Volume 5, Number 10 7 March 1988
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| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Contributing Editors: 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 1988 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. IFNA may also be contacted
at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
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
What's become of trust? .................................. 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
Opus Date Bug Fix ........................................ 3
PC-SIG CD-ROM On-line 24 hrs ............................. 4
My Answer to "How do you write?" ......................... 6
Consolidate or Divide? The Future of EchoMail ........... 11
MENSA Echo Loses Its Founder and Host .................... 18
3. COLUMNS .................................................. 19
Corrections to "Routed Gateways" ......................... 19
4. NOTICES .................................................. 20
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 20
Latest Software Versions ................................. 20
5. COMMITTEE REPORTS ........................................ 22
Agenda and Minutes of IFNA BoD Meeting February 19-21, ... 22
A Statement of Position by IFNA Board of Directors ....... 28
FidoNews 5-10 Page 1 7 Mar 1988
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
What's become of trust?
It used to be you could trust what you read in EchoMail, not to
mention FidoNews. Everyone treated FidoNet (and it's users and
sysops) with respect and decency. If you received a netmail
message from someone, you knew it was legitimate. Likewise, no
one would have thought of impersonating anyone in EchoMail. What
brings all this up? Let me tell you...
I thought it very odd when some messages supposedly written by
Thom Henderson popped up in the sysop echomail conference. I
thought it very odd because they didn't sound like Thom, besides
which I was under the impression he was leaving FidoNet alone.
Well, the other day I received a phone call at work. Even though
Thom is now in AlterNet, we keep in touch. This was unusual only
because I was the one who usually placed the call. Thom's main
reason for the call was to find out if I had seen any messages
from him in the sysop echomail conference. After a long
discussion with Thom, I am convinced that he isn't the one who
sent those messages. If you've received a nasty message from
Thom, odds are you've been hit by someone with a juvenile
mentality and no respect for FidoNet.
This is also the case with "Auntie Tyranny" and NeuterNet. The
person behind these messages doesn't understand that FidoNet is
about communication and understanding. All their messages prove
is their senders immaturity. FidoNet has to learn to ignore
these type of messages. The attention given to bogus messages
like this only serve to destroy FidoNet. The attention gives rise
to mistrust and flames. This isn't what Tom Jennings envisioned
with FidoNet. This also isn't what most of us want to see happen
in FidoNet.
All in all, what happened to the trust I learned in Alexandria
last August at FidoCon. Is that spirit of cooperation and
understanding still alive? How long will it take for us to learn
to work together instead of flaming at each other.
Sadly,
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
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FidoNews 5-10 Page 2 7 Mar 1988
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
"You're More Than Your Physical Body"
The key phrase for a very new, and needed bulletin
board system dedicated to the New Age and Occult community.
The Astral Plane (r) Online is a relatively new, yet very
quickly upcoming BBS in Linthicum, Maryland. The board is
run by the owners of The Astral Plane, an Occult and New Age
store also found in Linthicum which carries hundreds of
curios, books, herbs, crystals, and other items on this, very
rapidly growing, area.
The main interest for The Astral Plane (TAP) which is
stated in our welcome messages is to "Provide Information On A
New Age." there are a lot of misguided and hollywood created
images on Magick, Witchcraft, and Psychic abilities that almost
everyone has a different idea and/or opinion on what it really
is: Satan worship? A bunch of frauds? Some crazy people who
don't know any better? Those are just some of the thoughts about
people who are "into" Magick, Witchcraft, and New Age and
Psychic related areas of study. The sad part is that many people
havnt had the chance to actually, safely, find out what it is all
about. Since there is a good and bad to everything it is
important to shift through and find out what is and what
isn't. Although, sometimes that becomes quite a task!
To make sure we don't lead the reader to the wrong
impression, TAP is not only for the New Age and Occult
community. We support message areas and U/Ds for
Commodore, CoCo, Apple, IBM, and Atari computers and several
echomails! See for yourself what TAP has to offer, we're
pretty sure that we will have something for everyone and your
suggestions are always welcomed! Call us at 301-768-7947 24
hours a day 300/1200/2400 baud.
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FidoNews 5-10 Page 3 7 Mar 1988
Opus Date Bug
---------------
There is a problem in OPUS-CBCS (v1.03a) that can cause it to
miscalculate events between 3/1/88 and 3/1/94.
A "fix" is available in an archive called OBUG_103.ARC. The
archive contains a 330 byte .COM file that will patch OPUS.EXE.
When executed, it will patch the system and set a new version
number (1.03b).
Source code for the fix program is being posted in the MEADOW
echomail area.
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FidoNews 5-10 Page 4 7 Mar 1988
The IEEE Port CD-ROM at 1:107/233 516-757-9469
As of March 16th 1987, the entire PC-SIG 705 disk library
of public-domain and shareware programs is on-line at the IEEE
Port (1:107/233). This has been done through the sponsorship of
the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) which
has provided a Philips CM 100 CD-ROM player and the PC-SIG Disks
1-705 CD-ROM.
We have established a somewhat convoluted procedure for
gaining access to the over 700 directories on the PC-SIG CD-ROM
disk. This process is described below and is also readable on-
line.
The files listed below are file requestable 24hrs from
1:107/233. They are the ARCed Tables of Contents of the various
disks. Note that because all these files are ARCed you are
required to first download each of them to your own disk and
unARC them. Once you have done this, you may search for
occurrences of any particular string in the Tables of Contents
with one of these commands:
DFIND "string"
FFIND "string" outfile.nam
where "string" is the value for which you wish to search.
DFIND will display the results directly on the screen,
whereas FFIND will write the output of the search to a disk
file which you may subsequently search manually with an
editor or list program.
