296 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
296 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
F I D O N E W S -- Vol.13 No. 2 (08-Jan-1996)
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
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| FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS |
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| _ | +1-519-570-4176 |
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| / \ | |
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| /|oo \ | |
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| (_| /_) | |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | |
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| | | \ \\ | Editors: |
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| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
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| |__U__| / \// | Sylvia 1:221/194 |
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| _//|| _\ / | |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | |
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| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
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| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| MORE addresses: |
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| |
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| submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
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| obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq |
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| please refer to the end of this file. |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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========================================================================
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Table of Contents
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========================================================================
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1. Articles...................................................... 2
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In response to Timothy Trace................................ 2
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New Area Codes.............................................. 3
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Bad Keys Make Grunged Mail.................................. 3
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Shareware or Freeware....................................... 4
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2. Fidonews Information.......................................... 5
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========================================================================
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FidoNews 13-02 Page: 2 08 Jan 1996
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========================================================================
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Articles
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========================================================================
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In response to Timothy Trace
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by Fredrik Bennison
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2:205/300, fredrik.bennison@rosebay.ct.se
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I just read Mr Trace's article in FidoNews 1301 and have a few comments
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I feel I want to share with the rest of this, or large and
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ever-expanding community.
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Mr Trace writes about the 'Shareware Ethics':
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"[...] the registered users understand that they're paid in full to reap
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the benefits of shareware as compared to commercially developed
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software. Summed up briefly, those benefits are: timely, inexpensive
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registration; quick technical support and direct contact with the
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author; and frequent version updates."
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I disagree, at least in part, with this summary, and I hope that I am
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not alone in this.
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The idea of Shareware is simple, you get to try the program out before
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you buy it, and it is most often cheaper than any commercial equivalent.
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What you don't get, however, is *any* guarantee that it will be
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developed further. You don't pay for coming upgrades, or even support,
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you pay for the program itself. Updates may or may not be free of cost,
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and support may or may not be provided.
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Further down in the article, Mr Trace writes:
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"If you have registered either program believing that some manner of
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support was included in your registration fee, and have received your
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key, I recommend that you contact Joe via netmail and request a
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complete refund based on his lack of timely support to registered
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users."
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The only response I can think of here is 'Why?'... Any registered users
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have done the right thing, they have gotten what they paid for, a fully
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functional program, and they have been using it for some time. Why
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should they, after utilizing the software for an extended period of
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time, demand money back?? That's like demanding the money back for
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Windows'95, or any other commercial package, after using it for 6 months
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and being dissatisfied with the support.
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Finally, Mr Trace rounds off his article with a description of his
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Policy Complaint against Mr Lemoine, ending with
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"My Policy Complaint asks that Joe be issued a cease-and-desist order
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for listing his Fidonet address as a contact point in his programs'
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documentation. If he doesn't respond positively and hastefully to
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that request, I've asked that he be punitively cut from the nodelist."
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FidoNews 13-02 Page: 3 08 Jan 1996
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This seems to me to be totally foundless, albeit it is an understandable
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reaction...
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It is regrettable that an author of Shareware who lists his
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FidoNet-address in the documentation doesn't answer questions and
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requests received to that address, but I cannot see any grounds for
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removing a sysop from the nodelist merely for failing to answer netmail.
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New Area Codes
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by Jerry Schwartz 1:142/928
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New Area Codes
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Connecticut now has two area codes, 203 and 860. Many other
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areas have also created new area codes recently. Unfortunately,
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some places in the country have trouble dialing the new area
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codes.
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You can test your ability to call 860 by calling the number
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1-860-203-0950; this should be a free call, at least in the USA.
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If you have trouble calling ANY of the new area codes, call the
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National Area Code Hotline at 1-800-218-6436. They can't help
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you with your PBX, but they can help with some of the local COs
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that don't accept the new numbers.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Bad Keys Make Grunged Mail
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by Jerry Schwartz 1:142/928
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Bad Keys Make Grunged Mail
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In the last few weeks I've received some netmail packets which
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were marked as bad by my software. By manual inspection, I
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figured out that the problem is a <nul>t sequence in the PID
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kludge line. I was rather surprised, because the product in
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question is well known and widely used.
