🚀 go-pugleaf

I currently have a gracious friend that is letting me use an account
on a remote system with a USENET hookup.  However, the company I
work for is looking to get a connection of our own and I have been
given the responsibility of researching this.  So my question(s) are as 
follows:

1) Is there a better news group that I should post these questions
to?

2) How do we go about getting connected to USENET;

3) Can we use a 386/486 AT Style machine (hopefully MS-DOS based because
we don't have any UNIX gurus to help us) w/ modem and a large hard
disk to receive/store NEWS and mail. and then connect it to our
already existing MS-DOS based Novell network in such a way that access is
available to all users?

4) What extra software (mail programs, news readers, etc) are
required/recommended.

5) Any other general reccomendations?

NOTE: Please mail responses to me - the news system at the gracious
friends system is far enough away from 100% relialibility that I
don't want to risk missing an informative post.

					Thanks ahead of time,
					Dean Welder

/*sorry, no fancy .sig yet*/
internet: dean@apt.bungi.com
uucp: {apple,sun,pyramid}!daver!apt!dean
voice: (W) (408) 943-9301  (H) (408) 268-1994
snail mail: 1041 Bret Cove CT, San Jose CA, 95120