1519 lines
49 KiB
Plaintext
1519 lines
49 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 3, Number 4 27 January 1986
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| / \ |
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| - Fidonews - /|oo \ |
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| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
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| Users Group | | \ \\ |
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| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
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| ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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Publisher: Fido 1/1
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
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Review Editor: Allen Miller
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Fidonews is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, Fido 1/1.
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You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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Fidonews. Article submission standards are contained in the
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file FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 1/1.
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Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
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The contents of the articles contained here are not our
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responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
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everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
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received.
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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL
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THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP: About IFNA
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2. NEWS
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Fido's Archive System
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The latest FIDO distribution list
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Some more thoughts on Shareware
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More on "improved" BBS systems
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GAGS Version 1.06 released
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A (Possibly) Better Way to POLL
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3. WANTED
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Outgoing Host Accounting System Wanted !
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4. FOR SALE
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Libertarian E-Mail Directory
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5. NOTICES
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Version 5.0 of ARC released
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The Interrupt Stack
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KILLROBT update
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MENSA National PC-SIG Forming
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PRGUSERS - Software Update
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============================================================
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EDITORIAL
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============================================================
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Tom Jennings
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125/1
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THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP
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About IFNA
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There is a file being sent around attacking the
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proposed IFNA, or International Fido Net Association. If
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you haven't seen it yet, you probably will. Please read
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this in it's entirety. If you don't, then don't even bother
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to talk to me about it.
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Even though parties involved have since apologized,
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serious damage has been done. The authors did not contact
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any of the people mentioned in the IFNA proposal to ask what
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was going on. There was no real information in the attack,
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merely unthinking slanderous paranoia. Please, learning to
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read implies a responsibility to learn to understand: IFNA
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is not by any means the commercialization of FidoNet, it
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does not mean mandatory fees, etc. Please read on.
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The IFNA project is now somewhat damaged. That was
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a very preliminary proposal, and way too early for such
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exposure. It was not meant to be public, it was way too
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early. They were ideas of the top of our collective heads,
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as everyone involved realized.
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What is IFNA, and why?
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If you have been a FidoNet sysop long enough, you
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may remember the flap over the net/node reorganization
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during the summer of 1985. There were complaints that
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"things are working fine, why mess with it?" The assertion
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was true, at the time it was running quite smoothly, before
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we changed it.
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At that time the net/node changeover, a major upset
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and organizational change, was made for "the future". You
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may have noticed that that future is here now; if you will
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think back, you will realize that the entire nodelist then
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was smaller than some of today's nets. At that time, the
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reason for the change was the lack of hierarchy in the
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network; now we have nets that completely run themselves.
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Today's FidoNet with almost 700 systems, runs smoother and
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more efficiently, with less national bureaucracy, than it
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did two years ago.
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There has never been, is not now, and if I can help
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it never will be any sort of ideological or moralistic
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influences in the net administration. What a sysop does on
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their board, short of illegal or outright damaging actions,
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Fidonews Page 2 27 Jan 1986
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is totally and completely their own business. This idea was
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not talked about, merely implemented, and it permeates
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through the entire organization to this day. Please realize
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through all of this that the FidoNet, as it exists, is
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totally and completely decentralized as much as is
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practical. I don't think that many people realize just
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exactly what this means, or how it came about.
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Since FidoNet is totally and completely
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decentralized, it makes large scale operations and changes
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difficult to say the least, never mind trying to pull off
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some coup that no one would cooperate with! Those that
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designed FidoNet in this fashion are amongst those that
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understand this fact best.
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And now, I'll cover some specific points in the
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attack. I will not grace all of them with comment.
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The IFNA proposed "membership" does not mean that
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Fido sysops, users, networks or anyone is forced to pay for
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anything, period. The "membership fee" is proposed to be
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for services and goods provided above and beyond what we all
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have now; seriously, how on earth can anyone in FidoNet make
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anyone else do anything?
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To illustrate this fact, pick a node from the node
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list, far away, where you don't know anybody, and demand
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that the sysop pay you $50 every year. Good luck.
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A printed publication mailed to your home costs
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money. A full or part time employee to maintain the
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nodelist and other related functions costs money, and yes,
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things are getting to that point. Once again, because
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things are moving very smoothly, you normally don't see the
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effort behind the lines. (I am not talking about myself, I
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do not have anything whatsoever to do with running the net,
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thank Ken and Sally Kaplan for most of that.)
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"Advertising" things such as the radio amateurs'
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FidoGrams, or individual sysops' services to the deaf is not
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"exploitation". It is informing people of a service that
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they probably didn't know existed. And how could we
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"exploit" a service that we do not perform, and have no
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control of? FidoGrams and such are done by individual
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sysops, on their own machines, in their own living rooms.
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The assumption also was that all efforts here would be done
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or directed by the people involved in it. Like I said, the
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proposal was brainstorming, and incomplete.
