Volume 4, Number 47 21 December 1987
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Contributing Editors: Dale Lovell, Al Arango
FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
node 1:1/1.
Copyright 1987 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 at (314) 576-4067.
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 ................................................ 1
My Apologies ............................................. 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
An Old Frog Bids Adieu ................................... 3
The Intergalactic Sysop Alliance ......................... 6
QT/2 - A New Computer at a Low Cost ...................... 13
Info-68K Anyone? ......................................... 15
KXP1092 - A Printer Utility For Panasonic's KXP1092 Pri .. 16
How Many People Really Read Fidonews? .................... 17
SEA Letter: XlatList and RouteGen ........................ 18
SECURITY MAIL SERVICE .................................... 21
Software Distribution nodes wanted ....................... 24
WARNING - A TROJAN IN COPIES OF COMMAND.COM! ............. 25
3. COLUMNS .................................................. 26
The Regular Irregular Column ............................. 26
4. NOTICES .................................................. 31
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 31
EchoList News ............................................ 31
Opening for Region 13 Regional Coordinator ............... 31
And more!
FidoNews 4-47 Page 1 21 Dec 1987
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EDITORIAL
=================================================================
My Apologies
When I first heard of IFNA, it sounded like a good idea. So I
put in a lot of effort towards making it work, and was even
volunteered to help run it until it got off the ground.
I've since come to realize that I may have made a big mistake.
I think I got the first hint at the Colorado Springs conference.
But at the time I thought it was just that we hadn't done a good
job of managing the business meeting.
Then we got flamed at for months and months after that, all
through the bylaws and the Board elections. But at the time I
thought it was just that we hadn't done a good job of explaining
it.
Then the new Board was seated, and the flames continued. But at
the time I thought that it was just that several hotheads had
decided to be unhappy no matter what.
All of the above may even be correct. That's not the real
problem. The real problem is that IFNA, as currently organized,
seems totally unable to actually accomplish anything. That may
even be a good thing, as from what they are talking about we are
in grave danger that they may actually figure out how to get
things done, because they will then do FAR too much!
Meanwhile several of the original objectives remain unfulfilled.
Almost nobody is covered by the corporate veil and there is no
legal defense fund, to name just two.
Beset from all quarters, IFNA has been practically emasculated.
It has only two real assets, the node list and the newsletter.
But it's ownership of the node list is virtually nil. Try
reading the copyright notices -- IFNA "owns" the node list just
barely enough to assemble it each week, and not one whit more.
As for owning the newsletter, enough of a hue and cry has been
raised over that that nobody in their right mind would ever
consider trying to actually DO anything with it!
Like do what, you ask? Like how about an easy way to raise a few
bucks for the common good? We're putting together this stuff
anyway, so why not sell it to a few folks if we can talk them
into it? The node list (with a little judicious and easily
automated editing) makes a dandy BBS listing. And please don't
yell about how it should never be sold because it belongs to all
of us. If it belongs to "all of us" in the sense that it did
before IFNA was formed, then anybody who wants to can do anything
they want with it for free, so nobody in the net would lose
anything if IFNA sold rights to a few folks. This is yet another
FidoNews 4-47 Page 2 21 Dec 1987
non-issue.
In hindsight, I think that the real shortcoming with IFNA is that
it has a political structure that does not bear any relationship
to the actual administrative structure of the network. Hence we
get into arguments over whether or not IFNA runs the net and
similar fog. Going for non-profit status was probably a mistake,
because we're then required to organize in a way other than how
we actually run things.
We also tried to do too much. For example:
Why "International"? It's really a North American
organization with little understanding of the conditions in
other zones.
Why worry about membership discounts? That should be icing
on the cake if it happens at all, NOT the prime reason for
joining!
Why worry about public relations? To try and improve the
public impression of sysops, maybe, but why try to promote
the network itself? One of the current problems is that it's
getting too big, so why make things worse?
So back to the title of this editorial. It seemed like a good
idea at the time, but so far IFNA isn't turning out very well.
I'm sorry.
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FidoNews 4-47 Page 3 21 Dec 1987
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Ryugen Fisher, 220/1
"The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things,
of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings..."
That quote (from Lewis Carroll for those that only saw the movie)
expresses the mood of the moment. Or to put it another way:
Friends, Romans, Sysops, lend me your ear. I come to praise
IFNA, not to bury it.
Most of you will remember that I am and have been one of the more
stalwart, if not abusively so, supporters of IFNA. I was privy to
the initial discussions regarding forming the organization, and
while my memory might be a bit dusty it seems to me that it was I
who pointed Ken and Ben and Thom in the direction of a "not-for-
profit" corporation to legitimize and provide structure for the
then growing (still at it) FidoNet. I was one of the first to pay
my dues, (I will also pay them again this year for 1988) and when
I was asked to serve as the chairman of the FidoNet Technical
Standards Committee, I was glad of the opportunity to serve. I
was also proud to be the elected representative for Region 11. I
argued long and hard for and spent many a restless night over how
this network can best serve the community and its users in a
democratic fashion. I was opposed to the "benevolent
dictatorship" that was in place and hoped for real changes from
the "new order".
You will note that I speak in the past tense. A few weeks ago, a
fellow sysop asked me, "Why are we doing this??" He had been up
to 4AM in the morning after working all weekend re-formatting his
hard disk so that his system could go back on line, only to
receive as his first inbound messages flames from other sysops
about his not getting the mail out to them on time. Rather than
give him a snappy and meaningless answer, I stopped and thought
about it. I read the Policy3 document, I read the IFNA charter, I
read the SYSOP and IFNA and IFNABOD and FTSC Echo conferences;
and the more I read, the sadder I became. I talked to a few
folks and discovered that many of the people I respected most
were "one more flame" away from pulling the plug on their
systems. So I talked to a few more folks and I came up with an
idea. Several of them:
1) The democratic process isn't working...not because the people
involved are "bad" or "incapable" but because the thing that
they are trying to do is essentially undoable and as part of
that, the MAIN REASONS for having a net in the first place
seem to have been lost, hopefully not forever. What are
those reasons?
a) To have fun (and it once was fun, remember?)
b) To provide a public service for the computer using
FidoNews 4-47 Page 4 21 Dec 1987
community, including, programs, information, mail and a
congenial atmosphere.
c) To work with other programmers to create and evolve a
standard for interfacing these systems.
