884 lines
39 KiB
Plaintext
884 lines
39 KiB
Plaintext
![]() |
F I D O N E W S Volume 15, Number 52 28 December 1998
|
|||
|
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
|
|||
|
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
|
|||
|
| _ | +27-41-515-913 [5:5/23] |
|
|||
|
| / \ | |
|
|||
|
| /|oo \ | |
|
|||
|
| (_| /_) | |
|
|||
|
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
|
|||
|
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
|
|||
|
| | (*) | \ )) | Henk Wolsink 5:7104/2 |
|
|||
|
| |__U__| / \// | |
|
|||
|
| _//|| _\ / | |
|
|||
|
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
|
|||
|
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
|
|||
|
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
|
|||
|
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 5:5/23 |
|
|||
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
| MORE addresses: |
|
|||
|
| |
|
|||
|
| submissions=> editor@fidonews.org |
|
|||
|
| hwolsink@catpe.alt.za |
|
|||
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
| 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. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 2
|
|||
|
The Twit Responds - Reply to Bob Moravsik by Douglas My .. 2
|
|||
|
3. ARTICLES ................................................. 4
|
|||
|
ECHO TALK - Doc Logger on Coordinator Activity ........... 4
|
|||
|
BBS = Bulletin Board System .............................. 4
|
|||
|
Revitalizing Middle Tennessee Net BBSes .................. 6
|
|||
|
FIDONET IN THE 2ND MILLENIUM ............................. 6
|
|||
|
4. NOTICES .................................................. 10
|
|||
|
5. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 11
|
|||
|
6. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 14
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 1 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
EDITORIAL
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Greetings,
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Hope you had a good Christmas and did not indulge yourself into
|
|||
|
too many nice things. ;-) If you did, you may find yourself a
|
|||
|
few pounds/kg havier.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I would like to thank all of YOU who contributed during the past year
|
|||
|
and hope sincerely, that you will continue doing the great work in
|
|||
|
1999.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Why we have seen nothing from the ZC's & IC during the past year?
|
|||
|
Whatever it was, lets hope that we WILL see something from those
|
|||
|
gentleman during 1999.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Have a great time and if you intend to blow away some of your hard
|
|||
|
earned cash on fire crackers and the likes, do it in such a manner
|
|||
|
that nobody gets hurt and keep them crakers away from your pets.
|
|||
|
Any animal for that matter!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Like if you did not know, this IS the last issue for 1998 and will
|
|||
|
see you all in 1999.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Happy New Year,
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 2 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Twit Responds
|
|||
|
Ref: "The Tampering of the Elist"
|
|||
|
Reply to Bob Moravsik by Douglas Myers
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Some of you may have read the drivel posted by Douglas Myers
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Please note that I didn't need to resort, as you do, to calling
|
|||
|
individuals a "twit" or "tamperer" to present my arguement. Let the
|
|||
|
readers decide who is posting drivel here :)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Most of his article describes the world through the eyes of a person
|
|||
|
> to argues that reality is what he claims.
|
|||
|
^-- who
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Did you expect me to argue that reality is not what I claim?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> The real issue (and only issue) is: "Do the Elist keeper resolve
|
|||
|
> disputes ?" ^-- Does
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Actually, the elist keeper has been called upon to resolve several
|
|||
|
disputes lately. There was a dispute over listing multiple
|
|||
|
moderators, a dispute over allowing listings with spaces, a dispute
|
|||
|
over the way listings were permitted to expire, and others. The
|
|||
|
elist keeper was expected to resolve each one.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> What's LaCostaPol ? Its this secret set of rules that only Thom
|
|||
|
> LaCosta knows.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Where's the secret? Thom has stated consistantly that he recognizes
|
|||
|
the moderator of an echo as the individual responsible for
|
|||
|
maintaining the elist entry. If it's a secret, it isn't very well
|
|||
|
kept.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> There are two sides to this issue.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> 1. Moderators "control" conferences and the elisting is their
|
|||
|
> property. This is not supported by any Fidonet policy or the
|
|||
|
> laws of any nation (Remember, Fidonet is international)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Nor has such been argued by me. In fact, I believe that moderators
|
|||
|
must ultimately serve the echo participants or they will either be
|
|||
|
driven from the echo or abandoned to the echo. What is actually at
|
|||
|
issue is the question of who speaks for the echo participants. The
|
|||
|
moderator is recognized by the NAB, FidoSpine, and Elist Keeper.
