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74 KiB
Plaintext
1515 lines
74 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 6, Number 37 11 September 1989
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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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: Vince Perriello
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Editors Emeritii: Dale Lovell
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Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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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 a Continuous Mail system, available for
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network mail 24 hours a day.
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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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We don't necessarily agree with the contents of every article
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published here. Most of these materials are unsolicited. No
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article submitted by a FidoNet SysOp will be rejected if it is
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properly attributed and legally acceptable. We will publish
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every responsible submission received.
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Table of Contents
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1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
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Zone 2 Excommunicated! ................................... 1
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A letter from a FidoNet Sysop ............................ 3
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What needs to be done, and NOW! .......................... 6
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It's Put Up or Shut Up Time for FidoNet .................. 8
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NCLM Contest 6 ........................................... 12
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America...WAKE UP! ....................................... 13
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Proposal for IFNA Direction .............................. 15
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Distribution has changed ................................. 18
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Those who live in Glass Houses ........................... 20
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The New, Improved OPCNLIST ............................... 24
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And more!
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 1 11 Sep 1989
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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Matt Whelan, 3:712/627
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Zone 2 Excommunicated!
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----------------------
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Zone 3 excommunicated Zone 2 last week, and I have to tell you it
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was a lot of fun. Those who met me at FidoCon know I've been
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really itching to excommunicate someone, but even they will be
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amazed at the grand scope of this effort . . .
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It was _almost_ as good as the one I had planned at San Jose --
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top of my list there was Tom Jennings. That's one way to make
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people sit up and take notice of a new IC, huh?
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Truth is, the Zone 2 'excommunication' was but a small teething
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problem in an otherwise worthwhile plan. We instituted a new
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method of nodelist update distribution between the Zone
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Coordinators last week, and it seems likely that from this week
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on all Zone nodelists will be 'in synch' for the first time in
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several years.
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Because of time differences from Zone to Zone, and with some
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Zones afflicted by poor phone lines and high costs, it has been
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particularly difficult to get all the Zone nodelist segments
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shipped around the world quickly enough.
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The new method relies on some fairly smart footwork by the ZCs
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and the Zonegates, but it looks like it will work well. Next week
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Zone 3 has even promised to reinstate Zone 2.
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My thanks go to the ZCs and especially to the volunteer gate
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operators, Randy Bush and Dick Gladden in Zone 1, Joop
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Mellaart and Peter Janssens in Zone 2, and Luis Tombo (and now Pablo
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Kleinman) in Zone 4. If they keep this up I think I'll double
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their salaries . . .
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I'm Excessively Annoying
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------------------------
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Boy, did we make a big mistake deciding to give the IC a listing
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in each Zone. Hindsight is a wonderful thing -- it's now quite
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clear to me what a disaster we inflicted on people.
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What happened when someone in Zone 1 entered a message to
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Matt Whelan? Their message editor dutifully plucked the 1:1/1000
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address from FidoUser.Lst, and their packer dutifully sent the
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message direct to my system in Sydney, Australia. Oh dear.
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 2 11 Sep 1989
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It may make some of you feel a little better to know the first
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person who placed an IDD call was Steve Bonine, but it didn't
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make Steve and I feel good.
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Worse was to come, however. Bob Hartman sent me a simple message,
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and his system made several calls without ever getting through the
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transfer. So I decided to call him and 'collect' the message to
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stop his system feeding the Telco.
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Did I know which of my node numbers he was calling? Nah! So it
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took about 10 calls including the failed connects before I
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finally woke up to what was happening and dialed in as 1:1/1000.
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Harry Lee was our next victim. Fortunately he had a cleaner line,
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and got his message through first time. Others may have tried and
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failed for all I know; if so, I must offer to them as sincere an
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apology as I offer to Steve, Bob and Harry.
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The out-of-zone entries for the IC have been pulled from the
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nodelist this week. If you want to talk to me, send a message to
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3:712/627 or 3:3/1000 and let the Zonegates do the talking . . .
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[Tricking people into making international calls is pretty
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annoying -- with any luck someone will complain and I'll get to
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excommunicate the IC. Yeah!]
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 3 11 Sep 1989
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A letter from a FidoNet Sysop
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Dear colleague,
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To start, I give you my apologies for choosing such an
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"ordinary" topic for this letter.
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We have all seen and sometimes participated (and still
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see and sometimes still participate) on a big discussion that
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involved (and still involves) a big (if not all) of FidoNet
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during the last months.
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POLICY4 was (is) the controversial matter, the very
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center of that discussion.
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I, myself, had some problems with the International
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Coordinator regarding the new POLICY: I don't agree with a lot
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of things, especially with the distribution of power along the *C
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structure, to which I belong both as Regional and Zone
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coordinator, and with the methods adopted for elections.
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If I would be power-hungry, I could just sit down and say
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nothing: I'm probably the most power-secure individual in the
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net, as it is impossible to anyone (following the procedures
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specified in POLICY4) to remove me.
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But I'm obviously not (I'm writing this, right now). And
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I expressed that from the beginning to David Dodell and others.
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Before voting for POLICY4, we [Z4 sysops] protested
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because we were not invited to participate on its writing, and
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informed the IC that we wanted a chance to propose some changes
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before it was finally approved. But David Dodell didn't give us
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any answer at all, he simply ignored the text.
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POLICY4 was unanimously rejected by the whole *C
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structure of Zone 4, especially by myself. The reason: while
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I'm not sure if "democracy" would be the best way to handle the
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net, I'm positively against any kind of "aristocracy".
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POLICY4 is definitely aristocratic, and that aristocracy
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is made up by the RCs and ZCs.
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That does not mean that the RCs and ZCs are the bad guys
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on this story, or that they have bad intentions. I have treated
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the ZCs for a while already, and sincerely trust on the ZCs good
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intentions. I'm a Regional and Zone coordinator myself, and
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trust on my good intentions :-).
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But the legitimacy of the power structure at FidoNet is
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questionable for many.
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 4 11 Sep 1989
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But with more discussions and x-large FidoNews we won't
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change anything, or at least, we won't get any positive results.
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In Zone 4, POLICY4 was approved only last week (by Z4's
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*C structure), and if it was, it was done on a "preliminary
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basis", which means that the decision could be reverted if the
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same people vote against it anytime.
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We [the representatives of Zone 4] voted for POLICY4 just
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to avoid more trouble with the IC.
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But I won't wait a second this time: something has to be
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done, as soon as possible.
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I personally don't trust in revolutions: they always
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bring more problems than the ones they eradicate.
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My proposal is to "go slowly but steadily": let's
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propose some essential changes in POLICY4.
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For example, I'd like the NCs to participate in the
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elections; and think this could be a good start for bringing a
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democratic form of administration for FidoNet.
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I took the initiative and added a node named "Change
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Policy4!" in the nodelist, with the number 4:4/5 (the Policy5
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Project).
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The Policy5 Project will write a Policy5 proposal, that
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when finished, will be presented to the whole *C structure to be
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voted.
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But if we want a Policy representing the views of the
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majority of FidoNet, we definitely need participation. Consider
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yourself from now, invited to participate in the Policy5 Project.
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We do need YOU! FidoNet needs YOU!
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We will soon start an echomail conference to talk about
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each matter, and to let everyone express his/her views and make
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proposals for each topic. And we need desperately YOUR help, to
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distribute the P5PROJECT echo in zones 1, 2 and 3.
