F I D O N E W S -- Volume 14, Number 10 10 March 1997

F I D O N E W S -- Volume 14, Number 10 10 March 1997
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | 1-904-409-7040 [1:1/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Christopher Baker 1:18/14 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> [email protected] |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

WHO WON THE IC ELECTION?

Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
Conspiracy theories for FidoNet? ......................... 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
The Fido Saga continues .................................. 2
Is a Fidonet Takeover in the works ....................... 2
3. GETTING TECHNICAL ........................................ 4
FSC-0045 - A New Packet Header Format .................... 4
FSC-0046 - Product Identifier for FidoNet Msg Handlers ... 5
FSC-0047 - The ^ASPLIT Kludge Line for Splitting msgs .... 7
FSC-0048 - Proposed Type-2 Packet Extension .............. 11
4. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 20
Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 066 ...... 20
5. ECHOING .................................................. 21
North American Backbone Echo Changes [Jan-Feb 97] ........ 21
6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 23
Redneck Computer Talk? ................................... 23
7. ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT ........................ 24
Announcing the CRICKET_ECHO .............................. 24
8. NOTICES .................................................. 25
Future History ........................................... 25
9. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................. 26
Latest Greatest Software Versions ........................ 26
10. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ..................................... 32
FidoNews PGP public-key listing .......................... 32
And more!
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 1 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================

A couple of "FidoNet is going to hell in a handbasket" entries this
week.

We're half way through the FSC docs this week.

Responses are picking up for the FidoNet by Internet list. All
listings below the Region level will be found on the FidoNews webpage
instead of the weekly listing here. The FidoNews webpage address is in
the Masthead information at the end of every Issue.

Many thanks to all the ZCs and RCs who passed my request down their
respective chains for this information. The Coordinator structure can
work. [grin]

Otherwise, enjoy!

C.B.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 2 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================

Subject: The Fido Saga

Well, according to the latest nodelist analysis in FidoNews, Fido will
be gone sometime next year. Tsk, tsk. If it weren't for all those
self-serving, power hungry idiots up at Fido's Mount Olympus, the
network wouldn't be facing its demise so quickly. Looks like some
things will never change. Maybe you guys should have adopted P5 when
you had the chance. Glad I left when I did.

Have a Nice Day!

David V. Dillard III
formerly 1:10/110
formerly 4:92/0

BTW, I thought the discussions we had in the old Region Coordinators
echo were pretty interesting. Take care.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Is a Fidonet Takeover in the works
by Bob Moravsik 2606/583

Unknown to the masses in Fidonet, there is a subtle
but posibble effective plan in the works to take over
Fidonet. The method is simple. Gain control of Fidonet's
Technical Standard Committee, then start writing policy
under the banner of technical standards. An entire
administrative system could be created within Fidonet based
on the arguement that once a technical standard is
approved by the "official committee", "officials" need
to be created to implement.

A history lesson:

In the "old" times there was an attempt to position echomail
in such a way that IT would drive Fidonet. An echopol was
attempted in Zone one. It was stricken under policy 4.07
section one which prohibits conflicting or restrictive local
policies. Z2 is trying the same trick. When this failed
a "bop" was written that tried to convince nodes that it
was the rules to follow to get echomail. No follow, no
echomail. It failed (see Mr. Sorvestre...due process is needed)

Not to be stopped by details, we in Zone one got "bopfaq".
Another policy dressed as a harmless question and answer
file. Never the less. Its quoted as if its policy rather
then the ravings of one person (Bruce Bodger) who was admonished
when he started kicking around Jason Garcia (a teenager) for
over using a software registration trial period. (Decision
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 3 10 Mar 1997

available on request).

NOW...we got the FTA files. What are these. Proposals
to create a Fidonet Standard Technical Committee. Who can
create. YOU GUESSED IT...any "rec". (plus others). This
standard committee can be created by people who don't
hold any recognized Fidonet position (*ec's are not recognized).
The current proposal is flawed. More then one committee can
exist <chuckle>. And who's behind it. Yep...the "bopfaq"
boy who is now fighting with the RC's. Bruce Bodger through
his hat in the ring for the non-ZC election. He desperately
wants the job. He wants to "rule" Fidonet. Bodger got
NO SUPPORT for the ZC position... his position. He did this to
slow down the process. !!! (The ZC is elected by the RC's
when there was a vacancy). There was no process although he
is trying to create one to maintain his diminishing credability.

Bottom line. As you read this. The "boppy boys" are trying
to convince the masses that they know how to run Fidonet. Since
they can't get their foolishness RATIFIED like Fidonet's
policy requires, they do end runs. First there was "echopol"..
then "boppy".....then "bopfaq"....now "FTA xxx". The *C's are
getting wiser now. Bodger's been thrown out of the *C
conference and lurks.

What needs to be done is for Bob Satti, the Z1 ZC, to delete
all that foolish 1/2XX numbers from the nodelist and have the
RC's coordinate all activity in their respective regions
as they see fit. Fidonet is NOT echomail. Nodes should not
have to jump for the echomail grapes. Backdoor attempts
to force a minority's will on the majority should be exposed.
Laugh at the FTA documents. Take them for what they are...a
pathetic attempt to do what a few can't do via RATIFICATION.
Fidonet is a communication media. People have been driven
to Internet by this constant attempt to make people "pay" for
free communications by OBEDIENCE. Mr. Bodger and small crew
are busy in the background. At least know that they are.

Mr. Bodger...I'll be more then happy to argue your position
in Fidonews. DO IT IN PUBLIC. Stop this incessive lurking
in the shawdows. Let's start with your title.

Bob Moravsik 2606/583

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 4 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
GETTING TECHNICAL
=================================================================

[This is part of the continuing series of FTSC docs provided as a
segment of FidoNet History. These docs have been reformatted to 70
columns as required.] Ed.

Document: FSC-0045
Version: 001
Date: 17-Apr-90

A Proposal
for
A New Packet Header Format
Thom Henderson
1:107/542.1@FidoNet
April 17, 1990

Status of this document:

This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.

Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.

Provisions have been made for storing full five-dimensional addresses
(i.e. zone, net, node, point, and domain) in a packed message such
that it is possible (albeit somewhat clumsily) to extract a full five
dimensional origin and destination for any message. This has not,
however, been extended to packet headers. It would be useful for
various reasons, such as mail pickpus and password protection of mail
links, to be able to quickly and easily extract similar five
dimensional addresses from a packet header. This is a proposal for a
packet header structure that would make that possible.

