FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
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submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
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Copyright 1987 by the International FidoNet Association. All
rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
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The contents of the articles contained here are not our
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Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
Surprise! Words from a new editor ........................ 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
Alternet: The End ........................................ 3
Response to AlterNet Editorial ........................... 5
AUTOECHO A ECHOMAIL Utility .............................. 7
Computer Performance Echo ................................ 8
The 1987 Andrew Fluegelman Award ......................... 9
Telecommunications Today ................................. 11
3. NOTICES .................................................. 16
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 16
Latest Software Versions ................................. 16
4. COMMITTEE REPORTS ........................................ 17
State of IFNA and FidoNet - January 1, 1988 .............. 17
FidoNews 5-01 Page 1 4 Jan 1988
Much to my surprise I received a message from Thom Henderson
a few weeks ago. It wasn't that he had sent the message that took
me so much by surprise as the message's contents. He was looking
for a new editor for FidoNews and was "offering" me the position.
Let me say up front that it took me several days to finally
come to a decision. It wasn't an easy decision to make! As a
semi-regular columnist I had it easy. If I didn't feel like
writing or didn't have the time it was no big deal, although I
did have to live with the guilt it caused (and yes, I did feel
guilty when I didn't get a column out). As editor it would be my
responsibility to the net to make sure that an issue of FidoNews
did go out every week, regardless of what my work schedule was
like or my personal feelings. Only after I was sure I could take
on the responsibility did I check to make sure I could do the
work required. This may sound backward but I was reasonably sure
that if I decided to shoulder the responsibility, I could manage
the work. In the end, I decided that it was "the right thing."
For the time being there shouldn't be any real change
apparent to most of you. I am continuing Thom's policy of
printing anything I receive (outside of obvious plagiarism,
libel, or criminal intent). I am going to try and take a more
active role in getting material. Many of you will be hearing from
me in the near future in this regard! What kind of articles am I
interested in? Well first off, I'd like to see someone take up my
old "Regular Irregular Column." Actually, I'd like to see a large
group of "contributing editors" spring up in the near future. All
the title means as far as I'm concerned is that the person makes
regular contributions to FidoNews. Not weekly. Not monthly. Just
regularly.
Also, right now there are many new bulletin board systems
being introduced to the net. I'd like to see some articles from
these "converted" sysops and their users on what they expect and
see in FidoNet. What made them decide to add FidoNet
compatibility to their systems, and how easy (or hard) was it for
them to learn some of our unique terminology and practices.
Some other topics I'd like to see articles on in the future
are Gateways. What are they? How do they work? At FidoCon I heard
some of the possible uses of EchoMail, is anyone doing anything
new and exciting? Tell us about it if you are. There are several
public service EchoMail conferences, are they actually
accomplishing anything? Also, what is the EchoMail backbone? How
do you "link up" with it. Some of these are questions that every
sysop asks at one time or another, and it would be a big asset if
everyone could point to and read a good article on topics like
these.
If you think you'd like to write something but are unsure
FidoNews 5-01 Page 2 4 Jan 1988
how it would be received, drop me a line and we'll discuss it. In
addition to my electronic address (which is now a public board,
no more routing worries) I'm listing my home and work addresses
and phone numbers. I'm also interested in hearing from you on
topics for articles you'd like to see. Who knows, maybe I can
find someone to write them!
In summary, I'd like to say that I am very excited about
this new position and hope that I can live up to your
expectations. I plan on taking a more active role than Thom did
in that I'm going to be a little aggressive in getting some of
you to write an article instead of just posting a message in
EchoMail. EchoMail is fickle, many people may not see a message
that directly pertains to them. Why not enter a message AND send
in an article, after all this is YOUR newsletter!
