Volume 3, Number  4                          27 January 1986
      +----------------------------------------------------------+
      |                                             _            |
      |                                            /  \          |
      |    - Fidonews -                           /|oo \         |
      |                                          (_|  /_)        |
      |  Fido and FidoNet                         _`@/_ \    _   |
      |    Users  Group                          |     | \   \\  |
      |     Newsletter                           | (*) |  \   )) |
      |                             ______       |__U__| /  \//  |
      |                            / FIDO \       _//|| _\   /   |
      |                           (________)     (_/(_|(____/    |
      |                                                (jm)      |
      +----------------------------------------------------------+

      Publisher:                                          Fido 1/1
      Editor in Chief:                              Thom Henderson
      Review Editor:                                  Allen Miller
      Chief Procrastinator Emeritus:                  Tom Jennings

      Fidonews is published weekly by  SEAdog  Leader,  Fido  1/1.
      You  are  encouraged  to  submit articles for publication in
      Fidonews.  Article submission standards are contained in the
      file FIDONEWS.DOC, available 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.




                           Table of Contents

      1. EDITORIAL
         THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP: About IFNA
      2. NEWS
         Fido's Archive System
         The latest FIDO distribution list
         Some more thoughts on Shareware
         More on "improved" BBS systems
         GAGS Version 1.06 released
         A (Possibly) Better Way to POLL
      3. WANTED
         Outgoing Host Accounting System Wanted !
      4. FOR SALE
         Libertarian E-Mail Directory
      5. NOTICES
         Version 5.0 of ARC released
         The Interrupt Stack
         KILLROBT update
         MENSA National PC-SIG Forming
         PRGUSERS - Software Update










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

      Tom Jennings
      125/1

                          THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP
                               About IFNA


              There is a file being sent around attacking the
      proposed IFNA, or International Fido Net Association.  If
      you haven't seen it yet, you probably will.  Please read
      this in it's entirety.  If you don't, then don't even bother
      to talk to me about it.

              Even though parties involved have since apologized,
      serious damage has been done.  The authors did not contact
      any of the people mentioned in the IFNA proposal to ask what
      was going on.  There was no real information in the attack,
      merely unthinking slanderous paranoia.  Please, learning to
      read implies a responsibility to learn to understand: IFNA
      is not by any means the commercialization of FidoNet, it
      does not mean mandatory fees, etc.  Please read on.


              The IFNA project is now somewhat damaged.  That was
      a very preliminary proposal, and way too early for such
      exposure.  It was not meant to be public, it was way too
      early.  They were ideas of the top of our collective heads,
      as everyone involved realized.


              What is IFNA, and why?

              If you have been a FidoNet sysop long enough, you
      may remember the flap over the net/node reorganization
      during the summer of 1985.  There were complaints that
      "things are working fine, why mess with it?"  The assertion
      was true, at the time it was running quite smoothly, before
      we changed it.

              At that time the net/node changeover, a major upset
      and organizational change, was made for "the future".  You
      may have noticed that that future is here now; if you will
      think back, you will realize that the entire nodelist then
      was smaller than some of today's nets.  At that time, the
      reason for the change was the lack of hierarchy in the
      network; now we have nets that completely run themselves.
      Today's FidoNet with almost 700 systems, runs smoother and
      more efficiently, with less national bureaucracy, than it
      did two years ago.

              There has never been, is not now, and if I can help
      it never will be any sort of ideological or moralistic
      influences in the net administration.  What a sysop does on
      their board, short of illegal or outright damaging actions,


      Fidonews                   Page  2               27 Jan 1986





      is totally and completely their own business.  This idea was
      not talked about, merely implemented, and it permeates
      through the entire organization to this day.  Please realize
      through all of this that the FidoNet, as it exists, is
      totally and completely decentralized as much as is
      practical.  I don't think that many people realize just
      exactly what this means, or how it came about.


              Since FidoNet is totally and completely
      decentralized, it makes large scale operations and changes
      difficult to say the least, never mind trying to pull off
      some coup that no one would cooperate with!  Those that
      designed FidoNet in this fashion are amongst those that
      understand this fact best.


              And now, I'll cover some specific points in the
      attack.  I will not grace all of them with comment.

              The IFNA proposed "membership" does not mean that
      Fido sysops, users, networks or anyone is forced to pay for
      anything, period.  The "membership fee" is proposed to be
      for services and goods provided above and beyond what we all
      have now; seriously, how on earth can anyone in FidoNet make
      anyone else do anything?

              To illustrate this fact, pick a node from the node
      list, far away, where you don't know anybody, and demand
      that the sysop pay you $50 every year.  Good luck.


