Publisher: Fido 1/1
Editor: Thom Henderson
Review Editor: Matt Kanter
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 1/1. You are
encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews.
Article submission standards are contained in the file
FIDONEWS.DOC, available on request from Fido 1/1.
Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
The Problems of Scale
We have a problem here. Fidonet is just a bit too large to
handle easily.
Oh, not for day-to-day mail. We're well enough organized
now that I think we could handle ten times as many nodes for
most purposes. After all, a "busy" node doesn't usually
send mail to more than a dozen other nodes a night, while a
"typical" node more likely sends one or two messages a week.
We're in a fair-sized net with a decent amount of traffic,
and so far our inbound and outbound hosts haven't had much
trouble keeping up.
The problem comes when you want to get something to everyone
on the whole system. Yes, I know such "bombing runs" are
frowned on, but there are one or two legitimate cases. In
fact, exactly two: the node list and the newsletter.
In both cases, it's desirable to get a largish file (3-5 min
transfer time at 1200 baud) out to every single node in one
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:27 Page 2
night, and it just hasn't been working very well.
It wouldn't be hard to do, with the proper organization. In
fact, the structure to do it is already in place. All we
have to do is define a couple of additional duties for
regional coordinators and network hosts.
Right now, we're trying to distribute the newsletter by
mailing it to each inbound host. That worked more-or-less
okay for about two weeks. The problem is that new hosts
keep popping up. We're now up around forty hosts, which is
about the limit that can be reached by two machines
operating send-only and working flat out for an hour, IF
almost everyone answers on the first call!
However, there are only ten regional coordinators, and
nobody expects to add any more.
So my idea is this: Every Monday morning all regional
coordinators run a special mail event for a half hour before
the national mail event, during which we mail 'em the
newsletter. Then, using Robot or some other convenient
means, each coordinator mails it to each inbound host in his
region during the national mail hour. After that, hosts
pass it along using their normal channels for getting mail
to the locals.
The node list would work the same way, of course, except on
Friday morning instead of Monday morning.
If we do it this way, then with a high degree of reliability
everyone should always get the latest copy of the node list
and the newsletter on the day it is published, and we can't
do much better than that!
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:28 Page 3
============================================================
NEWS
============================================================
From Robert Lederman
Met-Chem BBS 16/42
PROGRAMMING QUERY
===========-=====
Thanks to everyone for the enthusiastic response I received
to SHUFFLE and READQUES, the Fido sysop utilities I
described in Fido234.nws.
I am working on an enhanced version of SHUFFLE. Most
notably, it will support full-screen viewing of file areas
and relocation of FILES.BBS entries to a specified spot in
the target file areas.
Since this new version will require partial-screen
scrolling, I need to use IBM ROM BIOS functions for local
operation, or ANSI functions for remote operation, chosen
by command line switch. In the process I have learned
that different communications packages interpret "VT100"
emulation differently.
If you want your communications package supported in the
next version of SHUFFLE, please let me know what codes it
needs to be sent to:
a) define top and bottom lines of the screen
to be scrolled. (Most packages recognize
"ESC [ Top ; Bottom r").
b) scroll the region upwards.
c) scroll the region downwards.
In addition, I would like to recompile both SHUFFLE and
READQUES for operation on non-IBM MS-DOS machines. I am
soliciting $10-$20 contributions to buy a generic MS-DOS
Pascal compiler. In return you will be FidoMailed or US
Mailed the latest versions of both utilities. Please send
notes and contributions to:
Robert Lederman
7001 Yale Station
New Haven, CT 06520
Finally, if you can accurately describe the system calls
required to scroll a defined part of your non-IBM display, I
will try to accomodate you as well.
For comments and to get the latest versions of SHUFFLE (1.4
on the way) and READQUES (1.1e), call Met-Chem BBS, FidoNet
16/42, 203/281-7287, 1200/2400 baud, 24 hours.
Submitted by Mike Johnson FIDO SYSOP 19/329, 19/0
originally captured from IBM VIDEOTEXT in Boca Raton.
Commentary is by Wilson Jones a user of my bbs.
IBM Videotext released the following information to The
Product Centers:
** DOS BACKUP COMMAND CAUTION **
The DOS BACKUP command may not always work properly. For
critical back-ups, use the COPY command to copy your key
files onto diskettes. Remember that a file COPY'd to a
diskette must fit on one diskette.
The BACKUP command seems to malfunction if a BUFFERS= or
FILES= command has been given or is present in a CONFIG.SYS
file. Several program packages (such as dBASEIII) require
that additional buffers and files be specified. The effect
of the problem is to make your backup diskette unusable. If
you use BACKUP, be sure to attempt a RESTORE on another
machine while your data is still available.