2) If I and the other folks that I talked to were to continue in
active BBS-ing it would be IF and ONLY if it were in an
environment where those reasons were again paramount, and
what's more, were paramount IN THAT ORDER!
3) That the way it worked BEFORE the "democracy" was better than
it is now, and that there were not nearly as much
recriminations and flames then as there are now, in SPITE of
the wonderful work by Don Daniels and Ken Kaplan and even
Dave Dodell.
4) That it was said, over and over, back in the "old days", "If
you don't like the way things are going, you are free to
start your own net."
Well, I don't like the way things are going. I don't like a
network where the one who makes the first accusation is the one
that is "right", where people do or don't do things, not because
of the essential "correctness" of the decision, but because of
politics, ego enrichment or just not wanting to create another
round of flames. Where is the politeness, the reasoned
consideration, the essential trust in our "brother and sister
sysops" that was ONCE the stock-in-trade of our network? They
are gone, but they are NOT forgotten and, while it may well be
DOOMED from the start, I believe I owe it to myself and to those
with whom I once made common cause to try something different.
Call it a network of "burnouts" or those that are "sadder and
wiser" than before. I call it "AlterNet" and the SECOND rule is
that those joining do so KNOWING that flames and politics are NOT
welcome here. That there is NO VOTE and NO ELECTIONS, but there
is a dedication to serving the community of users and having fun.
I do not expect that Alternet will be large, but we DO intend to
try to interface with the IFNA network. We have asked the
International Coordinator for one of several means to accomplish
this, but at the time of this writing, he has yet to decide upon
how he wants to handle this. Some of the folks in the "big" net
will be coming over to AlterNet completely, others will maintain
a dual identity. Every effort is being made to see to it that
AlterNet does NOT interfere with the "big" net, because none of
us wish to be "excessively annoying." I will be sending notice to
the IFNA Board of Directors that I will be resigning my seat in
favor of my alternate, Bill Allbritten, whom I believe will serve
well and honestly. I do not plan to resign as Chairman of the
FTSC because that position does not require IFNA membership or
BOD membership and I believe that my continued participation
there may help BOTH networks. Of course, I may get "fired"
because not everyone will think that what I am doing is honorable
or correct. For that I must apologize in advance.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 5 21 Dec 1987
It is not a decision that comes lightly, nor without some doubts.
What is NOT in doubt is that something needs to change or the
network will not survive the coming years. I do not think of this
action as abandoning the net, but as providing a viable
alternative WITHIN the "greater net" for those who want to do
something different. For the first time, there will be a choice.
And I, for one, hope that all of us are mature enough as people
and that the net is mature enough as an entity that we can
respect the idea that there needs to BE a choice.
My sincere wishes for the best of the Holiday Season to you, your
families and your users.
That " ...au revior..... " Old Frog
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FidoNews 4-47 Page 6 21 Dec 1987
Several people have become dissatisfied with the conditions now
prevailing in FidoNet, and have decided to strike out on our own
and form a new network in which the original goals of mutual
defense, the free flow of information, and service to the public
can once again flourish. The following is the present working
draft of what will be our primary governing document. It is
presented here for your amusement and edification.
--- Ryugen Fisher, Lord Frog of the Northern Marshes
The Code of Honor
for
Chivalry in the Electronic Age
INTRODUCTION
In this modern age of electronic communications, there has arisen
a hearty band of volunteers dedicated to the principle of the
free exchange of information. Not merely for themselves, but for
all those around them as well. This group is known as the
Intergalactic Sysop Alliance, and to further their goals they
have established the Alliance Local Telephone Exchange Relay
Network, also known as AlterNet.
The purpose of this document is to describe the Alliance and the
network they operate, and to establish the principles under which
they are managed.
Glossary of terms
Following are the terms used in this document to describe the
Alliance and its operations:
Alliance
The Intergalactic Sysop Alliance.
AlterNet
The Alliance Local Telephone Exchange Relay Network, which is
the free public mail network operated by the Alliance, and
its primary purpose for existing.
Commoner
Anyone who is not a member of the Alliance, but who benefits
by its activities. The Alliance operates AlterNet for the
purpose of supplying free communication to commoners. All
other goals are secondary to this.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 7 21 Dec 1987
Knight
Any member of the Alliance, in any capacity.
Noble
A member of the Alliance who has undertaken certain
administrative tasks related to coordinating the actions of
Knights. The various ranks of nobles and their duties will
be described later.
Lord
A Noble who directly coordinates the actions of Knights and
other Nobles. Specifically, every Knight serves under a
Noble who is his Lord. Lords are distinguished from other
Nobles in that only they may grant Knighthood.
These terms are basic to an understanding of the Alliance. Other
terms are used as well, and will be defined in context.
KNIGHTHOOD
It is the responsibility of every Knight to operate his own
system in accordance with the technical requirements of AlterNet
and with the Code of Honor of the Knights of the Alliance. The
Code of Honor is a living tradition of the Alliance. This means
that you are not expected to follow a rote set of procedures as
such, but to live and act in the grand tradition of your fellow
Knights. But some of the more salient points can be summed up as
follows:
o A Knight exists to serve the commoners, using AlterNet as his
means. Usually this means running a public access bulletin
board that provides free electronic communication to the
community. It could also mean supporting your fellow knights
in the furthurance of the operation of their bulletin boards.
For example, you might help to coordinate the activities of
your fellow knights, or you might procure or distribute
conferences for your fellow knights to post on their bulletin
boards.
