F I D O N E W S -- Volume 14, Number 11 17 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. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN EMULSIFIED?
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
Is it just a communication problem? ...................... 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
ACLU News of Cyberspace .................................. 2
Differences: FidoNet/Internet ............................ 6
Beware the Ides of March ................................. 9
Fido Copyright in Danger? ................................ 11
The Great ZEC Election Hoax .............................. 12
R19 activity? ............................................ 15
3. GETTING TECHNICAL ........................................ 18
FSC-0049 - Proposal for Passing Domain Information ....... 18
FSC-0050 - Character Set Identifier ...................... 19
FSC-0051 - System Independent Transfer of Special Chara .. 21
4. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 31
Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 073 ...... 31
5. WE GET EMAIL ............................................. 32
ZEC1 Poll for ZEC1 Election .............................. 32
6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 34
An odd comparison? ....................................... 34
7. NOTICES .................................................. 35
Future History ........................................... 35
I.E.E.E. Echo Announcement ............................... 36
8. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................. 37
Latest Greatest Software Versions ........................ 37
And more!
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 1 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
Things are not always as they seem at first blush.
Fortunately, FidoNews takes input from anyone and all angles and
voices can be heard albeit a week delayed in the case of several of
the articles in today's Issue.
I expect we will have more responses next week.
So, sorry, Gary [et al], this Issue is not 26K.
Communication is what we are here for so let's communicate at ALL the
levels of FidoNet. Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati may have worked just
fine in the 5,000 Node days but sooner or later something is going to
give if folks don't at least check in once in awhile.
And speaking of playing dead, what's happening in the IC election?
C.B.
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FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 2 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
--- Following message extracted from FIDONEWS @ 1:18/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Sun Mar 09 19:05:14 1997
[reformatting this msg for FidoNews compromised the PGP signature
clear-signing this as authentic from Mike Bilow. The original is
available in the FIDONEWS Echo if anyone wants to test it.] Ed.
From: Mike Bilow
To: Christopher Baker
Date: 07 Mar 97 12:37:04
Subj: ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update
* Forwarded (from: Netmail) by Mike Bilow using BilowMail0.2.
* Originally from ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update Owner to Mike Bilow.
* Original dated: Mar 06 '97, 23:40
From: "ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update Owner"@newmedium.com
To:
[email protected]
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update
Thursday, March 5, 1997
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONTENTS:
* ACLU Welcomes "Pro-CODE" Encryption Bill, Warns of Anti-Privacy
Legislation Waiting in the Wings
* ACLU Moves to Protect Netizens From Prosecution Under New York
Cybercensorship Law
* About Cyber-Liberties Update (Unchanged since Feb 5)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* ACLU Welcomes "Pro-CODE" Encryption Bill, Warns of Anti-Privacy
Legislation Waiting in the Wings
The American Civil Liberties Union today praised Senator Conrad
Burns (R-MT) for his leadership in protecting free speech and online
privacy and welcomed the introduction of S.377, the "Promotion of
Commerce in a Digital Era Act (Pro-CODE)."
The bill, introduced by Senator Burns on the Senate floor last
week, aims at lifting export controls on encryption with a resulting
increase in privacy protection for both communications and stored
information, the ACLU said.
Encryption programs scramble information so that it can only be
read with a "key" -- a code the recipient uses to unlock the scrambled
electronic data. Programs that use more than 40 bits of data to
encode information are considered "strong" encryption. Currently,
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 3 17 Mar 1997
unless these keys are made available to the government, the
Clinton/Gore Administration bans export of hardware or software
containing strong encryption, treating these products as "munitions."
The ACLU said the anti-cryptography ban has considerably weakened
U.S. participation in the global marketplace, in addition to
curtailing freedom of speech by denying users the right to "speak"
using encryption. The ban also violates the right to privacy by
limiting the ability to protect sensitive information in the new
computerized world.
The ACLU believes that both encryption programs and communications
using such programs are free speech, fully protected by the First
Amendment. A recent federal court decision -- now under appeal by the
government -- has upheld this view. The ACLU plans to submit a
friend-of-the-court brief in that case (Bernstein v. U.S. Dept. of
State), as it has done in other legal challenges to the
Administration's anti-encryption policy.
"Privacy, anonymity and security in the digital world depend on
encryption," said Donald Haines, legislative counsel on privacy and
cyberspace issues for the ACLU's Washington national office. "The aim
of the Pro-CODE bill is to allow U.S. companies to compete with
industries abroad and lift restrictions on the fundamental right to
free speech, the hallmark of American democracy."
Haines said that the ACLU is urging other senators to support and
co-sponsor the bill. However, he noted that certain provisions raised
important, "troubling" concerns that should be addressed before a
final vote.
For example, the bill provides that, in exchange for "relaxing
export controls...this Act creates an obligation on the part
of...companies involved in the export of information security products
to share information ...about those products to designated
representatives of the federal government." (Section 2(a)(16)). Such
an exchange undermines a central purpose of Pro-CODE: fostering
American competitiveness, Haines said.
"Who would want to buy a privacy protection program bearing a
label 'inspected by the U.S. government?' That's fine for meat
inspection, but it is not appropriate or wise for cryptography
products," Haines said. "It is also downright offensive to say you
can exercise your free speech rights only after discussing what you
want to say with federal agents."
Another troubling provision of Pro-CODE would establish a secret
"Information Security Board" composed of agencies involved in
information security policy. According to the bill, the purpose of
the board would be for government agencies -- including the CIA, FBI,
NSA and Department of Defense -- to meet with industry leaders to
review "developments" in cryptography technologies.
Aside from concerns that such agencies have a history of invading
privacy and violating civil liberties, the bill wrongly exempts the
board from the federal open-meeting requirements, according to Barry
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 4 17 Mar 1997
Steinhardt, associate director of the national ACLU and chair of the
ACLU's Cyber-Liberties Task Force.
"Government should not operate in secret," Steinhardt said. "Even
if the board's meetings are limited to discussing general,
non-proprietary industry developments, the Federal Advisory Committee
Act should apply and the meetings should be open to the public. While
we continue to urge against the creation of an advisory board, at a
minimum any meetings should be open and should include consumers and
members of the privacy community, who are conspicuously absent from
the list."
Some cryptography experts have also questioned whether the
technical definitions in the bill will actually provide the
broad-scale protection for encryption supported by Senator Burns.
While clearly covering mass-market products (e.g., Netscape's Internet
browser), the question is whether the protection would also cover the
kind of encryption program the court upheld in Bernstein.
Notwithstanding these concerns, the ACLU welcomed the Burns bill
as a positive step toward eliminating unconstitutional restrictions on
a developing industry that promises to enhance free speech and privacy
for everyone in the Information Age.
Senator Burns, as chair of the subcommittee on telecommunications,
has scheduled a hearing on the Pro-CODE bill for March 11, with
possible action by the full Senate Commerce Committee as early as the
following week.
"In both this Congress and the last one, Senator Burns has
consistently championed free speech and privacy in the encryption
debate," said the ACLU's Don Haines. "He deserves our support and
full cooperation in moving this bill, and we look forward to working
with him to resolve our concerns."
Haines warned that more restrictive proposals are already waiting
in the wings, with provisions that would take a first step toward
establishing mandatory controls on domestic encryption and requiring
encryption "keyholders" to share their keys with the government.