The proposed packet header structure is as follows:

Offset Width Description
====== ===== ===========
0 2 Originating node number
2 2 Destination node number
4 2 * Originating point number
6 2 * Destination point number
8 8 Reserved, must be zero
16 2 Packet sub-version (2)
18 2 Packet version (2)
20 2 Originating network
22 2 Destination network
24 1 Product code
25 1 Product revision level
26 8 Password
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 5 10 Mar 1997

34 2 * Originating zone
36 2 * Destination zone
38 8 * Originating domain
46 8 * Destination domain
54 4 Product specific data
58 --- Start of first packed message

* Field only guaranteed accurate in a type 2.2
header

All numbers are in decimal. The point of this proposed structure is
that it is backwards compatible. All significant fields of a normal
type 2 packet header are preserved and are in the same places. The
following data fields of a type 2 packet have been discarded and
replaced with new informational content:

Packet creation date (6 bytes)
Packet creation time (6 bytes)
Packet baud rate (2 bytes)
Reserved for future use (16 bytes)

The field formerly occupied by the packet baud rate has been replaced
by the packet sub-version number. If this number is set to "2" (an
impossible baud rate), then that indicates a type 2.2 packet header,
and the fields marked above with an asterisk become valid. If this
field contains anything other than a 2, then only the original type
2.0 data may be regarded as accurate.

-30-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Document: FSC-0046
Version: 005
Date: 30-Aug-94

A Product Idenfifier for FidoNet Message Handlers

Joaquim Homrighausen
2:270/17@fidonet or [email protected]

August 30, 1994

Copyright 1994 Joaquim Homrighausen; All rights reserved.

Status of this document:

This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 6 10 Mar 1997

community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.

Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.

Purpose

This document should serve as a guide for the product identfier,
PID hereafter, format for FidoNet message handlers. The purpose
behind PIDs is related to my attempt to remove the requirement of
Origin lines in conference mail messages.

While I fully understand that this won't happen in all
conferences, I would like to provide the facility to those who can
use it (i.e. for conferences where all the participants are using
software that supports messages without origin lines).

Another use for PIDs is to minimize the excessive amount of
information some programs put on the tear lines which increases
overall transportation cost and time of conference mail.

PID

A PID replaces the program identifier often seen on the tear line
of conference mail messages and is hidden behind a ^A (ASCII SOH,
01h). This also allows for better tracking of software causing
problems in conferences.

: Only one PID per message is allowed and should only be added by
: the program that creates the message. I.e. programs passing the
: message on to someone else may not add additional PIDs. If a PID
: is added, no program information may be present after the tear
: line.

A PID also offers the ability to add serial numbers to identify a
specific copy of a program as being the source of a message with
little or no effort.

Format

^APID: <pID> <version>[ <serial#>]<CR>

Sample

^APID: FM 2.11.b<CR>

Would identify FrontDoor's editor, beta version 2.11 and
replace:

--- FM 2.11 (beta)

Fields

pID The ID of the product responsible for creating the
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 7 10 Mar 1997

message. This should be kept as short as possible.
The maximum length for this field is 10 characters.

version The version of the product including any alpha, beta,
or gamma status. Only the relevant part of the version
should be included. I.e. 1.00 should be expressed as
1, 1.10 as 1.1 and 1.01 as 1.01. Alpha, beta, or gamma
status should be expressed by appending a / or .
followed by a, b, or g and optionally a revision
indicator, such as a1, b2, etc. The maximum length
for this field is 10 characters.

serial# The serial number of the product, omitted if
irrelevant or zero. The maximum length for this field
is ten (10) characters.

TID

TIDs or "Tosser IDs" started to appear shortly after the first
revision of this document was released. They are added by
Conference Mail ("EchoMail") processors when a message is exported
from the local message base and injected into the network
distribution scope for a conference.

When a Conference Mail processor adds a TID to a message, it may
not add a PID. An existing TID should, however, be replaced. TIDs
follow the same format used for PIDs, as explained above.

List of products

The accompanying file, PIDLIST.TXT, is a list of products known to
support the PID proposal. Software authors are encouraged to
inform the author of this document of changes and additions to
this list.

--- end of file "fsc-0046.005" ---

-30-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Document: FSC-0047
Version: 001
Date: 28-May-90

The ^ASPLIT Kludge Line For Splitting Large Messages

Pat Terry
5:494/4.101
[email protected]
[email protected]

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 8 10 Mar 1997

Status of this document:

This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.

Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.

Objectives
===========

Several packers place a limit on the size of message that can be
transmitted. This is often of the order of 14K which, while
sufficient for most purposes, is inadequate for several
applications, and in particular for long messages gated to and
from UUCP land.

A SPLIT/UNSPLIT suite of two programs has been developed, intended
to handle this problem. SPLIT will split long .MSG format
messages into smaller packets. After transmission to a remote
site, the packets may be merged by UNSPLIT to recreate the
original message, as closely as possible. The only differences
are the addition of a kludge line and, possibly, a few line
breaks.

The system ensures that each large message, when split, generates
a collection of small messages, each of which is still valid in
its own right. If recombination is not effected, the messages
will still be usefully received, and, in particular, split
messages to UUCP should still all get to their destinations,
albeit in parts.

After some weeks of testing, the system seems to be sufficiently
stable and useful to justify making an FSC proposal.

The ^A SPLIT kludge line
========================

Messages split and joined by this system make use of an ^A kludge
line, which has the form below. It is proposed in this note that
this become the basis for a "standard".

One of these lines is added to the list of kludges preceding each
part of a split message. When recombined, a line of this form
remains, for reasons which will appear later.

Generically the lines look like this, in fixed columns:

^ASPLIT: date time @net/node nnnnn pp/xx +++++++++++

where
nnnnn gives the original message number from which the
components have been derived (cols 41 - 45)
pp gives the part number (cols 47 and 48)
xx gives the total number of parts (cols 50 and 51)
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 9 10 Mar 1997

For example

^ASPLIT: 30 Mar 90 11:12:34 @494/4 123 02/03 +++++++++++
| | | | | | | |
| | @ | | | | |
Date Time Node MSG | | Eye catcher
(when split) (of origin) (at time | Total parts
of split) Part number

Thus a large file (existing as 123.MSG when the splitter was run)
originating from 494/4 might be split into 3 parts with the split
lines

^ASPLIT: 30 Mar 90 11:12:34 @494/4 123 01/03 ++++++++++++
^ASPLIT: 30 Mar 90 11:12:34 @494/4 123 02/03 ++++++++++++
^ASPLIT: 30 Mar 90 11:12:34 @494/4 123 03/03 ++++++++++++

Columns 9 through 45 are really a "uniquefier". The nnnnn
message number is just the one the message had when it was split,
and is of no other significance. Similarly, the system does not
use 4-d addressing for the node/net component, because this is of
no real interest to this application, and requires parsing a file
like BINKLEY.CFG, or similar extra work, to determine the other
components.

