FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet
Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1.
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1.
Copyright (C) 1986, by the International FidoNet Association.
All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted
for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
please contact IFNA.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL
Double Dawns
2. ARTICLES
CompuServe's side of the story
The Ultimate Utility
HOW TO BUILD A BETTER NODELIST
Net 109: The Saga Continues
3. COLUMNS
Doug's Column
Off to a GREAT start!
The Nautical View: The "Open BBS"
4. NOTICES
The Interrupt Stack
What a weekend! I just got back from three days in New
Hampshire. Bob Hartman (132/101) hosted dual meetings of the
Bylaws Committee and the Technical Standards Committee, and it
was quite an experience. [Side note: Thanks, Bob, for a job well
done!]
I can't really say that a new day is dawning. First, because it
isn't yet. Everything that got discussed will take awhile to get
implemented. The technical stuff will probably go faster that
the political stuff, but that's always the case. But also, it's
more like two new days will be dawning at once.
On the one side, we came up with some really nifty techie stuff
that should have some impact on all of us and how we view this
thing we've created. On the other side, we've finally launched
the seeds of an organization that will hopefully be able to
manage what we are growing into.
I really know more about the techie side, since that's the
committee I was on, and where I spent my time. But I did see a
little of the bylaws side. Mainly from walking through to get a
drink. The bylaws guys had a PC with dual monitors, a printer, a
modem, buckets full of sodas and ice and stuff, and bags and bags
of munchies. We techies toughed it out with nothing but too much
fresh air and too few chairs.
The technical changes are simple and devious. I'll frankly admit
that it looks like a godawful horrible kludge at first. But the
more I looked at it, the better it looked. I'll let Randy Bush
(122/6) describe it in detail, since he's the chairman of the
Technical Standards Committee who already has sensitive toes by
now that don't really need any more tromping on for a bit.
But briefly put, we came up with a fairly simple mechanism that
will allow us to handle zones, points, gateways to different
networks (like UseNet and ArpaNet), echomail, and much, much
more. Kludge it may be, but it's simple and straightforward, and
it allows darned near limitless possibilities. I'd never stick
my neck out so far as to say that one technical fix can solve all
present and future needs, but this one probably comes close to
solving all of the problems that we'd ever have been able to
handle anyway.
And here's the good news: The change will be FULLY backwards
compatible with existing software! It's essentially an extended
addressing ability that current versions of Fido, Opus, SEAdog,
TBBS, et al will preserve and transmit without even knowing that
they're doing it. It should even be possible (though not
terribly convenient) for you to enter messages using extended
addresses with current software.
Fidonews Page 3 10 Nov 1986
It'll also be easy for you clonemakers out there to deal with it,
since you can implement some, all, or none of it, as you wish.
Now I guess I'd better deal with the political stuff. Like I
said, I didn't see much of it. But from what I saw, everyone
involved took it all quite seriously, and was very intent on
seeing to it that everyone got a fair shake. I also gather that
everyone is going to vote on it before it's fully accepted. So
if you don't like it, vote it down and we'll lock them in a
closet until they come up with something better.
I haven't read the proposed bylaws yet, but I expect to soon. In
fact, we have to get cracking on this, since the Colorado Springs
group only gave us until January first to resolve all of this. I
expect to get my copy soon, and I'll be shipping them out with
FidoNews. In fact, next week's issue will probably be a special
issue containing the proposed bylaws and not much else!
I'm looking forward to reading what they came up with, even if it
means wading through the legalese. I know all of them seemed
pretty satisfied that they'd found an acceptable compromise. I
don't expect it to be perfect; nothing in this world ever is.
But I know they were wrangling with some pretty though issues,
and I'm interested in seeing how they resolved them.
So keep your eyes open for new software with new features, be
watching for the proposed bylaws, and above all
Bill Roberts of the San Francisco DEC PC User's Group and I
recently had a long conversation about CompuServe policies (you
all know which ones we were discussing!). He was sufficiently
interested to take it up with them; the following is the
response he received, along with a few of his comments.
COMPUSERVE INFORMATION SERVICE
OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON COPYRIGHT POLICY
October 1986
[Note: The following statement currently is available on
CompuServe. It appears to have been produced in response to
recent questions and criticism concerning certain ambiguities in
CompuServe's policy toward "public domain" software uploads. The
following text may be obtained on CompuServe by entering GO
COPYRIGHT at any ! prompt.]
The CompuServe Information Service provides more than 400
online products covering thousands of subject areas to its more
than 300,000 subscribers.
Material offered on the CompuServe Information Service
originates with a wide variety of sources, ranging from creative
public domain software programs uploaded by subscribers to
multi-faceted databases provided by large corporations.
The following information will address some commonly-asked
questions about copyright and ownership of material, particularly
as it relates to public domain information and shareware
programs.
--WHAT IS A COMPILATION COPYRIGHT?
CompuServe has copyrighted the contents of the CompuServe
Information Service as a compilation copyright, just as many
magazines and newspapers reserve such a copyright on the contents
of their publications. This copyright is held in accordance with
the 1976 Copyright Act of the United States.