A hint, if you are going to use BACKUP; Restart your system
with an original DOS diskette in your "A" drive immediately
before doing BACKUP. This will reload DOS with the default
values for BUFFERS and FILES.
Commentary:
There have been problems with the IBM DOS BACKUP command for
as long as there has been a BACKUP command. IBM has made
fixes and replacements available for the BACKUP command in
all versions of DOS except 3.1, yet the problems persist.
This presents us with a serious catch-22; we cannot
effectively use the computers without creating large files
but we have no inherent way in DOS to safely back them up.
Our alternatives are to purchase specialized backup software
or hardware that operates outside of or around DOS, or
continue to backup with the IBM DOS BACKUP command and pray
that it works.
The desired solution is for IBM/Microsoft to fix this
problem and fix it now. How long do you think it would take
IBM to fix a problem like this on a System/36, System/38,
4300, 303X or 308X computer system? About 24 hours,
maybe...
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:32 Page 6
There seems to be a prevailing attitude by manufacturers,
dealers and servicers in the PC marketplace that if you have
a PC, you must be doing nothing but playing games, and if
the operating system doesn't work as advertised, well, so
what, you're on the leading edge of technology, how can you
expect anything to work? This attitude will only persist as
long as we, the users, allow it to persist.
If you agree with this, do something about it; write a
letter to the following people:
John Opel, Chairman,
IBM Corporation,
Armonk, New York.
Bill Gates, Chairman,
Microsoft Corporation,
Bellvue, Washington.
A List of Ripped-Off "Freeware"
by Tom Neff [76656,2536]
Updated Oct 17th, 1985
These are illegally copied programs being distributed as
"public domain" on various IBM PC bulletin boards across the
country. Most of them are commercial pirate jobs, although
a few of them are legitimate freeware or user supported
programs that have been hacked up by people with
warped minds. The category of each one is listed.
Remember, Sysops: if it looks like a superb game or disk
utility, and it doesn't have the author's name and address
on it, together with explicit permission to distribute the
program, it is probably NOT really public domain! If we
don't want to see the BBS community smothered under
hysterical regulations, we've got to work together to fight
that trend. A great way to start is by keeping an eye on
our download libraries, and giving these files "the BOOT!"
CATEGORIES:
PIRATED - Either removed from a commercially
published package (and converted to a DOS
.COM file if necessary), or else a beta
test copy of a commercial program under
development, sneaked into distribution by
a disgruntled employee or dishonest beta
tester. Sometimes the program in
question never made it to market,
possibly because of the pre-pirating!
HACKED - An unlawfully modified copy of a
legitimate freeware or user supported
program. Some pirated programs have also
been hacked. It is illegal to distribute
a modified copy of someone else's work
without their permission. If the author
has obtained that permission, it should
be mentioned in the program display or
documentation.
*TROJAN* - BEWARE!! These programs are launched into
the BBS file network by people with the
LSD-in-the-reservoir mentality, and cause
some form of damage to your system if
you're unwary enough to run them. It is
IMPERATIVE that you let me know about any
new examples of these that you find.
Name Category Notes
-------------- -------- ---------------------------------
1DIR PIRATED
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:34 Page 8
AXX PIRATED really AUTODEX
BUSHIDO PIRATED
DEB88 PIRATED DeSmet "C" debugger
EGABTR *TROJAN* BEWARE! Description says
something like "improve your EGA
display," but when run it deletes
everything in sight and prints
"HA HA YOU LOSE."
KONG PIRATED
LIST60 HACKED Vern Buerg's LIST 5.1, patched to
read 6.0.
NOVATRON PIRATED
PCBOSS PIRATED
PSHIFT PIRATED really MEMORY SHIFT
QMDM110.ARC HACKED ONLY versions 1.10 and 1.10A!
QMDM110A.ARC They are copies of 1.09, hacked
to read 1.10. There have been
rumors of a worm in 1.10, but I
haven't seen any evidence of it.
Other versions are OK.
ROGUE PIRATED
STARGATE PIRATED
ZAXXON PIRATED
If you have any additions to this list, send them to me at
any of the following places:
* Compuserve User ID [76556,2536]
(via Easyplex electronic mail or
the IBM Novice Forum, GO IBMNOV)
This is in response to the articles in the last few FidoNews
issues regarding the change from Daylight Savings Time. I
agree with David Kaplan when he says that the individual
boards need to stick with the time being used in their area.
I rely heavily on the system clock and it's nice to have it
accurate. However, this can be handled even for those who
can't get to their machines on the weekend without having to
resort to changing the clocks on Friday.