Index to PC-SIG Disks 1-705
===========================
P001-100.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 1 through 100
P101-200.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 101 through 200
P201-300.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 201 through 300
P301-400.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 301 through 400
P401-500.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 401 through 500
P501-600.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 501 through 600
P601-700.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 601 through 700
P701-705.ARC Table Of Contents for disks 701 through 705
PC-BIBLE.ARC Table Of Contents for The Bible (King James Vers)
FIND.ARC Batch commands to search Table of Contents files
SEALINK.ARC SEAlink 1.13 Excellent protocol to use for batch
downloading.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PC-SIG LIBRARY - Disk Access Procedure
FidoNews 5-10 Page 5 7 Mar 1988
When you log on to the IEEE Port (300/1200/2400) (no pre-
registration is required) type "F" from the main menu to get to
the files area. The procedure to select which particular disk is
started in area 16 by typing "F". You will be given a menu that
looks like this:
Enter I - To get information on what files and programs are
available.
D - To get information on addressing a particular disk
from the PC-SIG Library and then to select a disk.
S - I've seen it all before, let's just select a disk!
C - Explain the use of SEAlink protocol for downloading
a disk.
Q - Quit.
I highly recommend option "C" for those who do not use SEAlink in
some form or another. It will save you a lot of time and typing.
Since you have the instructions here type "S" to select the
disk you wish to DL from. You will be prompted to enter the
number of the PC-SIG disk you wish to access. Type the numbers
as three whole numbers (i.e. to select disk 49 type "049"). You
will then be informed that you selection has gone thru and to
proceed to files area 99. In order to actually the access the
PC-SIG disk that you selected you will have to transfer to file
area 99. This area does not appear in the list of areas
maintained by OPUS; that's OK, just use the A99 to go there
anyway. Area 99 area will be pointing to the PC-SIG disk you
select.
Before OPUS will let you in to area 99 you must enter the
access code "PCSIG". Although you won't be able to use the F(ile
List) command here, you will be able to use the R(aw Directory)
display to see the names of all the files on the selected disk.
You may then download any file(s) as you normally would from any
file area, the only difference being that you will be DLing from
a subdirectory of the CD-ROM.
Usually there is a file named DISK###.TXT on each PC-SIG
disk so if you select disk 694, use the T(ype) command to list
out DISK694.TXT and get a descriptive file listing of the
selected disk.
I run SEAdog 4.11 on top of Opus 1.03a on an original IBM XT
with 2 ST 225s. A Zoom Short 2400 baud modem (internal) and a
Philips CM 100 CD-ROM Player. If you have any questions or
suggestions I am reachable at 1:107/233.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-10 Page 6 7 Mar 1988
My Answer to "How do you write?"
David Rice
(103/503)
I got a letter in the mail. Usually I toss all mail
received into the trash unexplored, which means that every month
when the bills come I have to leave the state under an assumed
name. It's cheaper than paying my phone bill. This letter felt
different somehow, so I decided to read it.
"Dear Sir," it began. I knew immediately trouble was
creeping my way by the "Dear". "I read and enjoyed your article
'Missing Socks and the Rings of Saturn' very much. I'm a writer
too. Would you share your method of writing with me? Your good
friend, John."
Tall order, indeed! I was tempted to throw the letter down
the used food recycler (toilet), but after all, it did come with
a stamped, self addressed envelope. I sat down and answered.
My Dear, good friend John,
This is how I write.
Five in the morning. Dragging my body from the floor mat, I
grope weakly for the heater's "ON" button. Why I do this every
morning is a mystery, as the heater has never worked in the six
months I've been living here. But I keep the faith, as hope,
they say, springs eternal. If I'm in a playful mood I also grope
my roommate, which tends to heat the room almost as well (if not
better) than the wall heater would.
Eyes closed against the feeble light, I trip over
dictionaries, a thesaurus or two, "How to be a Better Lover",
dirty jeans, the stack of "OMNI" magazines, and the speaker cords
running away from the secondhand stereo. I kicked the beer and
soda cans against the wall the night before so I won't amputate a
toe the next morning. Usually (more often than not) I make it to
my desk, where my jacket, also secondhand, is waiting for me on
the chair I bought at a police auction.
The desk is painted mustard yellow on top to hide the coffee
stains, grape juice stains, pickle relish, pencil marks, blood,
sweat, and battery acid. Also, everything I eat has mustard on
it, so the desk must surely have mustard on it as well- But with
all the papers, books, cups, apple cores, condoms, and
payment-past-due notices, how can I tell?
Flexing my fingers against the cold, I hunt for the
pre-write sheets I scrawled out the evening before. I recognize
these papers from the rest by the notes in the margins: "This
won't work! <arrow>", "Change this," "This stinks", "You CAN'T be
serious!" etc. Gathering up these choice pages, I proceed to the
shower. While in the shower I go through the pre-writes of the
night before. This usually requires great dexterity and three
FidoNews 5-10 Page 7 7 Mar 1988
arms, or great dexterity and the arm of a very good friend.
Stepping out of the shower onto the ice covered floor, I
wring out the sodden pages over the toilet, and start thinking of
the actual writing (i.e. turning the pre-writes to writes). I do
this all in my head, and tell myself to remember everything.
Naked, I check out the refrigerator for breakfast. A can on
olives usually does the trick, or a can of diet soda and a
carrot.
Now I dress for work. Rummaging around the floor for the
cleanness dirty underwear, I also find a miss-matched pair of
socks, knot a tie tightly around my throat, and gun my Chrysler
(secondhand Cordoba) to work.
While doing my mindless, thoughtless, menial task at work
(no, not as an air traffic controller), I am writing in my head.
My pre-writes usually lay open, drying out, on the desk before
me, next to the work I'm paid to do. I think of plot
developments and dialog while at the same time working on Spare
Parts History Reports for the Product Repair Center.
This job allows me to send $660.00 a month to my bloated
landlord, who desperately needs it for his drugs, teenage tarts,
and pornographic films. Though I've never been late with the
rent, my heater still remains a victim of neglect.
Lunch time! Now I write down everything I was plotting and
dialog-ing when I should have been working. I use a sheet of
paper and pencil for this rough draft, writing as fast as
possible (I get 30 minutes for lunch).
By the time I've ran Lint through the fish market to his
boat, followed discreetly by The Silent One, lunch is half over.
Finally, when I get Lint's boat blown out of the water between
Newport and Catalina, lunch is over.
Back home! Work was a drag, but I lived through it. Dinner
is a can of soup, with the lid coaxed off with a dull, worn-out
opener. I place the can directly on the stove, and know it's
ready when the label is completely burned off.