A compilation copyright is granted when an organization
collects information in a lawful way, adds value to it, and
offers it to others. In this case, the CompuServe Information
Service is a value-added product; CompuServe Incorporated has
committed substantial financial resources to collecting more than
400 databases and offering them in an organized, structured way
to a defined user base through a nationwide telecommunications
network. The compilation copyright is intended to protect that
Fidonews Page 5 10 Nov 1986
substantial investment from unauthorized exploitation. This does
NOT mean that CompuServe assumes ownership of individual programs
and databases provided to the system by subscribers or
information providers.
--IF I UPLOAD A SOFTWARE PROGRAM I'VE DEVELOPED TO COMPUSERVE, DO
I STILL RETAIN OWNERSHIP OF THE PROGRAM?
Yes, you do. CompuServe's compilation copyright does NOT
supersede individual ownership rights or copyrights to any of the
material furnished to the Service by subscribers or information
providers.
For example, a subscriber who creates a program and uploads
it to a CompuServe forum data library STILL OWNS that program,
and may upload it to other information services and bulletin
board systems.
It should be noted, however, that CompuServe cannot grant
any redistribution rights for materials copyrighted by the
author, unless specifically authorized to do so, CompuServe does
not own the material or the copyright. These rights must be
obtained directly from the author.
--WHAT IS COMPUSERVE'S STANCE TOWARD COPYRIGHTED, PUBLIC DOMAIN,
AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS?
Each of these types of property have special
characteristics, and deserves separate explanation:
COPYRIGHT. CompuServe does not allow copyrighted material
to be placed on the CompuServe Information Service without the
author's permission. Only the owner(s) or persons they
specifically authorize may upload copyrighted material to the
Service. Any subscriber may download copyrighted material for
their own use. Any subscriber may also non-commercially
redistribute a copyrighted program with the expressed permission
of the owner or authorized person. Permission must be specified
in the document, on the Service, or must be obtained directly
from the author.
PUBLIC DOMAIN. Any subscriber may upload public domain
programs to the Service. Any subscriber may download public
domain programs for their own use or non-commercially
redistribute a public domain program.
SHAREWARE. Only the owner or an authorized person may
upload shareware programs. Any subscriber may download shareware
programs for their own use, subject to the terms provided by the
owner. Any subscriber may non-commercially redistribute a
shareware program subject to the provided terms explicitly
displayed in the software itself, or with permission of the owner
or authorized person.
See below for more information about redistribution guidelines.
Fidonews Page 6 10 Nov 1986
--AS A COMPUSERVE SUBSCRIBER, CAN I DOWNLOAD PUBLIC DOMAIN
INFORMATION AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS FOR MY OWN USE FROM COMPUSERVE
FORUM DATA LIBRARIES?
Yes, you can. Public domain information and shareware
programs are uploaded to CompuServe data libraries by their
authors for use by other CompuServe subscribers.
--MAY I DOWNLOAD PROGRAMS FROM COMPUSERVE FORUM DATA LIBRARIES
AND SHARE THEM WITH A FRIEND, OR UPLOAD THEM TO ANOTHER BULLETIN
BOARD SYSTEM?
In keeping with the spirit of the development of public
domain information and shareware, it is not CompuServe's current
policy to prevent casual redistribution of this type of
information -- this is low volume and low frequency use or
redistribution of information where no commercialism is involved.
This means that a customer may download a file and share it with
others for no commercial gain -- either via a bulletin board
service, diskette, or other means.
A subscriber may not, however, download a large number of
files for redistribution via any means, nor is it acceptable for
a subscriber to update another bulletin board regularly with
files obtained from CompuServe.
It's important to note that CompuServe cannot grant
redistribution rights for programs clearly copyrighted by the
author, unless specifically authorized to do so. Such permission
must be obtained directly from the author of the program.
--MAY I DOWNLOAD AND RESELL A PROGRAM FROM A COMPUSERVE FORUM
DATA LIBRARY?
Commercial exploitation of material contained on the
CompuServe Information Service is specifically prohibited by the
CompuServe Service agreement, to which each subscriber agrees
before being permitted to access the Service. Therefore,
subscribers cannot lawfully download and redistribute public
information or shareware programs for personal gain.
In addition, mass redistribution of public domain
information or shareware is also prohibited. Mass distribution
is defined as high frequency and/or high volume transfers.
--WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATING THE COMPILATION COPYRIGHT
OR SERVICE AGREEMENT PROVISIONS?
When a situation involving exploitation is brought to
CompuServe's attention, we investigate and, if warranted, remind
the violator of the terms of the Service Agreement. If
subsequent violations are reported, access to the CompuServe
Information Service may be terminated for the violator and, in
extreme cases, a letter is sent from our legal counsel asking
that he or she cease and desist, or risk further legal action.