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The "magazine" (really just a newsletter, but called
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"magazine" to avoid confusion with FidoNews) is not meant to
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compete on the newsstands; it is meant for FidoNet users and
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sysops, and others only secondarily. Similar to the
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position of Boys Life to the Boy Scouts of America, if you
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Fidonews Page 3 27 Jan 1986
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are familiar with that. And yes of course it is proposed to
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have some of the better articles from the electronic
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FidoNews; ask any potential author if they would object.
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Compensation and such is yet to be determined, and will
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depend on income, of course. Like I said before ...
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I'll be damned if I can think of how having a
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printed mag could hurt anything, except the ones putting up
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the dough for printing it. It will explain how new sysops
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can get started, a list of Fido phone numbers for new and
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existing users, general interest articles, and infinitely
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more.
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As to objections to users "... knowing how
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economical and easy ...", since FidoNet mail is there, and
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is the WHOLE POINT of FidoNet, and justification for writing
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it in the first place, we have an obligation to let non-
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sysop users know what it is and how to do it. It does not
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mean you have to do it on your particular board.
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The attack on "... assigning policy, rules,
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guidelines and procedures for FidoNet" is foolish; what do
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you think we do now? The national network time slot,
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utility programs (LISTGEN, nodelist formats), coordinating
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FidoNet packet format between the various authors (Fido,
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SEAdog, Rover/gateway, FIDOUSER, etc etc), generating
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nodelists, and so on fall into this category. It has to be
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done, it's done haphazardly now, just ask anyone using the
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Fido .MSG format about attribute bits. You think this falls
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from the heavens, fully formed and ready to go?
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The idea of a FidoNet itself is unlikely as hell, an
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"International FidoNet Convention" isn't quite so unlikely,
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since I just came back from one.
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"Old FidoNews' on diskette or hardcopy, fees to be
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set." Yes fees, for IFNA to issue them in that form, of
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course! You can still download them! I don't see why all
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of a sudden that would just go away. [ed: it wouldn't]
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Insurance proposals, like I said, this was brain-
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storming, it may very well turn out to be a waste of time.
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Just an idea, sorry!
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However, as far as "working with computer
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manufacturers to obtain discounts ..." that's not quite the
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same thing. How many FidoNet sysops have US Robotics
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Courier 2400's? I'd bet 90% of all the 2400 baud modems you
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see in the nodelist are USR's. And why? Because USR made
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the special offer to FidoNet sysops *FIRST*, that's why. It
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IS a good modem. Are there any objections to that sort of
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thing in the future?
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As to the tacky doggie: yes, the artist is quite
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aware of the proposed deal, since it is me. Except those
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Fidonews Page 4 27 Jan 1986
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who purchased my old FidoNet bumper stickers (hopelessly
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amateurish) you have not seen the dog. We do not propose to
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sell ASCII character strings. It may be egotistical, but
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I'd like to have a Fido sweatshirt, as a matter of fact,
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I've been asked to make some, so I am anyway. Unlike car
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insurance, no one will be required to waste their money on
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one.
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Junk mail: the proposal says "controlled (ie.
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voluntary) mailing list".
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"Political action committee": just an idea, there
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are people rumbling about this now, IFNA should support it.
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It is obviously in our interest, there are people there now
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supporting us, we might as well support them with numbers of
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organized sysops and users.
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"... library of FidoNet utilities ..." no,
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obviously, it does not mean exclusivity. The phrase "BBS
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DISTRIBUTED" tells it all. Our proposal was for prepackaged
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diskettes, with docs, to benefit the authors, IFNA, and the
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customer who did not care to download large amounts of
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utilities at random to find what they want. More on this
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later, when the proposal is complete.
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"To provide a liason between FidoNet and public
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service activities." To get "... discourage efforts of
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others ..." from this paragraph is impossible. It just
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isn't there.
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"IFNA would be the exclusive distributor of an
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Authorized Distributor package ...". Right now, Fido
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Software (me) is the exclusive distributor. If you are not
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aware of it, I sell Fido/FidoNet to paying customers. And
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allow it for download. I do not allow others to sell it.
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My customers are businesses and individuals who do not want
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to download, or who did for evaluation purposes, and now
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wish to have the manual and update services. To those who
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run a Fido as a public service, both individuals and
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companies, it is free. It has been this way for years;
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please read POLICY1.DOC.
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There are other points that I'm just not going to
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bother to touch. I gave credence to a lot of it be merely
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mentioning it. That was not my intent at all, but it was
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unavoidable.
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Both Ken and I have spent large sums of our own
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money to help run FidoNet and keep it all together in the
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last few years, never mind the hundreds of hours of work
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involved by many, many people in the last few years. Please
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refer to page INTRO-4 in Fido's Operating Manual. It's just
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the tip of the iceberg.