This is, admittedly, verbose, but if recombination fails for any
reason (like all the packets not arriving at once) one can still
recombine or examine the relevant pieces manually. Note also
that the lines are added to messages that are themselves "long",
and the *relative* increase in length is actually very small.
Further justification will be found below.

Splitting large messages
========================

When splitting large messages, the following happens:

The message base is scanned for large messages.

For each of the (few) large messages found that qualify, the
large message is split into parts. The original FTSC header is
placed in each component part, save that the FileAttach bit (if
any) is removed from the 2nd, 3rd ... parts. No attempt is made
to modify the To:, or From: fields. The Subject: field for the
2nd, 3rd ... parts is modified to include a leading part number.

The original kludge lines are retained in the first part. Most
other "leading" kludges, like ^AFMPT, ^ATOPT, ^AINTL are retained
in these parts. However, ^AEID and ^AMSGID lines, if any, are
removed from the 2nd, 3rd ... parts. This is potentially
awkward, but is to avoid "dupe detectors" discarding the 2nd, 3rd
... parts, and in practice should cause no real problems. Large
echomail messages originating on a system will presumably have
their ^AEID lines added to the constituent parts at
scanning/packing time on that system (ie AFTER splitting), and
other large messages should probably not reach this stage - they
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 10 10 Mar 1997

should have been split or discarded earlier.

A ^ASPLIT line is added to each part to allow for possible later
recombination.

If the message is addressed "TO UUCP: in the FTSC header, the To:
lines at the start of the message text are copied to all parts.

The "body" of the message is then split between the various
parts. An attempt is made to split at the end of a line in each
case.

The trailing tear line, ^AVia ^APath etc lines are added to all
parts.

Joining ("unsplitting") messages
================================

When reconstituting large messages, the following happens:

The message base is scanned for messages with ^ASPLIT lines.
A list is made of messages to be unsplit, with each message
having a list of its component parts. If a duplicate component
part is found, it is discarded (thus partially getting around the
problem of any discarded ^AEID lines in the components).
Messages marked "in transit" or "sent" are not eligible for
recombination. Nor are messages with a split component number of
00, as these will only exist as the result of an earlier
recombination.

For each set of components of messages to be recombined the
following happens:

The first component is examined so as to extract the Kludge
lines, and any UUCP "To: " lines. These, and the FTSC header, are
written out to a new file, with the ^ASPLIT line modified to have
a component number of 00, so as to prevent further splitting
should the splitter program be reapplied to the recombined
message. If this is not done, large messages can get into a
tedious split-unsplit- split-unsplit... cycle each time the
system is run.

The text portions of the first and subsequent parts are then
merged (discarding extra copies of kludges, UUCP "To:" lines and
the like).

Any tearline, Origin, ^APATH, ^AVia lines etc are appended.

Normally the component files are then automatically deleted.

Justification for "human readable" uniquifier.
==============================================

Most systems do not display kludge lines, and the ^ASPLIT line
should be of no real interest. However, in one particular
application which was using this system, the ^ASPLIT lines were
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 11 10 Mar 1997

made visible for messages that could not be recombined (because
they become too large for gating from FidoNet to another RFC-822
compliant network), and hence it has been deemed essential that a
"visible" line derived from ^ASPLIT became human readable, easily
spotted, and comprehensible. For much the same reason, fixed
columns have been used, rather than free format, so that archaic
FORTRAN programmers could easily develop "unsplitters" after
getting all the pieces! Lastly, in this system a sort was done
to order the ^ASPLIT line to be the last kludge line before the
message body proper.

Acknowledgements
================

Particular thanks must be expressed to Randy Bush for offering to
test this system in its earliest releases on the very busy 1/5
zonegate, and for suggesting various improvements. Thanks for
testing are also due to Dave Wilson who operates the 5/1 zonegate
at the other end of the link from Randy, and to Mike Lawrie of
Rhodes Computer Centre for useful suggestions regarding the form
of the ^ASPLIT line acceptable to non-Fido users.

Prototype system
================

A version of SPLIT/UNSPLIT using this system may be FREQ'd
from 1:105/42 or 5:494/4 using the magic name SPLITTER. As at
this time I have unsubstantiated reports that it does not work
in conjunction with systems running Novell software (I have no
access to Novell). It works fine using Msged and QMail.

-30-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Document: FSC-0048
Version: 002
Date: 21-Oct-90

A Proposed Type-2 Packet Extension
Jan Vroonhof
2:281/1.12@fidonet
Oct 21, 1990

Status of this document
=======================

This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.

Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 12 10 Mar 1997

Software.

Purpose
=======

The final goal of this document is to become a widely used
standardised extension to FTS-0001, like FTS-0006, 0007 and
0008 are, and provide an elegant way to switch to a new
bundling method without requiring major effort or breaking
anything.

Prologue
========

The main thing that needs stressing is that the additions
covered by this document are FULLY (I repeat FULLY) BACKWARDS
COMPATIBLE with FTS-0001 (and other existing standards and
practices in FidoNet and WhatEverOtherNets that I know of).
When I say "backwards compatible" I mean that problems it would
create already exist in the current FTS-0001 system (e.g.
zone conflicts when dealing with a non compliant system). In
short it only corrects some flaws in FTS-0001 WITHOUT
generating new ones.

In this document I have tried to stay as much as possible on
the paths of existing practices. Therefore I think
implementation of the additions it proposes will not be too
hard.

! Prologue to revision 2
! ======================

! Revision 2 of this document reserves a bit in the
! CapabilityWord for one bundle type already in use outside of
! FidoNet, RFC-822. A small change was made to the "receiving"
! flowchart in order to ensure compatibility with FSC-0039.004.
! In the process a lot of errors and omissions in the spelling,
! credits etc. were corrected.

===============

! All references in the following to FSC-0039 are to Revision 1
! of that document.

My thoughts on FSC-0039 and FTS-0001 rev 12
===========================================

First, revision 12 of FTS-0001 introduced the term "(some
impls)" to indicate that some implementations used their own
! extensions to FTS-0001 (Note that in later revisions this was
! changed to "optional"). The problem is that this info cannot be
relied upon, because there is no way to actually validate the
data. One can only check whether the values of these fields are
in the range of valid values and hope for the best.

Second, FSC-0039 introduced the idea of having a bitfield
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 13 10 Mar 1997

(called the Capability Word) indicating whether extension data
was valid. Through the Capability Word, it also made it
possible to indicate the ability to support other, non type 2,
packets, thus allowing for flexible migration towards type 3.
It also documented the addressing extensions used by various
programs.

However, FSC-0039 has two flaws:

1. One cannot be sure the bitfield is zero because other
implementations might use this field for their own purposes.
Therefore this document includes a second validation copy
for the Capability Word (CW hereafter). This copy allows the
FSC-xxxx compliant software to validate the CW by comparing
the two. The chance of some junk portraying itself as a CW
is significantly reduced by this.