Your Editor,
Dale Lovell
1:1/1 (1:157/504)
216/642-1034 (data)
Home Work
3266 Vezber Drive Parma Computer Center
Seven Hills, OH 44131 5402 State Road
216/524-1875 (voice) Parma, OH 44134
216/661-1808 (voice)
Before I start, I'd like to say what I liked about the
AlterNet Policy. Mainly I liked the terminology. As someone who
named his BBS ("Angevin Empire") after a 12th-century dynasty of
English kings, I am amused by the idea of being a knight rather
than a sysop. But I don't think that the major point of
AlterNet's existence was to be amusing.
I've only been in FidoNet a short time as a sysop. I didn't
know the 'good old days' before the IFNA wars. But one of the
things about the FidoNet I know is the fact that there's only
one of it. Despite zones and arguments and flames there's still
only one network, with one simple way of getting information
from one node to another. That's changed now.
Now we're going to have two networks. Then the next thing that
happens is we'll have lots of little networks. Probably we'll
just give separate zones to the different little networks. All
those who think that IFNA is the greatest thing we've ever had
and we need more of it, go to zone 1. All those who hate IFNA
and everybody in it and would be willing to go in front of the
House Un-American Activities Committee to denounce them, go to
zone 9. Everybody who doesn't care about Fidonet as long as
their BBS is listed so they get national exposure, go to zone
12. Everybody who is happy as long as they get TECH, COMM, and
ECPROG, go to zone 120. Everybody who would just as soon collect
stamps, go to zone 1,238,272!.
Sound like the Bell System break-up to you? Even worse than
that, because the Bell System break-up was at least
geographical. These little nets will more than likely be spread
over all parts of the net, in little bunches. (Making it un-
Policy3 to give them zone numbers, as POLICY3 has a restriction
on units not made exclusively for the improvement of
communications).
I'm not going to argue here for one sort of action or another,
whether IFNA should be left alone or reorganized or
disincorporated. But the net must be kept unified. There are so
many other forces that may come to bear on us: governmental
regulation, software incompatibility, telephone abilities, the
simple problems of growth. We must work together to solve our
problems -- not fall apart.
I know we all have our own ideas about what should be done.
But whatever is done we must do it together.
FidoNews 5-01 Page 4 4 Jan 1988
---------------------
The message above was directed not so much at the sysops and
users at large, but rather at the particular sysops who are
leading factions like 'AlterNet' and 'SoutherNet'. Here is one
that is addressed at everyone.
The biggest danger in all this factionalism is not that the
net will choose the wrong direction, but that the net will break
up. One way to limit the use of factional nets is not to beat
them, but to join them. I am considering joining *all* factional
nets that may arise: AlterNet, SoutherNet, and any other netlets
that may arise. This is not an ideal solution, by any means, but
en masse it might limit the use of factionalism.
Don Daniels, President
International FidoNet Association
1:107/210
This letter is basically in response to the editorial and article
that appeared this past week in FidoNews dealing with AlterNet.
According to these documents a currently unstated number of
individuals appear to be interested in forming their own network
beginning early in 1988 as an alternative to...well, that's hard
to say exactly.
"FidoNet" is a likely answer, but they seem to be taking most of
that with them in the sense that FidoNet is in essence a group of
computer systems that exchange files using the FidoNet protocol.
It could be that "IFNA" is what they are taking exception to,
except if we accept the premise, as many of us believe, that IFNA
is merely the current mechanism for implementing the collective
will of all concerned sysops regarding the Net, it would seem
that they are merely attempting to avoid subjection to such
collective will, which strikes me as being not on the mark.
Furthermore, several of their number have indicated that they
maintain respect and support for IFNA and wish to continue their
current relationships.
Whether that will be allowed or not by AlterNet itself is also
hard to say as, at least one of their patrician voices has
declared that, even if not disallowed, continued dual association
would be philosophically incompatible. On the other hand, others
of their aristocracy have declared that such bi-lateral
association would not only be allowed but would be desirable.
To me, the message then is that there is not yet a clear view of
exactly what AlterNet is and may become. As such, it would
appear that the best thing to do for the rest of us is simply
nothing but wait and see.