Fidonews Page 7 10 Nov 1986
This is done as a positive step to protect the value and
use of the material for CompuServe Information Service
subscribers, and to discourage unauthorized redistribution of
that material.
Thank you for using CompuServe!
[END OF CI$ statement]
[One user's commentary: From the above, it appears that
CompuServe is grappling with finding some way to protect its
investment in establishing and maintaining a library of
user-supported materials. The recent adoption of a policy of not
charging for upload time is a two-edged sword: it is both a boon
to the subscriber who goes to the trouble of uploading materials
to CompuServe and a clear way for CompuServe to show that it has
"paid" some consideration for the the material.
However, nothing CompuServe may do can allow it to gather in
rights which have been scattered to the public domain. As a
fundamental concept of intellectual property law, once something
is placed within the public domain, even the original author
cannot reclaim it.
CompuServe would appear to be justified in its stance that it
holds a compilation copyright on its contents as a whole. It
would be difficult to argue with this position because were it
not the case, there would be little or no incentive for
CompuServe to offer the services which it does. Similarly, a
number of sysops of hobbyist bulletin boards (FIDOs, etc.) have
clearly stated policies saying that they do not favor or permit
massive downloadings of files on their systems.
CompuServe's concern appear to revolve around a need and desire
to protect its contents from being "cloned" onto a competing
commercial or non-commercial system. Unfortunately, the line
between casual redistribution and "mass redistribution" or
"updating another bulletin board regularly" is both ill-defined
and subjective.
The CompuServe subscriber agreement is a much stronger protection
for CompuServe than anything in copyright law. It gives
CompuServe the simple right to suspend the subscription of anyone
whom it believes is using its services in an undesirable manner.
End of story.
It is unlikely that CompuServe or any other service, be it
commercial or hobbyist supported, will survive very long unless
it adds some perceived value for its users. CompuServe's value
lies in its providing a national network, extensive libraries
(both public domain and proprietary), and a multi-user system
available at all hours. While the hobbyist bulletin boards,
including FIDO and FIDO echomail, provide similar services, they
serve different (even if overlapping) user communities.
Carl Neiburger, professional journalist and editor of the Silicon
Fidonews Page 8 10 Nov 1986
Valley Rainbow newsletter, proposes a simple way in which anyone
uploading material to CompuServe can protect his or her interest
in the ownership and/or public domain status of the material
being uploaded:
"On the material I have uploaded to CompuServe so far,
I have chosen one of these options:
1) Omitting any copyright, making it automatically public
domain. As I understand it, CompuServe acknowledges that
public domain is public domain and that's that.
2) Attaching a copyright that, in effect, asserts authorship
but no financial control, i.e. "Free license is granted for
non-commercial use." That amounts to saying, "It's mine, but
I'm giving it away and you can give it away (but not sell
it), too." The idea is to allow broad distribution of these
programs, and I hope that CompuServe accepts this desire and
does not interfere with it.
Other people may and do upload software with their own
license restrictions. It seems to me that CompuServe's
policy on allowing downloading and distribution should be
governed by these licenses rather than the company's best
guess.
At the same time, of course, authors are obliged to be
realistic and up front about their licenses and
expectations, which I think they are. I have seen, "If you
like this program, send me $10'; I haven't seen, "You just
downloaded my program; send me $200."
In conclusion, it appears that CompuServe's only intent at the
moment is to restrict the wholesale downloading of materials on
its service for the specific purpose of placing those materials
in their collective entirety on a competing commercial or
non-commercial service. CompuServe's only practical means to
prevent this is to refuse the subscription of anyone who engages
in this practice. Authors of public domain and/or shareware
materials who desire additional assurances may place appropriate
copyright notices on their materials and/or upload their
materials to multiple commercial and non-commercial services thus
preventing the vesting of copyright ownership or control in
CompuServe.
After downloading a number of utilities for use with Fido, I have
found the best to be one that was created by Marshall Presnell and
Ben Mann (151/2) called Fido Utility 1.20 It is a collection of
useful utilities and because they are intergrated into one
"system" the ease of use is very apparent. I will try briefly to
describe the many "wonders" of this program, but it is necessary
to actually use Fido Utility to appreciate the power of this
package.
Fido Utility (FU) is a general purpose Fido utility package which
replaces or emulates the following packages:
- Killsrvr - scans the network message area and deletes all
messages from "Server."
- Lastuser - finds the last user of the system and prints it out
to std-out.
- Twituser - sets the TWIT attribute for the user specified on
the command line.
- Bounce - sends a network mail message back to the originator of
the message.
- Ricochet - allows you to forward messages to another user on
another node, similar to forwarding the message.
- Killto - kills messages in a specified message area TO a
specified user.
- Killfrom - kills messages in a specified message area FROM a
specified user.
- Waittime - waits until until a certain "real-time" specified on
the command line and exits.
- Wait - waits until the minute rolls-over so you will not have
multiple invokations of a 1-minute external event.
- Month - sets the errorlevel based on the current month.
- Userlist - lists all the users in the Fido user.bbs file. Many
options are available for listing passwords, access levels, etc.
