Subj : The Nodelist Revisited
To : Scott Little
From : Bill Birrell
Date : Sun Dec 29 2002 12:10 am
Scott,
Season's greetings to you.
> There are a disturbing number of people worrying about
> the sky falling down as well.
A number is singular, Scott, so if a number of idiots exists, then it is
hardly unexpected, and so be it. From the way you have marshalled your
arguments you may even be among them.
If you are not prepared to be civil, then I for one am not prepared to take
you seriously. You have written patronising twaddle as if you were talking down
to a six-year-old. That is not explaining your position in layman's terms and
is certainly not the way to gain support for new ideas.
Consider your audience carefully and remember that Jan's IQ probably
exceeds your own.
Make a case for changing the content of the nodelist, not the form, and you
may gain the support you need. Stubbornly championing one particular form (XML)
makes it look as if you are simply limited to working in that form, and
obscures any good intentions for the net that you may have.
Jan and I are concerned more about disenfranchising the present population
than you appear to be. Your lofty claim that nobody is out to do that just
doesn't hold up. Changing the distribution nodelist is all it would take.
There are also unresolved ethical questions about whose dime is used if you
abandon PSTN connection as the mainstay of FidoNet (TM). Direct connection
between any two nodes during ZMH is the essence of FidoNet.
Catastrophic failure of internet components is not uncommon and Chicken
Licken is not the only one who knows this. If enough components fail the
network can no longer route around the damage. Chicken Licken also knows this;
so do less timorous animals. Perhaps even you should admit it. You would not
like people to think you had less common sense than a chicken. :-)
Retaining the direct connection system has advantages as long as the PSTN
itself holds up. Total reliance on internet simply throws those advantages
away.
Make a better case, Scott, or put someone on who can. :-)