|
|||
|
Each of these bodies looks to the moderator field in the elisting to
|
|||
|
determine who this spokesman is. If you choose to call him
|
|||
|
"trustee" or "steward" or "owner" or whatever, that's fine... but he
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 3 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
or she should be listed in the moderator field for the world to
|
|||
|
know.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> 2. Moderators serve the participants.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> If one takes the later then the elist password is seperate from the
|
|||
|
> moderator.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You make this assertion, but offer no arguement as to why the
|
|||
|
password should be denied the moderator. The password is little
|
|||
|
more than a housekey - if it's lost or stolen, then it's appropriate
|
|||
|
to change the locks.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
> Without guidance from Satti (who has the power to extend Fidonet
|
|||
|
> policy), LaCosta should not have compromised the Elist security.
|
|||
|
> THAT IS THE ONLY ISSUE.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I'm not sure why Fidonet Policy should need extended here.
|
|||
|
Certainly it doesn't require an act of Congress if some apartment
|
|||
|
manager decides to change a lock after a tenant vacates... and the
|
|||
|
new tenant might even feel that security has been enhanced :)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 4 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
ARTICLES
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
. -- -- -- -- -- ECHO TALK -- -- -- -- -- .
|
|||
|
| Food for thought from Fido's echomail. |
|
|||
|
| Purloined without permission by D Myers |
|
|||
|
` -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- -- -- -- -- -- '
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Doc Logger on the subject of Coordinator activity:
|
|||
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I think your appraisal of the role of *Cs lets them off too lightly
|
|||
|
when you suggest that they haven't been obstructionist. Every action
|
|||
|
that Satti has taken towards Region12 or members of our region has
|
|||
|
been exactly that. Kohl and Hinton engaged in exactly the same
|
|||
|
activities, getting their knickers in a knot when nodes sought to
|
|||
|
join an environment where they were made welcome. It may be an
|
|||
|
academic point to ask how many nodes gave up in disgust when they
|
|||
|
encountered a Bob Hall, a Dave Hunter, a Hans Toby, a Gary Gilmore,
|
|||
|
or any of a raft of other people who forgot that the point was
|
|||
|
communication rather than turf wars.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I'd bet my stuffed armadillo collection that you could lay all of
|
|||
|
the missing Montana nodes at the doorstep of an NC whose overweening
|
|||
|
control ambitions throttled the net...ditto for net243.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When the ZC is paralyzed by incompetence, the tribal sense of
|
|||
|
belonging is lost because the sysop peasantry see the organization
|
|||
|
in terms of fading, semi-literate relics clinging to power which
|
|||
|
they weild capriciously. Even a fractional amount of initiative on
|
|||
|
the part of a *C can bring spirit to the enterprise, and conversely,
|
|||
|
a bunker-hiding *C can create the opposite effect.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
BBS =3D Bulletin Board System
|
|||
|
OSP =3D Online Service Provider
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Okay, now read the first two lines 3 more times. Now take a look at
|
|||
|
your system which you are running or logging in to. Is it more like a
|
|||
|
"BBS' or an "OSP", well most of you should say "OSP", as this is what
|
|||
|
it really is.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The "BBS" part is still there, if you see or run an effective
|
|||
|
Bulletins section of the system, then call that section BBS, as the
|
|||
|
rest of the system is an Online Service Provider.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It is not changing the "BBS",it is changing the name to a better well
|
|||
|
understood name. "BBS" is nolonger a "BBS" anymore! "BBSes" years ago
|
|||
|
used to only have local bulletins, but for the past 15 years or more,
|
|||
|
many systems do not even have 1 useful bulletin!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 5 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Why is a "BBS" called a "BBS" when there is no Bulletins?? why? When
|
|||
|
you can call it an "OSP" and it sounds more like what it really is.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Do you know where the "BBS" term came from? Well I bet most of you
|
|||
|
probably have no clue, it is quite simple, in the 1970's "BBS" were
|
|||
|
used for that very reason, to pass out bulletins to whom ever wanted
|
|||
|
to know, and that was all. Then one day some programming decided to
|
|||
|
add some extra features to their "BBS" like email support, and public
|
|||
|
msgs sections, eventualy it became what you see today. But today, it
|
|||
|
is no longer a "BBS" it is undoubtably an "OSP". The term "OSP" was
|
|||
|
used back then, but nobody understodd what an "OSP" was, yet they
|
|||
|
know what a "BBS" was, so everyone continues to use the term "BBS".
|
|||
|
No that term is over used in our online culture, this needs to be
|
|||
|
changed to it's proper term.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I'm not saying an "OSP" has too offer internet services, but still
|
|||
|
can offer BBS-email (OSP-email) , online games, public message domains
|
|||
|
(echomail) and so on. An ISP does not offer personal online games, msg
|
|||
|
conferences, inter-ISP games, and so on. This can work with almost
|
|||
|
every feature of a "BBS" or we should say "OSP".