However, a few moves have been made by the two sides. Ryugen
Fisher was kind enough to call me and provide an explanation of
his thoughts and concerns relative to the changeover. We agreed
on many points including the point that it would be mutually
advisable for Ryugen to maintain his seat on the Technical
Standards Committee, thereby functioning as a liaison with
AlterNet. He will also step down from the chairmanship which
will preclude potential conflicts of interest.
One of the majors factors which has motivated Ryugen to make his
choice has been the considerable flaming which has appeared in
the various EchoCons. This certainly is one area within which I
can completely sympathize as I have been appalled at the lack of
consideration shown by so many of our sysops. It always struck
me that such behavior would sooner or later exact a heavy price
and here we can see one such instance in the alienation and loss
of a considerable number of concerned sysops who have made and
probably would have continued to make many valuable contributions
FidoNews 5-01 Page 6 4 Jan 1988
to FidoNet. I'm certain I personally will feel this loss, which
seems worse when considered in terms of the petty behavior of
others which has motivated it.
I happened to be talking to Tom Jennings this past FidoCon on
related ideas. Actually I'm slightly surprised that I've heard
that he disapproves of this current scheme as he was making the
point that we shouldn't limit our horizons. "How do we know," he
said, "that this is the best way of doing things? If we're not
open to trying other approaches we may well miss the solution
that would prove best in the long run."
So with that thought in mind we bid farewell to our AlterNetives.
As they embark and sail across uncharted waters for unknown lands
in their quest for their particular Holy Grails we wish them
Godspeed. Perchance our paths will cross again in another time.
AUTOECHO is a program that stems from the
needs of all ECHOMAIL HOST and HUB sysops. It allows
a NODE to send a message to the HOST system and
turn on and off ECHO's that he/she would like to
recieve or not recieve without the intervention of the
HOST system sysop.
A message is sent to AUTOECHO with a password
in the subject field. This password MUST agree with a
password the HOST system defines in a file called
AUTOECHO.PWD. The body of the message contains the
ECHO's the requester wants turned on or off. If the
ECHO is preceeded by a minus sign the ECHO is turned
off. If no sign is there the ECHO is turned on.
AUTOECHO then modifies the HOST systems
AREAS.BBS or ECHO.CTL file and adds/deletes the ECHO
being sent to that requestor. It also send a message
to the requestor informing him/her what action was
taken.
All actions taken by AUTOECHO can be redirected
to a log, AUTOECHO >> AUTOECHO.LOG, so the HOST sysop
can tell what ECHO has been picked up or deleted.
AUTOECHO.A93 may be requested from 151/1000 or
151/100. A .DOC file and examples are included.
I have established new echomail conference called CPE. It's
purpose is to provide a forum for practitioners of computer
performance measurement and capacity planning. It's main thrust
is in mid to mainframe size environments, but all are welcome.
The forum hopefully will provide a place to exchange ideas and
techniques.
This echo came about as a result of an informal meeting held
several weeks ago at the Computer Measurement Group (CMG) annual
meeting held in Orlando. Better than 25 individuals attended a
informal meeting to discuss the value of such a conference and a
number of nodes have already expressed in interest in joining the
effort.
If you are interested in joining such a conference, drop me Net-
Mail to 104/739 and we will get you included.
The UTOPIAN Network
107/269 107/169
ECHOMAIL -- ANOTHER FLUEGELMAN FOR FIDONET ?
Last year Tom Jennings won the First Annual Andrew
Fluegelman Award with the "software that started it all" --
FIDO\_IBM.EXE.
For THIS year's Award ... how about thanking JEFF RUSH for
creating ECHOMAIL ? ( We can get him the award first, and
tar-and-feather him afterward, right? )
Besides, maybe we OWE Jeff Rush a little more than we do to
other Network Software Developers. While ECHOMAIL was
technically SHAREWARE ($25.00) Jeff Rush acted as if the
program had been released to the public domain. Though the
program itself marked each message with the node number of
its users, and Jeff read in many of the national ECHOS, he
never made an issue of the people who used the program and
"forgot" to pay SHARE.