              A printed publication mailed to your home costs
      money.  A full or part time employee to maintain the
      nodelist and other related functions costs money, and yes,
      things are getting to that point.  Once again, because
      things are moving very smoothly, you normally don't see the
      effort behind the lines.  (I am not talking about myself, I
      do not have anything whatsoever to do with running the net,
      thank Ken and Sally Kaplan for most of that.)

              "Advertising" things such as the radio amateurs'
      FidoGrams, or individual sysops' services to the deaf is not
      "exploitation".  It is informing people of a service that
      they probably didn't know existed.  And how could we
      "exploit" a service that we do not perform, and have no
      control of?  FidoGrams and such are done by individual
      sysops, on their own machines, in their own living rooms.
      The assumption also was that all efforts here would be done
      or directed by the people involved in it.  Like I said, the
      proposal was brainstorming, and incomplete.


              The "magazine" (really just a newsletter, but called
      "magazine" to avoid confusion with FidoNews) is not meant to
      compete on the newsstands; it is meant for FidoNet users and
      sysops, and others only secondarily.  Similar to the
      position of Boys Life to the Boy Scouts of America, if you


      Fidonews                   Page  3               27 Jan 1986





      are familiar with that.  And yes of course it is proposed to
      have some of the better articles from the electronic
      FidoNews; ask any potential author if they would object.
      Compensation and such is yet to be determined, and will
      depend on income, of course.  Like I said before ...

              I'll be damned if I can think of how having a
      printed mag could hurt anything, except the ones putting up
      the dough for printing it.  It will explain how new sysops
      can get started, a list of Fido phone numbers for new and
      existing users, general interest articles, and infinitely
      more.


              As to objections to users "...  knowing how
      economical and easy ...", since FidoNet mail is there, and
      is the WHOLE POINT of FidoNet, and justification for writing
      it in the first place, we have an obligation to let non-
      sysop users know what it is and how to do it.  It does not
      mean you have to do it on your particular board.


              The attack on "...  assigning policy, rules,
      guidelines and procedures for FidoNet" is foolish; what do
      you think we do now?  The national network time slot,
      utility programs (LISTGEN, nodelist formats), coordinating
      FidoNet packet format between the various authors (Fido,
      SEAdog, Rover/gateway, FIDOUSER, etc etc), generating
      nodelists, and so on fall into this category.  It has to be
      done, it's done haphazardly now, just ask anyone using the
      Fido .MSG format about attribute bits.  You think this falls
      from the heavens, fully formed and ready to go?


              The idea of a FidoNet itself is unlikely as hell, an
      "International FidoNet Convention" isn't quite so unlikely,
      since I just came back from one.

              "Old FidoNews' on diskette or hardcopy, fees to be
      set." Yes fees, for IFNA to issue them in that form, of
      course!  You can still download them!  I don't see why all
      of a sudden that would just go away.  [ed: it wouldn't]

              Insurance proposals, like I said, this was brain-
      storming, it may very well turn out to be a waste of time.
      Just an idea, sorry!

              However, as far as "working with computer
      manufacturers to obtain discounts ..." that's not quite the
      same thing.  How many FidoNet sysops have US Robotics
      Courier 2400's?  I'd bet 90% of all the 2400 baud modems you
      see in the nodelist are USR's.  And why?  Because USR made
      the special offer to FidoNet sysops *FIRST*, that's why.  It
      IS a good modem.  Are there any objections to that sort of
      thing in the future?

              As to the tacky doggie: yes, the artist is quite
      aware of the proposed deal, since it is me.  Except those


      Fidonews                   Page  4               27 Jan 1986





      who purchased my old FidoNet bumper stickers (hopelessly
      amateurish) you have not seen the dog.  We do not propose to
      sell ASCII character strings.  It may be egotistical, but
      I'd like to have a Fido sweatshirt, as a matter of fact,
      I've been asked to make some, so I am anyway.  Unlike car
      insurance, no one will be required to waste their money on
      one.

              Junk mail: the proposal says "controlled (ie.
      voluntary) mailing list".

              "Political action committee": just an idea, there
      are people rumbling about this now, IFNA should support it.
      It is obviously in our interest, there are people there now
      supporting us, we might as well support them with numbers of
      organized sysops and users.

              "...  library of FidoNet utilities ..." no,
      obviously, it does not mean exclusivity.  The phrase "BBS
      DISTRIBUTED" tells it all.  Our proposal was for prepackaged
      diskettes, with docs, to benefit the authors, IFNA, and the
      customer who did not care to download large amounts of
      utilities at random to find what they want.  More on this
      later, when the proposal is complete.


              "To provide a liason between FidoNet and public
      service activities."  To get "... discourage efforts of
      others ..." from this paragraph is impossible.  It just
      isn't there.


