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F I D O N E W S -- Vol.13 No.11 (11-Mar-1996)
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS |
| _ | +1-519-570-4176 |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editors: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
| Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================
1. Editorial..................................................... 1
2. Articles...................................................... 2
Free Listings in the Encyclopedia of Associations........... 2
Use It or Lose It........................................... 3
Prime Directive............................................. 4
The Death Of Fidonet, Revisited............................. 5
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 7
========================================================================
Editorial
========================================================================
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 2 11 Mar 1996
Two weeks ago, I wrote an editorial that concluded with:
It would be real nice to have a migration
pattern. I want to hook in and get mail at
dtees@fidonet.org. I want my users to get
mail at joe_smith@exlibris.fidonet.org.
There have been several articles since, but the gist of the
articles has been "you are right, we have to change". My
response is less than enthusiastic. "Yes, I know, it is
obvious. *How* do we change". A much more difficult question
altogether.
Internet, of course, is a net of nets. We are a net. One
of the largest in the world, in fact. So why are we not members
of internet? Because our mail is incompatible. How can we
get it compatible? There are only two methods: create it as
comaptible, or convert it.
Creating it compatible is the cleanest, and probably the
easiest. Take a PC, plug in LINUX. Everybody converts. We
hook up using the same routing. We tear out our hair for a few
months, maybe run both ways on different days of the week for a
while. I can hear the screams of anguish already.
But you know, we are sysops. We have already organized a
world wide communications network, and a world wide net newspaper.
No other non-governmental organization has ever accomplished
what we have. If we cannot figure out a way to use that
creation to organize a conversion, then we are a bunch of damned
fools.
Given 32,000 helpers, I do not even envision a big problem.
We have the buying power to set up a load and go conversion CD
if we can decide what we want as a starting point. I *know*
that there are people in this net are capable of setting
something like that up.
There are other methods as well. But like it or not, we are
going to have to change. There is no new software being
written. The hardware is running out. It is time to bite the bullet
and face reality.
========================================================================
Articles
========================================================================
Free Listings in the Encyclopedia of Associations
by Nigel Allen (1:250/438) ndallen@io.org
Free Listings in the Encyclopedia of Associations
People who start new new non-profit associations (including
othernets, lobbying groups and associations having nothing to do
with BBSes) should get their group listed, free of charge, in
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 3 11 Mar 1996
the Encyclopedia of Associations, so that prospective members,
journalists and researchers can get in touch with them.
Groups based in the U.S. should write to the following address
and ask to be listed:
Editor
Encyclopedia of Associations
Gale Research Inc.
835 Penobscot Building
Detroit, MI 48226-4094
Telephone (313) 961-2242
Fax (313) 961-6815
Groups based outside the United States should instead get listed
in International Organizations, a directory published by the same
company. Its address is:
Editor
International Organizations
Gale Research Inc.
835 Penobscot Building
Detroit, MI 48226-4094
U.S.A.
Telephone +1 313 961-2242
Fax +1 313 961-6815
As well, groups based outside the United States may also want to
get listed in single-country association directories published
in their own country, such as the Directory of Associations in
Canada. Any librarian should be able to tell you how to get in
touch with your country's national association directory, if
one exists.
Most large libraries have a copy of the Encyclopedia of
Associations in hard copy or CD-ROM, but it is probably too
expensive for someone to buy for home use.
See also my Web page, http://www.io.org/~ndallen/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Use It or Lose It
From: Eric Gray (1:300/507)
Use It or Lose It.
The next six months will determine the fate of Fidonet. Two years
ago I saw the handwriting on the wall and started actively seeking
other networks and starting some echos of my own. Last year Circuit
Net broke w/years of the status quo and changed their software to
allow non Spitfire systems to join their net. Last year the
internet grew at the rate of 2 million users per month. The only
reason Fidonet is still alive today is the dedication of the
individual sysops who have taken the steps needed to keep their
boards as fresh and exciting as possible.
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 4 11 Mar 1996
But Fido has sat stagnant for almost 4 years now. In the next six
months we will either bury it, or Fido will explode again as it did
8 years ago.
The changes that will make this happen are:
Voting by member sysops for all positions w/in Fido.
Changing technology slightly to have HOURLY turn-around on msgs
sending.
Supplementing the system to allow the movement of files w/in 24
hours from the request of any user on any Fido Sysop's board.
A User and A Sysop "Bill of Fido Rights" to be "hashed out" by the
member sysops and users and voted upon by each sysop, w/any
"right" gaining over 2/3rd affirmative vote being put into the
"Bill of Fido Rights."
Sure those running Fidonet now could say "It's worked for years
this way, there's no need to change it." But then, that's what they
said about the typewriter, the LP, and the light bulb. Make no
mistake, Fidonet is at the root of the Internet and computer
communications explosion, but if Fido doesn't keep up w/the people,
it'll die.
eric
1:300/507,
or egray@daystar.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Prime Directive
by Bill Whitehouse
After 8 years, the fido policy I continue to find most appealing is
its 'promote the growth of network' prime directive, a requirement that
assumes like any other living organism or human enterprise, unless fido
grows, fido dies...