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Fidonews Page 5 27 Jan 1986
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IFNA's only task is to run the net independently of
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any personalities, and take over the many tasks of
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documenting and running the net. It needs to generate
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income to pay for it's operation, and to provide the
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services proposed, not all of which are in the proposal that
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leaked out. It is not a way for any of us to skim money
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from any sysops or users of FidoNet, and I am sorry for you
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if you believe that.
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Not everyone is out to screw you, this is not a TV
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show, there is no cloak and dagger business here.
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Fidonews Page 6 27 Jan 1986
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============================================================
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NEWS
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============================================================
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Jim Black
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Fido 106/106
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Fido's Archive System
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If you do not have space problems on the hard disk that
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Fido calls home - this is not for you (go read the next
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article). If you have trouble keeping hard disk space then
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FAS is what you need.
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FAS, can decide with a little help which files on your
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board are not active and archive those inactive files
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releasing that valuable space for the next great utility or
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game or whatever.
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FAS will read your sysop.log files and extract all
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downloaded or uploaded files for as far back as you have log
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files for. These will become your active file. If you
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desire to keep some files even though they have not been
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uploaded or downloaded these can be placed in the permanent
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file and will never be archived.
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You tell FAS which file areas to look at for archive
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purposes. All files in those areas will be archived if they
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are not in the active file or the permanent file.
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The Archive process will copy the files to diskette
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then delete the FILES.BBS entry. Don't worry FAS can recover
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any file once it is archived. All Files archived will have
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the FILES.BBS description placed in the ARCHIVE file area so
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that the files can be restored.
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FAS is menu driven and is complete with hard copy
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reports. FAS requires an IBM or compatible, 256k of memory,
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and around 400k of disk space for programs and files. Oh
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yes, FAS is fast. FAS is distributed under the Freeware
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concept. Try it, you will love it.
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Call the following Fido's for more information or to
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see the ARCHIVE file area and to download your space saver.
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FIDO'S PARTNER 106/101 713-458-7410 300 - 2400
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BLACK STAR 106/106 713-458-5406 300 - 1200
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PC-INTERCONNECTION 106/343 713-955-8120 300 - 1200
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All three BBS are up 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
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Fidonews Page 7 27 Jan 1986
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FIDO DISTRIBUTION LIST
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15 January 1986
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This list was compiled from responses to a proposal I
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submitted to the FIDONEWS. I know there are more
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distribution nodes than this, but these are the ones that
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responded. My thanks to those of you listed here. If you
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are a distribution node, and would like to be added to this
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list, send the relevant information to the SYSOP on 109/74 -
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The Bear's Den. I will release updates to this list as new
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distribution nodes are added.
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NODE NODE NAME LOCATION PHONE NUMBER Version
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---- --------- -------- ------------ -------
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18/19 The Ark Tangent Tampa_FL 813-977-5347 * I
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100/10 MDC_RCC, St._Louis_MO 314-232-6881 * D,I
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100/22 PC LUG St._Louis_MO 314-576-2743 * D,I
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100/51 DECUS Central St._Louis_MO 314-576-4129 * D,I
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101/27 Dave's FIDO Gardner_MA 617-632-1861 * All
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101/106 NewWorld Magic1 Swampscott_MA 617-595-5626 * I
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106/343 PC-Interconnect Houston_TX 713-955-8120 I
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106/106 Black_Star Houston_TX 713-458-5406 I
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107/312 Dance_Studio E_Brunswick_NJ 201-247-0573 I
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109/483 Wash-A-RUG Fairfax_VA 703-359-6549 D,I
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109/603 NET-EXCHANGE Reston_VA 703-689-3561 I
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114/1 Phoenix Net Phoenix, AZ 602-242-5230 I
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122/6 PSG COOS Bay COOS_Bay_OR 503-269-5202 * I
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124/12 Inside Track Ed Plano_TX 214-422-4772 I
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125/1 Fido's Board San_Francisco_CA 415-864-1418 * All
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125/521 Satore Center San_Francisco_CA 415-647-8528 I,V
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128/10 The Three Laws Colorado_Spgs_CO 303-574-1110 I
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129/11 TACO Sanyo Fido Trafford_PA 412-856-1428 * S
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132/107 M'Cycle Bytes Amherst_NH 603-889-3366 * All
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135/14 Metro-Fire Fido Miami_FL 305-596-8611 I,S,T,G
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3101/1 Fido_Nl1 Ede, Holland +31-8380-37165 I
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* Supports 2400 Baud
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FIDO Version:
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I[BM], D[EC], V[ICTOR], S[ANYO], T[ANDY], G[ENERIC]
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This version of the list was squeezed a bit, to allow it to
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fit into the FIDONEWS format. If you would like a full 80
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column copy of this list, it may be downloaded from either
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FIDO 109/74 (The Bear's Den), or FIDO 109/483 (Wash-A-RUG).