- Weekday - returns an errorlevel based on the day of the week.
- Killrobt - scans the network message and deletes all messages
from "Robot."
- Status - displays a status report for your configuration of
Fidonews Page 10 10 Nov 1986
Fido.
- Password - allows for changing a user's password without going
through the SysOp program.
- Setpriv - sets a user's privilege level to the one given on the
command line.
- Adopt removes the "ORPHAN" mark from one or all mail messages.
- Twix - scans the network message area and prints the messages
that have not been read yet. Options also exist for printing ALL
messages, also for NOT updating the "number of times read" flag
in the userlist.
- Robot - performs automated mailings of files. This version
also had an interactive mode for sending files.
- Sched - allows you to list, set, and query the Fido schedules
from a command line.
- Time - simply prints the time to standard output without a
carraige return.
- DTR - allows for the control of the DTR signal to you modem
from DOS.
- Task - is a "Timed Ask" facility for use in batch files. It
will time out unless you answer Y or N within the specified time
period. Error levels are returned based on the response (or lack
thereof).
- Log - allows you to maintain a sysem activity file with little
difficulty.
- Space - a utility to determine how much space is left on the
default disk drive. An option exists to set an error level based
on whether a certain amount of disk space is free.
- Datefile - utility to rename files based on the system date.
- Julian - utility to rename files based on the system date in
Julian form.
- Nodedata - prints information about a selected node
An added extra is that since all utilities print to "standard
output", they can be redirected anywhere a normal DOS function
can! This is true for all of the utilities except TASK.
AND new in Fido Utility version 1.20 is the Fido Utility
Environment settings which control the banner that FU prints as
it is started, and the format of the dates used in FU.
Now for the bad part - This package has been out across the Net
for months now and to date there are very very few registrations.
Fidonews Page 11 10 Nov 1986
Anyone who has seriously tried it I am sure will find it to be
much more valuable than the $15.00 registration fee. The public
distribution archive containing FU.EXE can be obtained from any
BBS which has it available. If you find (and I am sure you will)
FU to be of value to your BBS, Marshall and Ben request that you
register your copy with them so that they can supply updates and
enchancements.
There is also a structure in place for reporting "bugs" in Fido
Utility, answering questions, and making comments; If you have a
problem with FU, send a note with a detailed description of the
problem to Fido Node 151/3 (The Wizard Line). If the "To user:"
line is "FU BUGS", you will receive a reply much faster. Questions
can be sent to the user "FU QUEST", and comments to "FU CMT". The
bug reports will be consolidated and forwarded to Marshall. Also,
requests for a demo version of "Smartman", a 'smart fido message
manager' that is a commercial product by Marshall Presnell can be
sent to the user "SM REQ".
The latest version of Fido Utility is always available on the
Alert Data Fido (151/2) at (919) 274-5760. It is also available
on the Charlotte MetroNet (151/20) at (704) 541-8626.
The point is - it is an excellent utility program and deserves to
be seen and used, and the authors deserved to be compensated!
Yet Another Nodelist Builder
----------------------------
NODEGEN.EXE
Yes I know what you are saying to yourself, why another
nodelist builder? Well first there was Listgen which was slow
and needed a Huge control file. It had updates that changed a
few things but then version 5.26.86 became obsolete because the
nodelist excceded it's limits. Second there is XLATLIST which a
faster than Listgen But It does still require a hefy control
file but doesn't relly offer anything new. Now there's NODEGEN!
Nodegen uses a VERY small control file, usually about 1K or
less, and has some interesting features as well as Being VERY
FAST. This being the first version of Nodegen and I want to make
it designed to suite Fido Sysops' needs so there are a few
things that aren't there that will be in version 1.1. I know you
are asking why then did you release this as version 1.0. Well
you see I wanted you to see it and run it and then make some
constructive critisism. The one feature that is new to the
nodelist builders is that you can restrict the nodelist.bbs to
your net only. The reason for that option being there is for the
Fido Sysops that are running off a IBM PCjr or just want to save
space and want to restrict the sending of mail. Another feature
that should probably be called an alteration/enhancement is the
way the NodeGEN creates the Fidolist.80 & Fidolist.132 files.
Before It was difficult to extract information from the listings
or performs types of database functions, but now you can. Also
Fidolist.80 is now an Indexed file in the respect that all you
have to do is read the margin to find the node you wanted.
Hopefully this package will be useful and used, but that again
is all up to you.
If you want to get NodeGEN you can:
File Request It Through Seadog anytime
Send a note & I'll file attach it to you
Call 109/640 and just download it.
Minutes of the 4th
Fido Net 109 Sysops' Meeting
October 18, 1986
presented once again by
Michael Klein (109/610)
I received so many positive comments about my last compila-
tion of meeting notes that I decided to come back and do it
again. Chalk it up to masochism, if you prefer.
