989 lines
48 KiB
Plaintext
989 lines
48 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 6, Number 9 27 February 1989
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| /|oo \ |
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
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| _`@/_ \ _ |
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| International | | \ \\ |
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
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| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
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Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Contributing Editors: Al Arango
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FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
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Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
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submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
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standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
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node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1
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hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted
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although submissions can be uploaded.
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Copyright 1989 by the International FidoNet Association. All
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rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
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noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
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please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted
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at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
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Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
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Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
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are used with permission.
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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. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
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Graphic GroupMail (OR... How GroupMail REALLY works!) .... 1
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MSGHOLD - Holds your user's Group/EchoMail for them! ..... 4
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SEA Letter: A Sample Script .............................. 5
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It won't happen in America! .............................. 6
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UNITEX: More Than Just Echo Mail ......................... 9
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2. COLUMNS .................................................. 15
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Let's YACK about Why Anyone Would Run a BBS .............. 15
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3. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 16
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Latest Software Versions ................................. 16
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4. NOTICES .................................................. 17
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And more!
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 1 27 Feb 1989
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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Graphic GroupMail -OR-
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How GroupMail REALLY Works
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In the interests of clearing up some of the misinformation
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regarding GroupMail technology that has been spread around the
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networks, I have worked up this short graphic representation of
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how a pure GroupMail conference works. It is hoped that with
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this documentation, the reasons for the impossibility of
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duplicate messages and faulty topologies will become clear as
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crystal.
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Let's take the WARNINGS conference, for example, and set it up as
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a GroupMail conference. We have a Top Star, 440/1, several
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middle stars at the net level, and the leaf nodes (YOU). Here's
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how it might look:
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+----------------+
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| Top Star: | +------------+
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| Conference |----> |WARNINGS.XXX|
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| Moderator | +------------+
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| WARNINGS 440/1 | GroupMail
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+----------------+ ARChive File
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^ ^ ^ (Distributed to ALL)
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| | |
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------------------ | -----------------
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+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
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| NET 100 | | NET 200 | | NET 300 |
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| MID LEVEL STAR | | MID LEVEL STAR | | MID LEVEL STAR |
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| 7:100/1 | | 7:200/1 | | 7:300/1 |
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+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
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| | | | ^ ^ | | ^ | |
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Other Net 100 Nodes | | Other Net|300 Nodes
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------------------ | |
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+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
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| Node 201 | | Node 202 | | Node 301 |
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| 7:200/201 | | 7:200/202 | | 7:300/301 |
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+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
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^ ^ ^
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Any of these can be your system.
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Please notice that all arrows go in ONE direction ONLY (UP).
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Now lets trace the way a message entered on, say 200/201 would go
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about being distributed to the network in general.
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User Alan enters a message on 201. Later that day it is removed
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from the message base and packed up and sent to his uplink, mid
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 2 27 Feb 1989
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level star Net 200 (when using non-Group-aware echo processors,
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the message might have to stay in the message base - small price
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to pay).
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When the ARCmail file (identical in every way to a normal
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echomail bundle) hits the midlevel star, he unpacks it, usually
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into his netmail area. Then, his group processor realizes that
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since the message is for the WARNINGS conference, it has to be
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bounced on up to the next uplink, so rather than moving into his
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message base, he redirects it to 440/1, packs it up for shipment
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(the same way that 200/201 did it!), and removes the message from
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his netmail area (a native GroupMail processor will do this for
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you).
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Finally, the message, in a normal ARCmail 'echomail' packet
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arrives on 440/1, the 'top star' for the conference. Since he's
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the top star, 440/1's group processor unpacks the message into
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his message base, where the moderator can peruse it for possible
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off-topic content, flame content, etc. The moderator then packs
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up Alan's message, along with ALL the other messages that have
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been passed along from nets 100 & 300, into one GroupMail style
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ARCmail file named WARNINGS.xxx (where 'xxx' is a base 36 minute
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of the month ARCmail naming convention), and is made available
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for pickup.
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You will notice that at no time did my hands leave my arms, er,
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at no time did the message touch any other systems message base.
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Alan's message was not ECHO'd ANYwhere. It was simply passed
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along, sight-unseen by all the star systems between 200/201 and
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440/1. At this point, it exists only on the top star's system,
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and in that GroupMail packet, sitting on 440/1.
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Meanwhile, the midlevel stars have finished their daily
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processing, and are ready to call to pick up the new day's mail.