! Please note that the validation copy is byte swapped
! compared to the normal capability word. While this started
! out as a typo, I decided to leave it in as it introduces
! some extra safety, without requiring much extra code effort.
! In later revisions of FSC-0039, Mark adopted this idea of a
! validation copy too and eliminated the problem.

2. Although FSC-0039 provides a way to make packet headers 4D
it is not backwards compatible. It cannot be used in FTS-
0001 sessions to unknown systems, making FidoNet still not
totally 4D capable. Although it implements fields for zone
and point number, an FTS-0001 compliant application is not
required to look at these fields. When a point mails using
these fields to implement its 4D address, a system only
looking at the net/node info, as is required by FTS-0001,
still sees it as a boss node, causing the obvious problems.

This document provides a way for transparent point handling,
using a technique already exploited by many mailers
internally. It will allow this document to be implemented
and used by mailers not supporting it. At the same time the
danger that a point is seen as the boss node is eliminated.

It does NOT provide full inter-zone backwards compatibility,
but that is not needed as badly, as problems are not yet too
great. Any measures to ensure backwards compatibility in
this area might harm communication with non-supporting
programs, when the old system could handle the situation.

Packet Header
=============

The "|" character is used to indicate extensions documented in
FTS-0001 revision 12, the ":" character indicates those
documented here and in FSC-0039.

Offset
dec hex
.-----------------------------------------------------.
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 14 10 Mar 1997

0 0 | origNode (low order) | origNode (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
2 2 | destNode (low order) | destNode (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
4 4 | year (low order) | year (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
6 6 | month (low order) | month (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
8 8 | day (low order) | day (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
10 A | hour (low order) | hour (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
12 C | minute (low order) | minute (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
14 E | second (low order) | second (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
16 10 | baud (low order) | baud (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
18 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
20 14 | origNet (low order) | origNet (high order) |
: | Set to -1 if from point |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
22 16 | destNet (low order) | destNet (high order) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| 24 18 | ProductCode (low order) | Revision (major) |
| +--------------------------+--------------------------+
| 26 1A | password |
| | 8 bytes, null padded |
| +--------------------------+--------------------------+
|: 34 22 | origZone (low order) | origZone (high order) |
}
| +--------------------------+--------------------------+
} As in
|: 36 24 | destZone (low order) | destZone (high order) |
} QMail
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 38 26 | AuxNet (low order) | AuxNet (high order) |
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 40 28 | CWvalidationCopy (high) | CWvalidationCopy (low) |
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 42 2A | ProductCode (high order) | Revision (minor) |
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 44 2C | CapabilWord (low order) | CapabilWord (high order) |
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 46 2E | origZone (low order) | origZone (high order) |
}
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
} As in
: 48 30 | destZone (low order) | destZone (high order) |
} FD etc
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 50 32 | origPoint (low order) | origPoint (high order) |
}
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
} As in
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 15 10 Mar 1997

: 52 34 | destPoint (low order) | destPoint (high order) |
} FD etc
: +--------------------------+--------------------------+
: 54 46 | Product Specific Data |
: + +
: | 4 Bytes |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
58 3A | zero or more |
~ packed ~
| messages |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
'-----------------------------------------------------'

Packet = PacketHeader { PakdMessage } 00H 00H

PacketHeader = origNode (* of packet, not of messages in
packet *)
destNode (* of packet, not of messages in
packet *)
year (* of packet creation, e.g. 1986
*)
month (* of packet creation, 0-11 for Jan-
Dec *)
day (* of packet creation, 1-31
*)
hour (* of packet creation, 0-23
*)
minute (* of packet creation, 0-59
*)
second (* of packet creation, 0-59
*)
baud (* max baud rate of orig and dest
*)
PacketType (* old type-1 packets now obsolete
*)
origNet (* of packet, not of messages in
packet
set to -1 if orig=point
*)
destNet (* of packet, not of messages in
packet *)
+ productCode Lo (* 0 for Fido, write to FTSC for
others *)
|+ serialNo Maj (* binary serial number (otherwise
null) *)
| password (* session pasword (otherwise null)
*)
| origZone (* zone of pkt sender (otherwise
null) *)
| destZone (* zone of pkt receiver (otherwise
null) *)
| auxNet (* contains Orignet if Origin is a
point *)
+! Bytesw. CWvalidationCopy (* Must be equal to CW to be valid
*)
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 16 10 Mar 1997

+ ProductCode Hi
+ revision Minor
+ origZone (* zone of pkt sender (otherwise
null) *)
+ destZone (* zone of pkt receiver (otherwise
null) *)
+ ProdData (* Product specific filler
*)

When the two copies of the CW match they can be asumed to be
valid and used.

Stone-Aged: Old FTS-0001
Type-2+ : Old FTS-0001 plus changes indicated by "|" and ":"
are valid

A Type-N Bundle will always advertise its capabilities in the
CW regardless of the type being sent. As shown in the example
below, the CW allows Type-N processors to automatically track
the capability of your system. Again, in cases where a stone-
age processor is being used, this field will be ignored, and in
the unusual event that it is not ignored, and is somehow
harmful to the far system, the Type-N processor can be
configured to send a CW of 0.

The format of the Capability Word is designed to support up to
15 future bundle types, and is bit-mapped to facilitate the
easy determination of the maximum common level supported
between two nodes:

msb Capability Word lsb
Node Supports ------------FTSC Type Supported **)------------

U 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2+

2+,3, and 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
2+,3, and 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
2+ (this Doc) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Stone Age 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

! ^-- "U" Indicates nodes able to process RFC-822
! bundles.
** - In the example bit definitions only type 2,
and the Stone-Age type, are defined now.
The rest are to be concidered "reserved by
FTSC".

The receiving Type-N bundler would AND the two words, obtaining
a word expressing the Types which are common to both the
receiving and the sending system. The most significant Type
will be used for future sessions, by default. Please note that
this assumes that new bundling Types will be increasingly more
efficient or in some way more beneficial. Because this may not
always be the case, there should be a method provided to
override the automatic upgrade, as illustrated above, should
this ever happen.
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 17 10 Mar 1997

! N.B. The one bit left over (Msb) is now used as indicator for
! RFC-822 type bundles. For info on RFC-822 please check out
! the relevant documents themselves.

! For a more explanatory text on using the CW to its full
! potential, refer to the FSC-0039 text by Mark Howard.
! Mark also gives some more rationale for the origional idea
! of the CW.