"In addition to supporting Pro-CODE, we are closely monitoring
all new encryption legislation. The ACLU will vigorously oppose any
scheme that calls for key escrow, key recovery, or takes a step
toward mandatory controls on encryption," Haines said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* ACLU Moves to Protect Netizens From Prosecution Under New York
Cybercensorship Law
Despite two lower court rulings protecting Internet users from
prosecution under the federal Communications Decency Act, "netizens"
are still in danger of criminal charges under a New York law that
restricts free speech in cyberspace, the American Civil Liberties
Union said today.
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 5 17 Mar 1997
Moving to protect netizens, the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties
Union yesterday filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in federal
district court, saying that their plaintiffs (and all Internet users)
could face prison sentences of up to four years under the law. The
federal CDA is currently awaiting review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Governor Pataki may say that he is trying to protect minors, but the
sad fact is that this law does not and cannot protect children," said
Ann Beeson, an ACLU national staff attorney specializing in cyberspace
issues. "The only immediate harm on the horizon is to the millions of
Internet users, including our plaintiffs, who face criminal
prosecution for exercising their right to free speech."
"Parents, not the government, should control what their children see
online," Beeson added. "This can be more effectively and less
restrictively accomplished through the use of blocking software and
the development of other technology that allows for voluntary
screening."
Because New York State has refused to stay prosecution while the
Supreme Court considers the federal law, the case is now moving
forward to a courtroom hearing, scheduled to begin on April 3. The
hearing is expected to last from three to five days and will likely
include a live demonstration of the Internet as well as testimony from
expert witnesses and plaintiffs.
The brief also includes the assertion that the Act violates the
CommerceClause of the United States Constitution because it regulates
communications outside the state of New York and subjects Internet
users to a confusing babel of conflicting state laws.
"A librarian in Illinois will now think twice before sending
information to a fellow librarian in New York, or will not 'link' to a
website in New York for fear that New York authorities will charge
them under this confusing statute," said Judith Krug, director of the
American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
"Despite the fact that this is a New York statute, given the reality
of the Internet, anyone who accesses information from outside New York
is also impacted by this law. This is clearly unacceptable for any
Internet user," she added.
Citing opinions that struck down the federal CDA, the ACLU said that
the New York law contains the same "fatal constitutional flaws." A
chart appended to the brief shows, point by point, the similarities --
including, in some cases, identical language -- between the two laws.
A favorable decision by the high court would provide powerful
ammunition against the New York law, the ACLU said.
"We are surprised and disappointed that the State of New York is
rushing to judgment on an issue of critical importance, when everyone
knows that the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing arguments on the
related federal case two weeks from now," said Norman Siegel,
executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument in Reno v. ACLU
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 6 17 Mar 1997
on March 19. A decision is expected to be handed down by the end of
the term, in June or July.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update Editor:
Lisa Kamm (
[email protected])
American Civil Liberties Union National Office
132 West 43rd Street
New York, New York 10036
To subscribe to the ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update, send a message
to
[email protected] with "subscribe Cyber-Liberties" in the
body of your message. To terminate your subscription, send a
message to
[email protected] with "unsubscribe Cyber-Liberties"
in the body.
The Cyber-Liberties Update is archived at
http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/updates.html
For general information about the ACLU, write to
[email protected].
PGP keys can be found at
http://www.aclu.org/about/pgpkeys.html
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Origin: N1BEE BBS +1 401 944 8498 V34/VFC/V32bis/HST16.8 (1:323/107)
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DIFFERENCES: FIDONET/INTERNET
By Pete Snidal (C) 1997
sysop, Fidonet 1:354/910
Have you heard of the Internet? It's doubtful there's anyone
alive on the planet who hasn't, but have you heard of Fidonet?
Fidonet has been around and functioning as long as the Internet,
and is still alive and well, thank you, but for some reason, we
don't hear of it every time we turn on the tv or pick up a
magazine.
Fidonet is also a resource available to anyone with a computer and
a modem, and following is a comparison of it and the much-touted
internet:
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 7 17 Mar 1997
FIDONET Is a system of hobbyist-operated bulletin boards,
spanning the world, which connect and exchange data
regularly, usually on a nightly schedule. There
are 28,000 Fidonet nodes on Earth, 9400 in North
America, and 16,000 in Europe.
INTERNET Is a system of server computers, also spanning the
world, which are virtually connected to one another
at all times.
FIDONET Offers the local user a series of conference areas,
which host discussions on specific subjects, such
as alternative medicine, home schooling, bicycling,
etc. There are over 1000 such "Fidoechoes," and
few fidonet bbs's carry them all. But your "local"
can usually be convinced to carry the ones you want.
The "Noise/signal ratio" of these echoes is quite
low, and the atmosphere is generally very folksy,
friendly, and casual. "Fidoecho" traffic is carried
from the originating bbs's to bbs' all over the world
which carry that echo, so discussion is facilitated
between people on an ongoing basis who are separated
by thousands of miles.
INTERNET Discussion of various subjects is carried by USENET
NEWS. There are many UN areas, such as
rec.motorcycle, or alt.space.aliens.ufo, but there is
usually a very high "noise/signal" ratio on Usenet,
and the areas are hard to read and post in. There is
also much hostility, or "flaming" on Internet UN
discussion areas.
FIDONET Most Fidonet bbs's have a Files Area, from which the
user may download a number of programme files, all of
which will be "shareware," or "freeware." In some
cases, files of particular interest may even be "File
Requested" from other systems. Many Fidonet systems
also carry a large number of information, or text
files, and some picture files, sound files, etc.
INTERNET Gives access to thousands of "FTP sites," which are
repositories for files by the millions. They are
invaluable if you know what files you want and where
they are located, but finding them amongst all the
dross is often very time-consuming and requires a fair
bit of experience and expertise.
FIDONET Lets users send "netmail" to users of other fidonet
bbs's around the world. This is private mail,
accessible only at the destination bbs, and readable
only by the addressee and the sysops through whose
systems it passes. It is not instant, nor is it
guaranteed, but it usually gets there, and faster than
normal surface mail, as well as .43 cents cheaper.
Sending of commercial messages in Fidonet is
prohibited, and "Spamming" - electronic junk-mail - is
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 8 17 Mar 1997
impossible.
INTERNET Provides "email" - probably it's best function. Email
travels from origin ISP to destination ISP very
quickly, usually within an hour or less. It also
costs nothing to send, other than the price of
subscription to the ISP (Internet Service Provider.)
"Spamming" - the sending of electronic junkmail to
your personal email box - is seriously frowned upon,
and sort of prohibited, but the fight with those who
would capitalize on this resource in this way is
ongoing.
INTERNET Allows access to the "World Wide Web." Access to Web
Pages is an eye-opening experience, and allows
virtually anyone to give the world access to their
advertising, opinions, etc., on virtually any subject.
Comparable to leafing through an inexhaustible supply
of electronic magazine pages - complete with full
graphics, and "hyper-text" ability to jump from
subject to subject, and to follow "threads" of subject
material with a click of the mouse. An awesome
information source, but with a scary potential for
wasting time and money (once your monthly maximum
contract time has been consumed.)
A special note to teachers and parents: In fairness,
it must be noted that web access is not always a good
thing. Since the "web" is a constantly growing,
almost living thing, there is no way to check just
what your charges - students or children (or both)
will have access to. Or just what will have access to
them. Thus, pages are presented which invite children
to join the Crips, for instance, or which espouse drug
use, pornography, violence, and many other things
which the intelligent leader of children would not
support. As such pages can be on any server computer
anywhere in the world, there is little in the way of
accountability for those who present this
objectionable material.