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Please, contact us right now: this is your best chance
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to get involved.
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I hope you got the basic idea. If you have further
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questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
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Thank you in advance for all your help in writing a
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better policy for a better FidoNet, and for taking the time to
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read this text.
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 5 11 Sep 1989
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My best regards,
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Pablo Kleinman (4:1200/101)
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FidoNet Coordinator for Zone 4
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Buenos Aires, Argentina
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 6 11 Sep 1989
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What needs to be done, and NOW!
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by Phil Buonomo, 1:107/583, 7:520/583, 9:807/1
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For several months, you've been seeing articles written by yours
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truly here which have been critical of the *C administration.
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These articles began with my outrage over several RC's attempts
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to wrest control of editorial privilege from the Editor of Fido-
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News based on the idea that "they pay to have it distributed".
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This incident was only one of a series of incidents involving the
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*C structure which date back to the original creation and "pass-
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ing" of Policy 4. Even before it was adopted, we had people like
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Steve Bonine threatening an NC with removal because he hadn't
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"jumped" fast enough, installing certain nodelist flags.
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Then Policy 4 was 'voted in' in a secret ballot (ask Dave Dodell
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to publish the FULL results, not just the vote count) in a two
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week period (for a six thousand node network!?!). Zone 2 rejec-
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ted it, Zone 4 rejected it, but it was shoved in place by the US
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RC's anyway.
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Then Jim Grubs was thrown out of the nodelist (by Steve Bonine,
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no less) for defying the legitimacy of Policy 4.
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Net 154 was thrown out in its entirety for having 3 nodes which
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were "outside the traditional geographic boundaries" of its
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network. It didn't matter that these nodes were nowhere near
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being close to any other network. It was the failure of the NC
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to cowtow to the RC that caused the networks removal "for the
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good of FidoNet".
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Net 170 had an NC appointed by the RC, and when a vote went
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against the new NC, it was disallowed by the RC because it was
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"against policy".
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An NC/NEC admits to automatically 'echo chopping' someone's mail,
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and gets away with it without so much as a "Boo!" from the *C's.
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Now, certain NEC's talk about running the backbone as if the
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systems belonged to them! At last year's FidoCon, Butch Walker
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and Ray Gwinn both supported the idea that conferences belonged
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to the moderators, not the *C's or FidoNet, or the backbone. Yet
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people are now taking up 'network sides' about who can or can't
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participate in a conference!
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Is it just me, or does anyone else see a pattern here?
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Listen, gang. I've gotta tell ya something...
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All the *C's in the world may be a great bunch of guys, but when
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a network policy in place makes it IMPOSSIBLE for the little guy,
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the nodes, to have a say in things that affect him, its just
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plain WRONG.
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 7 11 Sep 1989
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Now, a few weeks ago, Vince wrote an editorial telling people
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that wanted democracy that they had missed their chance by not
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supporting IFNA. I've come to the realization that he was right.
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I suggest that you join IFNA. Make it strong, and make it a
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voice that can be heard. Then, maybe you can make the following
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proposals I have come true:
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1) A self-perpetuating coordinator structure is wrong.
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2) Network nodes should select their OWN NC, not have him ap-
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pointed by some guy 3 states away who's never been in touch
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anyway.
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3) The IC should be appointed by the IFNA BoD. That's the way it
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was done in the first place, and it was a good idea because...
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4) Everyone in the nodelist should be an "At-Large" member of
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IFNA, and get to vote for the "At-Large" BoD seats.
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With that in mind, I have no problem with the IC appointing the
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ZC's, and RC's being appointed by the ZC.
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5) With all the hysterical jumping up and down and outright
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propaganda about belonging to multiple networks, Policy should
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contain a clause on discrimination. FidoNet should not discri-
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minate on basis of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, OR
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Network affiliation. This should be STRICTLY enforced.
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This plan gives democracy a chance, while maintaining technical
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integrity at the top of the organization. It also gives the
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individual node TWO voices in the management of his network, one
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in the direct election of his NC, and one in the election of the
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IFNA BoD, which would appoint the IC.
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People talk about the benefits of Top-down and Bottom-up manage-
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ment. Well, this plan gives us all the advantages of both. It
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puts the responsibility right back where it belongs, and doesn't
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compromise the technical operation of the network. It also pro-
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motes a strong IFNA, an idea for which I have to thank Vince
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Perriello, and his editorials in FidoNews.
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With all that's happened lately, don't you think its time the
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*C's stopped stepping on the individual nodes, and started being
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responsible TO them (read: YOU)?
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 8 11 Sep 1989
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Put up or Shut Up Time by Phil Buonomo, 1:107/583, 7:520/583
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Rhetoric time's over, folks.
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I'm on a plane flying back to Newark airport from FidoCon '89 as
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I type this. There were a lot of things accomplished there, but
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nothing compares to the actions of the IFNA Board of Directors.
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In case you didn't know it, YOU now have a vote on deciding
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whether or not to "re-boot" FidoNet.
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Here's a little background. Several months ago, when Policy 4
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was adopted, I became concerned with some of its pieces, pri-
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marily the sections dictating that nodes would not be able to
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select their NC's. It seems to me that TJ had set up FidoNet
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with the intention that each net would set its own local
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policies, and POL4 overruled this. I felt this was wrong.
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Then, I began to investigate and learn of several perceived
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abuses of policy mainly by several RC's. I reported on these in
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FidoNews, but only the ones for which I had documentation, as I
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feel strongly that spreading rumors is poor journalism. In doing
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so, however, I was forced to report on some actions that I don't
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think I would normally have done. In doing so, I stepped on some
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people that frankly didn't deserve it. I'll get to that later,
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but the point is that for each story I wrote, I received reports
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of worse abuses for which there was no documentation available.
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But writing articles in FidoNews wasn't enough. I knew that if
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we were to have any representation of the individual nodes in
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FidoNet, that action was going have to come from outside the
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current administration. That's when Vince Perriello published an
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editorial in FidoNews stating that the supporters of democracy
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had "missed the boat" when they failed to support IFNA. THAT
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SAME DAY, someone close to the Board of Directors claimed that
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the reason IFNA never did anything was because they had never
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elected enough directors who had the "intestinal fortitude" to
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stand up for what they thought was right and should be done.
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It was at that point that I thought to myself, "we have an elec-
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tion coming up, why not GET some people on the board who don't
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care about the flames, are willing to get things done, and are
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willing to work together selflessly to accomplish the goal of
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bringing democratic representation back to FidoNet. After all,
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if IFNA wasn't the representative of the "grunt sysop", what
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good WAS it? It was at this point that I talked to several of
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my acquaintences who were members of IFNA, and convinced them to
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"bet it all" by being elected to the Board. I campaigned in net
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mail, and was able to garner enough votes to capture 7 seats in
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the latest election. Hardly enough for a majority, and nowhere
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near a 2/3rds majority to get By-Laws amendments passed, but
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enough to put together a block of votes that might lend us the
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ability to cut through the apathy that has been prevalent in the
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majority of the Directors in the recent past.
