59 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
59 lines
3.2 KiB
Plaintext
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The Twit Filter: The Professional Amateur
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by Dave Bealer
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FidoNet has been the largest amateur e-mail network in the world
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practically since its inception. USENET has been the largest public
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research/educational network for many years. Both of these networks
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were founded with, and have operated for years with, strict non-
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profit policies. In the early days compliance was not a problem.
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Years ago only bit-headed PC communications experts could cobble
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together a working FidoNet system from the dizzying array of
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allegedly compatible utilities available. Those who had passed this
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initiation were unlikely to simply pass the information on, intact,
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to someone who didn't "belong." While friendlier Fido sysops would
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lend assistance and advice to newcomers, the newbies were still
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required to complete the FidoNet utility scavenger hunt before their
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system was complete.
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Early USENET systems ran on UNIX mainframes which could only be
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afforded by Universities, government agencies, and large companies.
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Most of the early USENET users were therefore students, scientists,
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and military/intelligence workers. Not the kind of group that would
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try to conduct big business in the newsgroups.
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Today it seems everyone is trying to cash in on the Internet. An
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"Internet Business Journal" recently started up to pander to the
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suits who are invading jeans and t-shirt territory and trying to tame
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the UNIX command line with their evil GUIs. The Clinton regime
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hijacked the Internet and has offered it up as the core of their
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fabulous solve-all-our-problems "Information Superhighway." In the
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face of all the money being thrown at the Internet, the "professional
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amateurs" howl piteously about how their precious "free" Internet is
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being used for evil profit. Apparently these characters never
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realized that *somebody* was paying for the UNIX mainframes they were
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using all these years. As Heinlein would say, "TANSTAAFL."
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The most avid professional amateurs inhabit FidoNet (sometimes it
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seems as though the people most avid about *everything* inhabit
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FidoNet). "Back in the 'good' old days, I used to pay $5,000/month
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in phone bills to import the echoes for me and my three buddies. Now
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these damned cost sharing plans and satellite feeds are taking the
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glory out of it." Sure, paying $50/month for an entire message and
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file feed may be efficient, but it's just not sexy enough. These
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guys should go to Las Vegas. With that extra $4,950/month they could
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buy all the ego, glory, and sex they could ever need or want. The
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trouble is that what they really need is common sense, which is not
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something you can buy.
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The worst professional amateurs are disgruntled sysops who previously
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tried to go commercial and failed miserably. Since these guys tried
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to turn professional and couldn't hack it, they delight in leading
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witch hunts to root out any evil commercialization of their "beloved"
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FidoNet. They're as bad as ex-smokers. Eventually all the real pros
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will venture forth into the Internet and beyond. FidoNet will be
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left with the true hobbyists, who never had any commercial desires.
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Also hanging around will be the pitiful professional amateurs, whom
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the hobbyists will have in their twit filters. {RAH}
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