Generating Type-2+ bundles
==========================

Do we have a CW Does CW indicate
stored for dest? YES ----> higher packets YES ---> Generate
higher
NO we support? packet
| NO
\|/ |
+-----<----------------------+
|
Fill header with all info
|
\|/
|
Are we sending from a point? (origPoint != 0) YES --+
| |
NO |
| \|/
| set AuxNet = OrigNet
\|/ set OrigNet = -1
| | +-----<---
-------------------------------------+
|
Add Messages
|
Terminate packet
|
Send packet

Receiving Type-2+ bundles
=========================

Receive Packet
|
Packettype = 2 NO -------------> Process Type-Other
YES
|
|
CWcopies match NO --------+------> Treat as normal Stone-Age
packet
YES | |
| | |
Store CW /|\ |
| | /|\
CW is 0 YES --------------+ |
NO |
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 18 10 Mar 1997

| |
| |
CW indicates support for 2+ NO --+
YES
|
|
! OrigPoint is not 0 and OrigNet = -1 YES -------+
NO |
| \|/
! \|/ Set OrigNet is AuxNet
| | +------<------
-----------------------------+
|
Process using added info

Credits
=======

To Mark Howard, for introducing the idea of a CW in his FSC-
0039 document and quite rightly pointing out one big omision
in revision 1 of this document.

To Rick Moore, for doing a good job in processing all these
revisions by Mark and myself, and for his work for the FTSC in
general.

To Joaquim Homrighausen, for his contributions to FidoNet
software in general, and especially for his time devoted to
reading, discussing and implementing the ideas Mark and I
introduced.

To Andre van de Wijdeven, for producing and letting me beta
test his TS-MM software, which in my opinion is the best point
software around. (I'm not saying available, because it isn't
:-()

To john lots, for shipping this stuff to the US.

To Jon Webb, for doing a much needed grammar and spelling
check.

To Bob Hartman, Vince Periello, Tom Jennings, Eelco de Graaff,
aXel Horst, Arjen van Loon, jim nutt, Odinn Sorensen, David
Nugent, Peter Janssens and many others, for making FidoNet
what it is now, for me and for everybody.

Epilog
======

So this it, now it's up to you to decide whether or not to
implement it. A small change was made in the receivers
flowchart and a small incompatibility with the later revisions
of FSC-0039 was removed. That will ensure that FSC-0048 and
FSC-0039 mailers can happily talk to each other....

The best way to implement this would be to always support FSC-
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 19 10 Mar 1997

0048 on inbound trafic and generate FSC-0048 on outbound by
default. A switch on a per-node basis will force your software
to be FSC-0039 or even FSC-0001 only, and you will cover all
bases.

This can be done easily, as FSC-0048 is a superset of FSC-0039
(The -1 thing on points being the difference) which in turn is
a superset of FTS-0001 (CW). I'd be glad to get some feedback.
You can put it in NET_DEV or netmail me.

Jan Vroonhof (2:281/1.12@fidonet)

-30-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 20 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
COORDINATORS CORNER
=================================================================

Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 066
By Ward Dossche, 2:292/854
ZC/2

+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
|Zone|Nl-038|Nodelist-045|Nodelist-052|Nodelist-059|Nodelist-066|%%|
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
| 1 | 9729| 9527 -202 | 9527 0 | 9405 -122 | 9405 0 |34|
| 2 | 16067|16074 7 |16051 -23 |16116 65 |16083 -33 |57|
| 3 | 863| 846 -17 | 812 -34 | 807 -5 | 800 -7 | 3|
| 4 | 549| 538 -11 | 541 3 | 541 0 | 545 4 | 2|
| 5 | 87| 87 0 | 87 0 | 87 0 | 87 0 | 0|
| 6 | 1072| 1071 -1 | 1071 0 | 1088 17 | 1088 0 | 4|
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
| 28367|28143 -224 |28089 -54 |28044 -45 |28008 -36 |
+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 21 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
ECHOING
=================================================================

North American Backbone Echo Changes [Jan-Feb]
by Lisa Gronke, 1:105/16
[email protected]

Summary of backbone & quasi-backbone echo changes during Jan & Feb.

Brought to you courtesy of (unix) diff.

diff (backbone.na + backbone.no) 05-Jan-97 02-Mar-97 [edited].

Added to the babackbone
-----------------------
> ALT_DOS OPENDOS and FREEDOS discussion area
> AUTOMOBILE_RACING Discussion of all types of auto motorsports
> BT-XE BinkleyTerm-XE Support
> C&C Command & Conquer echo
> CARIBBEAN_CHAT (low traffic since 2/1/97)
> DTP Desktop Publishing discussion
> FDN_ANNOUNCE File Distribution Networks Files, Info, & Links
> FIDOWEB FidoNet Web Page Conference
> FRONTDOOR_APX FrontDoor APX Support Conference
> GAMES4SALE Games for sale
> GRAMPS_ECHO Clean chat echo about current events, UFO's etc
> IEEE Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers
> JDSSOFT John Dailey Software Support
> OCCULT_CHAT Occult Chatter
> WC4DOS WildCat 4 upgrade to wc5, winserver, etc.
> WEATHER National Weather Network

Removed from the backbone or quasi-backbone
-------------------------------------------
< 4DOS_TC (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< AAGENE (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< CONSULTING (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< FANTASY_SPORTS (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< F_KNIGHT (not in EchoList since 1/1/97)
< GREEN.029 (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< ICOM (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< IRONOX (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< K9COPS (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< LAW_TECH (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< LIBRARY (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< MACHYPE (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< MEET_AFT (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< MELEE (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< MOTOROLA_MODEMS (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< OBLIVION2 (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< OLDTRUCK (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< OLD_ENGINE <No title>
< OOII (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< PCWRITE (low traffic since 12/1/97)
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 22 10 Mar 1997

< PROZ (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< RACE_UNITY (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< RED_CROSS (low traffic since 11/1/96)
< REEF_KEEPING (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< STARTREK_RUMORS (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< STUDIO_101 (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< TAG_OS2 (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< THUNDERBYTE (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< WIN_SURFING (low traffic since 12/1/97)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
o There are 778 echos in backbone.na [02-Mar-97] (down 1)
o There are 55 echos in backbone.no [02-Mar-97] (down 12)
o for a total of 833 backbone & quasi-backbone echos (down 13)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 23 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
NET HUMOR
=================================================================

From: "Mike Riddle" <[email protected]>
To: "Baker, Christopher" <[email protected] (Christopher Baker)>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 97 07:57:42 -0600
Reply-To: "Mike Riddle" <[email protected]>
Subject: Fwd: Redneck Computer Talk

==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE==================

Received this the other day. Thought the list might get a kick out of
it!

Redneck Computer Talk

"Hard drive" -- trying to climb a steep, muddy hill with 3 flat tires
and pulling a trailer load of fertilizer.