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 9 11 Sep 1989
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Let me just say for the moment, however, that I can hardly blame
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past boards for being afraid to do anything. They were flamed
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horribly just for setting up IFNA, and unfortunately it seems
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these days that anyone who wants to do ANYTHING to improve the
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quality of life in FidoNet gets perceived as the "son of satan".
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I explained to our slate that all they could expect of our move-
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ment were flames, insults, and general misery, but each one was
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willing to put up with all the crap because frankly, they all
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cared enough about the network to see it through.
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Once I'd lined up a slate of members, I approached the problem of
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democracy in FidoNet (AND the problems inherent with IFNA lately)
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in two phases. Firstly, what HAD to (and could) be done NOW, and
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secondly, what couldn't be done at FidoCon, but could be done
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within about six months.
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For the short range, I envisioned IFNA opening up its membership
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to ALL nodes in FidoNet cost-free (an idea that Vince Perriello
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had actually pushed thru in the special election of earlier this
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year, but due to wording problems with the amendment, it was not
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effective). I also saw a need for using electronic mail in the
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election process, as much of the costs that were being incurred
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by IFNA were costs of running the election, i.e., land-mailing
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ballots to all the members, paper and reproduction costs, etc.
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Thirdly, I felt that IFNA should return to its original intent of
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appointing the Vice-president/Technical Coordinator to serve as
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the International Coordinator. This would reinstate IFNA's con-
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trol over the publication of the nodelist and the legitimization
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of its control over the administrative branch of FidoNet, the *C
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structure, on behalf of the sysops it was supposed to represent.
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I also felt that since Policies 1 through 3 had been ratified by
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the BoD, and that a previous version of Policy 4 had been rejec-
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ted by that same governing body, that they had the right and the
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duty to reject the current Policy 4 and send it back to the RC's.
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That took care of the short-term, but was obviously not enough.
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We needed a stable organization that could withstand the tests of
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||
time to represent our present and future sysops. The screw-up
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||
regarding the new At-Large membership was just an example of a
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set of By-Laws that were self-contradicting, confusing, and to a
|
||
great extent, completely ineffective. For the long term, I de-
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cided to push for a re-writing of both the By-Laws of IFNA and
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the FidoNet policy, to be voted on by ALL the members of FidoNet,
|
||
by making all the sysops at-large members. In this way, I felt
|
||
we could give democratic representation back to the sysops.
|
||
|
||
Well, things didn't work out completely according to plan, but
|
||
the board DID accomplish the goal I set out to. With people
|
||
like Vince Perriello, Matt Whelan, Randy Bush, Bob Hartman, Tom
|
||
Jennings, Thom Henderson, Fabian Gordon, Tony Davis, John Knox,
|
||
Jim Cannell, Steve Jordan, Jim Dunmyer, Don Daniels, and many
|
||
others too numerous to mention individually, working together,
|
||
we have given the choice back to the sysops of FidoNet. I talk-
|
||
ed Thom Henderson into chairing the board because he knows Par-
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 10 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
liamentary procedure and I knew we'd need to run the Board meet-
|
||
ings civilly to keep them from degenerating into shouting matches.
|
||
Besides which, outside of the running the meeting, the Chairman
|
||
really has no power at all, that's held by the President who is
|
||
the public representative of IFNA. The Board elected Les Kooyman
|
||
as IFNA President, one of the leaders of the DEMOCRACY movement.
|
||
|
||
Anyway, back to business. We have made everyone an at-large
|
||
member of IFNA. We have removed the postal restrictions from
|
||
the By-Laws. We did NOT reject Policy 4, but we did not accept
|
||
it, either. Either way, its probably a moot point now. Either
|
||
a majority of the sysops of FidoNet are going to approve of IFNA
|
||
standing up for them, or IFNA is going to cease to exist and the
|
||
nodes will be left with what they have now. If that's good
|
||
enough for the sysops of FidoNet, so be it. I've accomplished
|
||
my goal. Now its up to YOU to let us know how you feel. This
|
||
may well be your last chance to vote yourselves a democratic
|
||
administration. By the way, that proposal needs a 50% majority
|
||
of the sysops in the nodelist, NOT just a majority of the votes.
|
||
A NON-VOTE IS A NO VOTE, FOLKS!
|
||
|
||
The bottom line is that if you want democracy in FidoNet, you
|
||
HAVE to speak up and let your vote be heard. Apathy will keep
|
||
Policy the way it is now, and your last chance for a voice in
|
||
your own network will be gone.
|
||
|
||
Right now, I feel exhausted. I was asked in the airport if I'd
|
||
"had fun" at FidoCon. Upon reflection, the answer was "No." It
|
||
was a LOT of hard work, mostly writing and talking to others,
|
||
trying to convince people that this was a worth while effort.
|
||
Many people had given up on IFNA long ago. Thom Henderson had
|
||
had enough aggravation, so I had to resort to dirty tactics. I
|
||
reminded him that he'd helped to start IFNA, and that deep down
|
||
he probably cared enough to give FidoNet one more try. I had to
|
||
convince 6 good people that it was worth the flames and aggrava-
|
||
vation they'd get just to provoke a reaction from others in the
|
||
net (in order to seat a full and active Board). Make no mistake
|
||
about it, at the friday night Board meeting (after the election
|
||
results were announced), we had enough votes due to absenteeism
|
||
to pretty much do anything we wanted. But we adjourned until
|
||
Saturday night, primarily so that other alternates for the Board
|
||
could be found. People's claims of our "taking over" are there-
|
||
fore just plain unfounded. There was a LOT of convincing to do
|
||
in order to prove to the rest of the Board of our true intent-
|
||
ions. I think we were able to do so, after all, my proposal was
|
||
passed unanimously. This year's Board Meetings were a prime
|
||
example of what people with opposing viewpoints can accomplish
|
||
when they decide to put their differences aside & work together.
|
||
|
||
Speaking of working together, Tom Jennings pointed out that every
|
||
thing we wanted to do was going to take a lot of trust. The
|
||
Board was going to have to trust the *C's to help carry out the
|
||
vote in a fair manner. The administrative nodes were going to
|
||
have to trust IFNA to come up with a fair way to produce a work-
|
||
ing policy document. Matt Whelan, the new IC, promised that the
|
||
*C structure would do everything in its power to get out the
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 11 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
vote. Based on that trust, IFNA put its corporate structure on
|
||
the line. If this referendum is not carried, IFNA will be dis-
|
||
solved. Even if it IS carried out the current Board will be out
|
||
of jobs. Obviously, I included this point in order to prove our
|
||
intent was founded with the right reasons.
|
||
|
||
We accomplished what I'd set out to do, give the sysops of Fido-
|
||
Net one more chance to have a say. In this light, I will be happy
|
||
to tender my resignation as a member of the Board, if the sysops
|
||
of FidoNet feel I should. This whole thing was my idea, and I
|
||
don't want to give even the slightest appearance of impropriety.
|
||
I have appointed Tony Davis from Division 19 as my alternate,
|
||
and he would be taking my seat on the Board. I've helped to
|
||
give the sysops of FidoNet a chance at a voice in the adminis-
|
||
tration of their own network.
|
||
|
||
Well, that's about it. This is all I have to say on the matter,
|
||
and will not be responding to flames. Polite requests for infor-
|
||
mation MAY be answered if they come via netmail. I can't prom-
|
||
ise anything, because I have a feeling I'm going to get swamped.