              "IFNA would be the exclusive distributor of an
      Authorized Distributor package ...".  Right now, Fido
      Software (me) is the exclusive distributor.  If you are not
      aware of it, I sell Fido/FidoNet to paying customers.  And
      allow it for download.  I do not allow others to sell it.
      My customers are businesses and individuals who do not want
      to download, or who did for evaluation purposes, and now
      wish to have the manual and update services.  To those who
      run a Fido as a public service, both individuals and
      companies, it is free.  It has been this way for years;
      please read POLICY1.DOC.


              There are other points that I'm just not going to
      bother to touch.  I gave credence to a lot of it be merely
      mentioning it.  That was not my intent at all, but it was
      unavoidable.


              Both Ken and I have spent large sums of our own
      money to help run FidoNet and keep it all together in the
      last few years, never mind the hundreds of hours of work
      involved by many, many people in the last few years.  Please
      refer to page INTRO-4 in Fido's Operating Manual.  It's just
      the tip of the iceberg.



      Fidonews                   Page  5               27 Jan 1986





              IFNA's only task is to run the net independently of
      any personalities, and take over the many tasks of
      documenting and running the net.  It needs to generate
      income to pay for it's operation, and to provide the
      services proposed, not all of which are in the proposal that
      leaked out.  It is not a way for any of us to skim money
      from any sysops or users of FidoNet, and I am sorry for you
      if you believe that.

              Not everyone is out to screw you, this is not a TV
      show, there is no cloak and dagger business here.

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















































      Fidonews                   Page  6               27 Jan 1986





      ============================================================
                                  NEWS
      ============================================================

      Jim Black
      Fido 106/106

                          Fido's Archive System


           If you do not have space problems on the hard disk that
      Fido calls home - this is not for  you  (go  read  the  next
      article).  If  you have trouble keeping hard disk space then
      FAS is what you need.

           FAS,  can decide with a little help which files on your
      board  are  not  active  and  archive  those  inactive files
      releasing that valuable space for the next great utility  or
      game or whatever.

           FAS  will  read  your  sysop.log  files and extract all
      downloaded or uploaded files for as far back as you have log
      files for.  These will  become  your  active  file.  If  you
      desire  to  keep  some  files even though they have not been
      uploaded or downloaded these can be placed in the  permanent
      file and will never be archived.

           You  tell  FAS  which file areas to look at for archive
      purposes.  All files in those areas will be archived if they
      are not in the active file or the permanent file.

           The Archive process will copy  the  files  to  diskette
      then delete the FILES.BBS entry. Don't worry FAS can recover
      any  file once it is archived.  All Files archived will have
      the FILES.BBS description placed in the ARCHIVE file area so
      that the files can be restored.

           FAS is menu driven  and  is  complete  with  hard  copy
      reports.  FAS requires an IBM or compatible, 256k of memory,
      and  around  400k  of disk space for programs and files.  Oh
      yes,  FAS is fast.  FAS is distributed  under  the  Freeware
      concept.  Try it, you will love it.

           Call  the  following  Fido's for more information or to
      see the ARCHIVE file area and to download your space saver.

           FIDO'S PARTNER     106/101 713-458-7410  300 - 2400
           BLACK STAR         106/106 713-458-5406  300 - 1200
           PC-INTERCONNECTION 106/343 713-955-8120  300 - 1200

           All three BBS are up 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

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







      Fidonews                   Page  7               27 Jan 1986





                         FIDO DISTRIBUTION LIST
                             15 January 1986

      This  list  was  compiled  from  responses  to  a proposal I
      submitted  to  the  FIDONEWS.   I  know   there   are   more
      distribution  nodes  than this,  but these are the ones that
      responded.  My thanks to those of you listed  here.  If  you
      are a distribution node,  and would like to be added to this
      list, send the relevant information to the SYSOP on 109/74 -
      The Bear's Den.  I will release updates to this list as  new
      distribution nodes are added.

      NODE     NODE NAME      LOCATION         PHONE NUMBER  Version
      ----     ---------      --------         ------------  -------
      18/19   The Ark Tangent Tampa_FL         813-977-5347 * I
      100/10  MDC_RCC,        St._Louis_MO     314-232-6881 * D,I
      100/22  PC LUG          St._Louis_MO     314-576-2743 * D,I
      100/51  DECUS Central   St._Louis_MO     314-576-4129 * D,I
      101/27  Dave's FIDO     Gardner_MA       617-632-1861 * All
      101/106 NewWorld Magic1 Swampscott_MA    617-595-5626 * I
      106/343 PC-Interconnect Houston_TX       713-955-8120   I
      106/106 Black_Star      Houston_TX       713-458-5406   I
      107/312 Dance_Studio    E_Brunswick_NJ   201-247-0573   I
      109/483 Wash-A-RUG      Fairfax_VA       703-359-6549   D,I
      109/603 NET-EXCHANGE    Reston_VA        703-689-3561   I
      114/1   Phoenix Net     Phoenix, AZ      602-242-5230   I
      122/6   PSG COOS Bay    COOS_Bay_OR      503-269-5202 * I
      124/12  Inside Track Ed Plano_TX         214-422-4772   I
      125/1   Fido's Board    San_Francisco_CA 415-864-1418 * All
      125/521 Satore Center   San_Francisco_CA 415-647-8528   I,V
      128/10  The Three Laws  Colorado_Spgs_CO 303-574-1110   I
      129/11  TACO Sanyo Fido Trafford_PA      412-856-1428 * S
      132/107 M'Cycle Bytes   Amherst_NH       603-889-3366 * All
      135/14  Metro-Fire Fido Miami_FL         305-596-8611   I,S,T,G
      3101/1  Fido_Nl1        Ede, Holland     +31-8380-37165 I