This year the competition is going to be stiffer. More
people know about the Award -- the prize is $5,000 -- and
commercial programs ARE eligible.
The Award will be made on the merits of the software
according to these judging criteria:
** It advances the state of the art in personal computing
** It manifiests innovation in concept and design.
** It demonstrates orientation to personal computer
users.
If we can generate enough nominations to engage the judges'
interest, ECHOMAIL is good enough to win ! It has brought
BBSing as far from the NetMail-only Fido Boards as FidoMail
brought BBSs from the stand-alone technology.
What's more, ECHOMAIL has produced the same kind of
outpouring of creative energy that FIDO did ... it has been
cloned, improved, and has inspired dozens of add-on utilities.
It has that "spark" that the judges will be looking for.
SO, let's pass the word through our networks, our echo
conferences, and among our friends. Let's bring home the
Fluegelman with ECHOMAIL!
========================================================
To nominate a program for the Andrew Fluegelman Award
========================================================
Fill out the following form and make SIX copies.
Handwritten copies will NOT be accepted.
Name of Program : ECHOMAIL 1.30 Package consisting of
FidoNews 5-01 Page 10 4 Jan 1988
SCANMAIL.EXE, TOSSMAIL.EXE, and
SETMARK.EXE
Creator: Jeff Rush Release date: 05/13/86
Software Marketer: Tau Productions,
1124 Wildwood Drive,
Richardson, TX 75080
Brief Description: ECHOMAIL, a SHAREWARE program, enables
(sample) a network of personal computer Bulletin
Boards to support "newsgroup" or
"conference" messaging. Messages entered by users are
automatically sent (via ordinary telephone lines) to all
BBSs participating in the same ECHOconferences, and may be
read and replied to by any user in any other BBS.
Information "known" in one BBS is "known" by all other
boards ina very short period of time -- often overnight!
Reason for Nomination: ECHOMAIL has made much of the
(sample) long distance information-sharing
power of mainframe networks
available, via PC's, to amateur operators, non-commerical
users, small businesses and grass-roots organizatons. As a
result, private news services, specialized data bases and
no-paper, no-postage newsletters are now an economic and
practical reality.
Nomination submitted by:
your name
-------------------------------------------
Company: Phone Number:
your company phone
------------------------------ ---------------
Address:
your address
------------------------------------------------------------
Mail to:
Andrew Fluegelman Award, Attn: Shirley Gines
PCW Communications, Inc.
501 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107.
.
But, remember, time is short; the DEADLINE for nominations
is FEBRUARY 1,1988. Send your SIX copies of the Nomination
form ... TODAY!
Some time ago, a group of particularly bright folks came up with
the idea of a standard code of letters, numbers and punctuation
symbols so that different kinds of computers could exchange
information. The code assigned numeric values ranging from 0 to
127 to each character. The choice of a name for the code was
made by less-bright folks, and that's how ASCII was born
(American Standard Code for Information Interchange, pronounced
AS-kee).
ASCII wasn't the first code devised. One of the earliest codes
was called BAUDOT. It was devised by George Baudot, whose name
lives on with those who refer to data transfer speeds as baud
rates instead of bit per second. After the introduction of
ASCII, IBM even made up its own code called EBCDIC (pronounced
EB-sid-ik). It stands for Extended Binary Coded Decimal
Interchange Code, and it never really caught on outside of the
large-scale IBM mainframe world (probably because the acronym
they chose wasn't very snappy). Even the IBM PC and compatibles
use what is called a superset or expanded version of the ASCII
standard. The PC's character set contains 256 characters rather
than ASCII's 128. Codes 0 to 127 are identical to the ASCII
standard, but 128 to 255 are used for special characters unique
to the IBM and compatible personal computers. When
telecommunicating with non-IBM machines, IBM computers generally
use codes 0 to 127 only, which is the normal ASCII set.