I carry the hot can of soup to my desk, turn the computer
on, and slop noodles on the stack of poems I've written and never
sold. Usually when this happens I just put another pile of
papers on top to sop up the stuff, but if I'm hungry I eat the
noodles, poems and all. Lately I've been hungry, so the desk is
cleaner than is normally the case.
WRITING STAGE! (Tah dah!) I whip out my rough draft that I
did at work and get it in the computer. I never change anything
until this is done (i.e. I don't rewrite the draft). After it
is in, and saved to disk, THEN I rewrite the draft into a write.
Putting on a Wagnor Opera as background noise, or ABBA if
I'm writing about sex between teenagers, I mentally go over the
FidoNews 5-10 Page 8 7 Mar 1988
next stages.
From draft to write involves looking at what I've written,
wondering if I like it, and changing it if I don't. More often
than not, I change it. I take away padding that doesn't belong,
and add meat that does. When that day's pre-writes, draft, and
write is completed, my soup is also finished and I get a warm,
fuzzy feeling. This feeling usually goes away when I read the
last few pages to check for continuity. After all, I can't very
well blow up Lint's boat when he'll be needing it for the harbor
orgy Friday, can I? Or will he have to rent one?
Or better yet, what if I give Lint a broken rib from a
pounding by The Silent One on page 83, and have him playing
football with the Upper New York State University for Lesbians
(UNYSUL) on page 85? It just doesn't feel right.
This done, I turn off the computer and rummage around for my
outline book. This is what I first wrote when I started "Lint's
Luck", putting it in a lose leaf binder. It's my road map that I
loosely follow, though Lint often goes where no writer has
outlined before. I check off the past pages, and see what's on
the road ahead.
What's up ahead is what I write my pre-write from. Suppose
Lint is on his kitchen floor, as in chapter eleven, under the
sink working on the drain pipe. That's where we left him just
before I turned the computer off and looked at my outline. I
know that next up is the cool, aloof daughter of a moderately
well-to-do business man, who walks in with a nasty pistol, and
asks Lint why he killed her daddy. My pre-write should tell me
how she stands, what Lint was doing the second she walks in, his
first impression, what he was thinking, the position of his body,
the color of her shoes. The pre-write may go:
"Looking up, Lint noticed a pair of pale green shoes. .
." to match a perfect body, firm breasts, sharp chin,
and slightly bent nose. The deadly green eyes are
matched only by the .38 she pointed between his.
"Lint?" she asks, eyes locking with his. Thinking
quickly, Lint recalls the neighbor he doesn't like.
"Sorry. He's two houses down. . . ." he says
helpfully.
The woman notices the copies of his book on the
table (the ones he keeps to give away to anyone who
will take it). On the back, facing her, is a
photograph of his smiling face. Lint smiles, like a
little boy caught at a lie. She pulls back the hammer
of her pistol.
"You're Lint. You killed daddy. . . ."
With this, I can then add character thoughts, ideas,
FidoNews 5-10 Page 9 7 Mar 1988
emotions, descriptive blocks, dialog, etc. Usually off the top
of my head, as I do most of my writing while doing mundane chores
(vacuuming, sweeping, sex). I've been cursed with a very good
memory, and what I think up I can usually get back out when the
time comes. I find I can usually get six or seven pages (typed,
double spaced) out of a few short sentences like above. I've
been told by better men than I that this method of writing never
sells, and I think of them every time I cash the publisher's
checks.
When the story is done I open a desk drawer (the middle
left, with the bottom falling out and the side unglued) and fish
for an envelope. Some times I find one, often I don't. If one
is not to be had, I fold a sheet of paper into an envelope, and
use a roll of tape getting it to stay shut. If I'm lucky I
remember to put the MS in it first.
I always include a stamped, self-addressed envelope as well,
so that the editor can immediately reject it and send it back
with few delays. This means I can send it out again as soon as
possible. The letter is ALWAYS addressed to the editor, so
she/he/it will feel like it belongs to her/etc. As a very rich
(i.e. powerful) editor is fond of saying "If the writer doesn't
know my name I don't want to know his!" I, in my humble way,
agree. What is the alternative? "Dear Sir and/or Madame?" No
"personal" note or letter is ever included. Stuff like:
"I'm a widow with eleven children, and I desperately
need to sell my book 'Gone With Virginity' to you.
Please buy it."
"This article has taken me seven years to write. When
you buy it, put it on page three, next to the adds for
laxatives."
"Please find inclosed the fifth of gin, and drink it
before you read my short story." (You will soon get
your short story back, nix the gin.)
"Buy this and my body is yours to toy with." If you do
use this, don't forget the photographs as well.
Eight-by-tens preferably.
For postage stamps I go through all the old Christmas card
envelopes that I get, and find some to steam off. I have found
that if you ask people to put a two-cent stamp at the top right
corner of the envelope, and the twenty-cent one under it, the
two-cent stamp gets marked at the post office, but the other
isn't. If everyone did this we could pay off the National Debt
in a few years with all the money saved. We could also go smugly
to jail.
If the MS is a book, like "Lint's Luck," then I make five or
six copies (single sided only, so the type on the other side
doesn't show through), at work so I don't have to pay for them.
This saves me 2.5 cents a page, or roughly the price of a quart
FidoNews 5-10 Page 10 7 Mar 1988
of Cutty Shark per book. These copies then seek out a likely
buyer via mail, while I'm soaking in the tub at home dreaming of
the future fortune, and author's teas and parties they will throw
for me when the book goes to it's tenth printing.
How do I rough out the characters in a story? There is a
very good, logical way of doing so.
Once assaulted by an idea (often while trying to sleep, or
while driving), I hunt around my mental attic for a hero. For
instance, if the story is a Space Adventure, and has in it evil
Planet Lords and a beautiful princess to rescue (or a harlot- see
my story "Gallantry is a Harsh Mistress"), then my hero should
have a large sword, a lusty appetite for honorable bloodletting,
a tiny leather loin cloth, and a rather small brain (i.e. a none
too bright lad).