But service to the public is the key. A Knight who does not
directly serve the public, or who does not assist his fellow
Knights in serving the public, is assumed to be awaiting the
proper chance to do so. But a Knight who refuses to assist
in this prime goal of the Alliance is without Honor.
o A Knight should be tolerant of his fellow Knights, willing to
overlook occasional lapses from grace in the furtherance of
our prime goal.
o A Knight should be helpful to fellow Knights in need,
assisting them when they falter or are troubled.
o A Knight should be soft spoken. It is unseemly for a Knight
to engage in public displays of temper or ill will.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 8 21 Dec 1987
o A Knight should at all times observe the Laws of the Land, as
established by such mundane authorities as may exist. A
Knight who knowingly engages in illegal activities, or who
supports others in doing so, is without Honor and a disgrace
to the Alliance.
o A Knight should endeavour to stay current on all tithes.
o A Knight should avoid acting in such a way as to interfere
with another Knight in the performance of his duties.
o A Knight must always observe National Mail Hour and keep it
Holy, banning all commoners from his system during this
period. In a Fief, the local Count or Baron may decree
additional mail periods, which must also be honored. Failure
to do so is sufficient grounds for immediate excommunication
without warning, as warning is normally given by network
mail.
o A Knight must always use the most recent node list as is
practical, lest an out of date node list cause him to annoy
commonors by dialing wrong numbers.
A Knight which has been dropped from the network is said to be
excommunicated (i.e. unable to communicate). The most common
cause of excommunication is failure to honor National Mail Hour.
If you find that you have been excommunicated without warning,
then that means that your Noble was unable to contact you. You
should rectify the problem and report back.
National Mail Hour is observed from 0900 to 1000 GMT every day,
weekends included. In each of the United States time zones, this
would be as follows:
Eastern Standard Time 4 AM to 5 AM
Central Standard Time 3 AM to 4 AM
Mountain Standard Time 2 AM to 3 AM
Pacific Standard Time 1 AM to 2 AM
Hawaii Standard Time 11 PM to Midnight
AlterNet does not observe daylight savings time. In areas which
observe daylight savings time the AlterNet mail schedules must be
adjusted in the same direction as the clock change.
Alternatively, you can simply leave your system on standard time.
How to become a Knight
All Knights are identified by their AlterNet address. To become
a Knight, you must get your system operating properly, and then
request a network address from your local Lord.
You must first obtain a current node list so that you can send
mail. You do not need an AlterNet address to send mail, but you
FidoNews 4-47 Page 9 21 Dec 1987
must have one in order for others to send mail to you.
The first step in obtaining a current node list is to locate an
AlterNet bulletin board. No help there; you're on your own. But
you might try looking on the system you got this document from.
If the Knight of any AlterNet system does not have a node list
available for downloading, then he can probably tell you where to
get one.
Once you have a node list, you must determine which Lord to apply
to. Counts and Dukes are always "node zero" of their domain, and
Barons are always indicated by a "HUB" prefix in the node list.
The Lord you should apply to is the one with the smallest domain
that includes your location. For example, if you are located
within a local fief, then you would apply to the Count of that
fief. If there is no fief in your area, then you would apply to
the nearest Duke. All of AlterNet is divided into dukedoms, so
you will always have a Duke even if you are not in a fief.
Your application for knighthood must be sent to the Noble by
AlterNet mail, and must include at least the following:
1) Your name.
2) The name of your system.
3) The city and state where your system is located.
4) The phone number to be used when calling your system.
5) Your hours of operation.
6) The maximum baud rate you can support.
7) A telephone number at which you can be reached by voice.
Your Lord may want additional information. If so, he will
contact you. Please allow at least two to three weeks for a
knighthood request to be processed.
Note that Knighthood is an honor, not a right. It will be up to
your Lord to decide if you are ready to be dubbed a Knight of the
Alliance.
If you are going down
If your system will be down for an extended period (more than a
day or two), then you should inform your Lord as soon as
possible. If you do not do this, then other Knights will still
try to reach you while you are down, much to the annoyance of
everyone. Do not under any circumstances put an answering
machine or similar device on your phone line while you are down.
If you do, then calling systems will get the machine repeatedly,
racking up large phone bills, which is very annoying.
If you will be leaving your system unattended for an extended
period of time (such as while you are on vacation), you should
notify your Lord. Systems do have a tendency to "crash" now and
then, so you will probably want your Lord to know that it is a
temporary condition if it happens while you are away.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 10 21 Dec 1987
How to form a fief
If there are several Knights in your area, but no local Count,
then you may wish to form your own fief. You may also be
requested to form a fief by your Duke.
Your first step is to contact the other Knights in your area.
You must decide which Knights will comprise the fief, and which
of those Knights is going to be your local Count. Your next step
is to contact your Duke to request the granting of a fief. With
the request you must include a copy of the proposed fief's node
list.
Granting of a fief is not automatic. Your Duke will review your
application and inform you of his decision. Do not request
anyone other than your Duke to grant you a fief.
NOBILITY
The Nobility consists of all those Knights who have volunteered
to help coordinate the actions of their fellow knights. All
Nobles serve at the pleasure of their superiors.
Certain Nobles are styled Lords, because they coordinate network
activities over a geographic area which is their Domain. This
includes maintaining that portion of the node list which covers
his domain, and assisting in the distribution of the AlterNet
node list and the Alliance newsletter. A Lord is also
responsible for establishing such local policy as may be required
within his domain, so long as that policy does not conflict with
this document or with the policy established by a superior Lord.
There are the following types of Lords within the Alliance:
The Archduke
His Majesty the Archduke is the supreme authority within the
Alliance. He has, as is main concern, the day to day
operation of AlterNet and the weekly publication of the
AlterNet node list. He also acts as chief spokesman for the
Alliance.
The Viceroys
His Majesty is assisted by two Viceroys, the Junior Viceroy
and the Senior Viceroy. Together, all three comprise the
Ruling Troika, which is the supreme decision making body of
the Alliance.
The Dukes
AlterNet is divided into ten dukedoms, each of which is
presided over by a Duke. There is no location within the
Alliance that is not within the domain of some Duke.
The ten Dukes together comprise the Council of Dukes. This
council is charged with establishing long range goals and
plans, and with appointing Knights to the Ruling Troika.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 11 21 Dec 1987
Every six months the Council of Dukes must appoint a new
Junior Viceroy. At this time the preceeding Junior Viceroy
becomes Senior Viceroy, the preceeding Senior Viceroy becomes
Archduke, and the preceeding Archduke retires.
The Council of Dukes also sets the tithes for Knighthood. It
is understood that the tithes are to be used primarily for
establishing and maintaining a legal defense fund to help
defend Knights in any conflicts that may arise with mundane
authorities related to the pursuit of a Knight's mission. In
any event, the annual budget must be approved by the Council
of Dukes.