      * Supports 2400 Baud

      FIDO Version:
              I[BM], D[EC], V[ICTOR], S[ANYO], T[ANDY], G[ENERIC]

      This version of the list was squeezed a bit,  to allow it to
      fit into the FIDONEWS format.  If you would like a  full  80
      column  copy of this list,  it may be downloaded from either
      FIDO 109/74 (The Bear's Den), or FIDO 109/483 (Wash-A-RUG).

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













      Fidonews                   Page  8               27 Jan 1986





                     Some more thoughts on Shareware

      I couldn't help thinking  about  a  problem  that  confronts
      those  of  us  who use shareware in an institutional setting
      when I read the article which mentioned the  personal  check
      sent   in  from  an  MCI  employee.   I  work  for  a  state
      university;  under  state  law  we  must  have  a  bill  for
      everything.   Some   producers   of  shareware  have  formal
      invoices already enclosed with the documentation; others ask
      for a donation.  I don't know if the  latter  group  doesn't
      want  to  appear  pushy  or  what;  the  fact  is  that many
      institutions  cannot  pay  on  this  basis.   A  suggestion:
      include  an  invoice  in your documentation,  or on your pop
      screen that appears when your program is invoked without any
      parameters.  Many of us would like to help out  but  cannot,
      at least through our institutions.

                                      Bill Allbritten, 11/301

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








































      Fidonews                   Page  9               27 Jan 1986





                 An update on what's happening with this
                   brainstorm about a new type of BBS

                         By John Plocher, 121/90

          I  must have touched a responsive chord somewhere!  I've
      gotten so much responsive mail pertaining to my ideas  on  a
      packet  interface  to  remote  systems  that I guess another
      Fidonews article is in order!

          Just a note of warning: I should in NO WAY be considered
      an expert on this subject,  in fact I didn't  know  a  thing
      about  packet  networks  6  months ago.  If anyone out there
      knows more about this than I do, please feel free to correct
      any misconceptions I have!

          'Nuff of this humble introduction.  On to  the  meat  of
      this note: There is a "standard" out there concerning packet
      switched   networks   called   CCITT   X.25.   This   is  an
      international standard which is/should  be  used  by  common
      carrier  packet networks (Tymnet,  etc).  There is a variant
      of this protocol called X.PC,  which is X.25 for micros.  It
      was  developed  by  McDonald  Douglas/Tymshare,  the  parent
      companies of Tymnet. The protocol specifications and related
      documentation is available for no charge from:

              X.PC Protocol Specification (Version 2.1)
              Tymnet/McDonald Douglas Network Systems 2710 Orchard
              Parkway San Jose, CA 95134

          Tymnet  also  has  a complete implementation for the IBM
      PC, including source, object, and documentation on an IBM PC
      disk for $20.00 - See  the  documentation  BEFORE  you  send
      money!  I  have  requested all of the above materials,  they
      should be here by the end of January (1986, I hope).

          X.PC specifically implements the NETWORK and DATA layers
      of the ISO-OSI model.

          At this point I need to clarify some points.  These have
      to do with what comes to mind when using the terms "BBS" and
      "interface".  I am working  on  developing  a  packet  level
      interface  which  could  be  used to implement a new type of
      BBS,  or other remote access system.  Any BBS  has  to  have
      some  sort  of interface to the remote user;  right now Fido
      uses a character level interface for user I/O and  a  packet
      level interface for file transfer.  I'd like to implement an
      interface which is 100% packet level, 100% of the time.

          Since  the  current  generation  of  BBS's  are designed
      around a single channel character level interface, a new BBS
      would have to be written to take  advantage  of  the  multi-
      channel packet interface.  Thus the notion of a new BBS.

