Internet "newsgroups" are similar to mailing lists, but are based on a protocol called NNTP ("Network News Transfer Protocol") instead of using e-mail. To participate, you need to use an NNTP client such as slrn or pan. The primary advantage is that you only take part in the discussion when you want, instead of constantly having it arrive in your inbox. :-)

The newsgroups of primary interest start with comp.os.linux. You can browse the list on the LDP site at http://www.linuxdoc.org/linux/#ng.

As with mailing lists, newsgroup discussion is often archived. A popular newsgroup archiving site is Deja News.