The Counts
Where several Knights reside within a reasonably compact
geographic area, the local Duke may grant a Fief to those
Knights. The fief is then presided over by a Count, who is
then responsible for its smooth operation. In addition to
such other duties as all Nobles must share, a Count is also
responsible for receiving mail destined for Knights within
his fief and for seeing that it is properly routed to its
destination.
A Count may wish to provide outbound mail service to his
Knights as well. This is not required, but is considered
highly desireable. It is acknowledged that the Count may
need to seek outside sponsorship in this endeavour or to lay
and collect local taxes. But in no case shall a Count claim
to provide outbound mail service to his Knights unless it can
be accomplished in a timely, reliable manner.
It would be dishonorable for a Count to trespass on the
territory of another Count, or on the territory of any Duke
other than his own. Any special cases which may arise must
be settled by a treaty negotiated between the affected Counts
and ratified by the Dukes concerned.
The Barons
In a large fief the local Count may wish to appoint one or
more Barons to assist him. Each Baron will then be assigned
a geographic area to preside over, and will perform the
duties required of the Count for those Knights within his
domain.
The primary responsibility of any Lord is technical management of
network operations. Decisions should be made strictly on
technical grounds as far as possible.
In addition to the Lords, there exist these other Nobles:
The Grand Wizard
The Grand Wizard is appointed by the Council of Dukes to act
as the final arbiter of technical issues relating to network
operations. The Grand Wizard may then in turn appoint a
Council of Wizards to act as his advisors and assistants.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 12 21 Dec 1987
In no case may a developer of AlterNet compatible network
mail software be appointed as Grand Wizard. If the existing
Grand Wizard should descend to such ignomy, then he shall
immediately forfeit his position.
The Rumor Monger
The Rumor Monger is not exactly a Noble, being engaged in a
trade that is ignoble by definition. The Rumor Monger is
appointed by the Council of Dukes to assemble and publish the
Alliance newsletter, which shall be known as AlterNews.
One of the duties of any Noble is to, as soon as possible,
appoint a successor. He must then inform his superior of his
selection so that his choice may be confirmed. If a Noble leaves
his post for any reason, his successor immediately steps in. If
a Noble leaves his post without having an acceptible successor
appointed, then it will be up to his superior to appoint a
successor.
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FidoNews 4-47 Page 13 21 Dec 1987
Gene Coppola 107/246
QT/2
A New Computer at a Low Cost
Recently I went to a local computer show run by Ken Gordon.
The show was in Hempstead, New York at one of the local hotels.
If you remember, I had sent in an article to Fidonews that a new
PS/2 clone would be released at that particular computer show.
Well, after much examination and testing, I can now report on
the QT/2-6 computer, which I purchased 2 days after the show. The
QT/2-6 is a PS/60 clone. The machine is enclosed in a metal case,
that opens very easily. It is about the size of a standard IBM PC
type computer. A key lock is provided on the front of the case to
lock the keyboard in the on or off position. An led for power and
hard drive access are visible on the front of the case.
Opening the case reveals a carefully thought out motherboard
with no apparent last minute jumpers soldered in or traces cut.
The power supply is a hefty 350 watts and has two very quiet fans
for ample cooling.
On the motherboard there are a total of eight (8) expansion
slots. Six slots are PS/2 MCA compatible and two slots are for
PC/XT expansion boards. Eight expansion slots did not seem to be
very generous. Then I realized that the serial, parallel, floppy
disk controller and CGA/EGA/VGA functions are built into the
motherboard.
No expansion slot is taken for additional memory either. The
motherboard comes populated with twelve Megabytes of 60ns Ram.
You can divide the Ram in various ways to suit your needs.
Depending upon your start up configuration, the Ram can be
divided into Extended, Expanded, or a combination of both.
The QT/2-6 uses an 80386 is the main processor. An 80387 NDP
comes with the system. The clock is speed is 20Mhz.
Under PC-DOS 3.3 the system performed very well. All major
software (Lotus, dBase III+, Paradox, Wordstar, Professional
Write, Flight Simulator, SEAdog, QBBS) loaded and ran with no
problems. I have not been able to find any software that would
not run.
OS/2 was a different story however. I chalk up the problems I
encountered to the fact that OS/2 is not yet the polished product
it should be. All programs loaded but several encountered
problems during operation. Using the compatibility box made
things easier, however if one program crashed, then the whole
system would hang.
The designers of the QT/2 are to be commended for the time
and detail that went into the Rom chip set they developed for
this machine. I might be wrong, but this is the only machine that
FidoNews 4-47 Page 14 21 Dec 1987
I am aware of, that will run PC-DOS 3.3 and still allow you all
the features that a PS/2 type computer needs OS/2 to access.
Several different MCA boards were loaned to me for testing
purposes and they performed as advertised, with no problems to
report.
The machine comes with two 360k floppy disk drives, and one 3
1/2 inch disk drive. All the drives were made by Toshiba and
perform quite well. The QT/2 recognizes which format (720k or
1.2Mb) is in the 3 1/2 inch drive and reads and writes both
formats with no problems.
I installed my Seagate ST-251 hard drive and was relieved to
see that I did not have to use Disk Manager to partition the
drive. So I now have a 42 Mb drive instead of two 21 Mb logical
drives. This allows the ST-251 to perform at its rated speed of
21ms instead of 80ms under Disk Manager.
I now run my bulletin board (QBBS EAST) on this machine and
have no problems. SEAdog runs as a front end for QuickBBS and
performs as expected.
All in all I would say the QT/2-6 is a fine machine for the
money. The base price for the machine is only $2450 which
includes everything mentioned above except the hard drive.