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Since their high water mark files (WARNINGS.!) have a date/time
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stamp of the last WARNINGS.xxx file they processed, when they do
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a File UPDate REQuest, their systems will see that the new
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WARNINGS file is 'later' than their high water mark file, and
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pick it up. They import the file into their message base, then
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turn around and make the WARNINGS.xxx file available to the next
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level of systems WITHOUT MODIFYING IT AT ALL. Alan's message now
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resides in the message bases of 440/1, 100/1, 200/1, and 300/1.
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They change the date time stamps of their WARNINGS.! file to
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match the date/time stamp of the WARNINGS.xxx file (for
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tomorrow's update request).
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However, what happens if one of the mailers that's being run on
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the mid-level star isn't running a program capable of generating
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a File UPDate REQuest? There exists in some GroupMail processors
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the ability to DELIVER the GroupMail ARChives by generating a
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File ATTach message to a specific list of nodes anytime it does a
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Group PACK (for Top Stars) or a Group IN (for mid-level stars).
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In this way, people without mailers sophisticated enough to
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perform the necessary requests can participate. This is a
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definite short-term kludge, however, since delivering a confer-
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ence is NOT the way GroupMail should work (think about what could
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 3 27 Feb 1989
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happen if a node had a conference delivered to it by more than
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one node, or if it also requested the conference!) Hence, this
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short-term fix may disappear in the near future, as most mailers
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are brought up to date.
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Finally, the leaf nodes get their turn. They use their own high
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water marks (WARNINGS.!) to generate File UPDate REQuests to
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their uplinks, the mid level stars, and pickup WARNINGS.xxx.
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This is the SAME file that was distributed to 100/1, 200/1, &
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300/1, and now resides on 200/201, 200/202, and 300/301. Since
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everybody has the same file, there is no need for SEEN-BY lines
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(non-group-aware echomail processors may need a SEEN-BY with just
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the uplink, or mid-level star in it, else they might resend the
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whole file back up the chain again. Still, its better than 3 or
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4 lines of them!) Alan's message now resides on every system in
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the net. If 200/201 is running a non-groupmail-aware echomail
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processor to 'kludge' this process, it may have 2 copies of his
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message in its base, unless it has a sophisticated dupe killer,
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which would catch it on the way back. Either way, that'd be the
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ONLY message that appeared twice. As more and more GroupMail
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processors are developed for the different boards, this problem
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will become extinct.
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As you can see, only two boards handled Alan's message twice.
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200/201, and its uplink, 200/1. No boards handled ALL the
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messages twice. And of course, with no SEEN-BYS or DUPES (or
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even FLAMES or off-topic messages if the moderator fully edits
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his conference), the GroupMail ARC files are much smaller and
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more quickly processed. No dupes can be generated because the
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conference isn't ECHO'd anywhwere. Alan gets positive confirma-
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tion that his message was seen by EVERYONE in the net (sort of
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like having electronic receipt mail!), and that the whole net
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probably saw it faster than echomail could ever possibly
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distribute it.
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Well, 'nuff said. I wanted this to be brief, but I also wanted
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it to be understandable. If you have any questions, or if you
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want to file-request GROUP (for FidoNet sysops), GMAIL (for QBBS
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sysops), or GMM (for Phoenix sysops), feel free to contact me at
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7:520/583, 1:107/583, 9:807/1, or just plain ol' 1-201-935-1485.
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Phil Buonomo
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 4 27 Feb 1989
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MSGHOLD - Holds your user's Group/EchoMail for them!
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Phoenix RCS BBS SysOps can now keep Group- and EchoMail
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messages addressed to their users. MsgHold V1.02
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prevents message-base maintenance utilities, such as
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LRH's DOM (Delete Old Messages), from deleting messages
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addressed to users of that BBS. MsgHold keeps the message on
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the system for 4 weeks, or until the addressee has seen the
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message. It then releases it to be processed by the system.
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Registration of the shareware package allows SysOps to set
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the number of days to hold the message.
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This is believed to be the first utility of its kind! On
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systems that import large volumes of Echo/Group Mail, the
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problem arose that the message bases were becoming intolerably
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large. While message-base packing utilities took care of the
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size of the message areas, users of the BBS had to be sure to
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log in each and every day to check for replies to their
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messages, new information, etc. This is just an unreasonable
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task. Hence, the birth of MSGHOLD.
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This package is FREQ'able from 7:520/557 1:107/557
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9:807/2 (The County Jail II BBS - 300-9600 HST/PCP) by the
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magic filename MSGHOLD, to be sure you always get the latest
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version.