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Overall, if you think about what a "BBS" is today, it can offer a lot
|
|||
|
and I do mean a heck of a lot more services than any ISP can offer to
|
|||
|
it's customers (users) and most "BBS"'s of today are free, if not
|
|||
|
really cheap for extra and special accesses.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It all just makes more sence this way. We can be powerful systems once
|
|||
|
again. The time is here. The technology is here. The market is here
|
|||
|
more than ever. Lets use it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
All an "OSP" needs to be called an "OSP" is, what all "BBS"s have now.
|
|||
|
and if there are _NO_ usefull bulletins, then is _NOT_ a "BBS" at all.
|
|||
|
A "BBS" has bulletins. An "OSP" has any other online service
|
|||
|
available, and this DOES NOT have to be an internet service; just
|
|||
|
services like online games, public message domains, multi-node chat,
|
|||
|
local private email. Sounds familair?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Just think, try to explain "BBS" to someone who never loged on to one.
|
|||
|
What do they think is on it? bulletins. Are people always attracted to
|
|||
|
bulletins? no. If you say "OSP" what will they think? "humm sounds
|
|||
|
interesting, I wonder what services they offer.", and voila you get
|
|||
|
some new users. And from there, it is your system that should attract
|
|||
|
them.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Please try to inform other users and SysOps in your area somehow on
|
|||
|
what an OSP is and that BBS is only a section of an OSP. Work
|
|||
|
together, and this old, yet not used very often term will be in it
|
|||
|
correct place.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Doesn't it just make more sence?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Please pass this information on to your NEC, ZEC, and other local
|
|||
|
SysOps. thanx
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 6 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
**PS: and remember this**
|
|||
|
"call your system what it really is, not something it isn't!"
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
written by Joel Gathercole aka Greenie
|
|||
|
-BBS World Magazine - 26/12/98
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Revitalizing Middle Tennessee Net BBSes
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
An Attempt at Revitalizing Net 116 BBSes
|
|||
|
by John Graves, 1:116/35, Net116@nashville.com
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
In the article in Fidonews Volume 15, Number 8, entitled
|
|||
|
"Revitalizing a Small Part of Fidonet" by Neil Hoener, 1:128/103,
|
|||
|
Mr. Hoener describes one of the ways that Pikes Peak Net is trying
|
|||
|
to revitalize their BBSes. The Pikes Peak Net asked Hilgraeve Inc.
|
|||
|
for permission to include icons for their BBSes along with an
|
|||
|
upgrade for HyperTerminal 3.0.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
For those who may be unfamiliar with HyperTerminal, it is the basic
|
|||
|
terminal program Microsoft includes with Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0.