A BIT OF BINARY
Let's look at how we use these numeric codes to actually transmit
information, namely three characters we'll choose at random:
I B M
Not too random, huh? The ASCII codes for these letters are:
73 66 77
These numbers are in decimal, or base ten format, the number
system we humans use in everyday life. Computers use the binary
number system. Binary numbers are in base two format. The only
characters used in base two are ones and zeros. Each one or zero
is called a bit (Binary digIT). Bits are easy for computers to
work with. Since computers are electrical devices, they know
only whether an individual bit is on (1) or off (0). The binary
equivalent of:
73 66 77
is a series of ones and zeros:
I = 73 = 1001001
B = 66 = 1000010
M = 77 = 1001101
FidoNews 5-01 Page 12 4 Jan 1988
Not only is this format easy for a computer to handle, it is very
easy to convert into sound and send over telephone lines. We'll
see why a little later on.
PARITY
We've seen how ASCII character codes can be represented as
strings of seven bits. In the early days of communications, it
was soon discovered that noise on the telephone lines could
interfere with data transmission. People needed some way to
verify that what was being received matched what had been
transmitted. By adding an eighth bit to the beginning of each
string, a crude form of error detection called CHARACTER PARITY
was created. This error-checking is handled by the software
running on both ends of the telecommunications link. This extra
bit was named a PARITY BIT, and it made it possible to use EVEN
or ODD parity schemes. It works like this: with even parity, the
total number or ones in any character is always even. If the
seven-bit code for an ASCII character has an even number of ones,
the parity bit is set to zero. If the seven-bit code for the
ASCII character has an odd number of ones, the parity bit is set
to one.
Using even parity,
1001001 1000010 1001101
becomes:
11001001 01000010 01001101
The receiving software then removes or "strips off" the parity
bit and works with the remaining seven bits. If a bit string is
found to contain an odd number of bits before stripping, it is
assumed to be an error and the string was retransmitted. Odd
parity works in a similar way, always requiring an odd count of
ones. But parity is of little value for most personal computers
users today. This type of error-checking dates back to the days
when eletromechanical devices such as teletypes were in heavy
use. The gears and cams of these machines were much more prone
to introducing errors than modern equipment. In fact, so few
systems employ parity- checking schemes these days that many
computers (including the IBM-PC) use the parity bit for data
instead of for error-checking. This allows IBM-PCs to send and
receive all 256 PC characters, rather than just the 128
characters in the ASCII set. In this case, there is no parity:
1001001 1000010 1001101
becomes:
01001001 01000010 01001101
We still use eight-bit strings, but the HIGH BIT (leftmost bit)
simply represents special characters which are mostly special
FidoNews 5-01 Page 13 4 Jan 1988
graphics characters.
Just A Bit More
We're almost ready to ship out our data to the modem. The last
thing that needs to be added are FRAMING BITS which indicate the
beginning and end of each bit string. They are usually called
the START and STOP bits. A start bit of zero is inserted at the
beginning of each character, and a zero stop bit is appended to
the end. Now our message looks like this:
01001001 01000010 01001101
becomes:
0010010010 0010000100 0010011010
Now we are ready to transmit our data to the modem, but first a
simple definition of what the modem function is. The name MODEM
comes from two words which describe it's function. MOdulator -
DEModulator. Modems use two sets of frequencies to send and
receive data. Just for simplicity's sake, let's call them high
and low frequencies. One modem will send data using the high
voice, and listen for data from the modem on the other end in the
low voice. The other modem will do just the opposite. One modem
is using the assigned frequencies in what we call ANSWER MODE,
and the other is using ORIGINATE MODE. If both were in the same
mode, each modem would hear both itself and the other modem at
the same time, so they wouldn't be able to differentiate between
what they are sending and receiving.