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Other versions of MsgHold will soon be available for
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QBBS and TBBS systems. Look for their announcement here.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 5 27 Feb 1989
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What's Happening at SEA?
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SEAdog 4.00 was the first network mailer to provide a script
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capability for establishing a mail session over an alternate
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carrier. That original script driver was rather primitive,
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because at that time we did not yet know how many people (if any
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at all!) would be interested in such a thing.
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Well, now we know -- a LOT of people are interested!
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When we were designing version 4.50 one of our priorities was to
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develop a script language that could negotiate complex foreign
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networks, as well as provide a platform for netmail sessions with
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"foreign" systems. Since most of the present users of scripts
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use them to navigate Telenet's PC Pursuit service, we used that
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as our primary test case.
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The result in SEAdog 4.50 is a flexible and powerful script
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language that can handle the worst that an alternate carrier can
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dish out. A SEAdog script can handle not only the ordinary and
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expected cases, but can also respond intelligently to error
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conditions as they arise.
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We've developed a script for our own use that can take advantage
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of PC Pursuit, and can handle all of the occasional vagarities
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that arise -- everything from an offline dialout to a modem left
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in Racal-Vadic mode.
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The full script is too large to post here with an explanation, so
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we've gone through it and added copious comments. We added a
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route file to show how the script ties into the routing
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schedules. We've compiled an exchange list database for use by
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the script. And lastly, we've packaged it all in an archive and
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made it available for download or file request.
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If you're using SEAdog with PC Pursuit, get a copy of our sample
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script and make YOUR system PC Pursuit smart!
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Files mentioned this week:
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SCRIPTS.ARC A SEAdog script for PC Pursuit
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SCRIPTS.ARC may be downloaded from our technical support bulletin
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board at (201) 473-1991, or may be file-requested from either
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520/1015@AlterNet or 1:107/1015@FidoNet.
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Next week: Kitten 2.00
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 6 27 Feb 1989
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Claude F. Witherspoon
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Fido 1:288/525
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ONCE UPON A TIME MAYBE IN AMERICA
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Once upon a time there was a nation founded upon the priciples of
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reason and moral responsibility. Blessed with an industrious
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people and abounding in natural resources, it became one of the
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most prosperous and self-sufficient nations on this great earth.
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Then one day it grew accustomed to ease and plenty, to many of
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its people grew self-indulgent (anyone you know?). Foreigners
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were quick to exploit this weakness. The way they did this, was
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to provide something that the great nation had little of, illicit
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DRUGS!...
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Drug smugglers established their headquarters in a southern city.
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In a matter of years, their poison had seeped into virtually
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every town and village via a weblike distribution system that
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flourished under the noses of judges, politicians and police
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(sometimes even with their assistance), for drugs can corrupt
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anyone.
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Now, to show "all was not lost", some INTELLECTUALS initially
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extolled the psychic and medicinal benefits of drugs and
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minimized their harm. Ironically, these intellectuals, along with
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the RICH and PRIVILAGED, were the first to succumb. The Army was
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next. The last, most tragic victims were the poor.
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In the final stages of the plague, addicts whom drugs did not
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kill outright became susceptable to infectious diseases, which
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they unwittingly spread to loved ones.
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And in time, this once great and noble nation was so withered
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that it fell victim to countries a fraction of its size.
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Now, if you think this story is about 20th-century America, your
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wrong. This is a capsule acoount of what actually happened to
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China in the 19th century.
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In the early 1800s, China was amoung the wealthiest, most self
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sufficient nations on earth. Its rulers had governed for
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centuries under ancient system ethics set down by the followers
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of Confucius. China's very name for itself, Zhongguo, the "Middle
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Kingdom," understood its glorious position between heaven and
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earth. Nothing could bring it down. Except itself.
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Western nations ran up huge trade deficits with China to pay for
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porcelain, silk and tea. But China remained wary of outsiders and
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had little interest in purchasing foreign goods. Thus little
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could be done to redress the imballance of trade...until Britian
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discovered China's secret taste for opium and began shipping it
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into the country from British fields in India.
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The pernicious drug had been severely restricted by law in 1729,
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but as imports rose, some scholar-officials argued that opium
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 7 27 Feb 1989
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should be "decriminalized" and its distribution regulated by
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the government. Others declaired that is was beneficial to a
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weary psyche and cured stomach ailments.