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Fidonews Page 8 27 Jan 1986
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Some more thoughts on Shareware
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I couldn't help thinking about a problem that confronts
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those of us who use shareware in an institutional setting
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when I read the article which mentioned the personal check
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sent in from an MCI employee. I work for a state
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university; under state law we must have a bill for
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everything. Some producers of shareware have formal
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invoices already enclosed with the documentation; others ask
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for a donation. I don't know if the latter group doesn't
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want to appear pushy or what; the fact is that many
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institutions cannot pay on this basis. A suggestion:
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include an invoice in your documentation, or on your pop
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screen that appears when your program is invoked without any
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parameters. Many of us would like to help out but cannot,
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at least through our institutions.
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Bill Allbritten, 11/301
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Fidonews Page 9 27 Jan 1986
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An update on what's happening with this
|
|
brainstorm about a new type of BBS
|
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|
|
By John Plocher, 121/90
|
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|
|
I must have touched a responsive chord somewhere! I've
|
|
gotten so much responsive mail pertaining to my ideas on a
|
|
packet interface to remote systems that I guess another
|
|
Fidonews article is in order!
|
|
|
|
Just a note of warning: I should in NO WAY be considered
|
|
an expert on this subject, in fact I didn't know a thing
|
|
about packet networks 6 months ago. If anyone out there
|
|
knows more about this than I do, please feel free to correct
|
|
any misconceptions I have!
|
|
|
|
'Nuff of this humble introduction. On to the meat of
|
|
this note: There is a "standard" out there concerning packet
|
|
switched networks called CCITT X.25. This is an
|
|
international standard which is/should be used by common
|
|
carrier packet networks (Tymnet, etc). There is a variant
|
|
of this protocol called X.PC, which is X.25 for micros. It
|
|
was developed by McDonald Douglas/Tymshare, the parent
|
|
companies of Tymnet. The protocol specifications and related
|
|
documentation is available for no charge from:
|
|
|
|
X.PC Protocol Specification (Version 2.1)
|
|
Tymnet/McDonald Douglas Network Systems 2710 Orchard
|
|
Parkway San Jose, CA 95134
|
|
|
|
Tymnet also has a complete implementation for the IBM
|
|
PC, including source, object, and documentation on an IBM PC
|
|
disk for $20.00 - See the documentation BEFORE you send
|
|
money! I have requested all of the above materials, they
|
|
should be here by the end of January (1986, I hope).
|
|
|
|
X.PC specifically implements the NETWORK and DATA layers
|
|
of the ISO-OSI model.
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|
|
|
At this point I need to clarify some points. These have
|
|
to do with what comes to mind when using the terms "BBS" and
|
|
"interface". I am working on developing a packet level
|
|
interface which could be used to implement a new type of
|
|
BBS, or other remote access system. Any BBS has to have
|
|
some sort of interface to the remote user; right now Fido
|
|
uses a character level interface for user I/O and a packet
|
|
level interface for file transfer. I'd like to implement an
|
|
interface which is 100% packet level, 100% of the time.
|
|
|
|
Since the current generation of BBS's are designed
|
|
around a single channel character level interface, a new BBS
|
|
would have to be written to take advantage of the multi-
|
|
channel packet interface. Thus the notion of a new BBS.
|
|
|
|
The issue of security has some relevance here, too.
|
|
Fido was designed to be a 100% secure system. That means
|
|
that even if a user would upload FORMAT.COM, s/he could
|
|
NEVER execute it. It also means that the user can never get
|
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|
Fidonews Page 10 27 Jan 1986
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|
|
past the Fido software interface and into the operating
|
|
system (The Sysop can, though, with the 0 command). The
|
|
result is that the users are limited to whatever features
|
|
Fido cares to let them use. RCP/M systems on the other hand
|
|
are typically not secure systems, because the user has the
|
|
ability to execute programs in addition to the usual message
|
|
oriented BBS commands.
|
|
|
|
It should be obvious that the issue of security has
|
|
little to do with the interface used to do I/O with the
|
|
user. Fido and RCP/M both use character level I/O; it is
|
|
what they do with it which determines the security of the
|
|
system. The ideas I am interested in ignore the issue of
|
|
security completely (at least for now), and propose a packet
|
|
level interface to the system which would be a replacement
|
|
for the character level interface used by Fido and RCP/M.
|
|
(UNIX people will note that UUCP, CU, and TIP also have a
|
|
packet type interface, instead of a character level
|
|
interface. In the case of CU, the packet interface is used
|
|
in such a way as to give the impression to the user of being
|
|
a character interface.)
|
|
|
|
If security is desired (and it will be for ANY type of
|
|
BBS), it would have to be added on top of this packet
|
|
interface in the same was as it is added to current systems
|
|
on top of the character level interface.