FIDONET Access is provided to various text and graphic files,
but the machine on which the data is mounted is
locally accessible, and full accountability is thus
ensured. Furthermore, the supervising adult can
access the same system his/herself, and be satisfied
as to the level of objectionability provided. And if
there is a serious objection, the operator of the
system is someone in your local calling area, who can
be contacted, and if necessary, taken to task.
Fidonet gives no direct access to server computers
"somewhere" on the worldwide web.
FIDONET Has no parallel to the web. The web is truly awesome
technology, but its phenomenal entertainment value
soon wears thin.
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 9 17 Mar 1997
FIDONET Costs the user nothing. Free basic access is a
fundamental given on all Fidonet systems. User
support is sometimes encouraged, but never demanded.
FIDONET Encourages the use of Pre-Windows computers, or
"dosboxes." There is a plethora of software available
for Fidonet technology, from that for the most basic
user online, through offline mail readers, to node
and bbs software, as well as Internet gating mail
feeders, all of which run fine in Dosboxes such as
286's and even XT's, with small hard drives, or no
hard drives, and with memory as low as the basic 640K.
INTERNET Service Providers whose systems don't require Windows
software for access are few and far between. They
require a "Winsock" in order to connect, and they
the user needs to have such software as Eudora Mailer,
and Netscape or some other hi-tech "browser." These
are fine software for the user with a minimum 4 Meg
386 running Windows 3.x or over, but the prospective
user with the earlier computer is just out of luck.
INTERNET "No tickee, no launlee" is the motto of the ISP. The
Internet is a strictly commercial, no-bones money-
making proposition. It's explosion in recent years is
due only to an ever-increasing interest by free-
enterprise capitalism to do just that - capitalize on
this new and expanding technology. In many cases,
people are getting their money's worth, but the
Internet is nobody's hobby, and it is naive not to
look for a gimmick in every box.
SUMMARY: Both these fine networks have been in existence for over ten
years now. Each has its strengths, and its weaknesses. The
fortunate part is that nobody has to make a choice over one
of the other. Both are available to the computer user with
a modem and a phone line, and both have much to offer. If
you're presently using neither, you might like to check out
the less expensive one first. Free is always the least
expensive, and that is Fidonet. For the number of the
fidonet bbs nearest you (there is likely one in your town,)
consult your local computer outlet or computer paper. For
details on hooking up to the internet, consult your yellow
pages.
---
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Beware the Ides of March...
by Ken Reaverson, 1:133/1004 /
[email protected]
You can tell the Ides are drawing near... the doomsayers are out in
full force. :)
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 10 17 Mar 1997
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Ken. I've only been a nodelisted
sysop on Fido since the beginning of the year, but I've been
lurking around for a few years. I could bore you with my struggles
to obtain a node number, but I won't. ;)
At any rate, I picked up a feed, and started paying attention to some
of the sysop and adminstrative echoes.. and I've noticed alot of
people a tad upset, or exasperated. I've listened to more than one
sysop moan about how Fido is in it's death throes. I've read FidoNews
and watch the amount of nodes drop. It kind of surprises me.
My experiences on Fido have been varied over the years... my first
impressions was a collection of people babbling on endlessly.
Sometimes I'd find an echo I liked and spend some time posting, but
then I'd start getting notices from the sysop saying that my account
had expired, and that if I wanted to continue using their system, I
had to pay them money. :) Like any headstrong sysop, I dropped the
BBS from my dialing directory. :) I spend too much money on my own
BBS, I'll be damned if I'm paying someone else to run theirs.
Then I became a little more familiar with Fido-style networking in
general, and alot of my complaints disappeared. I understood why
sysops wanted money, because pulling in echomail and FDN's takes
money. It was during this learning period that some Fido echoes
became helpful to me, as some helpful people put up with a newcomers
questions and made things a little clearer for me. My opinion of
Fido started to change, I didn't automatically dismiss it as a gaggle
of loudmouths. :)
These days, I like Fido. It's an immensely helpful tool.. I get
questions answered quickly, and completely. If it weren't for Fido,
I wouldn't be able to provide my users with access to Internet email
or USENET groups through the BBS.
Today, my main impression of Fido is a mixed one. I've had fun, and
there have been a few things that have ticked me off (the next time
a moderator tells me to cut my two line sig down to one line because
I'm wasting bandwidth, I'm going to scream. :) ), but it seems that
there are two types of Fido-style people; those that sincerely care
and try to help the network and other sysops, and those that are
concerned with their own personal ambitions.
I think I've been lucky. Since picking the net up in early January,
I've run into mostly people of the first type... my RC, my nets
NEC, and our new NC are all very dedicated and helpful people. One
of the nodes acts as a UUCP gate free of charge to the nets members.
If it weren't for these guys, I probably would have long since
grown disgusted by some of the infighting I see.
I can't understand why, when people like them are around, people
are hearing FidoNet's death knell. The net's losing nodes. So what,
BBS's are dropping like flies. :) It's not really a surprise.
Eventually, the people that do care, and the people that are dedicated
to the network will be the ones that are left, and I would hope that
if anyone could turn the network around, it would be them.
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 11 17 Mar 1997
I can't help but wonder if Fido would be in such 'dire straits' if
the same people that are busy tolling the bell were busy working
to make Fido a place that the vanishing sysops would want to stay.
Lighten up guys. This is supposed to be a hobby, after all. :)
-Ken
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Zone 2 Excommunicates Tom Jennings
by Zorch Frezberg 1:205/1701
The following nodelist segment was submitted to the International
Nodelist by Z2C, Ward Dossche.
It is confirmed in the ZONE2.LD3 "ZSeg" for the nodelist, available
in the FDN titled ZSEGS.
Please note...Ward Dossche has unilaterally removed Tom Jennings'
name and copyright from Fido in Zone 2.
While it did not go beyond the Zone 2 confines, it would seem that
Ward is saying on behalf of Zone 2 Sysops that intellectual property
rights can be confiscated at whim, since he has effectively stolen
both the copyright and registered trademark which Tom Jennings has
graciously allowed us to use without fees or royalties all these
years.
Is this a precursor to someone trying to take the copyright for
their own, and start charging us those royalties they might feel
that they deserve?
Other than a single brief message, as of March 12, Ward has issued
no other explanation than that he feels the new wording 'best
reflects reality' as he sees it.
Mind you, this is also the same man who wants to be your new
International Coordinator.
Think on it.
===============================
;A FidoNet Nodelist for Friday, March 14, 1997 -- Day number 073 :
37533 ;A
;A The FidoNet Nodelist, a listing of the systems within FidoNet.
;A
;A .. The FidoNet NodeList is compiled so that computer systems
within FidoNet
;A may communicate with each other. Use and intra-FidoNet
distribution
;A rights are granted to all FidoNet system operators for the
purposes of
;A communication within FidoNet or applying for a FidoNet node
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 12 17 Mar 1997
number.
;A
;A .. This is a compilation of individual nodelist segments
contributed by the
;A drafters and compilers of those segments. Contribution of
these segments
;A to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the
contributors.
;A
;S
;S
# 30 #
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The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
by Zorch Frezberg, 1:205/1701
Regional EchoMail Coordinators are the unwitting victims of a
particularly nasty hoax...one that their innocent blindness
is keeping them from seeing as it really is.