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Opium was disparingly called heitu, "black dirt," for the tarry
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substance placed in long bamboo pipes. Addicts smoked it while
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stretched on benches in "dens" not too unlike today's "crack
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houses." In the early stages, opium induced euphoria. But
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habitual use left victims burnt-out husks of their former selves.
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In the final stages of addiction, it caused dementia and death.
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And victims more and more included nonaddicts. As opium smokers
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gathered, coughing and spitting, they unknowingly became infected
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with, and then spread to others, diseases as deadly in those days
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as AIDS is now, tuberculosis and influenza.
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At a time when such pressures as overpopulation, political
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infighting and declining revenues were also taking their toll,
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addiction raged through China's army and invaded the civil
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service. The effect was a rapid decline in provincial
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administration. Canals collapsed out of neglect, disrupting
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China's vital system of transportation. Pushing beyond endurance,
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the Chinese government closed its doors to all foreign goods and
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destroyed crates of opium stored in British warehouses in Canton.
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England declared war and its navy brutally defeated an inadequate
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Chinese fleet. As part of the treaty settling the "Opium War" of
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1839-42, a shocked and demoralized China ceded the southern
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island of Hong Kong to Britain. This city, much like Miami,
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became the hub of the drug trade, from which criminal societies,
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like Mafia today, joined forces with foreign smugglers to
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disperse the drug everywhere.
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Peasant discontent erupted into a massive civil war, called the
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Taiping Rebellion, which cost as many as 30 million lives. Taking
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advantage of chaos, England, France, Germany and Russia carved up
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China like a ripe melon. By the end of the 19th century, five
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percent of China's population was addicted, over 22 million
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people. So much bullion flowed out of the country that the
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economy teetered on the verge of collapse. In 1912, the last
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emperor, Puyi, was forced from the throne.
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China floundered in the bloody strife of civil war and foreign
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invasion for almost four decades. Then Mao Zedong's Communists
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crushed all opposition, taking another 30 million lives and
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forcing millions out of their villages and into communes. Mao did
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away with opium, by eliminating the smokers.
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Only recently has China begun to stem its nearly two-century
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decline, which begun with the first self-indulgent puff on an
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opium pipe.
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HISTORY RECORDS a sad cycle: the great civilizations; Greek,
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Roman, Spanish and Chinese; fell by their own inner weakness
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before their military forces were vanquished.
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 8 27 Feb 1989
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And if the United States ever does succumb, here too it will have
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been by our own hand.
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NOTE: Reprinted from readers Digest. Also, our address has
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changed here at KidsNews headquarters. Please note the
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1:288/525 address for correspondence with the folks at KidsNews.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 9 27 Feb 1989
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THE UNITEX ECHO IS NOW AVAIlABLE ON THE FIDONET BACKBONE
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The UNITEX CONFERENCE is now nationally distributed via the
|
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'backbone' links in Fidonet. It is also available on uucp
|
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networks in the form of a Usenet mailing list. The
|
||
conference originates from the UNITEX Network (1:107/701).
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UNITEX operates at 9600(PEP), 2400 and 1200 baud. Our data
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phone is (201) 795-0733.
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A large portion of the information provided by UNITEX is
|
||
generated from information obtained from the interrogation
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of both mainframe United Nations databases and Dialcom
|
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database services. We have recently acquired access
|
||
privileges to the UNICEF mainframe database in New York and
|
||
to the UN databse in Geneva, Switzerland. We designed an
|
||
automated procedure that scans several database index files
|
||
and then selectively downloads key information areas into
|
||
ascii text files. These files are then 'cleaned-up',
|
||
edited and parsed for subject headers and TO: fields and
|
||
are processed into FTSC compatible echo mail messages.
|
||
These in turn are bundled into network packets and then
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||
routed via the network.
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||
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||
In addition to the Echo Mail, we create a weekly file that
|
||
consists of all the 'raw' source material that goes into the
|
||
UNITEX Echo as 'official' news source material. Since we
|
||
create these files every Friday, the naming convention is
|
||
analogous to that used in Fidonet for weekly nodediffs and
|
||
has the same file extension used for NODEDIFF.A??, etc.
|
||
This facilitates file maintenance for those that maintain a
|
||
weekly files area. The arced weekly files are called
|
||
UNITEX.A?? and are, at present, file requestable from
|
||
107/701 between the hours of 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. The file
|
||
size ranges from 50K to 150K. If there are many requests for
|
||
these files on a weekly basis, other distribution methods
|
||
will be arranged.