If the story is about a teacher being abducted, with the
kidnapper demanding an "A+" in Biology for her release, we know a
lot of things already. First off, the student is a dim-witted
cad and heel, and was never taught to be nice to people. This
can be a tragedy, comedy, or love story.
Another example could be Lint. I wanted a main character
who was not very impressive, brave, rich, or demanding of life.
But he also needed several above-average qualities to be dynamic
and interesting. These two opposite characteristics had to
balance (and not cancel each other out) in a sometimes humorous,
often sad way.
So Lint is a plumber (non-threatening, rather mundane) who
has written a moderately well selling book (a dynamic quality,
but not overly so). It reasonably follows that Lint had patents:
One of each sex. I give the Daddy a beard, the Mummy an apron.
See how easy it is? Since Lint's parents probably had sex more
than once, he may have had some brothers. In fact, he had two.
Lint being a rather average chap, I wanted his brothers to
be a bit more colorful. The both, therefore, went to Vietnam,
but only one came back (which is often the case in police
actions). The surviving Vet turned middle-aged hippie, who
marches in anti-war demonstrations, and likes beating up people
who don't like his ear ring. He also pounds on folks that pound
on Lint, as is a big brother's duty.
That, basically, is how I write. It is by far the most
unprofessional way that I know, as well as the best, so I use it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-10 Page 11 7 Mar 1988
Consolidate or Divide? The Future of EchoMail
-J. Kenneth Riviere
133/303, JoKeR's BBS
(after office hours)
2/24/88
I have been giving some thought to the configuration and history
of Fidonet recently and I decided that there were some things
that I wanted to say. First let me say that I have only been a
sysop for about six months now, but I have been a user on a local
Fido system for several years so my familiarity with Fidonet goes
back further than just the time of my sysoping.
Despite the title of my article I want to make it clear that this
is not an either-or situation. Fidonet has been consolidating
and dividing responsibilities for years in an effort to achieve a
more efficient and effective configuration.
HISTORY
My understanding of the beginnings of Fidonet is that all nodes
were essentially independents when the net first started. This
was great when there were only a few dozen nodes altogether, but
it became awkward when the number grew into the hundreds and then
the thousands. With some boards attempting to communicate very
actively with literally dozens of other boards, the NMH became
too short to make all of the connections necessary to deliver the
mail. Out of this grew nets, where all the mail going from one
board to multiple other boards which were geographically close to
each other (and probably cheap to call locally) was consolidated
and sent to the net host who then passed it on to the other local
boards. International communications was streamlined with the
introduction of ZoneGates which allowed this especially expensive
communication to be consolidated so that fewer total calls needed
to be made from one continent to another. As some nets grew
larger and became more cumbersome to administer the concept of
the hub was introduced so that the net host could communicate
mainly with a few hubs instead of having to distribute mail to
dozens of boards every night. Thus the nodes within a hub were
consolidated and the responsibilities of the net host were
divided.
This type of cooperative arrangement whereby a few boards picked
up extra tasks in order to smooth the running of the net as well
as ease the cost of running a board has been a hallmark of
Fidonet throughout its existence. People recognized that this
was applicable to Echomail as well and the backbone formed. I am
not certain I understand exactly how the backbone is organized
but I think that each region has an echomail coordinator (EC) who
connects to a central node to exchange echomail. Other nodes in
that region can arrange to pick up echomail from the EC, thus
providing consolidated points for echomail to be distributed
across the country. I have heard that there is currently an
effort being made to ease the load on the Regional ECs by asking
FidoNews 5-10 Page 12 7 Mar 1988
that each net select a single Net EC who would pick up echos from
the Region EC and redistribute them within the net. Thus, as it
was with hubs, the traffic for one group (nets, in this case) is
consolidated so that the burden on the board providing service at
the next level up the tree is lessened.
It is clear that the traditional method of consolidating traffic
and dividing responsibility within Fidonet has been to do it
along hierarchical lines. A top-level node distributes to
sub-levels which further distribute to lower levels of the
hierarchy and so on and so on until finally the data gets to the
nodes at the end of the paths. This has been an effective
mechanism for setting things up. However, I think that we may be
coming to a time when we will want to take a different approach.
ECHOMAIL VOLUME
The volume of Echomail is growing quickly, at least as quickly as
Fidonet itself. As new nodes are added there are more voices to
be heard in each echo and more sites wishing to receive each
echo. This increases the volume of traffic up and down the
tree.
Hubs (in Net 133 at least, the Hub coordinators redistribute
echomail as well as net mail) generally carry less echomail
traffic than the Net ECs because there are fewer boards under
them to which the echos need to be distributed as well as fewer
echos which are desired than there are in the entire net. Some
of the echos which are brought in for certain boards are not
wanted in some of the hub groups. Thus the hub coordinator has a
lighter load than the Net EC.
Similarly, the Net EC is not likely to carry every echo carried
by the Region EC as some of the echos may not interest anyone in
that particular net. Thus the net EC has a lighter load than
the Region EC.
But, what happens when a new node is added. There are more msgs
in a few echos as people on that node post, and there may be a
desire to bring in a few more echos since the sysop and users of
this new node may have interests that haven't been addressed by
the echos currently being carried in that net. This increases
the load on the hub coordinator (but not too much, it's only one
more node and a couple more echos to that node), on the Net EC
(and this is a little heavier than on the hub coordinator since
there are new nodes in multiple other hubs which also want more
echos), and on the Region EC (who is echoing more areas to nets
all the time as new nodes are added all over the region). When a
net picks up a new echo it may mean only a small increase in the
traffic from the Region EC to the central distribution point
since the Region EC was already carrying the echo, he just hadn't
been feeding it to that particular net. However, it becomes a
significant load on the distribution within the region since over
time each net continues to pick up more and more echos and might
go from getting 20% of the echos carried by the Region EC up to
FidoNews 5-10 Page 13 7 Mar 1988
40%, 50%, or even more until it takes almost as long to
communicate with each net as it does to get the traffic to and
from the rest of the backbone. Multiply that by the number of
nets and we could start to reach the saturation point of how much
echomail the Region ECs can distribute effectively.