|
|
|
|
Note also that I have avoided mentioning anything about
|
|
the physical connection to the packet interface. In many
|
|
cases, it would be a RS-232 async link through a modem, but
|
|
it could also be a synchronous bi-sync link to another local
|
|
system, or a connection to a LAN, etc. The beauty of the
|
|
packet interface is that it doesn't matter how the packets
|
|
actually get from place to place, as long as they get there.
|
|
They don't even have to get there undamaged, cuz the
|
|
interface takes care of requesting a new packet if it finds
|
|
a damaged one.
|
|
|
|
I have also gotten a few responses about my mention of
|
|
Wendin's PCUNIX and their Operating Systems Toolbox. I am
|
|
still (1/13/86) waiting for my copy of PCUNIX, but I have
|
|
the OST and PCVMS. For those of you who like VMS on a DEC
|
|
VAX, PCVMS is quite similar. It is truly multi-user and
|
|
multi-tasking; I don't like VMS, and I liked PCVMS. These
|
|
products are only available for the IBM family (PC,XT,AT),
|
|
but quite a few people here in southern Wisconsin have been
|
|
pestering Wendin to port it to the Rainbow, so if you pester
|
|
them too... Anyways, back to the topic, I am working with
|
|
Wendin in developing X.PC as a network interface to the OST.
|
|
This is a necessary first step in implementing all of X.PC,
|
|
if the virtual circuit ideas are to be implemented at all.
|
|
(The multi-tasking is vital!)
|
|
|
|
Getting more into the ideas of a BBS system,
|
|
specifically conferencing systems, David Dyer-Bennet, the
|
|
Sysop of 14/341 (The Terraboard) had some interesting
|
|
comments about how to present an understandable view of a
|
|
discussion tree to the user. At a minimum, the user would
|
|
|
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|
|
Fidonews Page 11 27 Jan 1986
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
have to be able to see an overview of all the conferences,
|
|
as well as details on individual conferences, all the way
|
|
down to the actual messages. His conclusions are that ideas
|
|
used in the outline processors now available could be used
|
|
to present an outline of a discussion; allowing the user to
|
|
increase or decrease the amount of detail displayed.
|
|
|
|
I'm getting a bit long winded here, so I'm going to call
|
|
it quits for now, but if the response to these ideas keeps
|
|
up I'll have to write more... (And I thought I was a
|
|
programmer, not an author!)
|
|
|
|
John Plocher 121/90
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
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|
Fidonews Page 12 27 Jan 1986
|
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|
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|
|
Version 1.06 of the Generic Adventure Game System released!
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
[Background: The Generic Adventure Game System is an
|
|
adventure-game development system for 256K MS-DOS computers.
|
|
It allows you to create your own computer adventure games
|
|
using a fairly simple syntax and a standard text editor.
|
|
GAGS 1.0 was released as Shareware in late August, and the
|
|
previous version, 1.05, was released in October.]
|
|
-- Mark J. Welch,
|
|
sysop, Fido 125/459
|
|
|
|
|
|
I have finally finished adding features to the Generic
|
|
Adventure Game System, and have also released an interactive
|
|
editor which allows game writers to view and alter room,
|
|
noun, and creature definitions. Alas, I am unable (or
|
|
unwilling) to commit to future enhancements, because I plan
|
|
to divert my energies to other projects.
|
|
|
|
I will soon be delving into Modula-2 (GAGS was written in
|
|
Turbo Pascal) and may decide to redesign GAGS in that
|
|
language, but I can't promise anything, since I have several
|
|
other projects in mind as well. I will, of course, correct
|
|
any bugs that may be noticed in GAGS, but currently do not
|
|
plan to add new features for a long time, if ever.
|
|
|
|
GAGS has progressed somewhat since its initial release in
|
|
August. For example, Everard Cheney, sysop of the Fantasy
|
|
Factory of Pacifica, CA (415-355-6047, Fido 125/applied)
|
|
wrote an interactive editor useful to enter new room,
|
|
creature, and noun information. In response to his
|
|
inspiration, I wrote another editor which is more useful in
|
|
examining and making minor changes to existing games (and
|
|
games in various stages of development after startup).
|
|
|
|
Both of those editors are included, along with the GAGS
|
|
"engine" program, a sample game, and extensive
|
|
documentation, in GAGS_106.ARC, a 279K file. (GAGS_106.ARC
|
|
also includes the ARC452.DOC file since I've discovered that
|
|
no one bothers to download it when they download ARC452.EXE
|
|
from my board). The 279K file expands to about 450K, so it
|
|
won't all fit on one 360K floppy disk.
|
|
|
|
GAGS was reviewed favorably in the December 6, 1985 issue
|
|
of *MicroTimes*, a tabloid publication distributed in
|
|
California. I've not heard of any other reviews, but would
|
|
appreciate feedback if someone notices a review in a
|
|
publication. I sent out a bunch of review copies to
|
|
magazines I don't subscribe to.