|
||
|
||
The fate of FidoNet is now literally in YOUR hands. Either make
|
||
your voice heard, or things wil go on the way they are now.
|
||
|
||
It's up to YOU now. The choice is yours.
|
||
|
||
Phil Buonomo
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 12 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Butch Witherspoon
|
||
Fido 1:288/525
|
||
|
||
National Computer Learning Month
|
||
CONTESTS FOR GROUPS
|
||
Computer Learning Month 1989 Event Contest
|
||
|
||
4 Grand Prizes: Two grand prize winners in each category. Each
|
||
winner and his/her group or organization will recieve a computer
|
||
system.
|
||
|
||
16 Second Prizes: Eight second prize winners in each category.
|
||
Each event leader and his/her event or organization will be
|
||
awarded software programs.
|
||
|
||
48 Third Prizes: Honorable mention certificates for winning event
|
||
leaders.
|
||
|
||
Categories: School/college
|
||
Community/ Group organization
|
||
|
||
Description: As an activity for computer learning month, we
|
||
encourage schools, user groups, colleges, community groups, and
|
||
local organizations to sponsor a local computer learning month
|
||
event. This event should be a get-together for sharing computer
|
||
and software skills, knowledge and projects among educators,
|
||
faculty, parents, students and community members.
|
||
|
||
Rules: The event must take place between September 15, and
|
||
October 31, 1989. Write a report,(not to exceed 1,000 words)
|
||
describing the event. All entries must be typed or word processed
|
||
and include: the objective and theme of the event, a description
|
||
of the preparation of the event; who attended (eg. parents,
|
||
senior citizens, etc.); number of people who attended; and an
|
||
evaluation of the results of the event. Include a copy of any
|
||
announcements, take-home activities, etc. Entries will be judged
|
||
on the compreheniveness and innovativeness of the event,
|
||
thoroughness of preparation, nuber and variety of participants,
|
||
the type and appropriateness of the activities and the results of
|
||
the event. Any photos, slides, videotapes,(not ot exceed five
|
||
minutes), press coverage or testimonials from attendees should be
|
||
included.
|
||
|
||
For more information, join the National Computer Learning Month
|
||
Echo (NCLM) or write to NCLM Echo, P.O. Box 8045, Granite City,
|
||
IL 62040-8045. NetMail can be sent to Butch Witherspoon, Fido
|
||
1:288/525. Join the fun!
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 13 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Claude F. Witherspoon
|
||
Fido 1:288/525
|
||
|
||
WHAT DO YOU MEAN "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION?"
|
||
|
||
I sit here with seven months before retirement from the Armed
|
||
Forces of this great nation. Tweenty years for THIS!, something
|
||
the U.S. Supreme Court calls "A form of their artistic expression
|
||
or freedom of speech". I'm outraged at this freedom of
|
||
exspression. An expression a Texan would use is "CRAP!" cause
|
||
that's what it is. I'm talking about FLAG BURNING. The same flag
|
||
that I used to pledge allegance too. Does anyone even remember
|
||
those days. "One nation for which it stands"...etc.
|
||
|
||
I recall that around 1971 there was another law passed to
|
||
prohibit prayer in schools. What replaced prayer in the halls of
|
||
our school, drugs and drug users. Hey, "you've come a long way
|
||
baby". As Merl would put it, "Are we rollin down hill like a
|
||
snowball headed for Hell?" It sure looks that way to me. They
|
||
took my rights of personal expression away (prayer in school) and
|
||
gave flag burning back to us as a form of personal expression.
|
||
Where is the logic?...I think they all just sit up there and get
|
||
high.
|
||
|
||
I really get concerned when I think these people may be the same
|
||
people who think their artistic expression to burn my flag is
|
||
more important than my moral decision to defend it. Think about
|
||
it...America wake up! Are we really gonna stand by and let them
|
||
force this crap on us? What if someone says it's his personal
|
||
right by freedom of expression, to kick MORE dirt in the face of
|
||
a veteran. Isn't that exactly what their saying to us? Are they
|
||
gonna punish us for defending the flag on the streets of America?
|
||
We defended it all over the world only to come home to this kinda
|
||
mentality, train of thought (Ha!, that's a good one), etc.
|
||
|
||
It's just a shame that so many of our women and men have died on
|
||
foreign soil protecting that flag, only to have our government
|
||
allow it to be burned right here on American soil. I want my
|
||
RIGHT to kick the living CRAP outa some jerk that is burning my
|
||
flag. After all, it's my FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. Sheesh...see how
|
||
silly that sounds.
|
||
|
||
The flag issue has been running hot and heavy on Capitol Hill,
|
||
but members of Congress say it's cooling off now. The chairman of
|
||
the House Judiciary Subcommittee, who conducted hearings on flag
|
||
burning, reports that more witnesses are leaning toward
|
||
legislation rather than a Constitutional amendment. Let's not
|
||
just sit by and watch this sillyness take place. If you want to
|
||
see a Constitutional amendment to prohibit desecration of the
|
||
flag, then write to your elected representatives. Now! before (as
|
||
usual), it's TOO LATE!...Ha...Ha...Ha...they'd just love you to
|
||
drag your feet on this one. Rape is next.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 14 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Fellow veterans, unite!
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 15 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Peter Stern
|
||
65' North
|
||
1:17/38
|
||
IFNA and the Bigger Picture
|
||
|
||
Fidocon 89 was a very eye opening experience for someone living
|
||
on the "edge of the earth"( Fairbanks, Alaska), out of the
|
||
mainstream of FidoNet affairs. Thank you to Ivan Schaffel for
|
||
letting me carry his proxy at the IFNA BOD meetings.
|
||
|
||
I have been a member of IFNA since its' inception but like many
|
||
Sysops in Fidonet I began to wonder about the mutation IFNA began
|
||
undergoing. The publication and distribution of the nodelist
|
||
seemed to take a back seat to organizational problems in Zone 1.
|
||
|
||
At Fidocon, Randy Bush chaired a symposium on international
|
||
communications. Listening to the representatives from Zone 2 and
|
||
Zone 3 speak about their problems and hearing the letter Randy
|
||
read from Pablo Kleinman, Zone 4 ZC, started me thinking about
|
||
Fidonet and IFNA.
|
||
|
||
Zone 1 has become extremely enthno-centric in handling the
|
||
development of Fidonet "Policy". I think it is widely assumed
|
||
that whatever policy is agreed to in Zone 1 will fit very nicely
|
||
into the Zones serving the rest of the world. This could not be
|
||
farther from the truth.
|
||
|
||
The other Zones face problems ranging from $10/min connect
|
||
charges calling USA, to language barriers, to being charged for
|
||
local phone calls, to not having companies willing to underwrite
|
||
huge phone bills to move echomail. Netmail runs on the echomail
|
||
backbone in Australia to save money. Singapore and other parts
|
||
of SE Asia can't afford the phone bills to have their own
|
||
Zonegate.
|
||
|
||
Fidonet is indeed international in reach and growing more popular
|
||
in an exponential way. IFNA should be the body which fosters
|
||
this growth. To this end I would propose IFNA be organized to
|
||
accomplish the following tasks:
|
||
|
||
1: Membership in IFNA would be open to ALL Zones
|
||
operating FTSC compatible mailing systems. The ZC from
|
||
each member Zone would be on the governing board. In
|
||
addition each Zone shall elect one At-large
|
||
representative for a 1 year term on the BOD.