"Keyboard" -- Place to hang your truck keys.

"Window" -- place in the truck to hang your guns.

"Floppy" -- when you run out of polygrip.

"Modem" -- how you got rid of your dandelions.

"ROM" -- delicious when you mix it with coca cola.

"Byte" -- first word in a kiss-off phrase.

"Reboot" -- what you do when the first pair gets covered with barnyard
stuff.

"Network" -- activity meant to provide bait for your trot line

"Mouse" -- fuzzy, soft thing you stuff in your beer bottle in order to
get a free case.

"LAN" -- to borrow as in: "Hey Delbert! LAN me your truck."

"Cursor" -- what some guys do when they are mad at their wife and/or
girlfriend.

"Bit" -- a wager as in: "I bit you can't spit that watermelon seed
across the porch longways."

"Digital control" -- what your fingers do on the TV remote.

"packet" -- what you do to a suitcase before a trip.

===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE===================

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 24 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT
=================================================================

Emanuel Edwards
1:348/963
[email protected]

Hello all Cricket Lovers:

This ad is to inform you that there is a cricket echo now on fidonet.
All Sysops in England, Pakistan, India, Australia,South Africa and
the West Indies that carry fidonet please request the cricket_echo
on your bbs. The echo tag is called CRICKET_ECHO. The cricket_echo
describe all aspects on how the game is played, the latest scores and
upcoming tours and events in the cricket world. Please request the
cricket_echo onto your bbs and let's start chatting about this
beautiful and intersting game.

Thanks you

Emanuel Moderator.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 25 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================

Future History

17 May 1997
Independence Day, Norway.

25 May 1997
Independence Day, Argentina.

6 Jun 1997
National Commemoration Day, Sweden.

11 Jun 1997
Independence Day, Russia.

1 Jul 1997
Canada Day - Happy Birthday Canada.

13 Oct 1997
Thanksgiving Day, Canada.

1 Dec 1997
World AIDS Day.

10 Dec 1997
Nobel Day, Sweden.

12 Jan 1998
HAL 9000 is one year old today.

22 May 1998
Expo '98 World Exposition in Lisbon (Portugal) opens.

1 Dec 1998
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
Tom Jennings.

31 Dec 1999
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.

1 Jan 2000
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.

15 Sep 2000
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.

1 Jan 2001
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.

-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 26 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING
=================================================================

Latest Greatest Software Versions
by Peter E. Popovich, 1:363/264

[This is a repost of 1409's Version list.] Ed.

All right, I admit it. I've been slacking off. I didn't get anything
done this week. Sigh.

The good news is that the old info section is down to under 40
percent, so we're seeing some real progress there.

Phased out this week: "OS/2 Systems" Section

Phase-out highlights:
This week: "Amiga" Section
Deadline for info: 14 Mar 1997.
Last week: "Atari ST/TT" Section
Deadline for info: 7 Mar 1997.

-=- Snip -=-

Submission form for the Latest Greatest Software Versions column

OS Platform :
Software package name :
Version :
Function(s) - BBS, Mailer, Tosser, etc. :
Freeware / Shareware / Commercial? :
Author / Support staff contact name :
Author / Support staff contact node :
Magic name (at the above-listed node) :

Please include a sentence describing what the package does.

Please send updates and suggestions to: Peter Popovich, 1:363/264

-=- Snip -=-

MS-DOS:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Act-Up 4.6 G D Chris Gunn 1:15/55 ACT-UP
ALLFIX 4.40 T S Harald Harms 2:281/415 ALLFIX
Announcer 1.1 O S Peter Karlsson 2:206/221 ANNOUNCE
BGFAX 1.60 O S B.J. Guillot 1:106/400 BGFAX
Binkley Docs 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOC_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOS_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm-XE XR4 M F Thomas Waldmann 2:2474/400 BTXE_DOS
CFRoute 0.92 O G C. Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 CFR
CheckPnt 1.0 O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 CHECKPNT
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 27 10 Mar 1997

FastEcho 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FASTECHO
FastEcho/16 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FE16
FidoBBS (tm) 12u B S Ray Brown 1:1/117 FILES
FrontDoor 2.12 M S JoHo 2:201/330 FD
FrontDoor 2.20c M C JoHo 2:201/330 FDINFO
GIGO 07-14-96 G S Jason Fesler 1:1/141 INFO
GoldED 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GED
GoldED Docs 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEM
GoldNODE 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEN
Imail 1.75 T S Michael McCabe 1:1/121 IMAIL
ImCrypt 1.04 O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 IMCRYPT
InfoMail 1.11 O F Damian Walker 2:2502/666 INFOMAIL
InfoMail/386 1.20 O F Damian Walker 2:2502/666 INFO386
InterEcho 1.19 T C Peter Stewart 1:369/35 IEDEMO
InterMail 2.29k M C Peter Stewart 1:369/35 IMDEMO
InterPCB 1.52 O S Peter Stewart 1:369/35 INTERPCB
IPNet 1.11 O S Michele Stewart 1:369/21 IPNET
JD's CBV 1.4 O S John Dailey 1:363/277 CBV
Jelly-Bean 1.01 T S Rowan Crowe 3:635/727 JELLY
Jelly-Bean/386 1.01 T S Rowan Crowe 3:635/727 JELLY386
JMail-Hudson 2.81 T S Jason Steck 1:285/424 JMAIL-H
JMail-Goldbase 2.81 T S Jason Steck 1:285/424 JMAIL-G
MakePl 1.9 N G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 MAKEPL
Marena 1.1 beta O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 MARENA
Maximus 3.01 B P Tech 1:249/106 MAX
McMail 1.0 M S Michael McCabe 1:1/148 MCMAIL
MDNDP 1.18 N S Bill Doyle 1:388/7 MDNDP
Msged 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41D.ZIP
Msged/386 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41X.ZIP
Opus CBCS 1.73a B P Christopher Baker 1:374/14 OPUS
O/T-Track 2.63a O S Peter Hampf 2:241/1090 OT
PcMerge 2.7 N G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 PCMERGE
PlatinumXpress 1.3 M C Gary Petersen 1:290/111 PX13TD.ZIP
QuickBBS 2.81 B S Ben Schollnick 1:2613/477 QUICKBBS
RAR 2.00 C S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 RAR
RemoteAccess 2.50 B S Mark Lewis 1:3634/12 RA
Silver Xpress
Door 5.4 O S Gary Petersen 1:290/111 FILES
Reader 4.4 O S Gary Petersen 1:290/111 SXR44.ZIP
Spitfire 3.51 B S Mike Weaver 1:3670/3 SPITFIRE
Squish 1.11 T P Tech 1:249/106 SQUISH
StealTag UK 1.c... O F Fred Schenk 2:284/412 STEAL_UK
StealTag NL 1.c... O F Fred Schenk 2:284/412 STEAL_NL
T-Mail 2.599I M S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 TMAIL
Terminate 4.00 O S Bo Bendtsen 2:254/261 TERMINATE
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK
TriBBS 10.0 B S Patrick Driscoll 1:372/19 TRIBBS
TriDog 10.0 M S Patrick Driscoll 1:372/19 TRIDOG
TriToss 10.0 T S Patrick Driscoll 1:372/19 TRITOSS
WaterGate 0.92 G S Robert Szarka 1:320/42 WTRGATE
WWIV 4.24a B S Craig Dooley 1:376/126 WWIV
WWIVTOSS 1.36 T S Craig Dooley 1:376/126 WWIVTOSS
xMail 2.00 T S Thorsten Franke 2:2448/53 XMAIL
XRobot 3.01 O S JoHo 2:201/330 XRDOS

