUCP Internals Frequently Asked Questions|website=www.faqs.org}}</ref>

[[Sublink Network]], operating since 1987 and officially founded in Italy in 1989, based its interconnectivity upon UUCP to redistribute mail and news groups messages throughout its Italian nodes (about 100 at the time) owned both by private individuals and small companies. Sublink Network evolved into one of the first examples of Internet technology coming into use through popular diffusion.