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FidoNews 4-47 Page 15 21 Dec 1987
Robert Heller @ 1:321/148
I am interested in setting up a new EchoMail conference on the
subject of generic 680x0-based systems. I am one of those people
who has an "oddball" computer system: a Stride 440 (10Mhz 68000
CPU), running CP/M-68K. It is not one of the "common" 68K
systems (Mac, Atari ST, or Amiga). Are there other people like
me out there in FidoNet land? If you are interested in carrying
a generic 680x0 conference send me netmail. Also, I would be
interested in the posibility of gatewaying such a conference with
the comp.sys.m68k* newsgroups (aka
[email protected]
on ARPANet). My home machine is not on USENET (does not run UNIX
or any sort of uucp clone), so I can't do the gatewaying on my
machine. Oh, I'd like to name this proposed EchoMail conference
INFO_68K.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 16 21 Dec 1987
To run KXP1092 is very simple. Just unarc the file and type
the following command:
KXP1092 /p
The /p designates the port the printer is connected to. Valid
numbers are from 1 to 3. If you desire you may leave off the /p
and the program will default to port 1.
KXP1092 allows you to set many of the features that are available
and gives you an immediate printed confirmation of the results.
EGA and CGA modes are supported in this version. You must have a
printer connected and turned on or the program will remind you
to do so.
Available from 107/246 (516)-328-7064 by SEAdog request or by
normal download methods. Request filename "KXP1092" (without the
quotes please) to receive this file.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 17 21 Dec 1987
In an effort to ascertain how many people really
read Fidonews, I would like to propose a little
experiment.
If everyone who reads this article would send me a
postcard, with their, city, state, and country written on
it, I will be happy to tabulate the results and report
them in a future issue.
It might be very interesting to see the results from
this little experiment. Some people claim "No One Reads
Fidonews", (God forbid) and some people have claimed a
readership of 6 million people.
Well, if you are willing to take the time to send me
a postcard, I will take the time to keep track of the
results, even if I get 6 million postcards.
I will collect postcards for this experiment from
the day this article is published, until January 31,
1988. This will give everyone a month to reply.
Send your postcard to:
Fidonews Survey
2nd Floor
110 Hillsboro Avenue
Elmont, Ny 11003 USA
Remember, just your city, state, and country on the
postcard.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 18 21 Dec 1987
Kilgore Trout, 1:107/6
What's Happening at SEA?
We've been making some changes to XlatList and RouteGen, mainly
to support the proposed node list changes, but also to improve
international mail and to add a few generally desired features.
First, in XlatList:
o There has been some confusion over just what kind of output
XlatList should generate in OPUS mode. In particular,
version 2.84 added the node list comment flags to the
NODELIST.BBS file, but the Opus node list compiler couldn't
handle it. But now we're told that Opus will soon have its
own node list translator, so XlatList's OPUS mode now
produces the older style output like Fido 11w expects.
o It is now possible to set a maximum baud rate based on node
list flags. This is done with the MAXBAUD statement, which
can now look something like this:
maxbaud 2400 PEP 9600
This means set a max baud rate of 2400 baud, except that
entries with the string "PEP" in the comments field can go to
9600 baud.
o It is now much easier to refer to overseas nets. Previously,
you had to maintain your own private node list for the
overseas nodes you wanted to call. Now you can have XlatList
automate that for you.
For example, supposed you wish to exchange files with nodes
in net 630 of zone 3. In your XLATLIST.CTL file you can now
have the statement:
ozone 3:630
This tells XlatList to pull in net 630 of zone 3 as a private
net in your own node list.
But remember that net numbers might be duplicated across
zones. There might already be a net 630 in your own zone.
In this case, you'd have to use a private net number. If you
wanted to use private net number 1999, then the correct
statement would be:
ozone 3:630 1999
This would case, for example, node 3:630/613 to appear in
your own node list as node 1999/613 in your own zone.
Is this confusing enough yet? Unless you want to send files
or crash mail to nodes in another zone, don't worry about it.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 19 21 Dec 1987
For normal netmail just go on as before and let the zone
gates handle it.
o It is now possible to pull in point net gateway listings.
This would be helpful for some net outbound gates, but again
few people need to bother with it.
o XlatList can now be told to automatically clean up its work
area. Ever notice how old node lists seem to build up
forever? Now if you put a CLEANUP statement in your
XLATLIST.CTL file, XlatList will automatically delete
difference files as they are applied, and delete old node
lists as new ones are generated.
And now, in RouteGen:
o We've added an OPUS mode that should be useful in creating
Opus routing control files.
o We've added a new conditional, "FLAG", to test if your own
node list entry has a given comment flag. A possible use for
this might be:
if flag XP
Give-to ALL
Pickup ALL
endif
This would probably be most useful for network "routing
mavens" who maintain a master ROUTEGEN.CTL file for use by
all nodes in a given network.
o We've added quoted literals. Literals are not evaluated by
RouteGen, but are passed through unchanged. For example, you
could say:
Send-to 107/312 "Bill Bertholf" 107/16
We're not quite sure what good this is, but it's there if you
need it.
o We've added a new macro for address aliasing. This keys off
of the "AKA:" node list flag. For example, suppose that
107/300 has a comment flag of "AKA:312". You could then say:
Send-to aka-107/300
and RouteGen would change it to:
Send-to 107/312
This is especially useful for holding mail for pickup by a
hub, since the hub will be calling under his "real" address
instead of his hub address.
FidoNews 4-47 Page 20 21 Dec 1987
Products mentioned in this article may be file requested from
1:107/6 at any time outside of National Mail Hour, or may be
downloaded from the SEA customer support board at (201) 473-1991.
Product Filename to request
XlatList and RouteGen XLATRGEN.ARC
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 21 21 Dec 1987
Thank you for your recent request for information regarding our
REMAIL and FORWARDING service.
SMS provides our customers with highly confidential, trustworthy,
prompt receiving and forwarding of mail.
The enclosed information explains our services and the costs of
our services.
If you have a service requirement that is not covered by our
regular service as explained, we will be happy to discuss your
needs and provide you with a customized solution.
Unlike other services of this type, our customer records are kept
encrypted in our IBM computer system. Your name will never be
sold or leased to a mailing list company. Security is of prime
concern to SMS.
SECURITY MAIL SERVICE REMAIL SERVICE
If you have a NEED TO SEND MAIL in a confidential manner, we
provide that prompt, trustworthy service at a minimal cost.
Per Item Description Of Item To Be Remailed
$ 0.50 - Each small stamped addressed single envelope.
$ 0.50 - Each large stamped addressed single envelope.
$ 0.25 - Ten or more stamped addressed envelopes banded
together by a rubber band.