          The  issue  of  security  has some relevance here,  too.
      Fido was designed to be a 100%  secure  system.  That  means
      that  even  if  a  user would upload FORMAT.COM,  s/he could
      NEVER execute it.  It also means that the user can never get


      Fidonews                   Page 10               27 Jan 1986





      past the Fido software  interface  and  into  the  operating
      system  (The  Sysop can,  though,  with the 0 command).  The
      result is that the users are limited  to  whatever  features
      Fido cares to let them use.  RCP/M systems on the other hand
      are typically not secure systems,  because the user has  the
      ability to execute programs in addition to the usual message
      oriented BBS commands.

          It  should  be  obvious  that  the issue of security has
      little to do with the interface used  to  do  I/O  with  the
      user.  Fido  and  RCP/M both use character level I/O;  it is
      what they do with it which determines the  security  of  the
      system.  The  ideas  I  am interested in ignore the issue of
      security completely (at least for now), and propose a packet
      level interface to the system which would be  a  replacement
      for  the  character  level interface used by Fido and RCP/M.
      (UNIX people will note that UUCP,  CU,  and TIP also have  a
      packet   type  interface,   instead  of  a  character  level
      interface.  In the case of CU,  the packet interface is used
      in such a way as to give the impression to the user of being
      a character interface.)

          If  security  is desired (and it will be for ANY type of
      BBS),  it would have to be  added  on  top  of  this  packet
      interface  in the same was as it is added to current systems
      on top of the character level interface.

          Note also that I have avoided mentioning anything  about
      the  physical  connection  to the packet interface.  In many
      cases, it would be a RS-232 async link through a modem,  but
      it could also be a synchronous bi-sync link to another local
      system,  or  a connection to a LAN,  etc.  The beauty of the
      packet interface is that it doesn't matter how  the  packets
      actually get from place to place, as long as they get there.
      They  don't  even  have  to  get  there  undamaged,  cuz the
      interface takes care of requesting a new packet if it  finds
      a damaged one.

          I  have  also gotten a few responses about my mention of
      Wendin's PCUNIX and their Operating Systems  Toolbox.  I  am
      still  (1/13/86)  waiting for my copy of PCUNIX,  but I have
      the OST and PCVMS.  For those of you who like VMS on  a  DEC
      VAX,  PCVMS  is  quite  similar.  It is truly multi-user and
      multi-tasking;  I don't like VMS,  and I liked PCVMS.  These
      products  are  only available for the IBM family (PC,XT,AT),
      but quite a few people here in southern Wisconsin have  been
      pestering Wendin to port it to the Rainbow, so if you pester
      them too...  Anyways,  back to the topic,  I am working with
      Wendin in developing X.PC as a network interface to the OST.
      This is a necessary first step in implementing all of  X.PC,
      if  the  virtual circuit ideas are to be implemented at all.
      (The multi-tasking is vital!)

          Getting  more  into  the  ideas   of   a   BBS   system,
      specifically  conferencing systems,  David Dyer-Bennet,  the
      Sysop  of  14/341  (The  Terraboard)  had  some  interesting
      comments  about  how  to present an understandable view of a
      discussion tree to the user.  At a minimum,  the user  would


      Fidonews                   Page 11               27 Jan 1986





      have  to  be able to see an overview of all the conferences,
      as well as details on individual conferences,  all  the  way
      down to the actual messages.  His conclusions are that ideas
      used  in  the outline processors now available could be used
      to present an outline of a discussion;  allowing the user to
      increase or decrease the amount of detail displayed.

          I'm getting a bit long winded here, so I'm going to call
      it  quits for now,  but if the response to these ideas keeps
      up I'll have to  write  more...  (And  I  thought  I  was  a
      programmer, not an author!)

              John Plocher 121/90

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













































      Fidonews                   Page 12               27 Jan 1986





      Version 1.06 of the Generic Adventure Game System released!
      -----------------------------------------------------------

      [Background: The Generic Adventure Game System is an
      adventure-game development system for 256K MS-DOS computers.
      It allows you to create your own computer adventure games
      using a fairly simple syntax and a standard text editor.
      GAGS 1.0 was released as Shareware in late August, and the
      previous version, 1.05, was released in October.]
                                 -- Mark J. Welch,
                                    sysop, Fido 125/459


         I have finally finished adding features to the Generic
      Adventure Game System, and have also released an interactive
      editor which allows game writers to view and alter room,
      noun, and creature definitions.  Alas, I am unable (or
      unwilling) to commit to future enhancements, because I plan
      to divert my energies to other projects.

         I will soon be delving into Modula-2 (GAGS was written in
      Turbo Pascal) and may decide to redesign GAGS in that
      language, but I can't promise anything, since I have several
      other projects in mind as well.  I will, of course, correct
      any bugs that may be noticed in GAGS, but currently do not
      plan to add new features for a long time, if ever.