|
||
|
||
2: Protect the Fidonet copyright forwarded to it by Tom
|
||
Jennings.
|
||
|
||
3: Act as the clearing house for technical standards by
|
||
continuing the FTSC committees
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 16 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
4: Work to develop cost effect interzone (international)
|
||
telecommunication links so that high volume traffic such
|
||
as echomail can be moved at the lowest possible cost.
|
||
|
||
5: Act as the voice for Fidonet in lobbying for
|
||
legislation and standards acceptance with governments
|
||
around the world. Make sure modems get approval, that
|
||
data networks price themselves fairly. Work with
|
||
telephone companies to ensure BBS operators aren't
|
||
discriminated against due to a "few" highly publicized
|
||
"bad apples" causing trouble with their modems.
|
||
|
||
6: Develop a "model" operational policy for Zones to use
|
||
in there operation. This "model" would be a basic
|
||
structure to be modified by each Zone. In this manner,
|
||
differences in countries, telephone pricing systems, echo
|
||
mail distribution, languages, politics, geography could
|
||
be accounted for.
|
||
|
||
7: Arrange for interzone distribution of the Fidonet
|
||
nodelists. This would mean Zone 2 and Zone 3 nodelists
|
||
would arrive via IFNA channels to be forwarded to the
|
||
Zone 1 ZC and vice versa.
|
||
|
||
8: As much as possible the IFNA shall conduct its
|
||
business electronically so as not to cause members undue
|
||
cost in international travel for meetings.
|
||
|
||
9: Annual Dues shall be collected on a per-capita basis
|
||
from each member Zone at $1 per SysOp. It shall be the
|
||
responsibility of each Zone to figure out how to raise
|
||
membership dues from its member SysOps. Dues will be
|
||
used to support lobbying efforts, Zonegate operations and
|
||
nodelist distribution.
|
||
|
||
10: IFNA shall NOT be involved in the internal
|
||
operations of any of its member Zones.
|
||
|
||
11: Problems involving interzone communications shall be
|
||
within the purview of IFNA to affect resolution.
|
||
|
||
So basically IFNA would get out of Zone 1 affairs and begin
|
||
taking a look at the "bigger picture". Fidonet needs to be
|
||
thinking on a worldwide scale. A new Zone will be coming on line
|
||
soon in Africa and there is rumor that a node will begin
|
||
operations in Moscow. We cannot afford to cripple the future of
|
||
Fidonet simply because Zone 1 can't agree on how it should be
|
||
operated.
|
||
|
||
Tom Jennings' idea of linking BBSs showed incredible foresight.
|
||
Lets take it further and ensure it becomes worldwide in scope.
|
||
Fidonet needs to step beyond its Zone 1 origins and realize there
|
||
is a world out there with different problems and values yet the
|
||
same desires to be able to telecommunicate in a reliable and
|
||
inexpensive manner.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 17 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 18 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Dustin Witherspoon
|
||
Fido 1:288/525
|
||
|
||
Distribution of KidsNews Changes
|
||
|
||
School has started again, I don't where the summer goes? I and
|
||
many of you are back to the "Old grind" of classes, teachers,
|
||
homework, etc... and this makes for some difficulties in
|
||
maintaining our summer activities through the school year. With
|
||
this in mind, I'd like to announce that KidsNews will slow its
|
||
distribution back down to ONCE PER MONTH.
|
||
|
||
This is necessary because a lot of you cannot make the time to
|
||
submit items for publication in KidsNews. I also don't think that
|
||
the teachers are really aware that KidsNews could be used as a
|
||
class project for students. If teachers do become aware of this
|
||
fact and I see some interest generated, then I can bring the
|
||
distribution back to once per week (Don't hold your breath on
|
||
that one).
|
||
|
||
I want to thank those that have contributed through the summer
|
||
months. You really had some interesting ideas and activities
|
||
going through the summer. I exspecially like the idea of getting
|
||
the KIDS echo linked into Russia. If you guys pull that off, you
|
||
will have really made some progress for FidoNet, America and the
|
||
world.
|
||
|
||
Thanks goes to my Dad for the link to the Computer Learning
|
||
Foundation and the activities occuring there. I got a feeling
|
||
this project will be one that will last for a long time to come.
|
||
Also, National Computer Learning Month (NCLM), which is starting
|
||
in October proves to be of great benefit to students, teachers,
|
||
parents, individuals, etc. I mean if you can win an entire
|
||
computer system just by answering a few questions, then why not
|
||
take that little bit of time there. Now that would be a great
|
||
school project for some really sharp teacher. Winning himself and
|
||
his school a name brand computer just by taking a SLIGHT
|
||
interest and talking with my Dad or writing to us at: NCLM Echo
|
||
Conference, P.O. Box 8045, Granite City, IL 62040-8045. Now I
|
||
have pointed the way, you just need to ACT!!!!!! and NOW!!!!
|
||
|
||
If there are a few out there that are not receiving KidsNews and
|
||
would like to get it on a regular basis, please have your Net
|
||
Coordinator (NC) contact us at 288/525 to pull it in for your
|
||
net. Dad said he would be happy to shoot it to the NC's if they
|
||
accept continuos mail (CM). Is that like opening the door to your
|
||
mail box and letters start flying out and you get snowed under
|
||
and can't get out? Interesting concept...
|
||
|
||
Well, I gotta go do homework (Yuck), ya'll write me sometime. I'm
|
||
in the book. I guess it's a book? actually it's not a book unless
|
||
you print it out. Then I could be wrong. At any rate, give me
|
||
some articles and I'll get them out. Hope your school days are
|
||
full of new friends and MORE COMPUTERS!
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 19 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Dustin L. Witherspoon
|
||
KidsNews Editor, at school (is that kinda like "at large?")
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 20 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
"THOSE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES...."
|
||
(By Bob Moravsik 269/107)
|
||
|
||
Over the past few weeks you have had to endure certain articles
|
||
by Mr. Phil Buonomo (107/583.0) complaining about tactics of the
|
||
*C structure. Then the members of "DEATHNET" as Mr. Whelan so
|
||
artfully puts it, takes over the majority of the board seats
|
||
elects "the boys" as officiers and give the members its our way
|
||
or IFNA is DEAD choice.
|
||
|
||
What he has left out is the tactics HE and his NC, Fabian Gordon
|
||
IFNA VP and BOD tried to pull on me, just for participating in a
|
||
heated dispute over groupmail in a local net echo. There was no
|
||
warning, I did not get any chance to reply to the NET LEVEL
|
||
complain. It's a good thing we have an RC and a ZC that are
|
||
fair. Mr. Buonomo complains about the very tactics he himself
|
||
has no trouble using. I have stood by and read Buonomo's
|
||
articles which just attempts to discredit others.
|
||
|
||
I cannot standby any longer. Note Mr. Buonomo was given a
|
||
chance to reply well before this was published. I originally
|
||
wanted this article to be published in the earlier FIDONEWS but I
|
||
missed a few "specs". Here is the story, AND heed well. These
|
||
tactics will be repeated in my opinion in the future against
|
||
people who want FIDONET and IFNA to be the true representative of
|
||
this hobby instead of the control thereof. GUYS and GIRLS the
|
||
name of the game with the present "group" is control. Hopefully
|
||
the majority of us will change that. Maybe a new WORLD FIDONET
|
||
ASSOCIATION is NEEDED. Call it WFA or Woof !!!!