I'm going to try to guess some figures. Some of these are based
on a little bit of research and some of them are just guesses. I
saw a msg from a Region EC that stated that he was bringing about
a megabyte of data into his region every day. At 9600 bps this
represents about 20 minutes. I checked the different zone 1
regions and found anywhere from 1 net in the region (region 12)
to more than 20. Just to get a feel for how much traffic we are
talking about let's try some figures. For a region with 25 nets,
each of which is picking up, say 1/3 of the traffic available
from the region EC (I know that my net brings in somewhere on the
order of .5 to .6 mb per day), this comes to about 7 minutes for
each of 25 nodes which works out to about three hours. This does
not allow for the time it takes for the Region EC to unARC, toss,
scan, and ARC the mail bundles, which will be a significant
amount of time with this volume of traffic. For a region with 12
nets each of which is getting 1/3 of the traffic available from
the region EC this would only be about 1.5 hours. Both of these
calculations assume that 9600 bps connections are being used. If
half of the nets are using only 2400 bps connections then that
more than doubles the total communication time required to get
the echomail delivered. These situations are workable with all
echomail getting delivered every night during the low-cost ld
hours (unless the region with many nets has several nets which
must rely on 2400 bps connections or less, in which case it is
very possible that multiple nets might not get their echomail on
any given night.
However, now let us up the ante. What happens when echomail
volume reaches 1.5 mb/day? Remember also that by that time more
nodes will have joined Fidonet so that there will likely be a few
more nets and the existing nets will be bigger meaning that they
will be likely to want more echo areas. So the 20 minutes to
pickup 1 mb would become 30 minutes to pick up 1.5 mb. Suppose
the region with 25 nets has grown to the point where there are 28
nets (modest growth) but now the nets want on average about half
of the total echomail which is available from the region EC. That
means a 15 minute connection for each of 28 nets for a total of
7.5 hours a night (including the .5 hour to pick up the 1.5 mb)!
That is a lot of time. Since the low ld rates only last from
11-7 which is only eight hours it is clear that it would be
almost impossible to get all of this traffic delivered every
night during that window. Remember, I still haven't allowed any
time in my calculations for tossing and scanning and I've been
assuming all 9600 bps connections.
Even looking at the region with only 12 nets it is starting to
get squeezed. Let us assume that it has grown to 14 nets with
each net desiring an average of half of what the backbone
carries. This still works out to four hours of transmission time
assuming 9600 bps and does not include tossing and scanning. And
FidoNews 5-10 Page 14 7 Mar 1988
of course, none of these calculations have allowed any time for
any activity other than distributing echomail. Surely we do not
want to condemn anyone who volunteers to help with echomail by
being a Region EC to not being able to do any other activities
such as having real, human callers (mail (echomail) only from
11pm to 7am?).
The method for dealing with this which follows the tradition of
Fidonet would be to introduce a new tier of distribution. This
might be called sub-regions or something, perhaps along state
lines, and would reduce the number of sites which the Region EC
would have to serve, going from many nets to a handful of
states. This would certainly work and would allow the traffic
to continue to grow with only a few more volunteers, but at this
point I'd like to suggest a couple of alternatives.
PARALLEL BACKBONES
The first thing I'd like to suggest is that a parallel backbone
be set up. I don't want to duplicate the work being done by the
backbone, I want to set up a parallel system that works
side-by-side with the current backbone in order to serve Fidonet
more effectively. Rather than suggesting a whole new set of
sites which are carrying the same echos as before, I propose that
the traffic which is all being funneled through the Region ECs be
split to go through two (or even more) Region ECs. This is not
to say that any single region could not be served by one EC, but
in a region where that load is getting too heavy for it to work
effectively, instead of introducing a new tier simply split the
load at that level. Suppose we divide the echos being carried
into subject categories, maybe Technical (includes TECH, COMM,
FOSSIL, MEADOW, PASCAL, PS2, OS2, and other echos which provide
information about how programs work, what new ideas are being
considered for addition to the net, etc.) and Social (includes
BIBLE, NOPIRACY, LAW, SF, PETS, etc.). Another possible
subdivision would be to have a NetAdmin or SysopOnly group which
would carry echos which pertain to the running of the net.
Perhaps the Technical side could be split into computer-related
and non-computer-related.
Reducing the volume of traffic by dividing the echos into
multiple groups instead of reducing the traffic by reducing the
number of nodes to be serviced by the Region EC achieves the same
desired effect: the amount of data being funneled through the
Region ECs is reduced by increasing the number of people who are
sharing the responsibility for delivering that data. However,
splitting the echos into multiple groups of echos, each carried
by different and cooperating Region ECs, also has a desirable
effect which the other approach to sharing the load does not: by
not introducing a new tier into the distribution mechanism there
would be fewer propogation delays in getting the echomail from
one end of the net to the other.
Right now when I post a msg in a national echo it gets sent 1) to
my hub coordinator, 2) to my Net EC, 3) to my Region EC, 4) to
FidoNews 5-10 Page 15 7 Mar 1988
the central, coordinating site, 5) to other Region ECs, 6) to
other Net ECs, 7) to other hub coordinators (not in all nets),
and finally 8) to other nodes at the far end of the distribution
chain. If we add sub-regions to that chain that puts two more
links through which msgs must pass before they are fully
distributed (one link going up the chain, and one link coming
back down). By introducing parallel operations as I've suggested
we would not be introducing any more delays into the distribution
mechanism.
Another advantage of this arrangement is that if something
happens to one of the Region ECs in a region it only affects a
portion of the echomail traffic in that region. If we went to a
sub-region EC arrangement and something happened to the Region
EC then the sub-regions would all be cut off from all backbone
echomail until the problem could be resolved.
Still another consideration is that it translates readily to the
net level if echomail traffic in a particular net gets too heavy.
In such a situation then two (or more) Net ECs could operate,
each responsible for contacting a particular Region EC.
One disadvantage of my suggested approach is that it does mean
more calls will be made. A Net EC who had been making one call
per night to the Region EC and picking up that day's echomail
would now have to make two or more calls, one to the Region EC
for each group of echomail. This is a slight decrease in
efficiency. However, I have to wonder: is it really *that* much
more efficient to make one 10 minute call than to make two 5
minute calls? It seems to me that as long as there was a
significant amount of echomail to be picked up then the marginal
increase in efficiency acheived by consolidating two long calls
into one longer call is not worth the propogation delays that
will ultimately be introduced if we add another tier to the
echomail distribution arrangement.