Anyway, the meeting was held on Saturday, October 18th,
1986 at Woodlake Towers in Falls Church, Virginia. In
attendance were Steven Ranger (621), Alexander Wall (606),
Robert Rudolph (628), Michael Wyrick and David Ross (both of
449), Michael Klein and David Schuetz (both of 610), Tom Tugman
(645), David Page (604), Jack Liebsch (605), Peter Thomas (622),
Alan Williams (647), Andrew Bilski (611), Sam Hargadine (115),
and Kurt Reisler, our illustrious coordinator and sysop of
both 109/74 and 109/483.
We got underway at about 1300 with introductions and a lot
of side conversations between individual sysops. Kurt started
the official meeting by telling us that we had 44 nodes in the
net, with 2 awaiting entry. By the end of the meeting, we had
45 in the net and 1 waiting, due to the node number assignment
of 647.
After the "State of the Network Address" from Kurt, we talked
about Kurt's trip to San Francisco and his meeting with Tom
Jennings. The question that most people had was answered quickly
when we listened to the tape of the DECUS meeting, at which Tom
stated that Fido version 12 will continue to be distributed as
it is currently, with no charge for hobbyists and $100 for
profit and private organizations. The documentation, however,
will cost money, since it is now professionally written, bound,
typeset, and all that fancy printing stuff. He could not
say, however, what was going on with a membership fee in the
network, since that's the administrator's territory.
When asked whether Fido versions will become more reliable
and stable due to this new rewrite, Tom explained in no
uncertain terms that the versions change like mad, and will
continue to do so.
From there, we moved on to local topics, such as certain
nodes with modem and line problems, and who couldn't connect
to whom for whatever reasons. We also discussed the problem
of DoubleDos crosslinking File Allocation Tables, and the
only solution offered (and the only one that will work) was
not to try to write the same file from both partitions at once.
In other works, renumbering message area 1 while there's someone
on the board is a definite no-no. Andrew Bilski (611) once
again offered his problem that Fido, while it usually catches
and handles device specifications as filenames (i.e. "T COM1:"),
does not do so properly under DoubleDos. No solution to this
was reached.
Fidonews Page 14 10 Nov 1986
The next topic of conversation was SeaDog, which was
explained and praised by David Page (604), who also explained
some of the possible future implementations of the program. He
talked about the features of SeaDog, and offered to help anyone
install it once they get it.
The meeting soon rolled around to the topic of donations and
the ways in which various sysops regulate the use of their
systems. Andrew Bilski (611) asks his users (through the
Editorial) for donations, also letting them know that their
access will in no way be hindered by not sending any money.
He has received many donations, with $100 of it going to Tom
for Fido. Alex Wall (606) said that he gives normal access to
anyone who doesn't send in any donations, with a raise to Privel
for a $5 donation, and Extra for a $10 donation. In both cases,
it seems, people have been more than willing to send in money to
help cover the cost and expenses of running a Fido system.
We then discussed the ways in which people back up their hard
drives. This is a crucial step in running any kind of changing
system, since hard disk failures are often sudden and severe.
The two most popular backup utilities, aside from just straight
copy-restore techniques, are DataCare and Fastback. Both are
nice and fast at backing up, the difference being that DataCare
backs up without compression, and the DOS RESTORE command must
be used to recover the data onto the hard disk. Fastback has
its own restore function, which allows for compression of data
(so it takes up about half-3/4 of what it normally would on
floppies) and quick restoring. Andrew Bilski and I advocated
Fastback, while Robert Rudolph said that he'll stand by
DataCare.
Now that we'd gotten the old brain cells whirring, we went
into a biggie: How to switch over to XLATLIST and ROUTEGEN
without screwing up. Jack Liebsch (605), our resident Routing
Doctor, now sends out all routing files in ROUTEGEN format,
which was found to be more flexible (not to mention the fact
that LISTGEN has gone to the great House of Obsolescence) in
the route file structure. Kurt put up a sample XLATLIST
control file (his own) on his system for people to download
and modify, and I haven't heard any reports of trouble over
the conversion.
Someone then came up with a question about 9600 baud modems.
Kurt says that he has two of them, but never even bothered to
unpackage them. They cannot communicate at anything other
than 9600 baud, making them well nigh impractical. It was
decided that they might be quite useful on inbound and outbound
hosts, but for the most part, due to the fact that they're not
in wide use as of yet, they're not much good to us right now.
Echomail was the next topic of discussion. Kurt, as the
SYSOP and IFNA hub, took down the node numbers of those who
wanted to be added to those two areas. We also discussed
the latest version (1.36) of Echomail and the general opinion
seemed to be that it's more trouble to implement that it's
Fidonews Page 15 10 Nov 1986
worth in added features. Michael Wyrick (449), Michael Klein
(guess who), and David Schuetz (co-sysop of 610) presented
their plan for a new program called DirectMail, which works
differently from the Echomail concept, and allows netwide
messages between individual users. (Editor's note: The
program, at this stage, is approximately 3/4 of the way
finished. Look for it at a theater near you in about three
weeks).