|
||
|
||
|
||
This is a public statement of a policy contoversy which has been
|
||
in existance since May 1989. Many nodes only have seen part of
|
||
the "facts". Here is the full story.
|
||
|
||
The information was sent to Mr. Buonomo on 7/15/89 for his
|
||
comment and to be sure any possible inaccuracies (in Mr.
|
||
Buonomo's opinion) are corrected.
|
||
|
||
Mr. Buonomo responds as follows: [No reponse]
|
||
|
||
By secret complaint POL91063 dated early in May Mr. Buonomo
|
||
attempted with Mr. Gordon to excommunicate Moravsik from
|
||
FIDONET. Mr. Buonomo did a bombing run on net 107 attempting to
|
||
get signatures on a "petition" (only a few were gotten and
|
||
Buonomo refused to supply the names for varification) Some of the
|
||
evidence submitted was dated AFTER the complaint and "tacked" on
|
||
to the decision which was already made. There was no opportunity
|
||
for Moravsik to respond to the complaint. In fact there was no
|
||
knowledge it was pending. A KANGAROO COURT IN IT BEST FORM
|
||
!!!!!!!
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 21 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Mr. Gordon's decision found Moravsik to be excessivelly annoying
|
||
for participating in a debate in REGION 13 and METRONET.
|
||
Moravsik was to be excommunicated. At the time the nodes in net
|
||
107 HUB 800 were forming Net 269. !!!!
|
||
|
||
|
||
The matter was appealed to the RC by a brief submitted by Mr.
|
||
Moravsik. Mr Buonomo filed no response, other then a message
|
||
telling Moravsik that he never knew how stupid Moravsik was.
|
||
[text will be supplied if requested]
|
||
|
||
|
||
The decision of the RC, Mr. Peace was a follows:
|
||
|
||
|
||
"I have received POL91063 (complaint) and APP90163 (appeal). My
|
||
DECISION is in favor of Mr. Moravsik's APPEAL. The complaint is
|
||
reversed.
|
||
|
||
Inconsistencies and improprieties in the complaint were apparent
|
||
to me as soon as I began reviewing it...
|
||
|
||
- a considerable portion of the evidence presented quotes only
|
||
one side of dialogues from the METRONET and REGION13
|
||
conferences. Having been a participant in one of those
|
||
conferences (REGION13) I found both Mr. Buonomo and Mr.
|
||
Moravsik to be engaged in a verbal battle in that conference
|
||
that was intense and sometimes annoying to me but not
|
||
excessively annoying. The Moravsik messages, when quoted out
|
||
of "thread" certainly do appear to justify Mr. Buonomo's
|
||
allegations. But what is quoted in the complaint is little
|
||
better than recording only one side of a conversation. As I
|
||
said, I was a participant in the REGION13 conference and
|
||
witnessed the full series of exchanges in that conference.
|
||
The situation is without fault.
|
||
|
||
- Mr. Gordon is moderator of METRONET. I am moderator of
|
||
REGION13. Neither R13EC nor I have seen a complaint filed by
|
||
the moderator of either conference asking for any action
|
||
against Mr. Moravsik. If a complaint had been filed by the
|
||
recognized moderator of either conference, the only remedy
|
||
would have been banishment of Mr. Moravsik from that
|
||
conference. If Mr. Moravsik had been banned from either
|
||
conference and continued to enter messages he would then (and
|
||
only then) be subject to an excessively annoying policy
|
||
complaint.
|
||
|
||
- Mr. Gordon's justifications included reference to a "straw
|
||
vote". He suggests that "most of the other members" of
|
||
FidoNet Net 107 were polled and that "96% of the vote" was in
|
||
favor of removal of Mr. Moravsik. Other evidence I received
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 22 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
suggests this "straw vote" aka "Bob Moravsik Petition"
|
||
occurred after May 2. This is the first time I have heard of
|
||
a vote being taken among FidoNet sysops for inclusion or
|
||
exclusion of another FidoNet sysop. The presence of this
|
||
vote as part of Mr. Gordon's justification suggests that
|
||
membership in FidoNet net 107 might be based on a popularity
|
||
contest. The practice is in my opinion Excessively Annoying
|
||
in and of itself.
|
||
|
||
- Mr. Buonomo's complaint was dated "May 1, 1989". It was
|
||
recorded as received by Mr. Gordon on "May 2, 1989". In
|
||
reading said complaint, I find it inexcusable that material
|
||
quoted in item 10 in support of the May 1 complaint is dated
|
||
"Fri 12 May 89 9:39".
|
||
|
||
|
||
To Messrs. Buonomo and Gordon:
|
||
|
||
Your actions in the filing and approval of complaint #91063 have
|
||
wasted a considerable amount of Mr. Moravsik's time in offering
|
||
his defense. I see the complaint as an attempt to railroad a
|
||
FidoNet sysop out of the network using methods I cannot condone.
|
||
Unfortunately, whether or not Mr. Moravsik has been annoying is
|
||
no longer an issue.
|
||
|
||
To: Mr. Gordon:
|
||
|
||
Mr. Moravsik's FidoNet node number (1:107/853) is *NOT* to be
|
||
removed from the Net 107 nodelist submission until such time as
|
||
all members of the newly formed net 269 are removed from net 107.
|
||
As agreed by telephone on May 12, that date will be four weeks
|
||
after net 269 appears in the FidoNet Nodelist.
|
||
|
||
If Mr. Buonomo chooses to appeal my decision to the ZC and if
|
||
the ZC overturns that decision you will retain Mr. Moravsik's
|
||
FidoNet node number in net 107 only until your first submission
|
||
following that decision (in Mr. Buonomo's favor).
|
||
|
||
George Peace
|
||
FidoNet Region 13 Coordinator
|
||
May 16, 1989 "
|
||
|
||
|
||
This action was then appealed to the ZC Mr Dodell by Mr. Buonomo
|
||
No brief was submitted by Mr. Moravsik as the appeal submitted
|
||
by Buonomo was "secret" ie no copy was provided to Moravsik to
|
||
answer. The decision of the ZC was:
|
||
|
||
|
||
"Phil, I see no reason to overturn the decision of George Peace,
|
||
RC13 in your appeal of a policy complaint against Bob Moscovich.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 23 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Since this appears to me as nothing more then a personality
|
||
conflict, I will trust the RC who is more familiar with the
|
||
personalities involved to make the right decision." [By David
|
||
Dodell]
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Then Mr. Buonomo attempts to appeal again to the Zone
|
||
Coordinators by passing on message to the ZC BUT telling him he
|
||
cannot take part in the decision. Although Mr. Buonomo has gone
|
||
on record and stated that POLICY 4 is illegal HE NOW USES IT to
|
||
APPEAL !!!!!!! Mr. Moravsik would have filed a response and
|
||
would argue to reject the appeal, uphold the findings of the RC
|
||
that Buonomo was EXCESSIVELY ANNOYING and EXCOMUNICATE HIM.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 24 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
The Official Public Computer Nodelist Concept Revisited
|
||
|
||
by Jim Grubs, Publisher
|
||
|
||
The original concept of the Official Public Computer Nodelist was
|
||
a good one. The idea, to refresh your memory, was that there
|
||
should be a simple, unified nodelist with everyone who wanted his
|
||
Fidonet compatible mailer listed without any of the political
|
||
bickering that seems to have become the favorite American indoor
|
||
sport for network sysops. (Well, next to favorite anyway.)