|
|||
|
Shortly after Windows 95 was released, Hilgraeve began offering an
|
|||
|
upgrade to the version included with Windows. This upgrade is free
|
|||
|
for personal use and can be registered for business use for a small
|
|||
|
fee. This upgrade turns HyperTerminal into a full-featured terminal
|
|||
|
program that is quite suitable for calling Fidonet BBSes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Inspired by that article, I contacted Hilgraeve and asked for
|
|||
|
permission to create an install program that would upgrade the
|
|||
|
HyperTerminal software that comes with Windows to Hilgraeve's
|
|||
|
HyperTerminal 4.0 Personal Edition and include "connectoids", links
|
|||
|
that can be placed on the Windows desktop or anywhere on a Windows
|
|||
|
95/98/NT computer, to allow users to call Middle Tennessee Net BBSes
|
|||
|
with a simple click of their mouse.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Within 36 hours, a representative of Hilgraeve contacted me and gave
|
|||
|
me their permission. Hilgraeve is quite willing to allow Fidonet
|
|||
|
Sysops to bundle our BBS connect icons with the upgrade of their
|
|||
|
product. All they ask is that we send them a copy of the finished
|
|||
|
install for them to keep for their records and that we do not charge
|
|||
|
for the upgrade.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
We are planning to advertise this upgrade via flyers distributed at
|
|||
|
local computer stores and on our WWW pages. We'll send a copy free
|
|||
|
of charge to anyone requesting it. While we will make this available
|
|||
|
on floppy disk upon request, we think most of the distribution will
|
|||
|
be done by downloads from web pages and file attaches in email. As
|
|||
|
a result, the cost to our net will be minimal. I urge anyone searching
|
|||
|
for a way to increase callers to their BBS to give this method a try.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONET IN THE 2ND MILLENIUM
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 7 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
- An Article by Pete Snidal, Sysop of 1:353.910
|
|||
|
- Compuglobal Hypermeganet BBS -
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Okay, I know the title's a little too catchy; but it says
|
|||
|
something important. Fidonet _does_ have a place in the next
|
|||
|
millenium. The internet hasn't killed what Fidonet does, and it
|
|||
|
certainly hasn't replaced it. This little article intends to
|
|||
|
discuss a few things I think we need to consider as owner/
|
|||
|
operators of Fidonet systems.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Here is what Fidonet does best: It provides low-cost access
|
|||
|
to a broad range of Forums/discussion areas which foster
|
|||
|
communication between computer users all over the planet. These
|
|||
|
Fidoechoes are spam-free, friendly, and easy to use. They cover a
|
|||
|
very broad potential range of subjects, and are moderated to ensure
|
|||
|
a fair to good selectivity of information (staying on topic.)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
If we, as sysops, can hold onto this basic idea, and try to
|
|||
|
provide at least one system in every possible calling area which
|
|||
|
operates with this basic aim in mind, Fido will live on for a long
|
|||
|
time.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There's room for gameboards out there, I suppose, but I think
|
|||
|
it's important to keep the worldwide conference connectivity aspect
|
|||
|
in the foreground.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
What does this mean to the average sysop? It means that, if we
|
|||
|
want to see Fido stay in business, we must publicize its availabilty
|
|||
|
in our area, and we must have our systems set up so that any
|
|||
|
would-be users who call them will be greeted by user-friendly,
|
|||
|
properly configured software presenting a good basic set of
|
|||
|
Fidoechoes covering a wide range of interests.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I think it's important to offer a good general list of echoes in
|
|||
|
the smorgasbord; areafixing and configuring a few echoes you
|
|||
|
personally may not be particularly interested in will bring more
|
|||
|
participants to Fido, and will have to improve the quality and
|
|||
|
quantity of participation in _all_ echoes in the long run.
|
|||
|
Including your favourites.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Preferably, the Message Menu will show a hierarchical listing of
|
|||
|
available echoes, starting at the first level with no more than a
|
|||
|
screenful of headings, such as:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Local Messaging
|
|||
|
Environmental Issues
|
|||
|
Hobbies
|
|||
|
Humour
|
|||
|
News Postings
|
|||
|
Politics
|
|||
|
Technical Subjects
|
|||
|
Writing
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
and probably a further set of special interest echoes, such as
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Health
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 8 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Women's Issues
|
|||
|
Men's Issues
|
|||
|
Teen Stuff
|
|||
|
Kids Stuff
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
and from this main message menu, the user should then be able to
|
|||
|
make a choice and get a breakdown of any of the given headings to
|
|||
|
all the echoes which are relevant. Politics, for example, could
|
|||
|
break down into National Politics, Provincial Politics, Local
|
|||
|
Politics, Party of Your Choice, etc.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
What is Very Important is that the front-end software be
|
|||
|
intuitive as possible, and that it gives access to a good general
|
|||
|
interest range of message areas. The intelligent would-be user
|
|||
|
can be counted on, I think, to make a fairly decent effort to figure
|
|||
|