OS/2:
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 28 10 Mar 1997

Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ALLFIX/2 1.10 T S Harald Harms 2:281/415 AFIXOS2
BGFAX 1.60 O S B.J. Guillot 1:106/400 BGFAX
Binkley Docs 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOC_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BOS2_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm-XE XR4 M F Thomas Waldmann 2:2474/400 BTXE_OS2
CFRoute 0.92 O G C. Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 CFR
FastEcho 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FE2
FleetStreet 1.19 O S Michael Hohner 2:2490/2520 FLEET
GIGO 07-14-96 G S Jason Fesler 1:1/141 INFO
GoldED 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEO
GoldED Docs 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEM
GoldNODE 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEN
ImCrypt 1.04 O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 IMCRYPT
Maximus 3.01 B P Tech 1:249/106 MAXP
Msged/2 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41O.ZIP
PcMerge 2.3 N G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 PCMERGE
RAR 2.00 C S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 RAR2
Squish 1.11 T P Tech 1:249/106 SQUISHP
T-Mail 2.599I M S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 TMAIL2
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK
XRobot 3.01 O S JoHo 2:201/330 XROS2

Windows (16-bit apps):
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BeeMail 1.0 M C Andrius Cepaitis 2:470/1 BEEMAIL
FrontDoor APX 1.10 P S Mats Wallin 2:201/329 FDAPXW

Windows (32-bit apps):
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BeeMail 1.0 M C Andrius Cepaitis 2:470/1 BEEMAIL
Binkley Docs 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOC_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BW32_260.ZIP
CFRoute 0.92 O G C. Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 CFR
GoldED 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEO
GoldED Docs 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEM
Maximus 3.01 B P Tech 1:249/106 MAXN
Msged/NT 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41W.ZIP
PlatinumXpress 2.00 M C Gary Petersen 1:290/111 PXW-INFO
T-Mail 2.599I M S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 TMAILNT
WinFOSSIL/95 1.12 r4 F S Bryan Woodruff 1:343/294 WNFOSSIL.ZIP
WinFOSSIL/NT 1.0 beta F S Bryan Woodruff 1:343/294 NTFOSSIL.ZIP

Unix:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ifmail 2.9 M G Eugene Crosser 2:293/2219 IFMAIL
ifmail-tx ...tx7.9 M G Pablo Saratxaga 2:293/2219 IFMAILTX
Msged 4.00 O G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 MSGED
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK

Amiga:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 29 10 Mar 1997

----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrashMail 1.23 T X Fredrik Bennison 2:205/324 CRASHMAIL
CrashTick 1.1 O F Fredrik Bennison 2:205/324 CRASHTICK
DLG Pro BBOS 1.15 B C Holly Sullivan 1:202/720 DLGDEMO
GMS 1.1.85 M S Mirko Viviani 2:331/213 GMS
Msged 4.00 O G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 MSGED
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK

Atari:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BinkleyTerm/ST 3.18pl1 M F Bill Scull 1:363/112 BINKLEY

Function: B-BBS, P-Point, M-Mailer, N-Nodelist, G-Gateway, T-Tosser,
C-Compression, F-Fossil, O-Other. Note: Multifunction will
be listed by the first match.

Cost: P-Free for personal use, F-Freeware, S-Shareware, C-Commercial,
X-Crippleware, D-Demoware, G-Free w/ Source

Old info from: 01/27/92
---------------------------------------------------------------------

MS-DOS Systems Other Utilities Other Utilities
-------------- Name Version Name Version
-------------------- --------------------
Network Mailers 2DAPoint 1.50* Netsex 2.00b
Name Version 4Dog/4DMatrix 1.18 OFFLINE 1.35
-------------------- ARCAsim 2.31 Oliver 1.0a
D'Bridge 1.30 ARCmail 3.00* OSIRIS CBIS 3.02
Dreamer 1.06 Areafix 1.20 PKInsert 7.10
Dutchie 2.90c ConfMail 4.00 PolyXarc 2.1a
Milqtoast 1.00 Crossnet 1.5 QM 1.00a
PreNM 1.48 DOMAIN 1.42 QSort 4.04
SEAdog 4.60 DEMM 1.06 RAD Plus 2.11
SEAmail 1.01 DGMM 1.06 Raid 1.00
TIMS 1.0(mod8) DOMAIN 1.42 RBBSMail 18.0
EEngine 0.32 ScanToss 1.28
Compression EMM 2.11* ScMail 1.00
Utilities EZPoint 2.1 ScEdit 1.12
Name Version FGroup 1.00 Sirius 1.0x
-------------------- FidoPCB 1.0s@ SLMail 2.15C
ARC 7.12 FNPGate 2.70 StarLink 1.01
ARJ 2.20 GateWorks 3.06e TagMail 2.41
LHA 2.13 GMail 2.05 TCOMMail 2.2
PAK 2.51 GMD 3.10 Telemail 1.5*
PKPak 3.61 GMM 1.21 TGroup 1.13
PKZip 1.10 GROUP 2.23 TIRES 3.11
GUS 1.40 TMail 1.21
NodeList Utilities Harvey's Robot 4.10 TosScan 1.00
Name Version HeadEdit 1.18 UFGATE 1.03
-------------------- HLIST 1.09 VPurge 4.09e
EditNL 4.00 ISIS 5.12@ WEdit 2.0@
FDND 1.10 Lola 1.01d WildMail 2.00
MakeNL 2.31 Mosaic 1.00b WMail 2.2
Parselst 1.33 MailBase 4.11a@ WNode 2.1
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 30 10 Mar 1997

Prune 1.40 MSG 4.5* XRS 4.99
SysNL 3.14 MsgLnk 1.0c XST 2.3e
XlatList 2.90 MsgMstr 2.03a YUPPIE! 2.00
XlaxNode/Diff 2.53 MsgNum 4.16d ZmailH 1.25
MSGTOSS 1.3 ZSX 2.40