         GAGS has progressed somewhat since its initial release in
      August.  For example, Everard Cheney, sysop of the Fantasy
      Factory of Pacifica, CA (415-355-6047, Fido 125/applied)
      wrote an interactive editor useful to enter new room,
      creature, and noun information. In response to his
      inspiration, I wrote another editor which is more useful in
      examining and making minor changes to existing games (and
      games in various stages of development after startup).

         Both of those editors are included, along with the GAGS
      "engine" program, a sample game, and extensive
      documentation, in GAGS_106.ARC, a 279K file. (GAGS_106.ARC
      also includes the ARC452.DOC file since I've discovered that
      no one bothers to download it when they download ARC452.EXE
      from my board).  The 279K file expands to about 450K, so it
      won't all fit on one 360K floppy disk.

         GAGS was reviewed favorably in the December 6, 1985 issue
      of *MicroTimes*, a tabloid publication distributed in
      California.  I've not heard of any other reviews, but would
      appreciate feedback if someone notices a review in a
      publication. I sent out a bunch of review copies to
      magazines I don't subscribe to.

         As before, I also offer the program on disk for $10
      (including postage), and will put a copy of the GAGS_106.ARC
      file in the mail to any sysop who sends me a disk and
      postpaid return mailer. Since it's Shareware, I encourage
      people who find the program useful to become registered
      users by sending me a $15 contribution.  Registered users
      may also elect to buy the complete source code (in Turbo


      Fidonews                   Page 13               27 Jan 1986





      Pascal) for $25 (including postage).

         A note on Shareware returns: For those who are curious,
      Shareware contributions have not been very substantial for
      GAGS. I hadn't expected much, of course, but I am most
      irritated by people who call with support questions and
      start off with a lie: "I'm sending you a check for
      registration, and I think GAGS is great, but how do you...."
      After about a dozen of those calls, I received one of the
      promised checks. I've received a number of other checks in
      the mail, but my expenses still outweigh my income by more
      than an order of magnitude. I doubt I'll elect to distribute
      my next product as Shareware.

         Another irritation: I've received at least five phone
      calls from people who complain that the program doesn't
      work. My immediate response is, "Did you read the READ.ME
      file?" and the answer has always been "no" since the READ.ME
      file explains why the program won't work unless CONFIG.SYS
      has upped the number of files.

      [Note: A bug in version 1.06 was discovered: the game's
      introductory text was not displayed. This bug has been fixed
      in version 1.06a.  That bug did not effect the game in any
      other way. mjw, 1-17-86]



      Changes from version 1.05 to 1.06               01-13-86
      of the Generic Adventure Game System            MJW
      -------------------------------------
      There are three new features in version 1.06 of GAGS.

      GAGS 1.06 is now finished. Included with it in the 279K ARC
      file is EDITGAME 1E, an interactive room/noun/creature
      editor.


      1) Verb synonyms

         I have not added User-definable verbs, but I've come
      halfway. You can now define a new verb as a synonym of an
      existing verb. For example, suppose you want the user to be
      able to type "inspect" instead of examine. In the .DAT file,
      you include a verb redefinition as follows:

      VERB
       EXAMINE INSPECT
      END_VERB

      During the game, any time the player types "inspect" as a
      verb, it will be translated to "examine." You may only map
      one synonym to each verb. You may include several
      redefinitions in a single VERB...END_VERB entry, but each
      pair of verbs must be on a separate line.


      2) Winning a game


      Fidonews                   Page 14               27 Jan 1986





         Okay, I give in. There is now a way to win the game.
      There is a now a new ROOM attribute called GAME_WIN, which
      indicates that the player wins the game when s/he enters the
      room, regardless of points held.  The ROOM_DESCR information
      is displayed, so you should use the ROOM_DESCR information
      to present the game winner with praise, etc.


      3) Creature time threshholds

         For those who think the creatures are too tame, here's a
      quick fix.  The normal "THRESHHOLD" value indicates how many
      times the player has to attack a creature with the wrong
      weapon before the creature attacks and kills the player.
      Now, there is a new attribute called TIME_THRESH, which is
      the number of turns after the player enters a room before
      the creature kills the player.  Setting this to 1 would be
      instant death. If you do not specify a TIME_THRESH value,
      the player need not be concerned about time. To set a time
      threshhold, put the line

      TIME_THRESH n

      in the creature definition, where n is the number of turns
      the player has to try to defeat the creature. I strongly
      advise that you use a number like 7 or 8, for this.

      ------

      Note 1: Version 1.05 of GAGS fixed a bug in the way
      creatures acted. In earlier versions, friendly creatures
      blocked exits; the change allows players to exit rooms
      without killing friendly creatures.

      ------

      Note 2: Yes, GAGS runs on any MS-DOS computer. I've not had
      firm feedback on 1.06, but 1.05 was confirmed to run on the
      Sanyo 555, the TI Professional, the DEC Rainbow, an S-100
      system with an 8086 card, and on the PCjr and a large number
      of IBM-compatibles. While I describe it as a 256K program,
      it runs fine in a 192K partition under DESQview.