Most of you have seen the message by now that the ZEC, Bruce Bodger,
has mandated that your Region be consulted on whether or not he
should retain his post as ZEC.
What you may not realize is that the entire call for election is all
a hoax, a blind, a cover for what is the true nature of the situation.
You see, Bruce Bodger also holds the position of "Overseer of
BackBone Operations", or OBO, a shadowy position that he created for
himself and imposed on Fido when he, as Zone EchoMail Coordinator,
revoked the prior BackBone Operations Policy (BOP).
This BOFAQ, while holding no real authority or power under the
FidoNet Policy, FidoNet Technical Standards, nor any accepted vote
or consensus of FidoNet members or Coordinators, has been quietly
implemented and accepted as the 'guiding authority' on how EchoMail
is handled.
Moreso when the person who created the OBO and OBOFAQ is himself the
Zone EchoMail Coordinator, the highest authority on EchoMail issues
in Zone 1.
So long as the illusion of authority has been maintained, the
illusion of real power to impose these "guidelines" has been observed
in the EchoMail hierarchy, and so few OBO decisions have ever been
challenged successfully.
However, the latest copy of his replacement document, BOFAQ703.TXT,
clearly shows that the OBO is not answerable to any authority in Fido
or the EchoMail hierarchy.
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 13 17 Mar 1997
Most of these same points have existed in previous versions, but that
the ZEC is calling for the choice of either a 'vote of confidence' or
an election to replace him makes it necessary to refer to the latest
set of BOFAQ "guidelines".
Please get a copy of BOFAQ703.TXT and look at the
document...specifically, look at the "definitions" area for the
details.
{modified to fit FIDONEWS specs and extracted to specifics}
> O.B.O. - Overseer of Backbone Operations - Person responsible for
> maintenance of this help file and its associated
> distribution documents.
> The position has customarily been occupied by the Zone 1
> EchoMail Coordinator (identified by the 1:1/200 address in
> the FidoNet nodelist). Ultimately responsible for all
> decisions regarding EchoMail distribution on the North
> American Backbone.
Note the three elements...
1) The OBO is responsible for the BOFAQ document.
2) The OBO is responsible for *all* decisions on EchoMail
distribution.
and, most importantly,
3) There is no *requirement* that the OBO be the ZEC.
But, let's continue...
> O.B.O. Council - A group of people representing the EchoMail
> interests of the Zone, assembled for the purpose of
> providing input and perspective to the O.B.O. The Council
> consists of the 10 Region EchoMail Coordinators.
Please note...nowhere in this definition, indeed, in the entire BOFAQ
document, is there any *requirement* that the OBO _act_ on any
decisions of the OBO Council...even if it were to call for removal of
the OBO.
> Zone Echolist - As it relates to the Backbone, a database
> containing a list of echoes distributed by, or aspiring to
> be distributed by, the Backbone. The format of this
> monthly distributed database is at the discretion of the
> ZEC, however customarily contains echo names, moderator
> names and addresses, and descriptions of the echoes.
Here we have a conundrum...which "ZEC" is being referred to in this
definition?
Traditionally, the handling of echoes being listed is the province of
the Zone Echo_LIST_ Coordinator, while the Zone Echo_MAIL_
Coordinator has been responsible for the smooth operation of the
various BackBones in Zone 1, usually under the BackBone Operations
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 14 17 Mar 1997
Policy.
Now, however, with the BOFAQ, these distinctions are blurred beyond
any form of clarity.
> Zone EchoList Coordinator - Person responsible for the maintenance
> and production of the Zone EchoList.
Note the smooth but subtle difference...
Currently, Bruce Bodger is the Zone Echo_MAIL_ Coordinator...it's
Adrian Walker who is the Zone Echo_LIST_ Coordinator.
With this, the Zone Echo_MAIL_ Coordinator is effectively removed from
having any authority whatsoever in BackBone operations.
So how does this "authority" to perpetrate this hoax come about?
It came about by the Regional EchoMAIL Coordinator Council failing to
act a while back when the ZEC revoked the BOP. Without any clear
action by the REC Council, the BOFAQ was slipped into place despite
individual protests from various sysops.
As stated in the BOFAQ itself:
> Q1 ================================================================
> What is the purpose of this help file?
>
> This help file has been assembled as a means to provide answers to
> frequently asked questions regarding how the Backbone operates and
> to provide an insight into its internal administration.
"...how the BackBone operates..."
"...an insight into its internal administration."
These are comments which clearly indicate that while there is some
formal set of rules to its operations, that same set of rules and/or
agreements is not to be made available to the public.
Moreover, the subtlety of the separation of power between the OBO and
the ZEC becomes even more apparent as you read the BOFAQ:
> Q2 ================================================================
> Who appoints the Hubs?
>
> Hubs at the Zone level, commonly referred to as "Stars", are
> appointed by the O.B.O.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Q11 ===============================================================
> How does one go about getting an echo added to North American
> Backbone distribution?
>
> The O.B.O. generally adds a conference to the Backbone when all of
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 15 17 Mar 1997
> ^^^^^^^^^^
> these requirements are met:
>
> 2) The moderator sends a request to the O.B.O., or preferably
> ^^^^^^^^^
> Q12 ===============================================================
> When does the Backbone remove an echo from its distribution
> system?
>
> The O.B.O. generally drops a conference when any of these
> ^^^^^^^^^^
> situations occur:
>
> 7) When the O.B.O. considers that the distribution of an echo
> ^^^^^^^^^^
> is no longer in the best interest of the Backbone.
Seems that the OBO carries more weight and authority than either the
Zone EchoMAIL or the Zone EchoLIST Coordinators...
Most important of all, however, is that the OBO is a self-reliant
entity, requiring and recognizing no other authority than itself.
> Q16 ===============================================================
> What is the update procedure for this document?
>
> The O.B.O. may update this help file anytime that he/she feels that
> it would be in the best interest of the Backbone and those people
> it voluntarily serves in order to more accurately reflect its
> current operation.
I would strongly urge that the Regional EchoMail Coordinator Council
consider these words and information before allowing this hoax to
continue.
If it is the will of the REC Council to call for an election to
replace Bruce Bodger as Zone EchoMail Coordinator, then it would
seem to be best for them to see how far down they'll need to dig to
uproot him from that post.
# 30 #
-----------------------------------------------------------------
===================================================
-+- Forwarded message follows: -+-
> Message #7839 [R19SYSOP: Region 19 Sysop]
> From: Bruce Bodger
> Posted: 16 Mar 97 11:56
> To : All
> Subj: ZEC / RC Election
>
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 16 17 Mar 1997
> Cross Posted into R19COORD:
>
> Last week I cross posted a message here (and in many other
> places) which I had
> originally written to the RECs of Zone 1. The message
> instructed them to:
>
> "... conduct a survey of their respective Regions to
> determine if they, the
> Regions, would prefer either another (ZEC) election being
> conducted or an
> affirmation and acceptance of my willingness to serve
> another term (as ZEC)."
>
> I asked them to come back to me with one of the following 2
> statements;
>
> My Region would like an election to be conducted =or= My
> Region would like you
> to stay on for another term.
>
> I set the earliest date for replies to Mar. 24 and required
> that they survey
> their Regions.
>
>
> Shortly before I wrote the above message I had been
> nominated to run for the
> postion of Region Coordinator of Region 19. I accepted the
> nomination.