|
||
|
||
|
||
NOTE:
|
||
An important issue that has come up from time-to-time
|
||
is whether UNITEX is a read-only conference. The
|
||
answer is NO. UNITEX encourages user response and
|
||
inquires to the issuses raised. Please see below,
|
||
Section C: Conferenece Rules & Guidelines for more
|
||
details.
|
||
|
||
A description and overview of UNITEX will follow.
|
||
|
||
James Waldron, Ph.D is the Conference Moderator and Senior
|
||
Director of UNITEX Network.
|
||
|
||
Dorothy Nicklus is the Associate Conference Moderator and
|
||
Co-director of the UNITEX Network.
|
||
|
||
UNITEX: Data phone (201) 795-0733
|
||
Voice phone (201) 653-2806
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 10 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
A. CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
|
||
|
||
UNITEX supplies and disseminates information that we obtain
|
||
from United Nations mainframe databases and related sources.
|
||
We have been a major advocate for the distribution of 'raw',
|
||
uncensored and un-edited material obtained from official UN
|
||
sources and are palying a key role in the acquistion and
|
||
distribution of this information. It consists of UN press
|
||
Releases, UN Radio News, International Press News, UNICEF
|
||
Press Releases, Electronic Publishing (DIPA) and related
|
||
UNICEF documents and Wordwide Disaster News and Relief Plans
|
||
from UNDRONET. The conference was establised 18 months ago
|
||
and had a limited distribution in the United States, Canada
|
||
and Australia. I maintained approximately 12 to 16 direct
|
||
links at any given time. Due to the interest generated in
|
||
general and to the timely internatioanl news coverage in
|
||
specific, vis a vis Soviet-US current affairs,
|
||
Nobel Peace Prize Award to UN, renewed interest in US space
|
||
efforts, etc., there has been a mushrooming effect resulting
|
||
in many requests to receive the UNITEX Echo via the national
|
||
'backbone' distribution.
|
||
|
||
|
||
B. CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
|
||
|
||
The issues that UNITEX presents are many and are dependent
|
||
on current political topics of interest and timely
|
||
international news. The key areas that we focus on are the
|
||
following:
|
||
|
||
Human Rights, Disarmament, Amnesty International (Action
|
||
Alerts), African News, news from and about 3rd World and
|
||
Developing Countries, World Peace Issues, Space News/NASA
|
||
and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Worlwide Disaster News &
|
||
Relief Programs, Technology Transfer and Information
|
||
Exchange, International Ecological and Environmental Issues,
|
||
World Health Organization Reports (International health
|
||
issues, vaccines, etc), Reports from the General Assembly
|
||
and World Bank (International finance, multi-national and
|
||
inter-governmental joint ventures, etc)
|
||
|
||
|
||
C. CONFERENCE GUIDELINES and RULES
|
||
|
||
Currently, the readers of UNITEX are concerned scientists,
|
||
educators, teachers and students, as well as governemnt
|
||
officials, UN delegates and news journalists. Through the
|
||
vehicle of this conference, UNITEX provides information and
|
||
promotes information and data exchange on a two-way basis.
|
||
One should exercise a certain level of 'diplomacy' when
|
||
addressing issues or people in this conference. There is
|
||
much to be gained by good-will, patience and understanding
|
||
and nothing by rash, insensitive and mindless chatter.
|
||
Think before you write and try to make intelligent thought
|
||
provoking commentary and stay focused on the issues
|
||
presented.
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 11 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
UNITEX welcomes reader replies and user feedback. It is not
|
||
a Read-Only conference *but* due to the sensitive nature of
|
||
many of the international issues that are addressed and the
|
||
scope and breadth of the distribution, it is strongly
|
||
*advised* that the UNITEX Area allow only *private* replies
|
||
to UNITEX (107/701) via netmail to allow for appropriate
|
||
conference moderation. Individual inquires of a specific
|
||
nature can be sent via netmail to UNITEX. Systems running
|
||
Confmail or MGM as an echomail processor can allow echomail
|
||
with private netmail replies. Simply define the UNITEX echo
|
||
area as a local private area then Export using Confmail
|
||
with UNITEX defined as an echo area in areas.bbs If the
|
||
inquires are useful and of a general interest, then we will
|
||
publish it in the UNITEX echo. This facilitates conference
|
||
moderation since absolute moderation on the backbone is not
|
||
possible.