LOCALIZED ECHOS
I have heard some people suggest having local area echos and I
think that something like this can be useful. Here in Atlanta we
have a general topic echo which is open to the public and gets a
fair amount of traffic without being overwhelming. There are
also Region18 and Sysop18 echos for distribution within Region
18 which have been well received. It was suggested that we
start a Tech18 echo and perhaps some other echos which would be
local to Region 18.
A big advantage that this echo would have over the national TECH
echo is that it would not have as much traffic. Right now the
national echo has so many msgs that it is very difficult to keep
up with.
A major disadvantage is that there would be fewer people who
could contribute their expertise to difficult problems since
noone outside of Region 18 would be participating. However, some
FidoNews 5-10 Page 16 7 Mar 1988
of the people making this suggestion are pointing out that, while
they are interested and are capable of helping people with
problems, the national echo just has too much volume to make it
worth the large amount of time it would take to keep up with, and
so they don't read it and many potential contributors are lost to
the echo anyway.
If people nationally, even internationally, could agree that the
widely distributed echos would be only for problems which could
not be solved at a more local level and that local echos covering
the same topics would be available for fielding the simpler
questions then many more people could be served. Let the local
echos with more limited distribution be people's first source of
help with problems. Then, if an answer cannot be found there,
bring it up for discussion on the national echo. This approach
has a two fold advantage.
First of all the simpler questions from less experienced users
would be likely to get answered in a more timely fashion since
echomail should propogate faster on the local level. It wouldn't
take as long for the questions and answers to propogate and there
would still be a large base of capable users (if we're talking
about a regional echo this would still be likely to go to dozens
if not hundreds of boards).
Secondly, by getting a lot of the simpler stuff out of the
national echo it would make it easier to keep up with the msgs
there and the quality of the information to be gleaned from that
echo would improve. A good quality, national echo would attract
even more people who would be capable of contributing to the
discussion as opposed to the current situation where capable
people get fed up with the volume of traffic, much of which is
too simple to hold their interest.
In order for a system such as this to work it would take
cooperation from many sysops to help ensure that their users
understand that they should first go to the local echo for help
with problems which are not monumental. Only after they have
found that noone in the local echo could help them should they
post problems to the national echo. Of course, if there is a
topic that is clearly of national interest (a newly verified bug
in a major compiler, for example) then it would not be
inappropriate to post this information to the national echo right
away, or even to both echos.
This is one area (among others) that usenet's distribution
software has better capabilities than Fidonet's. The software
for posting articles in usenet lets you post to a national group
while specifying local distribution so as to avoid causing
systems all over the world from having to pay for distributing a
msg which is only of local interest. It would be nice if the
echo software had a byte in each msg where it could be recorded
whether the msg was intended for local or extended distribution
(even options for many levels, node, net, state, region,
national, zone, international) and then identifying the links for
echomail as either local, national, or whatever and the echo
FidoNews 5-10 Page 17 7 Mar 1988
software wouldn't bundle up a local msg for a link which is
designated as a national link. However, it doesn't do this and
at this point the only choice is to set up separate echos if
different distribution patterns are desired. At least, it is the
only way I know of to limit distribution of some msgs while
letting other msgs of a similar subject matter be distributed
widely.
CONCLUSIONS
I'm not sure I can make any, but I was taught that written papers
or reports should always have a conclusion, so I'll try.
I think that it is clear that the volume of echomail is going to
increase. With more nodes coming on line all of the time we need
to be making plans for how to deal with this without sacrificing
too much efficiency, timeliness, or expense. I have made a
couple of proposals which I think could possibly help to keep the
effort required to support echomail distribution manageable while
at the same time not introducing gross inefficiencies that would
offset the gains realized from these suggested reorganizations.
I welcome constructive criticism. Flames will be consigned to
/dev/null.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-10 Page 18 7 Mar 1988
MENSA Echo Loses It's Founder and Host
George Falcon
1:109/648
My friend, mentor, and fellow Mensan Jim Kay suffered the loss of
his 80 Meg hard disk this past week. This has prompted Jim to
reconsider his involvement in this hobby, which can be a very
expensive one, not only in cash, but in time as well.
Jim was hosting the MENSA echo even before my wife Dot and I met
at a Mensa Happy Hour in D.C. in October of 1985, and he
patiently helped us through the rocky road to establishing our
node using Fido v. 11w. I fully expect we'll stay in touch
(after all, he only lives a half hour north of College Park, MD.,
where we are), but I'll miss having his wit around the net.
American Mensa owes him a lot, whether the members know it or
not, and many do.
The MENSA echo conference had, at my last (not fully informed)
count 22 systems in the U.S. and Canada as participants. I've
sent a message to most of the sysops in the conference through
netmail, but since some nodes are fed the echo indirectly, I'm
writing this for FidoNews in the hope that more interested sysops
will contact me via netmail. For those sysops who were getting
the echo and would like to continue, I'd like to hear from you.
I've volunteered to host the echo, at least temporarily, until a
faster system with more storage can be found, provided it's
operated by a member who's dedicated to the success of this
medium.
For those of you, sysops or users, who think they might be
interested in joining the echo, I ask that you also contact me
via netmail. We'll work something out.
For those who'd like to know a little more about Mensa itself,
you can file request or download MENSA.INF from our pure Opus
system. The address of American Mensa Ltd. is 2626 E. 14th St.,
Bklyn., N.Y. 11235-3992. The only requirement is a score in the
98th percentile on a number of standardized tests of
intelligence. Those interested in membership in Intertel (the
99th percentile) can file request or download INTERTEL.INF.
I found a housemate, a part-time job, a full time job, and last
but certainly not least... my wife... all through Mensa. I'm a
bit biased, but I think Mensa's a fun organization.