We have the power of the External Event and the Batch File
at our call; let's use them. What follows is an outline of
what I intend to set up to handle the time change. I don't
know if I'm going to be near my machine that weekend or not,
but even if I am here I'll probably forget to change the
clock. After all, I forget every six months, this time will
be no different.
What is needed is 1 external event and 3 short batch files.
Set your external event for the day and time when you want
to set your clock back (I'm going to take advantage of being
in the Eastern time zone and change the clock at the
scheduled time, Sunday 0300) and insert this line in the
appropriate place in your GOBBS file:
...
IF ERRORLEVEL <error code you picked> FALLBACK
...
Then set up these three batch files:
Fallback.Bat is a 2 line batch file:
TIME <the new time>
SUICIDE
Suicide.Bat is needed to make sure the clock isn't changed
when the scheduled time comes back around cause Fido will
exit again:
COPY WAITAMIN.BAT FALLBACK.BAT
WAITAMIN
Waitamin.Bat is one last 2 liner:
<do something for a minute so Fido doesn't exit to DOS
right away>
GOBBS
The only real problem with this method is that it will exit
to DOS again when the scheduled time comes back around in an
hour. Suicide.Bat takes care of making sure the time
doesn't get changed again when this happens. The delay in
Waitamin.Bat can be anything that will eat up the 1 minute
All right, I will ask, what happened to the newsletter?
I was under the impression that this was a FIDO newsletter
and there would be articles and tips pertaining to BBS's and
the like. Unfortunately, it has started to look like the
creative writing magazine that we used to publish in Junior
High school. Don't get me wrong, if the "creative" writers
want to continue to contribute their drivel (whoops...
sorry... umm.... how about "Artistic Drivel"?), that's fine,
but how about if we limit the articles in the newsletter to
Fido or at least computer related articles, and we can have
another newsletter for the rest. (At least that way I won't
have to waste my money downloading that one.)
Since I want to see computer related articles published,
I figured I would give a list of my FAVORITE software
packages. I have been consulting on micros for over 9 years
and have had to try to find these packages for my customers.
I would be curious to see what other users think of these
selections.
UTILITY PROGRAMS: Most of the best directory programs
are freeware. My favorite are ND (Stands for nice directory
and it is certainly the most powerful), FDIR (which lists in
extension order) and D (very similar to SDIR but faster and
more options). Everyone need norton utilities unless they
NEVER erase a file accidentally.
COMM PROGRAMS: CROSSTALK is very flexible (which means
it takes a while to learn) but QMODEM is free and has
spiffier screen displays. (Sorry, not free, a $20.00
contribution is requested and I plan to send my 20.00. It
is a very polished package.
DATABASE: I am not sure why everyone likes DBASE? I
find it powerful but I have to do too much of the work
myself. Any self-respecting database program should be able
to easily set up custom screens, eliminate dup keys and set
up rules for input. RBASE is better but the 2 best I have
found are INFORMIX (A well kept secret! Very popular in the
UNIX market but almost unknown in DOS. It might have the
BEST custom screen input program and a very powerful report
writer.) and REVELATION. You can do ANYTHING with either of
these and both are very fast. If you like "C" then INFORMIX
is for you, otherwise R-BASIC which is included with
REVELATION allows you to write custom code.
WORD PROCESSING: This is very subjective but I find
WordPerfect my favorite. It is fast and powerful. I like
Display Write 3 but the menus are too slow.
TEXT EDITORS: If you need one, PMATE with its macro
capability is my favorite. I have not used many others and
would like to hear what other programmers use.
GAME: The Ancient Art of War. The manual alone is
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:40 Page 12
almost worth the price.
There are a lot of other programs that I use and like alot,
(like ThinkTank, LMI Forth, etc.) but I figure I can't
offer an opinion on these because I have not used their
competitors.) I hope that no one writes back telling me
how great their favorite program is unless they have
compared it to others.
Bruce Lomasky
Sysop Fido 16 / 208
West Hartford CT
(203)-236-3761
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:40 Page 13
============================================================
COLUMNS
============================================================
A long time ago... on a node far, far away (from PDPvax)
XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX
X X X X X
X X XXXXX X
X X X X
X X X X X
XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX
X X XX XXXXX XXXX
X X X X X X X
X X X X X X XXXX
X XX X XXXXXX XXXXX X
XX XX X X X X X X
X X X X X X XXXX
Yet More Adventures of Luke Vaxhacker Episode n+4
Ok, like, remember we left our heros in the detention
priority level? Well, they're still there...
Luke quickly located the interface card and followed the
cables to a sound-proof enclosure. He lifted the lid and
peered at the mechanism inside.