> Knowing my own schedule committments I felt that I could
> handle both positions
> without allowing them to interfere with each other.
> However, there is
> something that I failed to consider and that is that I owe
> my Region more than
> just a part time committment as their Region Coordinator.
>
> I have been a member of Region 19 for about 9 years. The
> Region has been good
> to me, supporting me in all of my campaign bids including 2
> terms as their
> REC, through the past ZEC election, as well as the current
> REC polling process.
>
> Region 19 is about to lose on of the best Region
> Coordinators that it has ever
> had, James Ray. Jamey (:-)) has served 2 outstanding terms
> as R19C but has
> decided to allow his family to get to know him for a while
> :-) Had it not
> been for James' decision to "retire", I would never have
> accepted the
> nomination for R19C.
>
> In order to afford my Region the attention it deserves, I
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 17 17 Mar 1997
> have decided to
> cancel what's come to be known as the "vote of confidence"
> and will begin
> organizing an election for the postion of Zone 1 EchoMail
> Coordinator. I will
> not be one of the candidates.
>
> If the Region allows me the honor of serving as its
> Coordinator I will do my
> best to follow in James Ray's footsteps. We have worked
> very well together
> through the years and he has set an excellent example for
> his successor.
>
>
> AllTheBest,
> Bruce
>
> ---
> * Origin: ** the TruckStop BBS ** Tulsa, OK (918)
> 254-6618 (1:170/400)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 18 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
GETTING TECHNICAL
=================================================================
[This is part of the continuing series of FTSC docs being published
for the purpose of FidoNet History. These docs have been reformatted
to 70 columns where required for FidoNews.] Ed.
Document: FSC-0049
Version: 001
Date: 03-Jul-90
A Proposal for
Passing Domain Information
During an FTS-0006 Session
by
Bob Hartman
1:104/
[email protected]
July 3, 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.
FSC-0045 proposes a method for sending five dimensional FidoNet
addresses (ie, zone:net/node.point@domain) via the type 2 packet
header. This document describes a proposed method for sending the
same five dimensional address in the Hello packet of an FTS-0006
session, with the additional advantage of being able to utilize the
full Internet recognized domain name for various Fidonet technology
networks. This proposal, combined with FSC-0045 will help to solve
one of FidoNet's most pressing problems: How to recognize alternative
networks without the need of some centralized management looking at
all of them and what they are doing with Zone numbers, etc. Like FSC-
0045, this proposal remains backwards compatible with what it is
replacing.
Currently FTS-0006 has provisions for zone, net, node, and point
information to be passed in the Hello packet. To extend this to allow
the domain name to be passed, an extra capability bit is used. This
bit corresponds to the 0x4000 bit, and will be called the DO_DOMAIN
bit. If this bit is set, it means that the sender is domain aware,
and has enclosed his domain in the Hello packet. The domain is stored
in the system name field, after the null that terminates the real
system name. The system name field is a maximum of 60 characters, so
the sender must make the real system name, a null, the domain name,
and another null byte fit within the 60 bytes. The domain will start
at the byte immediately after the first null byte. The domain is
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 19 17 Mar 1997
arbitrary length and should correspond to the Internet assigned domain
name. This is NOT the same as the FSC-0045 domain, and therefore
there needs to be a mapping between real Internet domains, and the
FSC-0045 style domain name, if FSC-0045 is accepted by the FTSC as a
standard for use by all mailers. This mapping is normally
straightforward (for example, Internet fidonet.org would correspond to
FSC-0045 domain FidoNet). Since most alternative nets do not have a
registered Internet domain, the naming convention should be "known by"
domain (ie, FSC-0045 domain name) followed by .ftn (for FidoNet
Technology Network). So, the FSC-0045 domain "Alternet" would be
converted to alternet.ftn under this proposal. This allows domains
which are not normally FidoNet aware to use FTS-0006 to talk to
FidoNet technology mail programs. For example, a mailer located at
Camex in Manchester, NH might send it's mail as 'man.camex.com' during
an FTS-0006 session. When parsing the domain name, the parsing should
try to match the domain from right to left (Internet naming is
hierarchical from right to left), so that if a mailer knew about
man.camex.com, that could also match something of the form
super.machine.silly.name.man.camex.com. The domain name should be
case INSENSITIVE, and the FSC-0045 abbreviation of it should be unique
within the first 8 characters, and also should not include any periods
('.') or at-signs ('@') since those characters are significant in the
Internet domain naming scheme.
In order for this proposal to be adopted, the FTSC would have to
assign the DO_DOMAIN bit, and have it documented in FTS-0006. This
method is fully backwards compatible, since a domain aware mailer
could send the domain information, and if the other end was not domain
aware, it would ignore it. If the other end was domain aware, it
would be able to extract the domain information easily and would then
have a full five dimensional address available for the sender. This
proposal remains fully backward compatible with the current uses of
all FTS-0006 fields, and should not affect operation of any mailer
that has used reserved bytes in the Hello packet.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Document: FSC-0050
Version: 001
Date: 14-Jul-90
A Character Set Identifier For FidoNet Message Editors
Draft I
Thomas Sundblom
2:201/114@fidonet
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.
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 20 17 Mar 1997
Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.
Purpose
This document should serve as a guide for the character set
identifier, CHARSET hereafter, format for FidoNet message
Editors. The purpose behind CHARSET is related to my attempt
to make it easier for each reader of a FidoNet message to
identify the characters used in the messages.
Since FidoNet messages aren't restricted to use any special
character sets in the messages, there will be differences
between computer kinds and special country dependent
characters. To avoid confusion in such cases, I'm hereby
introducing the CHARSET kludge.
There is no need that each FidoNet Message reader should be
able to understand every possible character set. If the reader
can't handle the special character set found in a message,
then it should use a default character set (as most readers do
today).
Format
^aCHARSET: <Character set identifier>
Sample
^aCHARSET: ISO-11
Would identify that the message is written using the ISO-11
character set, which relates to the character set mainly used
in Sweden.
Supported character sets
No special character set is specified, but it is recomended to
use the ISO numbering of the different character sets. Where
no ISO number is available, an easy to understand code should
by used.
Character set identifier examples
ISO-6 Relates to plain ASCII 7 bit character set.
ISO-11 Swedish character set, 7 bit.
ISO-21 Germany character set, 7 bit.
ISO-69 French character set, 7 bit.
Other character set identifiers could be
PC-8 IBM PC complete character set.
ATARI ATARI ST complete character set
AMIGA AMIGA complete character set
-30-
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 21 17 Mar 1997
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[This FSC had several pages of high ASCII characters removed for
inclusion in FidoNews.] Ed.
Document: FSC-0051
Version: 003
Date: 25-Feb-91
I51
A System-Independent Way of Transferring Special Characters
Draft III
Tomas Gradin,
2:200/108@fidonet
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.
Contents
Introduction
How does it work?
Advantages and problems
Technical description
The fallback method of displaying an extra character
How to use I51 in mail
Acknowledgements
Appendix A - The Latin-1 standard
Appendix B - A list of combined characters
Appendix C - Sample code
Appendix D - Comments on the base set
Appendix E - Comments on the escape character
Appendix F - When the change to I51 is taking place
Appendix G - Comments to the author
Introduction
This document proposes a method for transferring characters,
including accented and otherwisely special ones, in ordinary
FidoNet messages, and is the result of some of the thougts put
forward in the discussion of foreign characters at TechCon I, as
well as extensive discussions in the Swedish equivalent of
NET_DEV.