All you need to do is send your stamped addressed REMAIL items in
a large manila envelope addressed to
SMS
2nd Floor
110 Hillsboro Avenue
Elmont, New York 11003
Please be sure to enclose the proper payment based on the charges
listed above. Complete the form below and enclose it in the
envelope.
Your items will be in the U.S. mail service WITHIN 1 HOUR from
the time we receive them! We GUARANTEE this fast service or you
get double your money back!
REMAIL SERVICE ORDER FORM
SMS
FidoNews 4-47 Page 22 21 Dec 1987
2nd Floor
110 Hillsboro Avenue
Elmont, Ny 11003
________________________________________Date
________________________________________Number Of Items
$_______________________________________Amount Enclosed
SECURITY MAIL SERVICE FORWARDING SERVICE
If you have a NEED TO RECEIVE MAIL in a confidential manner, we
provide that prompt, trustworthy service at a minimal cost. You
use OUR address with a designated letter code. All items we
receive for you, are forwarded the same day.
Here Is The Cost For Our Forwarding Service
SMS Forwarding With Letter Code Address $ 10.00
Postage Fund $ 10.00
The postage fund covers the postage to forward items we receive
addressed to your letter code. You will be notified when the
postage fund drops below five (5) dollars.
========================================================
FORWARDING SERVICE ORDER FORM
SMS
2nd Floor
110 Hillsboro Avenue
Elmont, Ny 11003
____FORWARDING SERVICE FOR 12 MONTHS $ 70.00
____FORWARDING SERVICE FOR 6 MONTHS $ 30.00
____FORWARDING SERVICE FOR 1 MONTH $ 10.00
POSTAGE FUND $ 10.00
TOTAL ENCLOSED $______
NAME______________________________________________________
_
ADDRESS___________________________________________________
_
CITY__________________________ STATE___________
ZIP________
FidoNews 4-47 Page 23 21 Dec 1987
Should we sign for Registered Or Certified Mail?
__________
Should we forward magazines, newspapers, etc;?
__________
Special
Instructions_______________________________________
_________________________________________________
Signature
Upon receipt a letter code will be mailed to you. Please
allow 7 days to receive this letter code.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 24 21 Dec 1987
Jerry Hindle
123/6 (aka 1/300)
Memphis Tn (901)-353-4563 9600bps HST
I am in need of a node in each of the following regions to
serve as a distribution point for that region for neww sofftware
coming out for use in Fidonet.
What I would like is prefferably a node that is able to be
called via PC Pursuit <tm> and allows access to the file areas
for new or un-registered callers. They should also have a high
speed modem although this is not really necessary. These nodes
(once they are all set up will become part of the distribution
chain, in that they may designate other nodes within their
regions to act as "local distribution nodes". Only one node from
each region is able to be listed in Zone 1 so I will take the
best qualified node (based on system size, accessibility, modem
speed, and whether they are PCPable or not) from each region. The
node should also be a low traffic node, since we want to make it
as easy as possible for callers to gain access to the system
without running up against a busy signal too much.
If you are interested please send me a note via netmail with
a phone number where you can be reached during the evenings
(voice).
I need nodes in the following regions:
Region 10
Region 12
Region 14
Region 15
I would also like to here from you if you wish to possibly
become one of the local distribution nodes within ANY region. I
will put you in contact with the region distribution node for
your region.
Thx
Jerry Hindle
123/6 (aka 1/300)
SoftWare Coordinator
(901) 353-4563 9600bps HST
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 25 21 Dec 1987
Last week, some of our student consultants discovered
a virus program that's been spreading rapidly throughout
Lehigh University. I thought I'd take a few minutes and
warn as many of you as possible about this program since
it has the chance of spreading much farther than just
our University. We have no idea where the virus
started, but some users have told me that other
universities have recently had similar problems.
The virus: the virus itself is contained in the stack
space of COMMAND.COM. When a pc is booted from an
infected disk, all a user need do to spread the virus
is to access another disk via TYPE, COPY, DIR, etc. If
the other disk contains COMMAND.COM, the virus code is
copied to the other disk. Then, a counter is incremented
on the parent.
When this counter reaches a value of 4, any and every
disk in the PC is erased thoroughly. The boot tracks are
nulled, as are the FAT tables, etc. All Norton's
horses couldn't put it back together again... This
affects both floppy and hard disks. Meanwhile, the four
children that were created go on to tell four friends,
and then they tell four friends, and so on, and so on.
Detection: while this virus appears to be very well
written, the author did leave behind a couple
footprints. First, the write date of the command.com
changes. Second, if there's a write protect tab on an
uninfected disk, you will get a WRITE PROTECT ERROR...
So, boot up from a suspected virus'd disk and access a
write protected disk - if an error comes up, then you're
sure. Note that the length of command.com does not get
altered.
I urge anyone who comes in contact with publicly
accessible (sp?) disks to periodically check their own
disks. Also, exercise safe computing - always wear a
write protect tab.
This is not a joke. A large percentage of our public
site disks has been infected by this virus in the last
couple of days.
BEWARE - I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE...NOT EVEN MACE CAN
RECOVER THIS ONE. HE WENT AFTER ALL THE MACE FILES AS
WELL. THEY ARE COMPLETELY OVERWRITTEN MAKING THEM
USELESS FOR RECOVERY PURPOSES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 26 21 Dec 1987
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
-- The Regular Irregular Column --
Dale Lovell
157/504
I'm still trying to get things back on an even keel so this
may go out a week late, ruining my two week prefect record. Maybe
after this holiday season is over things will get better, at
least I don't see how they could get any worse. For those of you
who enjoy my pseudo-reviews, I've got some bad news. I
unfortunately feel the need to do some editorializing on some of
the recent events and trends I've noticed. So if you aren't
interested in my viewpoint, drop down to the winding down section
where I look at a recent improvement in one of my favorite
utilities.
-- FidoNet, IFNA and other random thoughts --
It seems old habits are hard to break. After several months
of seeing people actually work together, everyone seems to be
trying to break the net apart again. Some of this is probably due
to the severe growing pains the net is going through. When I
first joined FidoNet 2 years ago, I kept a close watch on the
size of the nodelist. I watched the number of nodes very closely
until it stabilized at over 1,000 nodes, and we now have over
2,100 nodes! This type of expansion in such a short time has
created its share of problems. Not only does the net have to deal
with several hundred neophyte sysops, but there are the
operational difficulties as well.