|
|
|
|
As before, I also offer the program on disk for $10
|
|
(including postage), and will put a copy of the GAGS_106.ARC
|
|
file in the mail to any sysop who sends me a disk and
|
|
postpaid return mailer. Since it's Shareware, I encourage
|
|
people who find the program useful to become registered
|
|
users by sending me a $15 contribution. Registered users
|
|
may also elect to buy the complete source code (in Turbo
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 13 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pascal) for $25 (including postage).
|
|
|
|
A note on Shareware returns: For those who are curious,
|
|
Shareware contributions have not been very substantial for
|
|
GAGS. I hadn't expected much, of course, but I am most
|
|
irritated by people who call with support questions and
|
|
start off with a lie: "I'm sending you a check for
|
|
registration, and I think GAGS is great, but how do you...."
|
|
After about a dozen of those calls, I received one of the
|
|
promised checks. I've received a number of other checks in
|
|
the mail, but my expenses still outweigh my income by more
|
|
than an order of magnitude. I doubt I'll elect to distribute
|
|
my next product as Shareware.
|
|
|
|
Another irritation: I've received at least five phone
|
|
calls from people who complain that the program doesn't
|
|
work. My immediate response is, "Did you read the READ.ME
|
|
file?" and the answer has always been "no" since the READ.ME
|
|
file explains why the program won't work unless CONFIG.SYS
|
|
has upped the number of files.
|
|
|
|
[Note: A bug in version 1.06 was discovered: the game's
|
|
introductory text was not displayed. This bug has been fixed
|
|
in version 1.06a. That bug did not effect the game in any
|
|
other way. mjw, 1-17-86]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Changes from version 1.05 to 1.06 01-13-86
|
|
of the Generic Adventure Game System MJW
|
|
-------------------------------------
|
|
There are three new features in version 1.06 of GAGS.
|
|
|
|
GAGS 1.06 is now finished. Included with it in the 279K ARC
|
|
file is EDITGAME 1E, an interactive room/noun/creature
|
|
editor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
1) Verb synonyms
|
|
|
|
I have not added User-definable verbs, but I've come
|
|
halfway. You can now define a new verb as a synonym of an
|
|
existing verb. For example, suppose you want the user to be
|
|
able to type "inspect" instead of examine. In the .DAT file,
|
|
you include a verb redefinition as follows:
|
|
|
|
VERB
|
|
EXAMINE INSPECT
|
|
END_VERB
|
|
|
|
During the game, any time the player types "inspect" as a
|
|
verb, it will be translated to "examine." You may only map
|
|
one synonym to each verb. You may include several
|
|
redefinitions in a single VERB...END_VERB entry, but each
|
|
pair of verbs must be on a separate line.
|
|
|
|
|
|
2) Winning a game
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 14 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Okay, I give in. There is now a way to win the game.
|
|
There is a now a new ROOM attribute called GAME_WIN, which
|
|
indicates that the player wins the game when s/he enters the
|
|
room, regardless of points held. The ROOM_DESCR information
|
|
is displayed, so you should use the ROOM_DESCR information
|
|
to present the game winner with praise, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
3) Creature time threshholds
|
|
|
|
For those who think the creatures are too tame, here's a
|
|
quick fix. The normal "THRESHHOLD" value indicates how many
|
|
times the player has to attack a creature with the wrong
|
|
weapon before the creature attacks and kills the player.
|
|
Now, there is a new attribute called TIME_THRESH, which is
|
|
the number of turns after the player enters a room before
|
|
the creature kills the player. Setting this to 1 would be
|
|
instant death. If you do not specify a TIME_THRESH value,
|
|
the player need not be concerned about time. To set a time
|
|
threshhold, put the line
|
|
|
|
TIME_THRESH n
|
|
|
|
in the creature definition, where n is the number of turns
|
|
the player has to try to defeat the creature. I strongly
|
|
advise that you use a number like 7 or 8, for this.
|
|
|
|
------
|
|
|
|
Note 1: Version 1.05 of GAGS fixed a bug in the way
|
|
creatures acted. In earlier versions, friendly creatures
|
|
blocked exits; the change allows players to exit rooms
|
|
without killing friendly creatures.
|
|
|
|
------
|
|
|
|
Note 2: Yes, GAGS runs on any MS-DOS computer. I've not had
|
|
firm feedback on 1.06, but 1.05 was confirmed to run on the
|
|
Sanyo 555, the TI Professional, the DEC Rainbow, an S-100
|
|
system with an 8086 card, and on the PCjr and a large number
|
|
of IBM-compatibles. While I describe it as a 256K program,
|
|
it runs fine in a 192K partition under DESQview.