We then talked about in-net routing, and the use of our
NCR (No-Cost Routing) system. Jack Liebsch (605) will continue
to serve as our Routing Guru. Net 109, being in a rather odd
local/long distance area code breakdown (which I won't go into
here for fear of a migraine), has a very odd routing scheme,
but Jack seems to have kept it straight so far. An idea was
suggested (and has been thought about for a long time) to
have the numerous Baltimore nodes split off and form their
own net, which would ease routing and take a few nodes off
Kurt's back. That one's still up in the air.
By now, it was about 1530, and the question was posed as
to whether anyone had anything else to say. Surprisingly
enough, nobody did, so we scheduled the next meeting for
sometime in the middle of November and called it a day.
IF THEY CAN DO IT, SO CAN I: Look at Dvorak, Webster,
and Pournelle. All of them write about computers, but let's
face facts: Everyone and their grandmother cuddles up to
them to get Good Press, sending them free computers and
software to review, going out on magazine-funded junkets to
strip bars in Atlanta (Dvorak), and not knowing anything
about computers.
Think I'm kidding? Ok: How many common users do you
know who use S-100 buses and have the fantasy of seeing
Concurrent CP/M becoming the operating system of the 80s'
in 1986. That's ok; Mr. Pournelle writes Science FICTION.
I have this urge to write. So I'm writing
a column; if I'm lucky, lots of software companies will
send me free software to review and the FidoNews will fund
my junket to Comdex/Atlanta. If not, I'll keep on writing
just to make people think.
WHO AM I?: I'm a college student at the U. of Maryland
(the place where the basketball player died), don't use
drugs, and am the president of the Personal Computing
Association. PCA is an undergraduate user group. I keep
on getting elected Pres because I do all the paperwork.
I also use/apply/poke around with IBM-PCs, Macs, Apple
//es, Atari STs, VAXen, HP3000s, and IBM 4341s. Most of my
useful work is done on micros, and I don't claim to be
a hacker or an expert on anything. I am a USER, and proud
of it. I've written some docs, put on two computer shows,
and got DEC to donate a MicroVAX I to PCA. And I don't
use drugs.
GOSSIP TIME: All good columnists either A) Give good
gossip, B) Review products or C) Talk about products and
then speculate about the latest products (Gossip). I'll
pass on my tidbits, then rip on companies.
Green Berets Use Macs: I went to a dPub
"seminar" at a local Apple dealer. A whole 4 people showed
up, including an enlisted man from Special Forces. After
the Apple rep had finished his sermon on dPub, the Beanie
and I played with the Abatron 300 dpi scanner, and talked
for a little.
The Beanies, due to their unique "mission" in the Army,
write their own manuals, using Tempest Macs
and PageMaker. The grunt was running around trying to find
Fidonews Page 17 10 Nov 1986
a high-quality scanner to feed lots of pictures through and
asking hard questions on delivery (ASAP) and price.
OTHER GOODIE: My friends, 2nd generation hackers who
are Indian/Chinese and eat pizza, keep on muttering
about building a lap-top UNIX machine with 68020, SCSI, 40
Meg hard-drive and Ethernet. Wish they'd hire me to market
it, but I have no idea who'd need one: NASA or NSA? Hope
they're nice and let me beta-test or review it. Naw.
RUDE COMMENTS HERE: AT&T has stated it is getting out
of general micro sales. Hahahahahaha. They never started.
Example: PCA tried to get an AT&T
rep to talk about machines. No call back. No mail.
We sent in an application for an equipment grant via
registered mail. No phone call. No mail. This from a
company who helped develop the nation's phone system. Uh
huh.
AT&T sells (sold?) 6300s through the computer store
at Maryland. Amount of advertising in school newspaper
for AT&T long-distance:
Massive. Amout of advertising for 6300: Nada. This on a
campus where Apple is spending lots of money on gimmicky
promos and IBM doesn't have to advertise 'cuz they
donated 600+ machines.
DEEP STATEMENT: The 8-bit world is dead. At
Computerfest '86, there were plenty of Amigas, some
Atari ST's. Half the room was PC-DOS/MS-DOS. Some Mac.
No Apple //. No Atari 8-bit. Few C-64 groups.
I think Atari will own the $1,000 (full system
price) market by Summer '87. Current price for an
Apple //e box, with 128K card, no drives, no monitor
is $599. A 520ST with 1 drive, mono monitor, and
built-in serial, parallel, DMA, and MIDI is $495.
Which would you buy, ignoring the technical superiority
of 6502 vs 68000, 128K vs 512K RAM, and 360K 3 1/2"
vs 128K 5 1/4"? Trying to compare the C-64 to the ST
isn't even funny. Oops. Forgot the ST has a mouse.
MOST STUPID COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT: HP's showing
various Yuppies stepping out of the shower,
leaping over floor waxers, and stopping their sports
cars in the middle of nowhere because they have found
"The Answer". Which one of them had the brainstorm for
the HP150? Or the slow hard disk in the speedy Vectra?