The proposed standard will allow for the transmission of all
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 22 17 Mar 1997
variants of letters in the latin alphabet, as well as
several special characters commonly used. At the same time
the standard makes inclusion of additional characters painless.
The standard implements a way of automatically displaying these
characters as resemblingly as possible on systems that doesn't
yet support them, using the built-in fallback method described
in this document.
One main advantage of this standard is that even though it
uses a well-spread character set as its base, it is not limited
to that set. It is therefore possible to include as many
characters as needed. The only restriction is that the
additional characters implemented should be based on the Latin
alphabet.
How does it work?
The base character set used in this standard is ISO 8859-1,
commonly known as 'ISO Latin-1'. All characters present in that
set are used as is. The advantages of this character set are
well known, and will not be discussed in this document. However,
the most obvious advantage of Latin-1 is that characters can be
easily case shifted.
All accented and special characters not present in the base
set are considered 'extra' characters, and are obtained by
using a form of character combination. To let message editors
etc. know when to combine characters, and when not to, all
combination sequences are preceded by a special 'escape'
character. This escape character is 0x02, ie. ^B (STX).
Advantages and problems
A system that strips eight bit characters when displaying them
is no problem, since it doesn't support this proposed
standard at this moment. When eventually doing so (which I hope
most systems will), the hi-bit characters are treated as they
should.
A system that treats eight bit characters as other characters
will give the effect that extra characters transmitted with the
proposed method look strange if the system isn't supporting this
method.
* The method will never break anything fully FTS-compliant.
* It will give strange characters on systems that don't support
this method, but that is not worse than the current
situation.
* It will give systems supporting this method the
ability to transfer national, accented and special
characters to systems on other computer platforms (ie. the
characters look the same on a PC and a Macintosh).
* Systems that support this method, but are implemented on
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 23 17 Mar 1997
computers that don't have the ability to display certain
characters will automatically show the most resembling
character the computer can provide, if the character in
question is one of the extended ones. For the 96 hi-bit
characters developers hopefully will include the needed
translation tables in their programs. Such tables can be
provided upon request.
* Conferences on FidoNet in English will be minimally
affected, since the English language seldom uses other
characters than those in pure ASCII. The possibility to
use other characters will however be present, if needed.
Those that frequently use special characters will benefit a
lot, without causing trouble for those that don't.
* In fact, the minimum requirement to be I51-compatible is that
your system can handle Latin-1 codes, plus the I51 fallback.
When the base set of I51 (ie. Latin-1) is implemented, you
can obtain full I51 compliance by just adding I51
fallback. After that, you can choose which ones of the I51
extra characters to implement, if any at all. The automatic
fall-back system takes care of the rest for you! The
additional work to get a Latin-1 compatible system to
fully support I51 is indeed negligable.
Technical description
The format of a representation of an extra character is as
follows:
<escape character><modifier><base character>
I will be using 0x02 as escape character in the examples
below. It will however be represented with a '.', since it is
non-printable.
Examples:
02 2d 7e (.-~) will display as an about equals sign ('').
02 50 74 (.$P) is used to represent a peseta symbol ('').
02 02 represents a single 02, if that code ever is needed
in a message. I propose that the use of 0x02 in messages for
other reasons than in this method of character transmission
should be prohibited.
The fallback method of displaying an extra character
If the system where you are implementing this method of
special character transmission doesn't support a certain extra
character, the following procedure should be used. To display a
special character as resemblingly as possible, just skip the
modifier! Ie. the sequence 02 67 6a (.ga) is displayed as
'a', 02 5e 73 as 's'. It is therefore preferred that the
FTSC in assigning sequences to any additional characters take
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 24 17 Mar 1997
this into account.
How to use I51 in mail
In transit mail in I51 format _must_ be passed on un-
altered, per FTS-0001. However, it is possible to store
messages locally in any desired format. As long as the BBS
programs doesn't have options for users to change their
character setup and representation, this may be desirable.
The I51 method of representing special characters is also
allowed in headers of messages, if account is taken to the
fact that the extra characters occupy more bytes than the
'normal' characters.
Since the character codes 0x80 - 0x9f are undefined in ISO
8859-1, their presence in an I51 message is prohibited,
if not defined in an FTS document (eg. 'soft CR').
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank those present at TechCon I (in Antwerp,
Belgium, july 1990) during the discussion of foreign
characters for the fundamental ideas that lead to this proposal.
I would also like to thank all those that have made comments on
this document, both in netmail and echomail.
Appendix A - The Latin-1 standard
The following list comprises the hi-bit characters present
in the Latin-1 standard, with is used as the base set of I51.
hex value byte character description character (PC
codepage) *
a0 160 non-breaking space ff (437)
a1 161 inverted exclamation mark ad (437)
a2 162 cent sign bd (437)
a3 163 pound sign 9c (437)
a4 164 currency sign cf (850)
a5 165 yen sign be (437)
a6 166 broken bar dd (850)
a7 167 paragraph sign f5 (850) *
a8 168 diaeresis f9 (850)
a9 169 copyright sign b8 (850)
aa 170 feminine ordinal indicator a6 (437)
ab 171 left angle quotation mark ae (437)
ac 172 not sign aa (437)
ad 173 soft hyphen f0 (850)
ae 174 registered trade mark sign a9 (850)
af 175 macron ee (850)
b0 176 degree sign f8 (437)
b1 177 plus-minus sign f1 (437)
b2 178 superscript two fd (437)
b3 179 superscript three fc (850)
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 25 17 Mar 1997
b4 180 acute accent ef (850)
b5 181 small greek letter mu e6 (437)
b6 182 pilcrow sign f4 (850) *
b7 183 middle dot fa (437)
b8 184 cedilla f7 (850)
b9 185 superscript one fb (850)
ba 186 masculine ordinal indicator a7 (437)
bb 187 right angle quotation mark af (437)
bc 188 vulgar fraction one quarter ac (437)
bd 189 vulgar fraction one half ab (437)
be 190 vulgar fraction three quarters f3 (850)
bf 191 inverted question mark a8 (437)
c0 192 A with grave accent b7 (850)
c1 193 A with acute accent b5 (850)
c2 194 A with circumflex accent b6 (850)
c3 195 A with tilde c7 (850)
c4 196 capital letter A with diaeresis 8e (437)
c5 197 capital letter A with ring above 8f (437)
c6 198 ligature AE 92 (437)
c7 199 C with cedilla 80 (437)
c8 200 E with grave accent d4 (850)
c9 201 E with acute accent 90 (437)
ca 202 E with circumflex accent d2 (850)
cb 203 E with diaeresis d3 (850)
cc 204 I with grave accent de (850)
cd 205 I with acute accent d6 (850)
ce 206 I with circumflex accent d7 (850)
cf 207 I with diaeresis d8 (850)
d0 208 Icelandic Eth e8 (850)
d1 209 N with tilde a5 (437)
d2 210 O with grave accent e3 (850)
d3 211 O with acute accent e0 (850)
d4 212 O with circumflex accent e2 (850)
d5 213 O with tilde e5 (850)
d6 214 O with diaeresis 99 (437)
d7 215 multiplication sign 9e (850)
d8 216 slash O 9d (850)
d9 217 U with grave accent eb (850)
da 218 U with acute accent e9 (850)
db 219 U with circumflex accent ea (850)
dc 220 U with diaeresis 9a (437)
dd 221 Y with acute accent ed (850)
de 222 capital Icelandic Thorn d1 (850)
df 223 small german letter sharp s e1 (437)
e0 224 a with grave accent 85 (437)
e1 225 a with acute accent a0 (437)
e2 226 a with circumflex accent 83 (437)
e3 227 a with tilde c6 (850)
e4 228 a with diaeresis 84 (437)
e5 229 a with ring above 86 (437)
e6 230 small ae-ligature 91 (437)
e7 231 c with cedilla 87 (437)
e8 232 e with grave accent 8a (437)
e9 233 e with acute accent 82 (437)
ea 234 e with circumflex accent 88 (437)
eb 235 e with diaeresis 89 (437)
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 26 17 Mar 1997
ec 236 i with grave accent 8d (437)
ed 237 i with acute accent a1 (437)
ee 238 i with circumflex 8c (437)
ef 239 i with diaeresis 8b (437)
f0 240 small Icelandic Eth e7 (850)
f1 241 n with tilde a4 (437)
f2 242 o with grave accent 95 (437)
f3 243 o with acute accent a2 (437)
f4 244 o with circumflex accent 93 (437)
f5 245 o with tilde e4 (850)
f6 246 o with diaeresis 94 (437)
f7 247 division sign f6 (437)
f8 248 small o slash 9b (850)
f9 249 u with grave accent 97 (437)
fa 250 u with acute accent a3 (437)
fb 251 u with circumflex accent 96 (437)
fc 252 u with diaeresis 81 (437)
fd 253 y with acute accent ec (850)
fe 254 small icelandic thorn d0 (850)
ff 255 y with diaeresis 98 (437)
* The pilcrow and paragraph signs are also found in CP 437, at
0x14 and 0x15 respectively. All characters with CP listed as 437
have the same codes in CP 850 - thus, viewing this list with CP
set to 850 will give all the right characters.