|
|
|
|
------
|
|
|
|
Note 3: "The opinions expressed in this article are my own,
|
|
and are not the opinions of my employer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mark J. Welch 415-564-1066 voice
|
|
P.O. Box 2409 415-664-2811 BBS
|
|
San Francisco, CA 94126 Fido 125/459
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* GAGS and The Generic Adventure Game System are trademarks
|
|
of Mark J. Welch. All program and documentation for GAGS
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 15 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
are Copyright 1985, 1986 by Mark J. Welch. All rights
|
|
reserved.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
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Fidonews Page 16 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
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|
|
A (Possibly) Better Way to POLL
|
|
|
|
by
|
|
Bob Hartman
|
|
Sysop Fido 132/101
|
|
The UN*X Gateway
|
|
and Home of Rovermsg
|
|
|
|
|
|
How many FIDO sysops out there have been having a hard time
|
|
using the new FIDO command POLL? From personal experience I
|
|
know that it is more than just a few of us. I have devised
|
|
what I think is a slightly more robust way to use this
|
|
feature, so let me share it with you.
|
|
|
|
First of all, this method is for use when you are only
|
|
supposed to poll on certain days (for example, Saturday you
|
|
are supposed to poll for the NODELIST). The problems with
|
|
POLL usually have to do with the fact that to POLL only on a
|
|
certain day, you have to create a different FidoNet schedule
|
|
which just gets executed on that day, and has the proper
|
|
POLL statement in the ROUTE.<tag> file. To say the least,
|
|
this is a real hassle.
|
|
|
|
My solution is to simply not use the POLL statement at
|
|
all!!! I know that this sounds ridiculous, but hear me out.
|
|
I propose only using the PICKUP keyword. Place this in your
|
|
normal ROUTE.<tag> file, in place of the POLL. Then on the
|
|
days when you are supposed to POLL, simply use ROBOT to
|
|
create a dummy message, with a dummy file attached to avoid
|
|
the normal message routing (I use the message "Just to let
|
|
you know I picked-up the xxxxxxxxxx file").
|
|
|
|
What does this do? Well, all of a sudden you have a message
|
|
going to the node you wanted to POLL. This causes your
|
|
board to call that node, and since you have PICKUP in your
|
|
route file, your node will attempt to PICKUP the mail for
|
|
you. The two methods are equivalent in that either way you
|
|
get the mail you were supposed to get. The differences are
|
|
subtle, but *VERY* important:
|
|
|
|
1. Using the PICKUP method you will transfer one message
|
|
which will actually appear on the receiving board. This
|
|
is a minor drawback in my opinion.
|
|
|
|
2. Using the PICKUP method you do not have to run separate
|
|
FidoNet schedules on different nights (and hence not have
|
|
to pull your hair out trying to find out which one
|
|
executes first!).
|
|
|
|
3. This is the biggie --- Using the PICKUP method, your
|
|
board will continue to try to do the pickup every night
|
|
until it succeeds!!! Since you have a message destined
|
|
for the other node, Fido knows whether or not the
|
|
transfer succeeded. If it was unsuccessful (phone busy,
|
|
other node off-line, etc.), then the next night it will
|
|
try again. This is the major advantage of this method.
|
|
I find it very useful, and wish that some of the nodes
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 17 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
polling my board would implement it (HINT, HINT). It
|
|
means that if you miss a poll, the message will not get
|
|
duplicated the following week, and have two of them
|
|
waiting in the queue. Since the files people are polling
|
|
me for are about 100K long, this advantage becomes very
|
|
important. Who wants to pay to transfer the same 100K
|
|
file twice in one session???
|
|
|
|
Anyway, I have been using this method myself for about a
|
|
month. It took me that long to convince myself that this
|
|
method had no drawbacks and did work at least as well as
|
|
POLL. I hope this helps others that are having problems
|
|
missing scheduled POLLs.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
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Fidonews Page 18 27 Jan 1986
|
|
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|
|
============================================================
|
|
WANTED
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
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David Dodell, Sysop
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Fido 114/15
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I am looking for some type of accounting system that could
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be used by an outgoing host to keep record of what systems
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are sending messages. This would enable the outgoing host
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to "bill" the other nodes for usage. Anyone have something
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like this already written? If so can you please send mail
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to David Dodell, Sysop at 114/15. Thank you.
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Fidonews Page 19 27 Jan 1986
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============================================================
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FOR SALE
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============================================================
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Daniel Tobias, FIDO 129/13
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Thanks to all who responded to my request for electronic
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mail addresses of Libertarians (those individuals who
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believe in personal and economic freedom and
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drastically-limited government). If you wish to be listed
|
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in this directory, this is your last chance, as the
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deadline to be included in the first edition is January 31, 1986.