A good example of operational difficulties are zones and
their gateways. Only recently has the number of international
nodes (Overseas sysops please excuse me as I write with a North
America bias) become such a significant part of the nodelist.
When the zone based nodelist was introduced many people
complained at the switch and how they weren't prepared for it.
This was despite the fact the it had been announced several weeks
earlier. I don't know how many times I read about how this showed
IFNA trying to take control of the net. IFNA wasn't (and isn't)
trying to take control of the net, it was merely trying to make
it easier to manage and use. The complications involved with the
non-zone based nodelist were becoming unmanageable to many people
and there was software that could handle a zone based nodelist.
With the gateways in place, it even helps cut down on the cost of
overseas netmail. While zones will help out everyone in the long
run, it can make it difficult in the short run while everyone
learns how to use zones and their gateways.
Educating new sysops and users is another task that needs to
be done. Many of these new sysops (and their board's users) have
never heard of Echomail, and many don't seem to be aware that
every message entered is echoed across the world and to many
FidoNews 4-47 Page 27 21 Dec 1987
different types of bulletin boards. When the echomail programs
are properly set up, a message should never go out addressed to
"Sysop." Despite this, I've seen dozens of such messages over the
past few weeks. This is a matter where the network has to help
educate new sysops. All sysops in turn should work to help
educate their users. What should they be "teaching?" How about
posting messages in a relevant area, especially in echomail.
Telling someone that the file they're interested in is available
by downloading it from this board doesn't help anyone. The person
looking for it could very easily be across the country. Right now
I don't even feel like going into the number of messages that
have no purpose being in an echomail area ("Are you going to be
home Friday night Joe?"). When events like this occur regularly,
it only serves to give FidoNet a bad impression. IFNA is a group
that could do a lot in this area. Not by controlling new nodes,
but by helping to educate new sysops and users. The file
NEWSYSOP.ARC (available by SEAdog file request from 157/1 among
others) is a good example of how this could be done. It attempts
to explain many of things we old hands take for granted. What is
echomail? What software can I run? How do I apply for a net/node
number? Why are there zones, regions, nets, etc. and what is
routing? These are all things a new sysop needs to know, and IFNA
is working to help these people out.
Another problem in FidoNet today is that many people seem to
be trying to tear the net apart. The first of these symptoms I
noticed was that no one was a FidoNet sysop, they were Fido
sysops, or Opus sysops or SEAdog users. Up until a year ago, the
only software available was Fido and SEAdog. While many of us
used SEAdog as a front-end, we still associated ourselves with
FidoNet. Now if you ask someone what type of BBS they're running
they won't say they're a FidoNet sysop, instead they'll first
identify themselves as an Opus, Fido, TBBS, etc. sysop. This is
also beginning to show itself in the newsletters circulating or
starting up. In the past FidoNews was one of the few things that
linked us together (along with the nodelist and National Mail
Hour). Since echomail hadn't really started up, many of us knew
almost nothing about anyone in FidoNet. FidoNews gave us a sense
being part of a community. While echomail does some of this, the
feeling of camaraderie isn't there. With the influx of
newsletters, no one realizes how much we need to work together to
stay together. Instead of everyone contributing to one newsletter
that contains information for everyone in FidoNet, everyone
suddenly seems to want a newsletter that only contains
information that pertains to them. While this may sound nice,
think about how much it can fragment FidoNet before you get so
gung ho on the idea. If you aren't willing to communicate with
other sysops, why did you join FidoNet in the first place? Also,
if you aren't willing to keep an open mind, how can you
communicate?
Software incompatibilities are another cause of
fragmentation within FidoNet. Part of this is also caused by the
influx of new software in the net. When everyone was using the
same software, there was no chance for incompatibilities. Now,
many of the network mailers are putting in their own advanced
FidoNews 4-47 Page 28 21 Dec 1987
features before they are compatible with the software that is out
there and has been out there for some time. This standard I refer
to has been documented for over a year in the FTSC (FidoNet
Technical Standards Committee) documents. While I haven't
obtained a new set of documents recently, I hope they aren't
trying to keep the documents up to date with every new piece of
software. This could quickly turn a hard to accomplish task into
an impossible one. I'm not saying that I'm against new features,
I just think that new software should be compatible with the old
software as well. SEAdog was an excellent example of how this
should be done. System Enhancement Associates has always done
everything possible to be compatible with existing software
BEFORE expanding on it. While there were a few problems, they
were fixed as quickly as possible. Some of them were even due to
documentation being incorrect or incomplete in some ways. While
some of the new network mailers are having these same
difficulties, some seem determined to see how far they can get
from these established standards. This again is something that
could quickly destroy FidoNet and all that goes along with it.
Many of you may take all this to mean that I am pro-IFNA.
Well, I'm not. I am however, pro-FidoNet. IFNA is not trying to
control FidoNet, it's merely an organization trying to assure
everyone that FidoNet will be here tomorrow. If some of you think
that certain IFNA positions have a great deal of power inside
FidoNet, they do. However, in the past some individual has had
the same power and with no way of replacing them if something
happened or they abused their power. The International Technical
Coordinator is such a position. In the past Ben Baker saw to it
that a nodelist (and nodediff) was published every week (he took
over the job from Tom Jennings). In spite of quite a deal of
trouble, Ben always got it out. When he was hospitalized for
surgery, the nodelist still went out. For many years, he would
correct many mistakes in the nodelist submissions. If something
had happened to Ben, the net would have fallen apart in weeks.
IFNA assures us that this can never happen. There will always be
someone to handle this job, as recently happened when Ben
resigned from this position. I believe that these choices will be
good, honest people like Ben. There will not be any childish
behavior tolerated by IFNA. Things like leaving people out of the
nodelist for personal reasons would only result in IFNA finding a
new coordinator. This brings stability to FidoNet, and stability
helps everyone in the long run.
One item that I find particularly distressing is the rumors
that only IFNA members will be listed in future nodelists. I
thought the net was past this nonsense already. You will NEVER
have to join or pay IFNA anything to be listed in the nodelist.