out the navigation, if given half a chance. It isn't important that
|
|||
|
it be GUI or even graphical, I don't think, since text conferencing
|
|||
|
is the basic issue here - if he can't bother to take the time to
|
|||
|
read the instructions, or is completely rodent-dependent, what
|
|||
|
contributions will s/he make to the conferences anyway?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Something we have to consider is that the new user, unlike
|
|||
|
ourselves, must at first depend on the front-end software to
|
|||
|
navigate the message base. We who have long ago graduated to
|
|||
|
offline readers, such as Harvey Parisien's excellent OFFLINE, or the
|
|||
|
even better alternative of TIMED, sometimes tend to forget what it
|
|||
|
was like to dial our first bbs and try to navigate around the
|
|||
|
message base. If it was too difficult, as many of them are, we most
|
|||
|
likely jumped into a game door, and thus were lost to Fidonet as
|
|||
|
conference contributors, in some cases pretty well forever. Other
|
|||
|
prospective users, having discovered that the Internet, as well as
|
|||
|
the real game computers such as Nintendo et al, do games so much
|
|||
|
better and thus also are lost forever. So it's very important to
|
|||
|
present a properly set up front end of good quality, with a good
|
|||
|
basic set of conferencing echoes to the new user from the git-go.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
A really necessary item in bbs front-end software is that it offers
|
|||
|
the user a chance to see a L)ist of messages available in any base,
|
|||
|
showing one line per message of such information as originator,
|
|||
|
destination, and title. Without this option, software which
|
|||
|
replies to the R)ead a Message command with a request for a message
|
|||
|
number is pretty meaningless. And if the user has the good humour
|
|||
|
to offer up a message number at random (unlikely - alt-h is more
|
|||
|
likely) and unluckily picks a private message, s/he gets nothing for
|
|||
|
his/her trouble, and is now getting really discouraged. Listing of
|
|||
|
messages is a very important feature.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The best example of good front-end software, offering this
|
|||
|
feature, hierachical menus, a good shot at intuitive user-friendly
|
|||
|
navigation, and still selling for the amazing price of * FREE *, is
|
|||
|
my personal favourite, Maximus 2.03. If it scared you once, and you
|
|||
|
shone it on because of all those scary *.ctl files and stuff, have
|
|||
|
another look at it now. You've likely become much more computer-savvy
|
|||
|
since then, and it'll look a whole lot simpler.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Why am I writing this? Well, although a grunt sysop in a small
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 9 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
town in interior British Columbia, I'm currently on a visit to the
|
|||
|
Big Smoke, Vancouver - home of net 153. I brought a computer along,
|
|||
|
and thought I'd peruse the nodelist, and see what good ideas I could
|
|||
|
take home with me for my own system. And I've found a few good
|
|||
|
ideas, but what I've found a lot more of is reasons why Fidonet is
|
|||
|
dying. Poorly configured systems with badly-chosen, in a word,
|
|||
|
crappy front ends. Message menus running to many screens of very
|
|||
|
limited-interest technical echoes which should show to the new user
|
|||
|
as one item on the first hierarchical menu screen. No choices of
|
|||
|
the most basic echoes of general interest, such as WORLDTLK, ANEWS,
|
|||
|
LOC.BUYSELL (a BC-wide echo), BC_CHAT, BC_TEEN, ALTMED, FUNNY,
|
|||
|
or SIMPSONS. No indication that other echoes are possible, if the
|
|||
|
interest is expressed, let alone a list of these.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There are a number of echoes we all should carry as "bait" to
|
|||
|
encourage would-be's to become regular users of Fidonet, whether
|
|||
|
we personally have any particular interest in them or not. Check
|
|||
|
the 'bone list for ideas.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I ran into 'way too many "attitude" systems, with the sysop's
|
|||
|
cunning bulletins basically saying this-is-my-system-and-I-don't-
|
|||
|
care-if-you-ever-call-back-get-screwed. I have no quarrel with this
|
|||
|
attitude, if the number of the bbs is not publicized on the nodelist
|
|||
|
and/or on the various lists of bbs's available, but if you're
|
|||
|
showing this kind of attitude on a bbs representing Fidonet, I for
|
|||
|
one really wish you'd change your listing to private, since that's
|
|||
|
obviously what you had in mind in the first place. In other words,
|
|||
|
don't invite people to Fidonet, and then tell them to screw off.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The only thing that's going to save Fidonet is attracting and
|
|||
|
holding contributors to the echoes. This is good for all of us, and
|
|||
|
good for them as well. Fidonet's conferencing is a valuable
|
|||
|
resource which a lot more people would be using if they were
|
|||
|
introduced to it through properly configured, hospitable local
|
|||
|
bbs's, and those of us who care should really do all we can to make
|
|||
|
this service available to prospective users.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 10 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
NOTICES
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Future History
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
16 Feb 1999
|
|||
|
13th Anniversary of the introduction of EchoMail by Jeff Rush.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
12 May 1999
|
|||
|
12th Anniversary of Fido Operations in Zone 4;
|
|||
|
10th Anniversary of the creation of FidoNet Zone 4.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
24 Jul 1999
|
|||
|
XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99].