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I sent a sample off to the Zone 1 support node for the software,
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and got an almost instant response: the faulty PID lines are the
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result of using a bogus key generator to "register" the product.
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The legal aspects of this are between the software publisher and
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the sysops in question; I am not a law enforcement officer, nor
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do I intend to become one. However, I find it rather amusing
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that these sysops are sending out messages which are being killed
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by any of a number of packet inspectors around the world.
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So, if you are using a counterfeit key and are wondering why
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nobody answers your messages, remember the words of the Mikado.
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Truly, the punishment fits the crime.
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FidoNews 13-02 Page: 4 08 Jan 1996
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Shareware or Freeware
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by Daryl Stogner @ 1:317/104
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Shareware Ethics Guideline or Freeware
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I can certainly understand the frustration a person can go through
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when taking a chance at registering many shareware programs. A delay
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of registration, or poor tech support, should make the end user
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reconsider support standards, prior to the purchase. And then
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there's FREEWARE.
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The supporting user has a right to expect the benefits of quick
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registration and tech support. Frequent version updates aren't a
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mandate of shareware, but author bug support is needed.
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What bothers me most about shareware is the chance we all take when
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we purchase the software registration. We don't really know the
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author, or his/her reliability to support their product or or whether
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they might run off with our funds?
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Having operated a BBS since 1983, I've had my share of problems, but
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I have had many satisfying purchases with various authors. As I
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went about learning to program so I could write my own doors, utils
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etc, I released a few of them as shareware. Whew! It was a learning
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experience that brought me into the world of what people needed,
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expected and deserved. I took my little utils and doors and released
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them a freeware. That's all they deserved to be released as.
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Over the years I improved my skills, but continued to release BBS
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utils as Freeware. And, I find myself providing tech support, setup
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help and software requests for dozens of Sysops from around the world.
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No I'm not some know all programmer, I have just found a niche for
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BBS programs...FREEWARE. Not many BBS utils deserve to be released
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as shareware, certainly not most of the wcCODE and PPE modules that
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are released. Then again there are some PPE's and wcCODE modules that
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would and have gotten my bucks quite quickly. Yup I'm registered for
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both PCBoard and Wildcat!
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Frustration with Shareware programmer's are not always unavoidable, but
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I try to watch out for a few things to make the purchase easier.
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1. Has the author been around awhile?
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2. Have I contacted the author prior to registration?
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3. What do other Sysop's say about the author's work and support?
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4. ASP/STAR aren't a requirement but is shows some professionalism.
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5. Finally...do I really need the software to make the BBS better?
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If any of the above are answered negatively, then you have your work
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cut out for you, before you make that purchase.
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Overall, I've found most shareware author's to be good folks that go
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out of their way to help the customer.
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FidoNews 13-02 Page: 5 08 Jan 1996
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Do we give up on shareware because of something that has disrupted
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the registration process of a product? Nope, we just get more picky
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about who gets our support. And most important, don't forget that
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freeware software is out there and can be just as useful as software
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that requires plastic.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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========================================================================
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Fidonews Information
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========================================================================
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------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
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Editors: Donald Tees, Sylvia Maxwell
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Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
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Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar
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Tom Jennings
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"FidoNews" BBS
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FidoNet 1:1/23
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BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
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more addresses:
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Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Sylvia- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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(Postal Service mailing address)
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FidoNews
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128 Church St.
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Kitchener, Ontario
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Canada
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N2H 2S4
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voice: (519) 570-3137
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sylvia: (519) 579-8029
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Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
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INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
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of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
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authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
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does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in
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these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
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FidoNews.
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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
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Copyright 1995 Donald Tees. All rights reserved. Duplication
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and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use
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in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or the eds.
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OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
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form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
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Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
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PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
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address.
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FidoNews 13-02 Page: 6 08 Jan 1996
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INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
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in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
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Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
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freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
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fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
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necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
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response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
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should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
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previously listed address.
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SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
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from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
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"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
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trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
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' ' disgreement is actually necessary,
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or we'd all have to get in fights
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or semethin to amuse ourselves,,
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and create the requisite chaos."
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-Tom Jennings
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-- END
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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