|
||
|
||
|
||
D. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND and PERSPECTIVE
|
||
|
||
The United Nations plays a key role in several areas, such
|
||
as, population and agricultural studies, world health and
|
||
medical issues (imunization, new vaccines, treatment
|
||
programs, etc), international peace agreements, treaties and
|
||
security, international laws, peaceful uses of outer space,
|
||
equal rights, human rights and the disemmination of
|
||
information and international news. UNITEX is an advocate
|
||
for these issuses and is also strongly commited to modern
|
||
computer applications in the areas of software design and
|
||
network development. Apart from our main goals as
|
||
technology and information providers, UNITEX helps to make
|
||
the goals and efforts of the United Nations more widely
|
||
know, add to international understanding and reduce or
|
||
eliminate misunderstanding.
|
||
|
||
International news and new technological developments
|
||
occuring in both the industrialized nations and in the
|
||
developing nations is transmitted by UNITEX to all direct
|
||
private links as well as to the Fidonet backbone
|
||
distribution system.
|
||
|
||
E. PURPOSE
|
||
|
||
INFORMATION and THE CHALLENGE OF THE 90's
|
||
|
||
The following is a summary of several points that were
|
||
introduced by UNITEX to be discussed at the United Nations
|
||
Special Session on Information occurring on
|
||
June 13 - June 27, 1988:
|
||
|
||
|
||
Advances in communications technology has exacerbated the
|
||
gap between the developed and developing countries.
|
||
Information and communications in an interdependent world
|
||
effect the economy, trade, culture and the development of a
|
||
nation. Aside from this, confusion about the United Nations
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 12 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
is enormous.
|
||
|
||
The ever widening gulf that exists between the developed
|
||
industrialized nations and the undeveloped countries has
|
||
been referred to as the "North-South information
|
||
inequality". A pre-occupied concern of the developing
|
||
countries is freedom of information (article 19 of the
|
||
Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and the information
|
||
inequality that currently exists. To address these specific
|
||
areas of concern, the UN has referred to the general topic
|
||
of international co-operation and communication as the "New
|
||
World Information and Communication Order" Co-operation
|
||
between the North-South will provide the developing
|
||
countries with up-to-date know-how and assist in the
|
||
dissemination of fair coverage of the news about developing
|
||
nations.
|
||
|
||
Hopefuflly, UNITEX and the asscoiated nodes that link into
|
||
this conference can help narrow this gap using effective,
|
||
low-cost communication technology and decentralized wide-
|
||
area networks that are a trademark of both the
|
||
microcomputer networks (FidoNet) and the uucp networks
|
||
(UseNet, etc).
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
F. ASSOCIATED FILES
|
||
|
||
Much of the original material that goes into the UNITEX Echo
|
||
is abstracted from our weekly source text files (created
|
||
from UN database sources) and are named UNITEX.A??. Since
|
||
we create these files every Friday, the naming convention
|
||
is analogous to that used in Fidonet for weekly nodelists
|
||
and has the same file extension used for NODEDIFF.A??, etc.
|
||
This will facilitate your file maintenance should you desire
|
||
to acquire these files. At the present time, they can be
|
||
file requested from 107/701 between the hours of midnight
|
||
and 3:00 AM. The file size ranges from 50K to 150K. If
|
||
there are many requests for these files on a weekly basis,
|
||
other distribution methods will be arranged.
|
||
|
||
|
||
If there are any questions on any of this material, please
|
||
direct them, via private netmail to:
|
||
|
||
James Waldron
|
||
Director, UNITEX
|
||
|
||
Fidonet 1:107/701
|
||
Alternet 7:520/701
|
||
uucp --> Fidonet rutgers!rubbs!107!701!James_Waldron
|
||
uucp --> UNITEX rutgers!rubbs!unitex
|
||
waldron@newport.rutgers.edu or
|
||
cucard!dasys1!jwaldron
|
||
TCN 4005
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 13 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Thank you for your co-operation and support...........
|
||
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
UNITEX is including the following article by Kevin Axleson
|
||
to best describe the role of UNITEX as a host system
|
||
for Action Alerts produced by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL:
|
||
|
||
|
||
SUBJECT: ai announcement for fidonews
|
||
|
||
---------------------------------------------
|
||
An Invitation to Sponsor Amnesty International Activities on
|
||
your Fido BBS
|
||
|
||
AI is a worldwide nongovernmental organization working for
|
||
human rights. When AI learns of a person anywhere in the
|
||
world who is being tortured, executed, held incommunicado
|
||
("disappeared") by unidentified abductors, or detained for
|
||
non-violent political reasons, AI's millions of members
|
||
worldwide work together to pressure the responsible
|
||
government officials to cease the abuse.