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
9 Jun 1999
|
|||
|
Tenth Anniversary of the adoption of FidoNet Policy 4.07.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
10 Sep 1999
|
|||
|
10th anniversary of Zone 5 operations.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
26 Oct 1999
|
|||
|
Thirty years from release Abbey Road album by the Beatles.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
31 Dec 1999
|
|||
|
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1 Jan 2000
|
|||
|
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1 Jun 2000
|
|||
|
EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
15 Sep 2000
|
|||
|
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
21 Sep 2000
|
|||
|
10 years of FidoNet in +7 (xUSSR)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1 Jan 2001
|
|||
|
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
|
|||
|
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 11 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
FIDONET BY INTERNET
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the
|
|||
|
FidoNews Editor as of this issue; see the notice at the end.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNet:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
|
|||
|
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
|
|||
|
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html [ASCII]
|
|||
|
WWW sources http://travel.to/fidonet/
|
|||
|
FTSC page http://www.goldware.dk/ftsc
|
|||
|
Echomail [pending]
|
|||
|
General http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
|
|||
|
http://www.nrgsys.com/orb/foti
|
|||
|
List servers:
|
|||
|
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/fidonet-discussion
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 13:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Net 264: http://www.net264.org/r13.htm
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 17: http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 19: http://www.compconn.net/r19
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 1 Elist http://www.baltimoremd.com/elist/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
ZEC2:
|
|||
|
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/echolist/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)
|
|||
|
Fido-IP: http://home.nrh.de/~lbehet/fido (English/German)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 25: http://www.bsnet.co.uk/net2502/net/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 12 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 26: http://www.nemesis.ie
|
|||
|
REC 26: http://www.nrgsys.com/orb
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (German)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (Spanish)
|
|||
|
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 38: http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (Greek/English)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 42: http://www.fido.cz
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 50: http://www.fido7.com/ (Russian)
|
|||
|
Net 5010: http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/ (Russian)
|
|||
|
Net 5015: http://www.fido.nnov.ru/ (Russian)
|
|||
|
Net 5030: http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English)
|
|||
|
Net 5073: http://people.weekend.ru/soa/ (Russian)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 4:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 90: http://visitweb.com/fidonet
|
|||
|
Net 903: http://www.playagrande.com/refugio
|
|||
|
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 5: http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (Chinese)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
============
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Pages listed above are as submitted to the FidoNews Editor,
|
|||
|
and generally reflect Zone and Regional Web Page sites. If
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 13 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
no Regional site is submitted, the first Network page from
|
|||
|
that Region is used in its place. Generally, Regional pages
|
|||
|
should list access points to all Networks within the Region.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
TCP/IP accessible node access information should be submitted
|
|||
|
to the FidoNews Editor for inclusion in their Region or Zone.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------oOo-------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Fidonet Via Internet Hubs
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate
|
|||
|
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+------------
|
|||
|
1:12/12 | Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo.
|
|||
|
1:13/25 | Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
|
|||
|
1:106/1 | Matt Bedynek | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 64k | $5/$15mo.
|
|||
|
1:106/6018 | Lawrence Garvin | FTP,VMoT | 64k | $5/mo.
|
|||
|
1:107/451 | Andy Knifel | FTP, VMoT, UUE | 33.6 | n/c
|
|||
|
1:124/7008 | Ben Hamilton | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 64k | $10/$20mo.
|
|||
|
1:140/12 | Bob Seaborn | FTP | T1 | $5/$20
|
|||
|
1:270/101 | George Peace | FTP | T1 | $30mo.
|
|||
|
1:271/140 | Tom Barstow | UUE | T1 | n/c
|
|||
|
1:275/1 | Joshua Ecklund | UUE | 28.8 | $10/yr.
|
|||
|
1:280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
|
|||
|
1:2401/305 | Peter Rocca | FTP,UUE | T1 | unkn
|
|||
|
1:2424/10 | Alec Grynspan | FTP,UUE | T1 | n/c
|
|||
|
1:2604/104 | Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo.
|
|||
|
1:2624/306 | D. Calafrancesco | VMoT | 33.6 | $15yr.
|
|||
|
1:345/0 | Todd Cochrane | FTP | T1 | n/c
|
|||
|
1:346/250 | Aran Spence | FTP,UUE | T1 | $10mo.