Snooze editor Donald Tees is right, my fellow fidonuts. The numbers
confirm it. Fidonet is dying.
Blaming our appointed coordinators is all too easy. They've long
since ceased to promote the growth of this network, unless they can
self-promote every last dime out of it. Witness the fact that with 4
primary North American fido vendors, the oaficial area lists now reflect
reality for only one of them.
No, our coordinators are only a symptom. We've seen the enemy and
the real enemy is us. Remember those quaint days of yesteryear when many
feared the phone company megaliths would finally contrive to shut down
bbsing forever?
We've forgotten why we're here, what makes fido unique. We belong
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 5 11 Mar 1996
to a network that belongs to all of us, and anyone else who cares to add
their resources to the collective whole.
The internet, by contrast, is a cold, barren place, populated by
anonymous geeks with no sense of community, stumbling around computers
they do not own, resources in whose management they have no say. No
one's responsible. Everyone's vulnerable. And they're squandering a
fortune.
This - fidonet - is personal. As in 'personal computer'? We each
control our own small part of it. We built it. It's ours. Fidonet has
earned and deserves a place in the future of the networked world.
Speaking as one bbs obsessive to another, I urge you to promote it
with the zeal of a Jehovah's Witness. Please don't give up.
Bill
(1:323/3@fidonet) - Radio Free Echomail
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Death Of Fidonet, Revisited...
Kurt Weiske
realitycheckBBS (Fidonet 1:161/418)
The continual death knell for Fidonet, well, it continues. here's yet
another 2 cents added to the discussion...
Fidonet for all intents and purposes is not DYING, but there is
competition from usenet, the internet in general, othernets using
Fido-Technology networking, and public-access online services like
Compuserve and America online. Fidonet is no longer The Net; the
internet, and the scores of Fido-technology "Othernets" are attractive
alternatives to callers and sysops alike.
Competition isn't bad, it merely prompts changes. The BBS Salad days
may have passed, but there's no need to pack up and go home...yet.
Competition isn't bad, it merely inspires change. So, what can we do?
Support your local network:
Build a local online community if you don't already have a series
of local echoes. Build in some local flavor, give the users and
sysops a local focus - that's one thing the internet CANNOT offer.
Support your local network and look into making your local routing
to make Fidonet more cost-effective to the net. Some local nets
are getting sprawled out to the point where polling your "local"
net is a toll call - this can be reduced by local hops, and ties
into my next point...
Make Fidonet more attractive to potential Sysops and Users:
Call around to your local non-netted BBSes, invite them into
Fidonet. I usually mention the local echoes available for no cost
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 6 11 Mar 1996
and the BBS support echoes - most of my technical problems were
solved by asking around - someone's run into your problem before,
and someone's usually willing to help. If there's a local call and
a low CRP figure in your local net, you may be able to pick up a
few Sysops that were waiting to be sold.
We all take for granted that we're connected to a worldwide
network. To a newbie, seeing messages tossed into your message
base from Nebraska, Europe, and the BBS next door is a rush.
Remember that feeling? Try to sell that to prospective sysops.
Does your net have an internet gateway? Use that as a selling
point to get new users. I offer internet email through my gateway,
and people who are new to the 'net, but want to have mail access
only find it much more attractive than paying for an online
service that offers more than they need.
ADVERTISE!
Get the word out on your BBS. Advertise in the local computer
magazines (If your area is lucky enough to have 'em). Call other
BBSes and add your phone number to their BBS list. Does your BBS
support BBS lists? If not, add a list program. Put your number in
your .sig file, advertise in alt.bbs.ads, advertise wherever you
can think of. Post a BBS ad to your local message area, and ask
callers to post it on BBSes they call regularly. If you offer text
file downloads, consider adding your BBS name and number to the
files (It's amazing how far those get distributed - most of my
European callers got the number from text files.) Get The Word
Out.
Fidonet has a lot to offer in comparison to the internet. The usenet
crowd has been overtaken by @aol.com kids on free ten-hour disks, the
glut of .edu kids, and cross-posts from hell. Fidonet echomail offers
mostly on-topic moderated echoes, a decent selection of message
topics, and a well-rounded mix of people- Fido seems to reach the
people who aren't in reach of cheap flat-rate internet providers, and
people with different experiences to offer than their internet
counterparts. I see the internet and Fidonet as complements, not
competition.
Make a change, and think about what you can do to make Fidonet work.
There's a lot of people involved in Fidonet. What would happen if one
out of ten of us did something?
[end]
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 7 11 Mar 1996
========================================================================
Fidonews Information
========================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
Editor: Donald Tees
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar
Tom Jennings, Sylvia Maxwell
"FidoNews" BBS
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
more addresses:
Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews
154 Victoria St. S.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 2b5
voice: (519) 570-4899
Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in
these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
FidoNews.
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1996 Donald Tees. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use
in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or the eds.
OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
address.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
FidoNews 13-11 Page: 8 11 Mar 1996
previously listed address.
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
' ' disgreement is actually necessary,
or we'd all have to get in fights
or semethin to amuse ourselves,,
and create the requisite chaos."
-Tom Jennings
-- END
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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