|
||
|
||
The reality of human rights abuse around the world is that
|
||
many people suffer terrible fates in anonymity. AI counters
|
||
this by making real peoples' situations known and by coming
|
||
rapidly to their protection. AI members have this great
|
||
influence in the fate of others by virtue of specific and
|
||
timely alerts members receive from AI's headquarters in
|
||
London. These alerts tell who is suffering, what background
|
||
there is on the situation, what international principles and
|
||
protections can be requested on the victim's behalf, and
|
||
exactly which government officials to write to.
|
||
|
||
There are 400,000 members of AIUSA, 2,000 regularly meeting
|
||
groups, and a number of specialized activities for medical,
|
||
legal and other tasks related to defending prisoners. One
|
||
of these activities is the "Urgent Action Network", which we
|
||
invite you to consider hosting on your Fido BBS.
|
||
|
||
We at the Urgent Action Network office postal-mail alerts
|
||
about the most serious human rights concerns to a network of
|
||
12,000 persons in the USA. These alerts are telexed direct
|
||
to us from AI's HQ, and often tell of persons who may be
|
||
under torture or in other dire situations at the very moment
|
||
we mail the alert.
|
||
|
||
In addition to the US Postal network, we offer about 3
|
||
"Urgent Action Alerts" a week to computer users over a
|
||
growing network of hosting electronic communications
|
||
systems. We have delivered these alerts consistently now
|
||
for a year and a half since we started on PeaceNet. In
|
||
approaching the extensive world of PC BBSes, we have decided
|
||
not to place this information over traditional echoes, but
|
||
to offer it by file polling for systems who would be willing
|
||
to work with us to present our information effectively and
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 14 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
work with AI letterwriters on their systems.
|
||
If you run a BBS which has a community interested in social
|
||
issues, you may find our information to be a meaningful
|
||
service to your readers. We invite you to contact us if you
|
||
would like more information. We would like to have Fido BBS
|
||
hosts throughout the USA. You would only need to make one
|
||
file poll a week, receiving from 25 to 50kchar at up to 9600
|
||
baud, to participate effectively in the Online Urgent Action
|
||
Network.
|
||
|
||
You may examine our basic materials in file area 6 of the
|
||
UNITEX BBS 1:107/701 and 7:520/701, located in New Jersey,
|
||
phone 201-795-0733. We will be adding information to
|
||
deepen the experience for letter writers; what you will see
|
||
here is our simplest offering. Our information is also
|
||
posted on many large commercial systems, most accessible of
|
||
which might be CompuServe's "issuesforum", data library 15.
|
||
Please do not repost these materials, rather, contact us to
|
||
be tied in directly.
|
||
|
||
The coordinator of the "Online Urgent Action Network" for
|
||
AIUSA is Kevin Axelson, who may be reached at UNITEX:
|
||
107/701 kevin axelson, CompuServe: 76414,447, and uucp:
|
||
!rutgers!hombre!kaxelson. If you have difficulty with any
|
||
of these connections, you may also telephone to the UA
|
||
office at 303-440-0913, between 9AM and 5PM weekdays,
|
||
Mountain Standard Time.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 15 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COLUMNS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
YACK
|
||
Yet Another Complicated Komment
|
||
|
||
by Steven K. Hoskin
|
||
( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
|
||
|
||
Episode 22: Why Anyone Would Run a BBS
|
||
|
||
|
||
Yes, this is a strange hobby we partake in. We spend a lot of
|
||
money to buy a computer. Then we spend more money getting a hard
|
||
disk for it. We spend more money getting a modem. Then we
|
||
discover bulletin boards and decide to run one. In some cases,
|
||
this warrants more hard drive and maybe a faster modem. More
|
||
money invested in this computer. We fight with unfriendly
|
||
software and poor documentation. We struggle with utilities to
|
||
make our boards run more the way we'd like them to, and we change
|
||
software when something new comes out that does something we'd
|
||
like. We spend hours setting up programs and control files. We
|
||
wait anxiously for certain events to happen which, due to
|
||
cost-effectiveness, must occur at wee hours of the o-dark
|
||
hundred. We babysit and lament our machines, and tinker
|
||
incessantly with the configurations. And we argue and complain
|
||
about the way things are or are not done. All this just to make
|
||
our computers able to be used by OTHER people.
|
||
|
||
Now wait a minute. Where's the logic?