Appendix B - A list of combined characters
The following list contains the escaped representations of
the majority of the IBM PCs special and accented characters not
present in the base set, as well as some others. To
standardize how a certain additional character is to be
represented the FTSC will publish a list of such characters,
similar to this one. The use of other combination sequences than
the ones approved by the FTSC is discouraged.
hex string bytes character description character (PC
codepage)
02 20 30 . 0 superscript zero -
02 20 34 . 4 superscript four -
02 20 35 . 5 superscript five -
02 20 36 . 6 superscript six -
02 20 37 . 7 superscript seven -
02 20 38 . 8 superscript eight -
02 20 39 . 9 superscript nine -
02 2e 30 . 0 subscript zero -
02 20 69 . i dot-less i d5 (850)
02 20 49 . I I with dot -
02 20 6e . n superscript n fc (437)
02 22 55 ."U U with double acute accent -
02 22 75 ."u u with double acute accent -
02 2e 31 ..1 subscript one -
02 2e 32 ..2 subscript two -
02 2e 33 ..3 subscript three -
02 2e 34 ..4 subscript four -
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 27 17 Mar 1997
02 2e 35 ..5 subscript five -
02 2e 36 ..6 subscript six -
02 2e 37 ..7 subscript seven -
02 2e 38 ..8 subscript eight -
02 2e 39 ..9 subscript nine -
02 24 50 .$P peseta sign 9e (437)
02 24 66 .$f guilder sign 9f (437)
02 2c 41 .,A A with cedilla -
02 2c 45 .,E E with cedilla -
02 2c 53 .,S S with cedilla -
02 2c 61 .,a a with cedilla -
02 2c 65 .,e e with cedilla -
02 2c 73 .,s s with cedilla -
02 2d 3c .-< equal or less than f3 (437)
02 2d 3d .-= defined as f0 (437)
02 2d 3e .-> equal or greater than f2 (437)
02 2d 7e .-~ about equal f7 (437)
02 2d 43 .-C complement of -
02 2d 49 .-I part of lot ee (437)
02 2d 53 .-S Polish S with dash -
02 2d 5a .-Z Polish Z with dash -
02 2d 73 .-s Polish s with dash -
02 2d 7a .-z Polish z with dash -
02 2e 53 ..S Polish S with dot -
02 2e 5a ..Z Polish Z with dot -
02 2e 73 ..s Polish s with dot -
02 2e 7a ..z Polish z with dot -
02 2f 4c ./L Polish L slash -
02 2f 6c ./l Polish l slash -
02 5e 47 .^G G with inversed circ. accent -
02 5e 53 .^S S with inversed circ. accent -
02 5e 67 .^g g with inversed circ. accent -
02 5e 73 .^s s with inversed circ. accent -
02 67 47 .gG capital gamma e2 (437)
02 67 61 .ga alpha e0 (437)
02 74 6d .tm trade mark sign -
<end of list>
The number enclosed in brackets is the IBM PC codepage
number. A hyphen denotes a character that does not exist on the
IBM PC.
Appendix C - Sample code
Here is some sample C code. The first function combines sequences
into their proper representation in IBM PC codepage 437, the
second does the reverse, ie. converts characters not found in the
I51 base set to their combination sequences.
void cmbch(char *s)
{
int z, x, sl;
sl = strlen(s);
for (z = 0, x = 0; x <= sl; z++, x++)
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 28 17 Mar 1997
if (s[x] == '')
switch (s[++x]) {
case '-': switch (s[++x]) {
case '<': s[z] = ''; break;
case '=': s[z] = ''; break;
case '>': s[z] = ''; break;
case '~': s[z] = ''; break;
case 'I': s[z] = ''; break;
default: s[z] = s[x]; break;
}; break;
case 'g': switch (s[++x]) {
case 'G': s[z] = ''; break;
case 'a': s[z] = ''; break;
default: s[z] = s[x]; break;
}; break;
default: s[z] = s[++x];
}
else
s[z] = s[x];
}
char *encode(char *s)
{
char *t = s;
while (*s) {
switch (*s) {
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = ' '; *t++ = 'n';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '$'; *t++ = 'P';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '$'; *t++ = 'f';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '-'; *t++ = '<';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '-'; *t++ = '=';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '-'; *t++ = '>';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '-'; *t++ = '~';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = '-'; *t++ = 'I';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = 'g'; *t++ = 'G';
break;
case '': *t++ = '\0x02'; *t++ = 'g'; *t++ = 'a';
break; default: *t++ = *s;
}
s++;
}
return (t);
}
The code neccessary to translate between I51 hibit characters
and any ordinary 8 bit character set is trivial and left as an
exercise to the reader..:-)
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 29 17 Mar 1997
Appendix D - Comments on the base set
It is of course possible to use any character set as the base
set, even pure 7-bit ASCII. Earlier revisions of this standard
were in fact based on ASCII. But, the usage of ASCII as the base
set will require all non-ascii characters to be encoded. That
would cause a lot of unneccessary trouble for almost all
foreign languages, and is not desirable. No one would want all
'strange' characters of his language to be encoded, just because
'we can't use 8 bits'. Mail sessions are conducted in 8 bit,
packets contain 8 bit data - so we can.
Then, of course, it is unwise not to use an 8 bit set as the base
set, since it will save a lot of space compared to a 7 bit
set, not to mention a lot of trouble. It is my belief that
among 8 bit sets ISO 8859-1 is the most well-spread and common
around, and that qualifies it to be the proposed base set of
this standard.