|
||
|
||
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Utopia. The original
|
||
OPCNLIST managers grew impatient, apparently, and abandoned the
|
||
idea of waiting for sysops to ask to be unlisted. Instead, they
|
||
put EVERYONE in Fidonet and a couple others into OPCNLIST. This
|
||
forced people who did not want to be in it, for any reason or for
|
||
no reason, to insist on being removed. The resulting storm of
|
||
protest grew quite NASTY and even included all sorts of threats
|
||
of legal action and litigation.
|
||
|
||
George Kasica, who was producing the OPCNLIST for its originator,
|
||
decided he wanted no part of that nonsense and quit. He announced
|
||
he would no longer produce the OPCNLIST and asked for a volunteer
|
||
to take over. He listed a file for file requesting which
|
||
contained all sorts of fascinating programs, source files, batch
|
||
files, etc., for producing the OPCNLIST with Ben Baker's MakeNL.
|
||
|
||
I responded immediately by netmail stating that I would pick up
|
||
the flag he was dropping and and requested him to delete the
|
||
OPCN.ZIP which I had file requested. He did delete that file
|
||
without comment or reservation, which I consider to constitute
|
||
the legal offer tendered and accepted required to make a
|
||
contract.
|
||
|
||
I immediately, as an effort to put out the fire storm of
|
||
protests, created OPCNLIST.251 and OPCNDIFF.251 in such a fashion
|
||
as to erase EVERYONE from it except Fidonet 234, whose NC had
|
||
earlier told me it was OK for me to submit the net roster to the
|
||
original OPCNLIST, and Alternet 448, which I am in the process of
|
||
organizing. In the future only those nets and nodes who agree
|
||
in advance will be listed, which was the original intention.
|
||
|
||
OPCNLIST.251 includes the following prologue:
|
||
|
||
"This is the OPCNLIST, copyright 1989. It is a
|
||
compilation of copyrighted information supplied to it by
|
||
the original copyright owners. To the best off our
|
||
knowledge, this information is accurate and is used with
|
||
the full knowledge and consent of the person or persons
|
||
authorized to give that consent. If this turns out not
|
||
to be the case, we apologize and will correct the
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 25 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
mistake as soon as it is called to our attention. We are
|
||
not trying to pull any flimflam, so if there IS a
|
||
mistake, it is NOT necessary to scream and yell and
|
||
carry on like a nut. Contrary to the policy of previous
|
||
managers of the OPCNLIST, we don't want anyone in it who
|
||
does not ask to be in it. On the other hand, anyone who
|
||
asks to be in it WILL be in it without regard to what
|
||
anyone else may say about it.
|
||
|
||
"This compiled OPCNLIST is itself copyrighted, but it
|
||
may be used freely by anyone. It is copyrighted only so
|
||
that we may reserve the right to forbid its commercial
|
||
sale or use. This a hobby not a business and I hope
|
||
therefore nobody is going to get disproportionately
|
||
litigious about it.
|
||
|
||
"All data flags are as supplied to us. If it breaks your
|
||
machine, don't yell at us; yell at those who sent it to
|
||
us. I respectfully request everyone to stick to the IFNA
|
||
nodelist flag standards at least for the present.
|
||
|
||
"The OPCNLIST is produced as the nodelist of 'Zone 11'.
|
||
This is done for reasons of technical convenience and no
|
||
other significance should be attached to it."
|
||
|
||
|
||
Well, troops, that's the scoop. If you want your net or
|
||
independent node listed in OPCNLIST, send a copy of your regular
|
||
MakeNL submission file, including a prologue and/or copyright
|
||
notice containing explicit, specific permission for us to use it
|
||
to the OPCNLIST Distribution Hub, Donn Bly, 1:236/7, 77:1011/7,
|
||
11:11/7.
|
||
|
||
You have my word. This is going to stick to the original,
|
||
apolitical concept. Think of it as a "generic" nodelist, similar
|
||
to the Darwin list except it's for Fidonet compatible mailers. We
|
||
don't care what you say to one another. We don't care who gets
|
||
echomail from whom. We don't care how mean, nasty, and annoying
|
||
you are to one another. All we cre about is pubishing the
|
||
nodelist to do it with every Friday at 6:00 AM, ET. The rest is
|
||
your business, not ours.
|
||
|
||
Wish me luck, and don't forget to vote in the IFNA Referendum.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 26 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Date: 20 Aug 89 21:51:15
|
||
From: Pablo Kleinman of 4:1200/101
|
||
|
||
A Message from Pablo Kleinman, FidoNet Zone Coordinator in Latin
|
||
America to FidoCon:
|
||
|
||
It would have been very nice and interesting, to be here with you
|
||
today and get to know all of you in person. But it could not be
|
||
possible for me to leave the country right now. I was
|
||
tremendously interested in coming to FidoCon, but my obligations
|
||
didn't allow it. And with the terrible economic situation we are
|
||
experiencing, it is far too expensive to go anywhere across the
|
||
border.
|
||
|
||
Would it be possible to organize FidoCon for July instead of
|
||
August? Being August one of the busiest months in the year in
|
||
South America, we are usually unable to suspend our obligations
|
||
to travel overseas.
|
||
|
||
Through this brief passages, I would like to tell you about our
|
||
existance in the net, and what is currently FidoNet Zone 4.
|
||
|
||
FidoNet Latin America was established on May of 1987, and
|
||
officially incorporated on September of that same year.
|
||
|
||
At the beginning we were given a net (I remember it was net
|
||
number 368) on Region 18, whose RC at that time was Christopher
|
||
Baker.
|
||
|
||
But nodes added up, and I had to start "making wonders". No
|
||
doubt it was kind of strange to assign a Hub number for each
|
||
Country!
|
||
|
||
It took us almost two years to have our own Zone up and
|
||
running... We were so glad when David Dodell offered us to be
|
||
Zone 4 back in April!
|
||
|
||
We grew many times, yes, but I'm sure there is no place with more
|
||
problems to set up FidoNet nodes than in Latin America.
|
||
|
||
To start, we have in most of the countries, State-owned
|
||
monopolies that run the whole telephonic system, "as worst as
|
||
possible", and many times "as more expensive as possible".
|
||
|
||
Just to give you an idea, before the Argentinean phone company
|
||
started an expansion project a few years ago, you could request a
|
||
phone line and wait as much as THIRTY years to get it installed!
|
||
Of course, with the new expansion program, you must pay around
|
||
two thousand dollars and wait maybe three years to get it.
|
||
|
||
As a result of the shortage of phone lines, we don't have nodes
|
||
running 24 hours a day in Zone 4; most of the nodes are
|
||
installed in the sysops offices and houses' phone lines.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 27 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
In this two years of FidoNetting, we were not able to get any
|
||
help from any public or private enterprise; we are still somehow
|
||
isolated from the rest of the net. A minute of IDD to the United
|
||
States can cost the same as dining out, no wonder it is
|
||
expensive!
