Microsoft’s .NET Framework class library doesn’t support certain common communication protocols, for example, the NNTP and POP3 protocols. Although still in its infancy, Smilla’s .NET Communication Library is attempting to fill the gap. By using Smilla’s class library, developers can add NNTP protocol support to their applications for functionalities such as:

• Reading newsgroups
• Reading common MIME types
• Posting new articles (simple text only)
• Supporting attachments

Developers can therefore write Windows Forms and ASP.NET (Web Forms) client newsreader apps. The library has been written in C#, but is not marked as CLS compliant. It is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License and is open source. Further protocols are supposed to be added in the future, eventually residing in separate assemblies.