Appendix E - Comments on the escape character
The escape character can in fact be almost any character, if
proper measurements are taken to make the ordinary use for
the character chosen possible at the same time. To avoid too
much trouble, it is wise to select a character seldom found
in mail. 0x01 would be a perfect escape character, were it not
for the fact that it is already used for other purposes. The
next character, however, is currently unused. I therefore felt
it wise to use 0x02 as the escape character in this standard.
There are several advantages related to the use of this
character as the escape character. There are of course other
characters (eg. '\' or '~') that could be used, but there are
reasons not to use them. '\', for instance, is commonly used
in Europe to represent a national character, and is therefore
not well suited. The '~' on the other hand is not often used,
but can't be used as an escape character due to the fact
that it itself is an accent (see below).
Appendix F - During the change to I51, co-existence with other methods
Any message in which the I51 standard is used (whether with
extra codes present or not) will, during a limited period of
time, have the following kludge line in it:
^AI51<cr>
With this kludge line present, a message editor at once will know
that a certain message should be 'de-I51-ified'. How to interpret
messages lacking this line is upon you decide. However, should
you find a 0x02 in a message lacking the kludge line, the message
is to be considered an I51 message.
When a non-I51 message is quoted, its contents should be
translated to the corresponding I51 codes, if possible.
Characters not found in the I51 standard (as defined in this
document) are to be ignored, unless a similar I51 representation
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 30 17 Mar 1997
can be found.
Appendix G - Comments to the author
Please feel free to contact me on 2:200/108 if you have any
questions, comments or suggestions regarding this document, or
anything associated with it. I appreciate any suggestions on
additional 'extra' characters to be added to this standard.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 31 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
COORDINATORS CORNER
=================================================================
Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 073
By Ward Dossche, 2:292/854
ZC/2
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
|Zone|Nl-045|Nodelist-052|Nodelist-059|Nodelist-066|Nodelist-073|%%|
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
| 1 | 9527| 9527 0 | 9405 -122 | 9405 0 | 9107 -298 |33|
| 2 | 16074|16051 -23 |16116 65 |16083 -33 |15996 -87 |58|
| 3 | 846| 812 -34 | 807 -5 | 800 -7 | 800 0 | 3|
| 4 | 538| 541 3 | 541 0 | 545 4 | 547 2 | 2|
| 5 | 87| 87 0 | 87 0 | 87 0 | 87 0 | 0|
| 6 | 1071| 1071 0 | 1088 17 | 1088 0 | 1088 0 | 4|
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
| 28143|28089 -54 |28044 -45 |28008 -36 |27625 -383 |
+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 32 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
WE GET EMAIL
=================================================================
--- Following message extracted from NETMAIL @ 1:18/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Thu Mar 13 13:37:24 1997
From: Bruce Bodger @ 1:170/400
To: Christopher Baker @ 1:18/14
Date: 12 Mar 97 19:19:53
Subj: FidoNews Submission
Chris,
Please post in the next FidoNews.
Thank you,
AllTheBest,
Bruce
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tue 11 Mar 97 6:10a
The below message was posted to all the RECs this morning. Please be
sure to let your REC know your opinion on this question. Please
discuss in your respective Region echos.
Thank you..
======================================================================
Date: Tue 11 Mar 97 05:53
From: Bruce Bodger
To: ALL
Subj: POLL YOUR REGIONS
======================================================================
This message is to be posted in your Region's Admin. echo(s).
I was elected as your ZEC on October 28, 1994 to serve a two year
term. Im a little over 4 months late in conducting another election
or affirmation of the position. You have my apologies.
I want the RECs to conduct a survey of their respective Regions to
determine if they, the Regions, would prefer either another election
being conducted or an affirmation and acceptance of my willingness to
serve another term.
I am allowing at least 2 weeks for the RECs to get back to me with one
of the following choices only;
My Region would like an election to be conducted =or=
My Region would like you to stay on for another term.
The choice that each REC returns must be based on input from within
their Region. Each REC must do his/her best to make the discussion
public within their Region by, at least, posting a copy of this
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 33 17 Mar 1997
message in their Region's admin. echo(s).
I am setting March 24 as the target date for replies but use whatever
time is necessary to ensure that your Region has had time to discuss
this issue. I will NOT accept input from any REC that does not confer
with their Region.
Bruce Bodger
Via 1:170/400@fidonet
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 34 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
NET HUMOR
=================================================================
X-Sender:
[email protected]
Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 00:45:55 -0500
To:
[email protected]
From: Ray Sola <
[email protected]>
Subject: Drug dealers vs software developers
Sender:
[email protected]
Reply-To:
[email protected]
Subject: Drug dealers vs software developers
"Life is never dull, but boredom has its merits."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Drug dealers Software developers
--------------------------- ---------------------------
Refer to their clients Refer to their clients
as "users". as "users".
"The first one's free!" "Download a free trial version..."
Have important South-East Have important South-East
Asian connections Asian connections
(to help move the stuff). (to help debug the code).
Strange jargon: "Stick," Strange jargon: "SCSI,"
"Rock," "Dime bag," "E". "RTFM," "Java," "ISDN".
Realize that there's tons of Realize that there's tons of
cash in the 14- to cash in the 14- to
25-year-old market. 25-year-old market.
Job is assisted by the Job is assisted by the
industry producing industry producing
newer, more potent mixes. newer, faster machines.
Often seen in the company Often seen in the company of
of pimps and hustlers. marketing people and venture
capitalists.
Their product causes DOOM. Quake. SimCity. Duke Nukem 3D.
unhealthy addictions. Diablo. 'Nuff said.
Do your job well, and you can Damn! Damn! DAMN!!!
sleep with sexy movie stars
who depend on you.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 35 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
Future History
17 May 1997
Independence Day, Norway.
6 Jun 1997
National Commemoration Day, Sweden.
11 Jun 1997
Independence Day, Russia.
1 Jul 1997
Canada Day - Happy Birthday Canada.
9 Jul 1997
Independence Day, Argentina.
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 14-11 Page 36 17 Mar 1997
Welcome to the *new* IEEE echo.
aka: Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers conference.
This is the international conference for the I.E.E.E. It is
designed to help disseminate information to IEEE members,
promote discussions among the engineering community and
provide a forum to discuss the engineering news and views
published in the various IEEE publications and the media.
This conference may include some technical engineering
discussions.
Origin: 1:253/60
Moderators: August Abolins, 1:253/60
--
| Return Address:
[email protected]
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his/her
| own.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 37 17 Mar 1997
=================================================================
FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING
=================================================================
[The software list manager will have an updated list next week.] Ed.
Latest Greatest Software Versions
by Peter E. Popovich, 1:363/264
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
FastEcho 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FASTECHO
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 38 17 Mar 1997
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:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 39 17 Mar 1997
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 14-11 Page 40 17 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
Prune 1.40 MSG 4.5* XRS 4.99
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 41 17 Mar 1997
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
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
BBS Software Atari ST/TT
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 42 17 Mar 1997
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 14-11 Page 43 17 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]
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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 14-11 Page 44 17 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 11:
http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
Region 14:
http://www.metins.net/showcase/fidonet/
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)
Region 29:
http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (in French)
Region 30:
http://www.fidonet.ch (in Swiss)
FIDONEWS 14-11 Page 45 17 Mar 1997
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 14-11 Page 46 17 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 14-11 Page 47 17 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 14-11 Page 48 17 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-
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