|
||
|
||
Looking to solve our financial disabilities, we are trying to
|
||
develop a way to transfer the mail packets to other zones through
|
||
Packet radio.
|
||
|
||
Fortunately, some people out there that care for us, and while
|
||
the zonegate is financed by Dick Gladden of El Paso (Texas) and
|
||
Randy Bush of Portland (Oregon), our two only international
|
||
echomail conferences: RedLatina and Twger.link are financed by
|
||
Juan Davila of Puerto Rico, and Bor-Long Lin of Taiwan.
|
||
|
||
We faced, are facing and still will face many difficulties to
|
||
keep running and expand FidoNet on the Southwestern hemisphere.
|
||
We need your care, your help, your assistance.
|
||
|
||
We established some months ago, the Latin American FidoNet
|
||
Association, and on August 4, NotiFido, the Spanish-language
|
||
FidoNews, was edited for the first time.
|
||
|
||
Some local programmers have developed some utilities, that we
|
||
intend to make available to all of you in short.
|
||
|
||
Please, try to keep in touch with us, we need your help to keep
|
||
this project running.
|
||
|
||
My best regards to all of you, today reunited in FidoCon, and in
|
||
the name of all the Zone 4 sysops, thank you for sharing with us
|
||
this huge network of enthusiasts and hobbyists. Of people around
|
||
the world with a great desire for communicating.
|
||
|
||
Pablo Kleinman
|
||
Buenos Aires, August 20, 1989
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 28 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
LATEST VERSIONS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Latest Software Versions
|
||
|
||
MS-DOS Systems
|
||
--------------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Fido 12n+ Phoenix 1.3 TBBS 2.1
|
||
Lynx 1.30 QuickBBS 2.04 TComm/TCommNet 3.4
|
||
Kitten 2.15* RBBS 17.2A TPBoard 5.2
|
||
Opus 1.03b+ Wildcat! 2.00P
|
||
|
||
|
||
Network Node List Other
|
||
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
|
||
|
||
BinkleyTerm 2.30* EditNL 4.00 ARC 6.02
|
||
D'Bridge 1.21 MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 2.0
|
||
Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ConfMail 4.00
|
||
FrontDoor 2.0 Prune 1.40 EMM 2.02
|
||
PRENM 1.47 XlatList 2.90 GROUP 2.15*
|
||
SEAdog 4.51A XlaxDiff 2.32 LHARC 1.13
|
||
XlaxNode 2.32 MSG 3.3
|
||
MSGED 1.99
|
||
PK[UN]ZIP 1.01*
|
||
QM 1.0
|
||
TCOMMail 2.2
|
||
TMail 1.11
|
||
TPBNetEd 3.2
|
||
UFGATE 1.03
|
||
XRS 2.3
|
||
ZmailQ 1.09
|
||
|
||
Macintosh
|
||
---------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Red Ryder Host v2.1b3 Tabby 2.0* MacArc 0.03
|
||
Mansion 7.0 ArcMac 1.3
|
||
WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.51
|
||
TImport 1.331
|
||
TExport 1.32
|
||
Timestamp 1.6
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 29 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
Tset 1.3
|
||
Timestart 1.1
|
||
Tally 1.1
|
||
Mehitabel 1.2
|
||
Archie 1.60
|
||
Numberizer 1.5c
|
||
MessageEdit 1.0
|
||
Mantissa 1.0
|
||
PreStamp 2.0
|
||
R.PreStamp 2.0
|
||
Saphire 2.1t
|
||
Epistle II 1.0
|
||
Import 1.2b
|
||
Export 1.2b
|
||
Sundial 1.2b
|
||
AreaFix 1.1
|
||
|
||
Amiga
|
||
-----
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Paragon 1.00+* BinkleyTerm 1.50 ConfMail 1.10*
|
||
ChameleonEdit 0.10
|
||
RMB 1.30
|
||
|
||
|
||
Atari ST
|
||
--------
|
||
|
||
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities
|
||
|
||
Name Version Name Version Name Version
|
||
|
||
Star-Net 2.00 BinkleyTerm 1.03a ConfMail 1.00
|
||
EchoDoor 0.11 ParseList 1.30
|
||
GS Point 0.61 ARC 5.21
|
||
TurboArc 1.1
|
||
LHARC 0.40
|
||
PKUNZIP 1.00
|
||
MSGED 1.96S
|
||
SRENUM 6.2
|
||
OMMM 1.30
|
||
Timestop 1.00
|
||
|
||
|
||
+ Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software)
|
||
* Recently changed
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 30 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
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 6-37 Page 31 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
5 Oct 1989
|
||
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
|
||
|
||
11 Oct 1989
|
||
First International Modula-2 Conference at Bled, Yugoslavia
|
||
hosting Niklaus Wirth and the British Standards Institution.
|
||
Contact 1:106/8422 for more information.
|
||
|
||
11 Nov 1989
|
||
A new area code forms in northern Illinois at 12:01 am.
|
||
Chicago proper will remain area code 312; suburban areas
|
||
formerly served with that code will become area code 708.
|
||
|
||
23 Nov 1989
|
||
26th Anniversary of "Dr. Who" - and still going strong
|
||
|
||
30 Dec 1989
|
||
Telephone area codes (5, 3 and 0) are abolished in Hong Kong
|
||
|
||
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
||
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 32 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
|
||
|
||
Mort Sternheim 1:321/109 Chairman of the Board
|
||
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
|
||
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
|
||
Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Vice President-Technical Coordinator
|
||
Linda Grennan 1:147/1 Secretary
|
||
Kris Veitch 1:147/30 Treasurer
|
||
|
||
|
||
IFNA COMMITTEE AND BOARD CHAIRS
|
||
|
||
Administration and Finance Mark Grennan 1:147/1
|
||
Board of Directors Mort Sternheim 1:321/109
|
||
Bylaws Don Daniels 1:107/210
|
||
Ethics Vic Hill 1:147/4
|
||
Executive Committee Bob Rudolph 1:261/628
|
||
International Affairs Rob Gonsalves 2:500/1
|
||
Membership Services David Drexler 1:147/47
|
||
Nominations & Elections David Melnick 1:107/233
|
||
Public Affairs David Drexler 1:147/47
|
||
Publications Rick Siegel 1:107/27
|
||
Security & Individual Rights Jim Cannell 1:143/21
|
||
Technical Standards Rick Moore 1:115/333
|
||
|
||
|
||
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
|
||
|
||
DIVISION AT-LARGE
|
||
|
||
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732 Don Daniels 1:107/210
|
||
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Mort Sternheim 1:321/109
|
||
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
|
||
13 Irene Henderson 1:107/9 (vacant)
|
||
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
|
||
15 Scott Miller 1:128/12 Matt Whelan 3:3/1
|
||
16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
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17 Neal Curtin 1:343/1 Steve Jordan 1:206/2871
|
||
18 Andrew Adler 1:135/47 Kris Veitch 1:147/30
|
||
19 David Drexler 1:147/47 (vacant)
|
||
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
|
||
|
||
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|
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FidoNews 6-37 Page 33 11 Sep 1989
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|
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|
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__
|
||
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.
|
||
|
||
Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
|
||
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
|
||
membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors
|
||
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
|
||
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
|
||
input to this Conference.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 6-37 Page 34 11 Sep 1989
|
||
|
||
|
||
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|
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