|
|||
|
1:396/45 | Marc Lewis | UUE | 33.6 | $26/yr.
|
|||
|
1:3651/9 | Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6
|
|||
|
1:396/1 | John Souvestre | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $15mo.
|
|||
|
2:33/505 | Mario Mure | VMoT,UUE | 64k | n/c
|
|||
|
2:254/175 | Alex Kemp | UUE | 56k | n/c
|
|||
|
2:284/800 | Jeroen VanDeLeur | FTP,UUE | 64k | n/c
|
|||
|
2:335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
|
|||
|
2:469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
|
|||
|
2:2411/413 | Dennis Dittrich | UUE | 64k | n/c
|
|||
|
2:2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn
|
|||
|
3:633/260 | Malcolm Miles | FTP | 33.6 | n/c
|
|||
|
4:905/100 | Fabian Gervan | VMoT, UUE | ??? | n/c
|
|||
|
5:7104/2 | Henk Wolsink | FTP | 28.8 | n/c
|
|||
|
--
|
|||
|
* FTP = Internet File Transfer Protocol
|
|||
|
* VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
|
|||
|
* UUE = uuencode<->email type transfers
|
|||
|
[I'm only cataloging transfer methods, eg, ftp, email, telnet.
|
|||
|
Specific programs using these protocols are no longer being listed.
|
|||
|
Contact the system operators for details of which programs they have
|
|||
|
available.]
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Compiled by C. Ingersoll, 1:2623/71, (609)814-1978, fbn@dandy.net
|
|||
|
Posted on the 1st of every month in FN_SYSOP, R13SYSOP and Fidonews.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 14 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Editor: Henk Wolsink
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
|
|||
|
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
|
|||
|
Donald Tees, Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"FidoNews Editor"
|
|||
|
FidoNet 5:5/23
|
|||
|
BBS +27-41-515-913, 2400/9600/V.34/V.90
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
more addresses:
|
|||
|
Henk Wolsink -- 5:7104/2, hwolsink@catpe.alt.za
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
(Postal Service mailing address)
|
|||
|
FidoNews Editor
|
|||
|
P.O. Box 12325
|
|||
|
Port Elizabeth,
|
|||
|
6006
|
|||
|
South Africa
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
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 and/or the Editor.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
|
|||
|
Copyright 1998 Henk Wolsink. All rights reserved. Duplication
|
|||
|
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
|
|||
|
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
|
|||
|
the Editor.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
|
|||
|
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
|
|||
|
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
|
|||
|
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
|
|||
|
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
|
|||
|
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
|
|||
|
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSFnn.ZIP] for a
|
|||
|
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
|
|||
|
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
|
|||
|
current year [8], i.e., FNWSJAN8.ZIP for all the Issues from Jan 98.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 15 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
|
|||
|
1 - 15 for 1984 - 1998, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
|
|||
|
size from 48K to 1.4M.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
http://www.fidonews.org
|
|||
|
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
|
|||
|
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
|
|||
|
ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/
|
|||
|
ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/Fidonet/Fidonews
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And in non-English formats via:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
http://www.hvc.ee/pats/fidonews (Estonian)
|
|||
|
http://www.fidonet.pp.se/sfnews (Swedish)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
*=*=*
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
jbarchuk@worldnet.att.net
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the
|
|||
|
email distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist
|
|||
|
with no message to the same address above.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
*
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
|
|||
|
by sending email to:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
ftpmail@fidonews.org
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
with a Subject line of: help
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
|
|||
|
instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
|
|||
|
respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
|
|||
|
www.fidonews.org.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
*=*=*
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
http://www.fidonews.org
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
|
|||
|
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
|
|||
|
FIDONEWS 15-52 Page 16 28 Dec 1998
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 13 Megs.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=*=*=*=
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
|
|||
|
available almost immediately after publication on the FidoNews Editor
|
|||
|
homepage on the World Wide Web at:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
|
|||
|
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an
|
|||
|
email link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
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 Editor, or file-requestable
|
|||
|
from 5:5/23 [5:7104/2] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone Coordinators
|
|||
|
should have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
|
|||
|
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
|
|||
|
and are used with permission.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"Disagreement is actually necessary,
|
|||
|
or we'd all have to get in fights
|
|||
|
or something to amuse ourselves
|
|||
|
and create the requisite chaos."
|
|||
|
-Tom Jennings
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|