It's going to take more than commercials to keep
HP from becoming a glorified printer maker; a lot of
accounts which have run out of firepower on the 3000
series are upgunning to IBM or VAX. If anyone has seen
an installed Spectrum running MPE at a customer
site, send me mail.
Fidonews Page 18 10 Nov 1986
OK, YOUR TURN: If you want to reach me, send me
FidoMail to Doug Mohney at 109/74. Or call me at
(301) 350-1437. Good gossip or demo copies of anything
welcome. Money not refused (although if I get real
successful, I may have to give a cut to my SYSOP at
109/74).
Jerry Hindle
123/6 123/0
MemphisNet
2400 baud MAX
901-353-4563
Well, since I wrote the article explaining exactly what I was
trying to do in setting up a software distribution node, I have heard
from and been called by a LOT of you out there. I have received calls
from Australia, the UK, Sweden, Canada, and from all over the US.
As I explained in that article, I am attempting to set up a
distribution node for the LATEST in Fido software and related support
programs and utilities. To date I have been sent over 30 files for
this area alone and have been sent messages requesting I pick up
certain files from either this node or that node. I attempt to do so
in as many cases as possible, but I simply cannot stand the LONG
DISTANCE for too much longer. I will eventually get to you if you
asked me to get your program and please be patient, I am working as
fast as I can.
Now on to other things.....namely, the programs in the
distribution area. I have over 130 files now ranging from utilities
that will let you customize your menus to EchoMail version to
Mailcost version 1.4 to the latest in a variety of other system
utilities and support programs. I am overwhelmed by the response you
have shown by this and I guess it could be deemed a huge success by
these standards alone, however, now I face another problem. I am
being barraged by requests for me to send the files out on disk to
this net or that one to save them on the LONG DISTANCE charges. I
will ATTEMPT to do so ONLY in the case of INTERNATIONAL callers and
then only if they will agree to send me a box of disks to copy the
files onto and a mailer (stamped and addressed to themselves) to mail
them back in. Again I can't afford all the disks this could possibly
cost me even though I pay only $29 per hundred in bulk less sleeves.
I mean the postage alone on a box of ten disks suitably packaged for
mailing would run about $2 or $3. I will either format them here in
IBM 360k format, or you can format them and tell me what format they
are in so I can copy the files over to them. Right now the entire
distribution area is almost 3 MEG and growing. I can also FASTBACK
(tm) the files to disks for you if you want to and can restore them
to a hard drive. I do not however trust the DOS back-up command too
much so I will have to shy away from that format.
In Fastback (tm) format it takes about 7 disks to do
In copy format it takes about 10 disks to do
ALL files are ARCED (tm) and will un-arc using arc512 (which I
can also provide as a regular file)
If you wish me to send you these files on disk then here is what
you do:
Send me a box of disks (you will receive them ALL back) and a
self-addressed STAMPED mailer big enough to hold them all to:
Fidonews Page 20 10 Nov 1986
Jerry Hindle
P.O. Box 16223
Memphis, TN 38186-0223
U.S.A.
I will copy over the files and send them back free of any other
charges. If you do send a donation though, I will forward it on to
IFNA. I do ask that you send me a few files (I will keep those that I
need for the distribution area) on the disks when you send them to
me. This way the distribution area will constantly grow so that Fido
and FidoNet can continue to grow with it. One last point. I cannot be
selective in what files I send out, I simply copy the file area over
to disk and mail them out. That way you get EVERYTHING I have here on
the day I get the disks ! But remember it is always growing so.....
I also have EVERY ISSUE of FidoNews here too ! I have them in
two formats, the second of which will interest those with a LARGE
Commodore userbase. The first format is ARC, issue by issue. The
second is also ARC, BUT it is a NEW ARC program for the Commodore 64
that is Public Domain. These files are almost as small as the IBM arc
versions of the same files and I will provide them along with the
program for the Commodore to un-arc them with ! The NEWS files I can
provide in either IBM disk format OR Commodore 1541 disk format (if
you have one of those). The IBM format is ready to place ON-LINE for
users to d/l to their Commodores since all are converted to Commodore
ASCII format and then ARCED with the Commodore ARC program. I cannot
IBM arc these since the two programs (IBM version and Commodore
version) are SO CLOSE in operation that the only difference I find is
in the ARC file header. If I IBM ARC these files then they will be
corrupted, thus I sent them as standard IBM files. All FidoNews
issues in Commodore format are compliments of Mr. Mike Gordon (one of
my hard core supporters) and I wish to thank him for making the
conversions in the text and ARC services on his Commodore.
If you have any questions about the Commodore ARC program or its
operation you can netmail Mike Gordon or myself at 123/6.
Again......Thank you for the tremendous response you have shown
in having a distribution node. I have not heard from IFNA or anyone
associated with it in regards to it impact or even it's usefulness as
a system, but I think they would not mind. If they are reading this I
would like to APPLY for listing under the International FidoNet
Association as the "official" support distribution node, in the
nodelist. I think this way the net will know that I carry as much
Fido stuff as I can lay my hands on and they can be 80% certain to be
able to get it here when they call.