"Aren't you a little slow for ECL?" printed princess
LPA0:
"Wha..? Oh, the Docksiders," stammered Luke. He took
off his shoes (for industry) and explained, "I've come to
relocate you. I'm Luke Vaxhacker."
Suddenly, forms started bursting around them. "They've
blocked this queue!" shouted Solo. "There's only one return
from this stack!"
"OVER HERE!" printed LPA0: with overstrikes. "THROUGH
THIS LOOPHOLE!" Luke and the princess disappeared into a
nearby feature.
"Gritch, gritch," mumbled Two Bacco, obviously reluctant
to trust an Administrative oversight.
"I don't care how crufty it is!" shouted Con, pushing
the Bookie toward the crock. "DPB yourself in there NOW!"
With one last blast that reprogrammed two flunkies, Con
joined them. The "Feature" landed them right in the middle
of the garbage collection data. Pieces of code that hadn't
been used in weeks floated past in a pool of decaying bits.
"Bletch!" was Con's first comment. "Bletch, bletch," was
his second. The Bookie looked as if he had just paid a
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:42 Page 14
longshot, and the odds in this situation weren't much
better.
Luke was tolling the garbage when he stumbled upon a
book with the words "Don't Panic" inscribed in large,
friendly letters on the cover. "This can't possibly help us
now," he said as he tossed the book away.
The Bookie was about to lay odds on it when Luke
suddenly disappeared. He popped up across the pool,
shouting, "This is no feature! It's a bug!!" and promptly
vanished again.
Con and the princess were about to panic() when Luke
reappeared. "What happened?" they asked in parallel.
"I don't know," gasped Luke. "The bug just dissolved
automagically. Maybe it hit a breakpoint..."
"I don't think so," said Con. "Look how the pool is
shrinking. I've got a bad feeling about this..."
The princess was the first to realize what was going on.
"They've implemented a new compaction algorithm!" she
exclaimed.
Luke remembered the pipe he had open to 3CPU. "Shut down
garbage collection below recursion level 5!" he shouted.
Back in the control room, RS232 searched the process
table for the lisp interpreter. "Hurry," sent 3CPU. "Hurry,
hurry," added his other two processors. RS232 found the
interpreter, interrupted it, and altered the stack frame
they'd fallen into to allow a normal return.
Luke was feeling rather bored. 3CPU could get to be
rather irritating, and RS232 didn't really speak Luke's
language. Suddenly, Luke felt someone's eyes boring through
the back of his skull. He turned slowly, to see... nothing.
A quiet voice came from somewhere in front of him.
"Grasshopper, the carrier is strong within you." Luke
froze, which was a good thing since his legs were insisting
that he run but they weren't likely to be particular about
direction. Luke guessed that his odds of getting lost in
the dense tree structures were pretty good. Unfortunately,
the Bookie wasn't available.
"Yes. Very strong, but the modulation is yet weak. His
network interface is totally undeveloped." the voice
continued. A small furry creature walked out of the woods
as Luke stared on. Luke's stomach had now joined the rest
of his body in loud complaints. Whatever was peering at him
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:44 Page 15
was certainly small and furry, but Luke was quite sure that
it didn't come from Alpha Centauri.
"Well, well," said the creature as is rolled it's eyes
at Luke. "Frobozz, y'know. Morning, name's modem. What's
your game? Adventure? D&D? Or are you just one of those
Apple-pong types that hang around the store demonstrations?"
Luke closed his eyes. Perhaps if he couldn't see it, it
wouldn't notice him.
"H'mm," muttered the creature. "Must use a different
protocol. @@@H @@ @($@@@H )"@G$ @#@@G' (o% @@@@@%%H(b ?"
"No, no," stammered Luke. "I don't speak EBCDIC. I was
sent here to become a UNIX wizard. Must have the wrong
address."
"Right address," said the creature. "I'm a UNIX wizard.
Device drivers a speciality. Or do you prefer playing with
virtual memory?"
Luke eyed the creature cautiously. If this was what
happened to system wizards after years of late night
crashes, Luke wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with it.
He felt a strange affection for the familiar microcomputers
of his home. And wasn't virtual memory something that you
got from drinking too much Coke?
The preceeding story has been a reprint
(retransmission?) of an original story by an unknown author.
The story was most recently found on the MNET-11 user's
group SIG on the CompuServe system.
FIDONEWS -- 21 Oct 85 03:02:45 Page 16
============================================================
NOTICES
============================================================
Have you paid for your freeware yet?
------------------------------------------------------------
BACK ISSUES
Fidonews back issues are available for download by all
callers (even first time callers) on Fido 107/52, the
Beagles Nest, at (302) 731-7842.