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The LIBERTARIAN E-MAIL DIRECTORY should be ready for
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shipping by mid-February. This guide contains an
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alphabetic listing of Libertarians who are reachable by
|
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electronic mail, giving their addresses on various systems
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and networks such as FidoNet, CompuServe, Delphi, ARPAnet,
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UUCP, BITnet, et cetera. Also included is other
|
|
information such as the organizations in which these
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people are involved, their special interests, and any
|
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other such information they chose to provide. If you are a
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Libertarian, this directory will help you start pen-pal
|
|
correspondence, exchange ideas, and promote informal
|
|
networking with like-minded people. If you are not a
|
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Libertarian at present, but are interested in knowing more
|
|
about libertarianism or the Libertarian Movement, you may
|
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find people in this directory who would be happy to answer
|
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your questions through electronic correspondence. The
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LIBERTARIAN E-MAIL DIRECTORY is a must for anybody who uses
|
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computerized communications and is interested in
|
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libertarianism.
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You can order this valuable reference guide now, by sending
|
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$5 to: Daniel Tobias, 4730 Centre Ave. Apt. 212,
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Pittsburgh, PA 15213. This price is postpaid. The
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LIBERTARIAN E-MAIL DIRECTORY will be shipped to you by
|
|
first class mail immediately after it is printed, by
|
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mid-February. Act now, to get this directory hot off the
|
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press!
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 20 27 Jan 1986
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============================================================
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NOTICES
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============================================================
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ARC 5.0 Released
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New Features!
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Up To 23% Faster!
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Up To 10% Smaller!
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System Enhancement Associates is pleased to announce the
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release of version 5.0 of ARC. The new version includes the
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following enhancements:
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o Dynamic Lempel-Zev coding with adaptive reset.
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o Path support on ALL commands!
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o Improved error recovery on corrupted archives.
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o Improved and expanded documentation.
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o Archive encryption.
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o And more!
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ARC 5.0 is available for download from Fido 107/7, or on
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disk by sending a check or money order for $50 to:
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System Enhancement Associates
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21 New Street, Wayne NJ 07470
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------------------------------------------------------------
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The Interrupt Stack
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3 Feb 1986
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Space Symposium at Disney World, Orlando, Florida.
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Contact Harold Gray at node 145/1 for more details.
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9 Feb 1986
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Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.
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9 Feb 1986
|
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Diana Overholt (109/74) has another birthday.
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1 Mar 1986
|
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European mail hour shifts to 0230-0330 GMT. Summer time
|
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will no longer be observed.
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11 Apr 1986
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Halley's Comet reaches perigee.
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19 May 1986
|
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Steve Lemke's next birthday.
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Fidonews Page 21 27 Jan 1986
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24 Aug 1989
|
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Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
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If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
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calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1.
|
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|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
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|
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Steve Butler, sysop FIDO 17/0 (aka 138/3)
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|
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KILLROBT v2.0 is now out. Included is a version compiled
|
|
under GENERIC TURBO 3.0. This version is more in tune with
|
|
the need to run in batch mode. The list of deleted messages
|
|
can now be redirected (via DOS) to a file. The repeated
|
|
prompts for a valid path are no longer done. The program
|
|
terminates with an error message.
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|
|
Further enhancement requests should be sent to FIDO 17/0
|
|
c/o Steve Butler.
|
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|
|
Thank you for your encouragement.
|
|
|
|
PS: For those of you who use ROBOT to distribute files for
|
|
PICKUP by others and must manually delete those who
|
|
weren't (as in the weekly NODELIST); KILLROBT will help
|
|
you automate that function.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Leo Cotnoir
|
|
Node 109/612
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|
|
MENSA National PC-SIG Forming
|
|
|
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|
|
We are interested in the possibility of forming a national
|
|
MENSA PC-SIG (general Personal Computing, rather than
|
|
limited to IBM PC). If anyone on FidoNet belongs to an
|
|
existing local MENSA computing SIG, or would wish to
|
|
participate in a national SIG (you must be a MENSA member),
|
|
please let us know. Among the activities we envision is a
|
|
MENSANet. Other ideas are welcome.
|
|
|
|
Please reply by FidoMail to me or Jim Kay at 109/612
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Software Update
|
|
***************
|
|
|
|
|
|
Program : PRGUSERS
|
|
Version : 1.3
|
|
Date : Jan 18, 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 22 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reason : PC-DOS 3.1 using SHARE
|
|
|
|
Thanks to Gee Wong (Fido 107/312) a major bug has been
|
|
corrected in PRGUSERS. The problem would crash the program
|
|
under PD-DOS 3.1 while using the SHARE utility. If you are
|
|
using PRGUSERS and plan on using SHARE, or already are
|
|
using SHARE and see that PRGUSERS does not run, version 1.3
|
|
will run under this envionment.
|
|
|
|
Version 1.3 is available on Dec_Ware II, Fido 107/2
|
|
(201) 750-3748
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
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|
|
Fidonews Page 23 27 Jan 1986
|
|
|
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