Authors postscript.....If I do receive any funds from this for
copy services I will forward them on to IFNA for their use.
I realize that this column is normally Commodore oriented. I
am a Commodore owner, but I am also a sysop of a local BBS ("The
Flight Deck", 403-235-1659). There is a phenomenon occuring that
deserves comment: the concept of the "open BBS".
I've heard about this spreading throughout the U.S., and in
fact some areas have nothing but "open boards". What I mean by
this is a board in which all you must do to gain full access is
type your name. No security checks, no nothin'. Generally, the
boards here in Calgary are NOT open boards (the Calgary Fido
being one of the few exceptions). This, in my opinion, is the
way it SHOULD be! What sysop in his or her right mind would
allow any person to logon and have full access? I just can't see
it. To illustrate my point, I'll relate the story of a board
here in town called "The Means of Escape". This was an open
board, whereby all you had to do was call. If you weren't an
established user, it gave you an ID# and a password, so that
nobody else could logon as you. It did not work. Soon there was
chaos. Twits logging on and bad-mouthing the board and/or the
sysop and/or one or more of the users. Pirates advertising their
"warez". Users impersonating other users and saying things
uncomplimentary. Etc. Etc. All the while I was maintaining a
public debate with the sysop. He argued that a BBS should be
"open", and that intelligent conversations could occur. His
opinion only, since all I ever saw was name-calling and mud-
slinging. Worst of all, there were practically NO users who used
their real names: all handles, so you could never go on to one of
the more intelligent boards and say "So and so did this", because
you never know who so and so is! Anyway, "The Means of Escape"
is BBS history now. The world is a better place without it.
This is the policy on my BBS. You, the new user, call up. On
the opening prompt, you are asked to enter your name. The board
then checks to see if you exist, and if not, displays the
application information. When applying, you MUST provide your
real name, real phone number, what city you live in, and a
password for future use. After 24 to 48 hours, you'll be
validated. I look over the names of prospective new users, and
any that I'm suspicious of get a phone call. I've managed to
"intercept" dozens of hoax names, and I'm damn glad of it. As a
result, the conversations on my board tend to be of a more
sophisticated level. None of this "My computer rules! Your's
sucks!" crap. We talk about a LOT of things, and mild profanity
IS allowed. Wanna know something? People rarely use it. They
KNOW that their real names are attached to anything they write,
Fidonews Page 22 10 Nov 1986
and if the profanity is abusive, they are warned (further
infractions result in their accounts being turfed). Although
some of the humour encountered is rather "bent" (we've got a
troupe of older gentlemen who are a tad bizarre), it isn't
anything to be ashamed of.
There are numerous other boards in town who operate this way.
Long before I began running my own BBS, when I first got my
modem, I tried calling every board in town every day. This
became cumbersome after awhile, so I started dropping some
boards. Most of the ones I dropped were of the "open" or
"handles only" variety. Don't get me wrong: there ARE some
boards where handles are allowed and intelligent conversations
happen: boards like Fly By Wire, Calgary Fido, Flight Service
Station, and a few others. These are the exception to the rule,
however. My opinion boils down to this: as a general rule,
boards that allow handles or are of the "open" variety aren't
worth bothering with. They generally attract users of the
"immature" level, and that just isn't for me. I fail to
comprehend the reasoning behind the "open" or "handles only"
boards. Is there anyone out there who can explain it to me? If
so, please submit a reply to the FidoNews, as I am MOST
interested in hearing it. For now, I will cut this short. Till
we meet again: ciao fer niao, and let's do the lunch thing REAL
soon!
I'm interested in answering any of your questions about either
the 64 or 128. If you are having a problem, please address your
mail to Joe Lindstrom via Calgary Fido (Net 134 Node 1), and I'll
address it in an upcoming article. If you would like to contact
me in person, I run a 300 baud BBS ("The Flight Deck") at
403-235-1659.
Are there any Fidos with an interface to Bitnet?
If so, would you let Bill Allbritten, 11/301
know? If our university could tie in in a modest
way in this manner, I would be very appreciative.
Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Interrupt Stack
23 Nov 1986
Twenty-third anniversary of Doctor Who.
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 FidoNet node 1/1.
Charter Membership for the International FidoNet Association
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
increase worldwide communications.**
Name _________________________________ Date ________
Address ______________________________
City & State _________________________
Country_______________________________
Phone (Voice) ________________________
Net/Node Number ______________________
Board Name____________________________
Phone (Data) _________________________
Baud Rate Supported___________________
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Special Interests_____________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Is there some area where you would be
willing to help out in FidoNet?_______
______________________________________
______________________________________
Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to:
International FidoNet Association
P. O. Box 41143
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Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
insure the future of FidoNet.
** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
in formation and BYLAWS are presently being prepared by an
International Rules Committee. Membership requirements and fees
are subject to approval of this Committee. An IFNA Echomail
Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the BYLAWS
Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference.