George Falcon
Coordinator, Telecomputing SIG
9314 Cherry Hill Rd. #219
College Park, MD. 20740-1249
Opus 1:109/648
(301) 345-7459
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-10 Page 19 7 Mar 1988
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Aaron Priven
1:125/1154
Corrections and Apologies
I would like to correct certain parts of my article in
FidoNews 5:7.
First, I misstated the name of the International Coordinator.
It is David Dodell, not Donald Dodell.
Second, I referred to Bill Bolton as the Zone 3 Coordinator.
He was replaced by Matt Whelan months ago.
Third, I misrepresented my column as an article. It was not my
intent to act as the role of a journalist or a reporter, but as
that of a commentator. As such I was only stating my opinions,
not attempting to cover the subject thoroughly. Because of this,
I did not contact any of those currently involved in other-
network gateways. I do not feel that this is particularly
improper behavior for a commentator, which is what I was trying
to be. However, I am aware that it was easy to misinterpret my
intent, and this was my fault.
I sincerely apologize for mistakes I have made. I will
endeavor not to make the same mistakes again.
Aaron Priven
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-10 Page 20 7 Mar 1988
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
14 Mar 1988
The next Net 157 FidoNet Sysops Meeting. Contact Phil Ardussi
at 1:157/1 for information.
16 May 1988
Digital Equipment Corporations Users Society Spring Symposium.
Will be held May 16-May 20 in Cincinnati, OH.
16 Jul 1988
A new areacode, 508, will form in eastern Massachusetts and
will be effective on this date. The new area code will be
formed from the current areacode 617. Greater Boston will
remain areacode 617 while the rest of eastern Massachusetts
will form the new areacode 508.
25 Aug 1988
Start of the Fifth International FidoNet Conference, to be
held at the Drawbridge Inn in Cincinnati, 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.31*
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86* EchoMail 1.31
TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1
BinkleyTerm 1.40*
QuickBBS 1.02
* 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
FidoNews 5-10 Page 21 7 Mar 1988
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-10 Page 22 7 Mar 1988
=================================================================
COMMITTEE REPORTS
=================================================================
INTERNATIONAL FidoNet ASSOCIATION, INC.(IFNA)
AGENDA
ANNUAL IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
February 19-21, 1988
The IFNA Board of Directors, by notice published electronically
on or about January 25, 1988 to the IFNA.BOD Echomail
Conference, linking all the present Directors, dis- cussed and
adopted the following as the Agenda for the re- quired,
scheduled ANNUAL MEETING OF THE IFNA BOARD OF DIREC- TORS,
February 19-21, 1988, commencing at 10:00 AM, CST at the Mariott
Courtyard, St. Louis, MO:
10:00 AM: Recognition and seating of the Chair of the IFNA Board
I. CALL TO ORDER -:- Ken Kaplan, Chair of the Board
Seating of IFNA President, Don Daniels;
Vice President, Mark Grennan;
Vice President-Technical Coordinator, (Acting) Dave Dodell;
Secretary, Tom Marshall;
Treasurer, Len Mednick;
Registered Legal Counsel, Mark Rubin.
Request to Secretary to take Minutes of the
Meeting and act as Parliamenterian
II. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
Note presence or absence of a quorum.
Appointment of Sergeant-at-Arms.
Establishment of Special Rules for this Session.
III. Call for reading of the Minutes of the IFNA Board
of Directors Meetings, August 20-23, 1987 as the
DRAFT thereof was published in FidoNews August 31,
1987.
Note corrections/deletions/changes/additions;
Call for Resolution Approving such Minutes of Previous
Meetings
IV. Call for Standing COMMITTEE REPORTS from each and
review/discussion/adoption of each such:
A. Report by Legal Counsel: Mark Rubin
B. Executive Committee: Don Daniels, Chair
C. Administration and Finance: Len Mednick, Chair
Special IRS 501c Status Report: Len Mednick,
Ken Kaplan, and Bill Allbritten
D. Nominations and Elections: Dave Dodell, Chair
FidoNews 5-10 Page 23 7 Mar 1988
E. By-Laws and Rules: Steve Jordan, Chair
F. Technical Standards: Randy Bush, Chair
G. Publications: Tim Sullivan, Chair
H. International Affairs: Henk Wevers, Chair
I. Membership Services: Phil Ardussi, Chair
Special FidoCON5 Report: Tim Sullivan, Chair
J. Division Reports by all Directors Representing
a Division
V. Old Business
A. Ratification of Rules and Practices adopted and used
by Board inaccordance with "modified RREO" to conduct
business of Board of Directors in interim periods
between meetings.
B. Ratification of all Motions and Resolutions adopted
during interim period by means of IFNA.BOD.FLOOR
EchoMail Conference.
C. Appointment by the Board of new Officer(s) since
Elections in August, 1987 completed.
D. Appointment of Alternates for those Directors who
failed to appoint such.
E. Determination of five at-large Directors whose
terms will end in August, 1988.
F. Revision of NODELIST Copyright Notice.
G. Consideration of POLICYx and Associated Documents.
VI. Call for discussion/resolution of any other items of
"Old Business".
VII. Review of Current Docket of Pending Matters before the
Board as established in IFNA.BOD EchoMail Conference
[All pending matters not already voted on and handled
via IFNA.BOD.FLOOR EchoMail Conference will be listed
here]
VIII. New Business:
"New Business" - NOT already covered above - that is to
be dealt with at this Meeting. Keep in mind that in
order to deal effectively with any "matter of New
Business", to the extent possible, ALL such "Matters"
should be the subject of prior written Notice. All new
matters introduced in IFNA.BOD.FLOOR and seconded be-
tween February 5, 1988 and February 17, 1988 will be
listed here as "New Business".
A. DAK Industries, Inc Sales of IFNA Nodelist
B. Possible Support of International Echo
C. IFNA EchoMail Policy
D. Determination of how best to deal with disturbances
within BoD and/or Committees
E. Creation of Ethics Commitee
F. Establishment of Directors' Primary Assignments
G. Definition of Life Membership Requirements
H. Representation for Zones other than 1
I. IFNA Position Statement
J. International Statement
FidoNews 5-10 Page 24 7 Mar 1988
K. Affirmation of Support for Dale Lovell
L. FIDONEWS Policy
M. Determination of Foreign Membership Fees
N. FIDONEWS Policy
O. IFNA Trademarks
P. Replacement of Bob Hartman's temporary roles of:
1. IFNA.BOD/FLOOR Moderator
2. IFNA.BOD/FLOOR Echo Hub
3. IFNA.BOD/FLOOR Vote Processor
Q. EchoMail Security - Specifically for IFNA BoD,
generally for other entities.