      ------

      Note 3: "The opinions expressed in this article are my own,
      and are not the opinions of my employer.


            Mark J. Welch             415-564-1066 voice
            P.O. Box 2409             415-664-2811 BBS
            San Francisco, CA 94126   Fido 125/459




      * GAGS and The Generic Adventure Game System are trademarks
        of Mark J. Welch. All program and documentation for GAGS


      Fidonews                   Page 15               27 Jan 1986





        are Copyright 1985, 1986 by Mark J. Welch. All rights
        reserved.

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
























































      Fidonews                   Page 16               27 Jan 1986





                    A (Possibly) Better Way to POLL

                                   by
                               Bob Hartman
                           Sysop Fido 132/101
                            The UN*X Gateway
                          and Home of Rovermsg


      How many FIDO sysops out there have been having a hard  time
      using the new FIDO command POLL?  From personal experience I
      know  that it is more than just a few of us.  I have devised
      what I think is a slightly  more  robust  way  to  use  this
      feature, so let me share it with you.

      First  of  all,  this  method  is  for use when you are only
      supposed to poll on certain days (for example,  Saturday you
      are  supposed  to poll for the NODELIST).  The problems with
      POLL usually have to do with the fact that to POLL only on a
      certain day, you have to create a different FidoNet schedule
      which just gets executed on that day,  and  has  the  proper
      POLL  statement  in the ROUTE.<tag> file.  To say the least,
      this is a real hassle.

      My solution is to simply  not  use  the  POLL  statement  at
      all!!!  I know that this sounds ridiculous, but hear me out.
      I propose only using the PICKUP keyword.  Place this in your
      normal ROUTE.<tag> file,  in place of the POLL.  Then on the
      days when you are supposed to  POLL,  simply  use  ROBOT  to
      create a dummy message,  with a dummy file attached to avoid
      the normal message routing (I use the message "Just  to  let
      you know I picked-up the xxxxxxxxxx file").

      What does this do?  Well, all of a sudden you have a message
      going  to  the  node  you  wanted to POLL.  This causes your
      board to call that node,  and since you have PICKUP in  your
      route  file,  your  node will attempt to PICKUP the mail for
      you.  The two methods are equivalent in that either way  you
      get  the mail you were supposed to get.  The differences are
      subtle, but *VERY* important:

      1. Using the PICKUP method you  will  transfer  one  message
         which  will actually appear on the receiving board.  This
         is a minor drawback in my opinion.

      2. Using the PICKUP method you do not have to  run  separate
         FidoNet schedules on different nights (and hence not have
         to  pull  your  hair  out  trying  to  find out which one
         executes first!).

      3. This is the biggie ---  Using  the  PICKUP  method,  your
         board  will  continue to try to do the pickup every night
         until it succeeds!!!  Since you have a  message  destined
         for  the  other  node,  Fido  knows  whether  or  not the
         transfer succeeded.  If it was unsuccessful (phone  busy,
         other node off-line,  etc.),  then the next night it will
         try again.  This is the major advantage of  this  method.
         I  find  it very useful,  and wish that some of the nodes


      Fidonews                   Page 17               27 Jan 1986





         polling my board would  implement  it  (HINT,  HINT).  It
         means  that if you miss a poll,  the message will not get
         duplicated the following  week,  and  have  two  of  them
         waiting in the queue.  Since the files people are polling
         me  for are about 100K long,  this advantage becomes very
         important.  Who wants to pay to transfer  the  same  100K
         file twice in one session???

      Anyway,  I  have  been  using this method myself for about a
      month.  It took me that long to convince  myself  that  this
      method  had  no  drawbacks  and did work at least as well as
      POLL.  I hope this helps others  that  are  having  problems
      missing scheduled POLLs.

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













































      Fidonews                   Page 18               27 Jan 1986





      ============================================================
                                 WANTED
      ============================================================

      David Dodell, Sysop
      Fido 114/15

      I am looking for some type of accounting system that could
      be used by an outgoing host to keep record of what systems
      are sending messages.  This would enable the outgoing host
      to "bill" the other nodes for usage.  Anyone have something
      like this already written?  If so can you please send mail
      to David Dodell, Sysop at 114/15.  Thank you.


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












































      Fidonews                   Page 19               27 Jan 1986





      ============================================================
                                FOR SALE
      ============================================================

                    Daniel Tobias, FIDO 129/13

      Thanks to all who responded to my request for electronic
      mail addresses of Libertarians (those individuals who
      believe in personal and economic freedom and
      drastically-limited government).  If you wish to be listed
      in this directory, this is your last chance, as the
      deadline to be included in the first edition is January 31, 1986.