Each voice has two octaves, referred to as SPACE and MARK.
By convention, the tone associated with the zero-bit is space,
and the tone for the one-bit is mark. Also by convention, the
normal state of the phone line when no data is being transferred
is a continuous mark tone, which can be considered a constant
stream of ones.
SENDING AND RECEIVING
Finally we're ready to transmit the data. Remember, our modems
are pretty dumb animals when it comes to data. All they do is
FidoNews 5-01 Page 14 4 Jan 1988
take the series of ones and zeros passed to them by the computer,
convert them to mark and space tones (MOdulate), and then turn
the tones back into ones and zeros at the other end (DEModulate).
Here we have a "quiet" transmission of all marks (ones) waiting
for some data:
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
We are hunched over our keyboards happily telecomputing and
oblivious to everything happening inside our machine. If we
type:
I B M
the ASCII codes for which are:
073 066 077
our computer recognizes what we typed as:
01001001 01000010 01001101
so out telecommunications software adds the start and stop bits:
0010010010 0010000100 0010011010
and the data is sent to the modem, which changes the zeros and
ones into mark and space tones:
SSMSSMSSMS SSMSSSSMSS SSMSSMMSMS
which is superimposed over the "quiet" of a solid mark tone:
MMMSSMSSMSSMSMMMMSSMSSSSMSSMMMMSSMSSMMSMSMMM
so the receiving modem can change them back into a stream of
zeros and ones again:
11100100100101111001000010011110010011010111
The telecommunications software on the other end watches the
incoming stream of ones and zeros from the modem. By convention,
the first zero says, "Hey! The next eight bits are a character
and the ninth bit after me will be another zero. After you see
that last zero, watch for the start of another character!" So the
telecommunications program removes the extraneous ones introduced
by the constant mark tone, as well as the start and stop zeros:
01001001 01000010 01001101
which the person on the other end finally sees as:
I B M
FidoNews 5-01 Page 15 4 Jan 1988
Seems like a lot of trouble for three letters, doesn't it?
Fortunately it's all handled for us by software and hardware
working together.
(Some of the examples are greatly oversimplified, and I've been
pretty loose with terminology for clarity's sake.)
9 Jan 1988
The next net 104 FidoNet Sysop Meeting. Contact Oscar Barlow
at 104/0 for information.
25 Aug 1988
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.
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.
Don Daniels, President
International FidoNet Association
FidoNet 1:107/210
State of IFNA and FidoNet - January 1, 1988
Rather than ask for status reports from the various committees
this month, I felt it might be best to talk about some general
concerns relative to IFNA and FidoNet.
First of all, I'm pleased to report that, with the assistance of
Bob Hartman, some real progress has finally been made in both the
Executive Committee and Board of Directors which not only
inaugurated their new electronic sessions, but have completed
their first electronic balloting. It is particulary pleasing for
me to report that the first item of official business passed in
this manner by the Board of Directors was the confirmation of the
choice of Cincinnati as the site of the 1988 FidoNet Conference,
August 25-28. FidoCon chairman Tim Sullivan promises me that
detailed information will be posted here for you shortly.
We apologize again for the delay in establishing these sessions,
but we were faced with quite a number of legal and operational
difficulties relative to conducting official business via
Electronic Mail. First results with the methods implemented seem
to indicate that we have established not only a working approach,
but one which may set precedents for other conferences and
organizations.
FIDONET - GROWING FAST
FidoNet itself seems to still be thriving, albeit with certain
growing pains. At last count, our NODELIST had approximately
2400 individual nodes in thirty countries and territories with
the promise of more on the way. I've been told that over the
last six months we have been growing at the rate of 125 new nodes
per month. Should that rate continue we could expect to be 3400
strong by the time we meet in Cincinnati. (Better book early!)