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

BBS Software Macintosh Other Software
Name Version --------- Name Version
-------------------- --------------------
FBBS 0.91 Network Mailers MacArd 0.04
Hermes 1.6.1 Name Version Mantissa 3.21
Mansion 7.15 -------------------- Mehitable 2.0
Precision Sys. 0.95b Copernicus 1.0 OriginatorII 2.0
Red Ryder Host 2.1 Tabby 2.2 PreStamp 3.2
Telefinder Host StuffIt Classic 1.6
2.12T10 Other Software SunDial 3.2
Name Version TExport 1.92
-------------------- TimeStamp 1.6
Point System ArcMac 1.3 TImport 1.92
Software AreaFix 1.6 Tset 1.3
Name Version Compact Pro 1.30 TSort 1.0
-------------------- EventMeister 1.0 UNZIP 1.02c
Copernicus 1.00 Export 3.21 Zenith 1.5
CounterPoint 1.09 Import 3.2 Zip Extract 0.10
MacWoof 1.1 LHARC 0.41

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Amiga Network Mailers Other Software
----- Name Version Name Version
-------------------- --------------------
BBS Software BinkleyTerm 1.00 Areafix 1.48
Name Version TrapDoor 1.80 AReceipt 1.5
-------------------- WelMat 0.44 ChameleonEdit 0.11
4D-BBS 1.65 ConfMail 1.12
Falcon CBCS 1.00 ElectricHerald 1.66
Starnet 1.0q@ Compression FFRS 1.0@
TransAmiga 1.07 Utilities FileMgr 2.08
XenoLink 1.0 Name Version Fozzle 1.0@
-------------------- Login 0.18
AmigArc 0.23 MessageFilter 1.52
NodeList Utilities booz 1.01 Message View 1.12
Name Version LHARC 1.30 oMMM 1.50
-------------------- LhA 1.10 PolyXAmy 2.02
ParseLst 1.66 LZ 1.92 RMB 1.30
Skyparse 2.30 PkAX 1.00 Roof 46.15
TrapList 1.40 UnZip 4.1 RoboWriter 1.02
Zippy (Unzip) 1.25 Rsh 4.07a
Zoo 2.01 Tick 0.75
TrapToss 1.20
|Contact: Maximilian Hantsch 2:310/6| Yuck! 2.02

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 31 10 Mar 1997

BBS Software Atari ST/TT
Name Version -----------
--------------------
FIDOdoor/ST 2.5.1 Network Mailers Other Utilities
FiFo 2.1v Name Version Name Version
LED ST 1.00 -------------------- --------------------
QuickBBS/ST 1.06* The Box 1.95* ApplyList 1.00@
Burep 1.1
Compression ComScan 1.04
Utilities NodeList Utilities ConfMail 4.10
Name Version Name Version Echoscan 1.10
-------------------- -------------------- FDrenum 2.5.2
ARC 6.02 ParseList 1.30 FastPack 1.20
LHARC 2.01i EchoFix 1.20 Import 1.14
PackConvert sTICK/Hatch 5.50 oMMM 1.40
STZip 1.1* Pack 1.00
UnJARST 2.00 Trenum 0.10
WhatArc 2.02

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Key to old info:
+ - Netmail Capable (Doesn't Require Additional Mailer Software)
* - Recently Updated Version
@ - New Addition
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Please send updates and suggestions to: Peter Popovich, 1:363/264

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 32 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY
=================================================================

[this must be copied out to a file starting at column 1 or
it won't process under PGP as a valid public-key]

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6.2
Comment: Clear-signing is Electronic Digital Authenticity!
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=61OQ
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

File-request FNEWSKEY from 1:1/23 [1:18/14] or download it from the
Rights On! BBS at 1-904-409-7040 anytime except 0100-0130 ET and Zone
1 ZMH at 1200-9600+ HST/V32B. The FidoNews key is also available on
the FidoNews homepage listed in the Masthead information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 33 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================

This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the Editor as
of this appearance.

============

FidoNet:

Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fidonews.html
HTML FNews http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6894/
WWW sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
FTSC page http://www2.blaze.net.au/ftsc.html
Echomail http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/index.html
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html

============

Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org

Region 10:
http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html

Region 15:
http://www.smrtsys.com/region15/

Region 16:
http://www.tiac.net/users/satins/region16.htm

Region 17:
http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/region17.htm

Region 18:
http://www.citicom.com/fido.html

Region 19:
http://ccove.n-link.com/

============

Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org

ZEC2: http://fidoftp.paralex.co.uk/zec.htm
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fidonet.ch/z2_elist/z2_elist.htm

Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (in German)

Region 25:
http://members.aol.com/Net254/

Region 27:
http://telematique.org/fidofr.shtml (in French)

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 34 10 Mar 1997

Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (in French)

Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (in Swiss)

Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (in Spanish)
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr

Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/

============

Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org

============

Zone 4: (not yet listed)

============

Zone 5: (not yet listed)

============

Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org

============

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 35 10 Mar 1997

=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================

------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------

Editor: Christopher Baker

Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees

"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS 1-904-409-7040, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(ds)

more addresses:
Christopher Baker -- 1:18/14, [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 471
Edgewater, FL 32132-0471
U.S.A.

voice: 1-904-409-3040 [1400-2100 ET only, please]
[1800-0100 UTC/GMT]

------------------------------------------------------

FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
FidoNews.

Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1997 Christopher Baker. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
the Editor.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSEnn.ZIP] for a
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 36 10 Mar 1997

particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [7], i.e., FNWSFEB7.ZIP for all the Issues from Feb 97.

Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 14 for 1984 - 1997, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.4M.

INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:

http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/

*=*=*

You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist

and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the email
distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist with no
message to the same address above.

*=*=*

You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6894/

STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:

ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/

Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 11 Megs.

=*=*=*=

The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
available almost immediately after publication on the Editor's new
homepage on the World Wide Web at:

http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fidonews.html

There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an email
link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

A PGP generated public-key is available for the FidoNews Editor from
FIDONEWS 14-10 Page 37 10 Mar 1997

1:1/23 [1:18/14] by file-request for FNEWSKEY or by download from
Rights On! BBS at 1-904-409-7040 as FIDONEWS.ASC in File Area 18. It
is also posted twice a month into the PKEY_DROP Echo available on the
Zone 1 Echomail Backbone.

*=*=*=*=*

SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews Editor, or file-requestable
from 1:1/23 [1:18/14] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone Coordinators
also have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.

"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
and are used with permission.

"Disagreement is actually necessary,
or we'd all have to get in fights
or something to amuse ourselves
and create the requisite chaos."
-Tom Jennings

-30-

-----------------------------------------------------------------