All you will have to do is abide by the POLICYx.DOC, which
basically means don't be excessively annoying and observe
National Mail Hour. IFNA is not trying to become FidoNet, it is
merely trying to assure that FidoNet continues to exist. If
another organization appears in the future with this same goal, I
will support it as much as I support IFNA. If we keep on going on
the present track, we're going to end up destroying the net that
so many of us enjoy. We have to learn to work together, or else
FidoNews 4-47 Page 29 21 Dec 1987
we shall surely be torn apart.
After the Alexandria FidoCon, I thought things were finally
going to start working out. For awhile this was true, but old
habits seem hard to break. Many of us have already forgotten the
spirit that pervaded FidoCon, one of everyone working together
for the good of FidoNet. I'd like to propose the idea of mini-
FidoCons to help keep this spirit alive. If you'd be interested
in one of these mini-cons, drop me a line. If there really seems
to be the interest, maybe we'll try one out over a weekend. In
the meantime, let's try and work together a little.
-- Winding down... --
I got an "update" to an old favorite this past week. Ever
since I came across Xtree I've found it to be a useful program.
As the number of echomail conferences increased, I began to find
it less and less useful. The original Xtree could only handle
about 2,200 files, and with each message being a file it didn't
take long to reach Xtree's limits. Xtree Pro (Executive Systems,
list $129.00) solves many of the shortcomings of Xtree. It
demolishes the old file limit (The default file limit is 18,000
files and can be increased!). Since many of us have more than one
logical drive, Xtree Pro allows you to log up to sixteen
different drives. This should hold even a backbone echomail node
for a few weeks and it can always be increased. In addition it
allows for multiple file specs. It's easy to see all the BAT,
EXE, and COM files on all your drives. Another handy feature of
this is that you can check for file duplications across several
drives. If this wasn't enough, they've put in a small ASCII
editor. I've been using Xtree Pro to handle my directories for
echomail. Not only can I create the directories I need, but I can
edit the areas.bbs and configuration files as well. Xtree Pro
also has the option for quick disk logging. While it isn't as
fast as some of the other file managers, it also doesn't keep
track of everything in a file. Xtree Pro actually looks at the
disk every time you start it up. While I was pleased with Xtree,
I am even more pleased with the improvements made in Xtree Pro.
I welcome your comments and suggestions to anything I've
written about, or something you think I should write about. Down
below, you'll find several addresses for me. Included is my US
mail address, FidoNet address, and Usenet address (with several
paths). If you're sending me a message through FidoNet, please
mention to your sysop that mail to me must be routed through
157/1 since I'm a private node.
Dale Lovell
3266 Vezber Drive
Seven Hills, OH 44131
FidoNet 1:157/504.1
uucp:
decvax\
FidoNews 4-47 Page 30 21 Dec 1987
>!cwruecmp!hal\
cbosgd/ \
>!ncoast!lovell
ames\ /
talcott \ /
>!necntc/
harvard /
sri-nic/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 31 21 Dec 1987
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
1 Jan 1988
Genesis of the Intergalactic Sysop Alliance, and publication
of the first AlterNet node list.
9 Jan 1988
The next net 104 FidoNet Sysop Meeting. Contact Oscar Barlow
at 104/0 for information.
25 Aug 1988
(pending BoD approval) Start of the Fifth International
FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in
Cincinnatti, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 for more
information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and
is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with
all this time. We're hoping to see you there!
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 1:1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Kenny
Metatron's Opus 1:1/201 (1:107/316)
Echomail Conference List Notice
Happy Holidays! I know it has been a long time since the
last EchoList (issue 102) but issue 103 will finally be
released on Christmas Day (12/25/87)! Since I'm running
bare Opus v1.03a I should be able to entertain file
requests from both Opus and SEAdoggies at 2400 baud
with MNP3. The name of the file will be ELST103.ARC,
please don't try to request it before Christmas day as it
won't be available. You see it actually is Santa that has
been slaving over the EchoList up in the North Pole :-)
For some strange reason I got issue 103 and it has a note
attached to it that say "Don't open til Christmas". Well
nobody will know if I take this floppy out of its holder
and put it into the drive to read it, right? <<PUFF>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
David Dodell
FidoNews 4-47 Page 32 21 Dec 1987
Zone 1 Coordinator
Node: 1:1/0 or 1:114/15
Thom Henderson, 107/6 has informed me that he will be stepping
down as the Regional Coordinator for Region 13. I am therefore
requesting all individuals who have an interest in applying for
the position to send me a short resume to be received no later
than 1800 MST, Friday December 25th.
Please place in your resume a short description of your network
experience (i.e. Net Coordinator, Echomail Coordinator, etc.)
plus any other personal details that will help me select the most
qualified individual for the position.
I look forward to hearing from all interested.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Software Versions
BBS Systems Node List Other
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.80* EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21
Fido 12e* MakeNL 1.10 ARCmail 1.1
Opus 1.03a Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.3*
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.84 EchoMail 1.31
TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1
* Recently changed
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 33 21 Dec 1987
__
The World's First / \
BBS Network /|oo \
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
_`@/_ \ _
| | \ \\
| (*) | \ ))
______ |__U__| / \//
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
increase worldwide communications.
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
Address _________________________________________________________
City ____________________________________________________________
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
Country _________________________________________________________
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
Your Special Interests __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
US Funds to:
International FidoNet Association
c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA
700 Bishop Street, #1014
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-4112
USA
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
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
membership in January 1987. The first elected Board of Directors
was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
input to this Conference.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 4-47 Page 34 21 Dec 1987
INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
ORDER FORM
Publications
The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido
1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing
them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee
Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each
publication, but we can make no written guarantees.
Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986
IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____
IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____
IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____
SUBTOTAL _____
IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers
System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____
SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987
ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member
Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____
Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987
ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member
International orders include $10.00 for
surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____
SUBTOTAL _____
HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____
TOTAL _____
SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS:
International FidoNet Association
c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA
700 Bishop Street, #1014
Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112
USA
Name________________________________
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Company_____________________________
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City____________________ State____________ Zip_____
Voice Phone_________________________
Signature___________________________
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