IFNA - IT'S TIME
It's time to take a hard look at just what IFNA is, because it's
not exactly what many of you have come to believe. I have been
"preaching" the following concepts to my fellow board members,
but have realized that the best way to convince them is to have
the rest of you out there come to the same basic understanding
I have - and then let you convince your representatives.
FidoNews 5-01 Page 18 4 Jan 1988
OK, so let's look at one of the things that IFNA is not. It
certainly is not an elitist group of a few people bent on taking
control of FidoNet. I'll never understand how such an idea ever
got started way back when, particulary at the very time when the
then autocratic leaders of FidoNet tried to actually relinquish
their hold on Net operations in favor of a more democratic
process. But to this day there are people who still talk as
though this is the greatest thing we have to fear.
To me, as the current head of IFNA, IFNA is not so much an
organization (although, of course, it has to be incorporated and
have officers, procedures, and various operating mechanisms) as
it is the spirit of FidoNet. That spirit started five years ago
with Tom Jennings and John Madill and, along the way, infected
all of the rest of us. Eventually, the burden of maintaining the
expanding Net proved too much for TJ to handle and the job of
overseeing the Net was passed to the guys in St. Louis (and
others). Guided by that same spirit of FidoNet, this period saw
the creation of the Net's operational heirarchy and the
establishment of the various Coordinator positions to manage it.
Once again the growth of FidoNet was so great that it became time
to pass the responsibility, and the spirit, onto another source
of greater resources and, to this end, IFNA, the organization,
was conceived and implemented. I know now, as I talk to the
various individuals trying to somehow squeeze additional time and
energy into their efforts for FidoNet, that it is that same
FidoNet spirit that drives us all in what we try to do in IFNA.
So how does this work? You, as individual SysOps, have consented
to be governed by a chain of Hub/Area/Regional/Zone/International
Coordinators. Essentially, each coordinator operates as a sort
of "dictator" with full responsibility for his domain. You have
no direct control over how he operates - the only mechanism you
have (short of dropping out of his domain) to attempt any control
over him is to convince his "boss" coordinator (who in many cases
made the appointment in the first place) that your coordinator is
not doing the job. No easy task. This was the sum total of the
procedure until IFNA was formed. When the guys in St. Louis
decided to form IFNA, one of the primary benefits they saw was
the establishment of an overseeing body that would be responsible
to all the Sysops of FidoNet and would manage for them, via the
International Coordinator, the chains of coordinators. This
management involvement was not intended to be on a direct basis
up and down the chain, hasn't been, and won't be.
What this primary function of IFNA does do, however, is close the
loop. It allows you, the governed SysOp, to have an official say
in the manner in which your network is administered by the
various coordinators in the chain. This say is expressed through
your direct vote and through the votes of your elected
representatives. You charge these representatives to present
your individual will for the future of FidoNet. What IFNA is
then, in essence, is simply the collective will of concerned
SysOps for the future of FidoNet.
FidoNews 5-01 Page 19 4 Jan 1988
It's now time that we all really try to put this concept into
action. We must give up any "us vs. them" mentality that we
still maintain and understand that each and every one of us is
operating with that same driving spirit of FidoNet. Oh, it may
drive us in different directions on various topics, but the
associated controvery should provide us with a synergetic energy,
if we can all keep our emotions in check and operate on logic.
Speaking of keeping our emotions in check, one of the changes
which I have personally effected is to once again subscribe to
the IFNA EchoCon in order to insure more feedback between you and
your leadership. You are invited to use that forum (or send to
me direct) to ask questions, express your views and enter into
SERIOUS discussion of the issues facing FidoNet. But please,
leave your egos, insults, flame-throwers, and all other
disruptive forces behind. FidoNet deserves better than that.
Each of you has a Divisional Representative to IFNA.
Additionally, there are eleven other "at-large" directors. Adopt
one or two. Make it clear to each of them that you believe in
this concept and that this is how you wish to see things operate.