|
||
|
||
Well, as most of the diehards will tell you, it's the sheer joy
|
||
of running a BBS. For some, helping other people (i.e., the
|
||
users) is where the joy is at. For some, it's the mastery of the
|
||
system and software. For others, it's the pure challenge of
|
||
technowizardry. And for some it's just a neat idea.
|
||
|
||
It's a hobby. No matter how you look at it, it is a hobby. Some
|
||
take it more seriously than others, but in all respects it can be
|
||
lived without. It's a way to fill up some spare time. Okay, ALL
|
||
of your spare time. But it's a time filler. That's all.
|
||
Everything else - the helping part, the mastery part, the
|
||
challenge part, the nostalgia - these things are extra benefits
|
||
obtained by running a BBS.
|
||
|
||
Unfortunately, as with most things in life, the benefits are
|
||
accompanied by some drawbacks: The late hours, the frustrating
|
||
configuration processes, the flames, the hardware investments,
|
||
the hackers trying to break in and the viruses that succeed. YOU
|
||
have to decide whether or not it's worth it for you. Do the
|
||
benefits outweigh the drawbacks in YOUR mind? If not, don't run
|
||
a BBS. Run a Point node or just be a user. But don't complain
|
||
to me because you made a bad choice. You made it.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 16 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
LATEST VERSIONS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Latest Software Versions
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Fido 12K* Opus 1.03b TBBS 2.1
|
||
QuickBBS 2.03 TPBoard 5.0 TComm/TCommNet 3.2
|
||
Lynx 1.22 Phoenix 1.3 RBBS 1.71D
|
||
|
||
|
||
Network Node List Other
|
||
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
|
||
|
||
Dutchie 2.90C* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32
|
||
SEAdog 4.50* MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 2.0*
|
||
BinkleyTerm 2.00 Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
|
||
D'Bridge 1.10 XlatList 2.90* TPB Editor 1.21
|
||
FrontDoor 2.0 XlaxNode 2.32* TCOMMail 2.0
|
||
PRENM 1.40 XlaxDiff 2.32* TMail 8901*
|
||
ParseList 1.30 UFGATE 1.02*
|
||
GROUP 2.04*
|
||
EMM 1.40
|
||
MSGED 1.96
|
||
|
||
* Recently changed
|
||
|
||
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
|
||
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
|
||
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 17 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
8 May 1989
|
||
Digital Equipment Corporations User Society (DECUS) will be
|
||
holding its semi-annual symposium in Atlanta, GA. Runs
|
||
through May 12. As usual sysop's will get together and chat.
|
||
|
||
19 May 1989
|
||
Start of EuroCon III at Eindhoven, The Netherlands
|
||
|
||
24 Aug 1989
|
||
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
|
||
|
||
24 Aug 1989
|
||
FidoCon '89 starts at the Holiday Inn in San Jose,
|
||
California. Trade show, seminars, etc. Contact 1/89
|
||
for info.
|
||
|
||
5 Oct 1989
|
||
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
|
||
|
||
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
||
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 18 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
|
||
|
||
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
|
||
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
|
||
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
|
||
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
|
||
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
|
||
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
|
||
|
||
DIVISION AT-LARGE
|
||
|
||
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
|
||
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
|
||
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
|
||
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
|
||
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
|
||
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
|
||
16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
|
||
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
|
||
18 Andrew Adler 1:135/47 Bob Swift 1:140/24
|
||
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
|
||
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-09 Page 19 27 Feb 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
__
|
||
The World's First / \
|
||
BBS Network /|oo \
|
||
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
|
||
_`@/_ \ _
|
||
| | \ \\
|
||
| (*) | \ ))
|
||
______ |__U__| / \//
|
||
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
||
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
|
||
|
||
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
|
||
|
||
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
|
||
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
|
||
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
|
||
increase worldwide communications.
|
||
|
||
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
|
||
Address _________________________________________________________
|
||
City ____________________________________________________________
|
||
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
|
||
Country _________________________________________________________
|
||
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
||
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
|
||
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
|
||
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
|
||
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
|
||
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Your Special Interests __________________________________________
|
||
_________________________________________________________________
|
||
_________________________________________________________________
|
||
In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
|
||
_________________________________________________________________
|
||
_________________________________________________________________
|
||
Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
|
||
US Funds to:
|
||
International FidoNet Association
|
||
PO Box 41143
|
||
St Louis, Missouri 63141
|
||
USA
|
||
|
||
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
|
||
insure the future of FidoNet.
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Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
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and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
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membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors
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was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
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established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
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input to this Conference.
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