      The LIBERTARIAN E-MAIL DIRECTORY should be ready for
      shipping by mid-February.  This guide contains an
      alphabetic listing of Libertarians who are reachable by
      electronic mail, giving their addresses on various systems
      and networks such as FidoNet, CompuServe, Delphi, ARPAnet,
      UUCP, BITnet, et cetera.  Also included is other
      information such as the organizations in which these
      people are involved, their special interests, and any
      other such information they chose to provide.  If you are a
      Libertarian, this directory will help you start pen-pal
      correspondence, exchange ideas, and promote informal
      networking with like-minded people.  If you are not a
      Libertarian at present, but are interested in knowing more
      about libertarianism or the Libertarian Movement, you may
      find people in this directory who would be happy to answer
      your questions through electronic correspondence.  The
      LIBERTARIAN E-MAIL DIRECTORY is a must for anybody who uses
      computerized communications and is interested in
      libertarianism.

      You can order this valuable reference guide now, by sending
      $5 to:  Daniel Tobias, 4730 Centre Ave. Apt. 212,
      Pittsburgh, PA 15213.  This price is postpaid.  The
      LIBERTARIAN E-MAIL DIRECTORY will be shipped to you by
      first class mail immediately after it is printed, by
      mid-February.  Act now, to get this directory hot off the
      press!

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


















      Fidonews                   Page 20               27 Jan 1986





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

                            ARC 5.0 Released

                              New Features!
                            Up To 23% Faster!
                           Up To 10% Smaller!


      System Enhancement Associates is pleased to announce the
      release of version 5.0 of ARC.  The new version includes the
      following enhancements:

      o   Dynamic Lempel-Zev coding with adaptive reset.

      o   Path support on ALL commands!

      o   Improved error recovery on corrupted archives.

      o   Improved and expanded documentation.

      o   Archive encryption.

      o   And more!


      ARC 5.0 is available for download from Fido 107/7, or on
      disk by sending a check or money order for $50 to:

                      System Enhancement Associates
                      21 New Street, Wayne NJ 07470

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

                           The Interrupt Stack


       3 Feb 1986
         Space Symposium at Disney World, Orlando, Florida.
         Contact Harold Gray at node 145/1 for more details.

       9 Feb 1986
         Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.

       9 Feb 1986
         Diana Overholt (109/74) has another birthday.

       1 Mar 1986
         European mail hour shifts to 0230-0330 GMT.  Summer time
         will no longer be observed.

      11 Apr 1986
         Halley's Comet reaches perigee.

      19 May 1986
         Steve Lemke's next birthday.


      Fidonews                   Page 21               27 Jan 1986





      24 Aug 1989
         Voyager 2 passes Neptune.





      If you have something which you would like to see on this
      calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1.

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

      Steve Butler, sysop FIDO 17/0 (aka 138/3)

      KILLROBT v2.0 is now out.  Included is a version compiled
      under GENERIC TURBO 3.0.  This version is more in tune with
      the need to run in batch mode.  The list of deleted messages
      can now be redirected (via DOS) to a file.  The repeated
      prompts for a valid path are no longer done.  The program
      terminates with an error message.

      Further enhancement requests should be sent to FIDO 17/0
      c/o Steve Butler.

      Thank you for your encouragement.

      PS: For those of you who use ROBOT to distribute files for
          PICKUP by others and must manually delete those who
          weren't (as in the weekly NODELIST); KILLROBT will help
          you automate that function.

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

      Leo Cotnoir
      Node  109/612

                      MENSA National PC-SIG Forming


      We are interested in the possibility of forming  a  national
      MENSA  PC-SIG  (general  Personal  Computing,   rather  than
      limited to IBM PC).  If anyone  on  FidoNet  belongs  to  an
      existing  local  MENSA  computing  SIG,  or  would  wish  to
      participate in a national SIG (you must be a MENSA  member),
      please  let  us know.  Among the activities we envision is a
      MENSANet.  Other ideas are welcome.

      Please reply by FidoMail to me or Jim Kay at 109/612

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

                            Software Update
                            ***************


      Program : PRGUSERS
      Version : 1.3
      Date    : Jan 18, 1986


      Fidonews                   Page 22               27 Jan 1986





      Reason  : PC-DOS 3.1 using SHARE

      Thanks to Gee Wong (Fido 107/312)  a  major  bug  has  been
      corrected in PRGUSERS.  The problem would crash the program
      under PD-DOS 3.1 while using the SHARE utility.  If you are
      using  PRGUSERS  and  plan  on  using SHARE, or already are
      using SHARE and see that PRGUSERS does not run, version 1.3
      will run under this envionment.

      Version 1.3 is available on Dec_Ware II, Fido 107/2
                                     (201) 750-3748

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















































      Fidonews                   Page 23               27 Jan 1986