Establish channels of communication whereby they can learn just
what your will is on the various concerns confronting us, and you
can see just what they are trying to accomplish towards your
interests. There are many very difficult questions that they
have to decide in this coming year, but it will be so much easier
if you provide them with clear-cut declarations of your wishes.
Try to understand the difficulties that they have in finding the
various resources to meet their additional responsibilities on
your behalf and offer to provide whatever you can to assist them.
(All directors are supposed to meet in St. Louis February 19-21.
Do you know that for more than one this represents a financial
hardship? What can you do about that or other problems they may
face in trying to meet their responsibility of representing you?)
FidoNet is growing so fast that we can't hope to even maintain
the status quo using our present approaches. Speaking just for
myself, I know that unrealistic levels of time and energy are
being expended (if you don't believe me, just ask my wife or
child - or those of most of the other board members) and yet so
little of what's required is getting done. We're going to have
figure out new ways to provide the resources we need to catch up
and stay caught up. In order to even begin to do this it's time
to stop allowing our knee-jerk responses and really consider the
implications of some truly tough questions:
o What level of involvement in the handling of EchoMail do
you wish IFNA to take to protect all your interests relative
to this important but geometrically expanding capability?
(Don't reply "Hands off" unless you really want IFNA to do
nothing should the present backbone structure some day
collapse or some other major problem occur.)
o How can we expect to manage this already huge and
fast-growing operation with part-time volunteers who, as
FidoNews 5-01 Page 20 4 Jan 1988
dedicated SysOps, are already overtaxed in terms of finances
and time?
o Our International brethern, perhaps better accustomed than
us to dealing with differences, still are coming to us to
help them with the various problems they face. How can we
respond to their needs when we have so much difficulty
getting our own house in order?
o What should we be doing in terms of providing the
education, liability protection and so many other similar
services to our membership as required by a non-profit
charter? How can we expect to undertake anything like this
on our miniscule budget?
o How should we resolve the various questions concerning the
place of so many facets of commercialism in a supposedly
'amateur' Net? We provide valuable services that, even if
we could figure out how to charge for them, should still be
an attractive bargain. Shouldn't all pay their fair share?
o It's time for us, both individually and collectively, to
answer the question of whether FidoNet really is just a
hobby or something more. It's easy to say that this is all
a hobby when your scope of involvement is passing messages
between a few systems. But when you are trying to provide
the organization and administration for thousands of systems
in dozens of countries, you quickly realize that to
accomplish these goals requires more than a hobbyist
mentality. Each of us needs to decide what level of
involvement we are willing to support and then move in that
direction. There is no reason that those of us with broader
aspirations for the future of FidoNet cannot co-exist with
those content to maintain the status quo. But it may well
be necessary for us to restructure our separate approaches
and operations to make this a reality.
o It's also time that we looked at just what "Free" means in
the term "Free Communication" we use so much. It means
"open", "publicly accessible". It certainly does not mean
"without cost" because someone, somewhere is picking up far
more than their fair share. Just because you may have
enjoyed certain no-fee services to date does not mean that
this is some unalienable right. It means that you should be
grateful for the gift you've received and should be asking
yourself how to "repay" it in other ways or areas. You
should also be trying to figure out now what you and we are
going to do when your gracious benefactor(s) no longer can
afford to meet the ever-increasing demand.
Two big meetings face the IFNA Board of Directors in 1988: the
St. Louis meeting in February and the convention in August.
Many decisions are going to made that affect you and your
FidoNet. Please try to meet locally and electronically, calmly
discuss the various issues to understand the impact of viewpoints
and needs other than your own, and then express opinions and
FidoNews 5-01 Page 21 4 Jan 1988
suggestions to your representatives to help them enact your will.
Remember: IFNA is but the collective will of all SysOps concerned
about the future of FidoNet.
If that includes you, then support IFNA and your representatives.
It's your best chance of making sure that FidoNet's growth not
only won't cause it to collapse under its own weight but will be
allowed to continue in directions you want.
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.
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.
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