R. Support questions for FIDOCON 88.
S. Formalization of Coordinator Structures
T. Formalization of Coordinator Structures
U. Charitable Causes
IX. Handling of such matters that may have been tabled
previously.
(VIII. F. HELD PENDING FURTHER DEFINITION, INCLUDING THE
REQUIREMENT THAT EACH DIRECTOR SERVE ON AT LEAST ONE STANDING
COMMITTEE, PER BY-LAW 5. SEE: DD'S MATRIX REF:ASSIGN.DOC.)
X. Opening of the Floor to such Petitions as may come from the
Membership in Attendance.
XI. Determination of next in-person Meeting and of interim
Electronic Sessions.
XII. Adjournment
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
IFNA - COURTYARD by MARRIOTT 19-21 FEB. 1988
PRELIMINARY MEETING - 19 FEB. 1988
CHAIR - KEN KAPLAN APPOINTED, REVIEW OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR
FORMAL BOARD MEETING - 20 FEB. 1988
I. CALL TO ORDER - 10:01 20 FEB. 1988 BY CHAIR - KEN KAPLAN
ADOPTION OF AGENDA AS PROPOSED BY DON DANIELS, PRESIDENT
MOTION TO AMEND BY RICK SIEGEL, TABLED UNTIL ITEM V C.
IV. A. REPORT BY MARK RUBIN
II. CALL OF ROLL
PRESENCE OF A QUORUM
TERRY MUELLER ELECTED SEARGEANT AT ARMS
III. MINUTES OF AUGUST 1987 MEETINGS ACCEPTED AS PUBLISHED IN
FidoNews 5-10 Page 25 7 Mar 1988
FIDONEWS 4-33 SUBJECT TO CORRECTIONS FOR ERROR, SHOULD
ERROR APPEAR. READING WAIVED.
IV. REPORTS FROM EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE; ADMINISTRATION AND
FINANCE; BY-LAWS AND RULES; PUBLICATIONS; INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS; MEMBERSHIP SERVICES, SPECIAL REPORT ON FIDOCON5
(RICK ASHWORTH)
LUNCH BREAK: 12:10 -13:15
IV. CONTINUED: DIVISION REPORTS; DIVISION 13, RICK SIEGEL,
DIV. 13 READ REPORT, OTHERS MADE AVAILABLE FOR PERUSAL;
DIV. 16 AND DIV. 17 ON FILE WITH SECRETARY; ZONE 2 REPORT
BY HENK WEVER READ; ALL REPORTS ACCEPTED.
VIII. R. SUPPORT QUESTIONS FOR FIDOCON5 AUGUST 25-28, 1988:
MOTION: ROB BARKER - COMMIT NOW TO ADVANCE $2000 OUT OF
$3200 PROPOSED BUDGET; INTEND TO COMMIT TO ENTIRE
REQUESTED AMOUNT WITHIN 8 WEEKS, UPON NET 108'S REQUEST
THEREFOR AND SUBJECT TO EXISTING FINANCIAL CONDITIONS OF
IFNA AND INCOME FROM VENDORS RECEIVED BY THAT TIME; IFNA
TO RECOVER ALL "SEED MONEY" FROM PROCEEDS OF FIDOCON5,
BEFORE IFNA AND NET 108 SPLIT 50/50 NET PROFITS OF
FIDOCON'88.
V. OLD BUSINESS -
A. ACCEPTED
B. ACCEPTED, SUBJECT TO RECONSIDERATION OF ANY SUCH ACTS
C. OPEN, FOR REVIEW OF "COMMITTEE" AND RECALL
D. CLOSED
E. DON DANIELS; BOB RUDOLPH; KURT REISLER; GREG SMALL; GEE
WONG ARE THE AT-LARGE DIRECTORS WHOSE TERMS WILL EXPIRE
IN AUG. 1988.
F. REMOVED FROM CONSIDERATION
G. TABLED ON TIME
VI. NOTHING OFFERED
VII. CURRENT DOCKET - NOTHING PENDING, EXCEPT AS RELATES
TO VIII. C.
VIII. NEW BUSINESS
SEALED A. DAK - AFTER REVIEW OF CORRESPONDENCE, DON DANIELS
INSTRUCTED TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS WITH DREW
KAPLAN AS THE SOLE IFNA REPRESENTATIVE. ALL
MATTERS RELATING TO THE DAK MATTER ARE LEGAL
CONFIDENTIAL, UNTIL THE BOARD RELEASES SUCH.
B. IFNA IS NOT INCLINED TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT,
BUT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN REFERRING TO THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE THE MATTER OF A POSSIBLE
INTERNATIONAL ECHO, POSSIBLY FINANCED BY IFNA. THE
BOARD DOES NOT APPROVE ASPECTS OF THE SPECIFIC
"INTERUSER" ECHO THAT WAS THE SUBJECT OF THIS
AGENDA ITEM.
TABLED C. IFNA ECHOMAIL POLICY
E. DON DANIELS' MOTION PASSED TO FORM AN ETHICS
FidoNews 5-10 Page 26 7 Mar 1988
COMMITTEE TO FORMULATE AND REPORT TO THE BOARD ON
PROPOSED GUIDELINES AND SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING
STANDARDS OF CONDUCT IN IFNA AND FIDONET AFFAIRS
AND BUSINESS.
D. REFERENCED TO BY-LAWS AND RULES COMMITTEE TO
PROPOSE A NEW BY-LAW SPECIFYING THAT A DIRECTOR OR
OFFICER OF IFNA MAY BE REMOVED FOR CAUSE IF ANY
SUCH IS IN VIOLATION OF THE ETHICS STANDARDS ADOPTED
BY THE BOARD. REQUIRES A TWO-THIRDS VOTE OF THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
TABLED E. HELD PENDING FURTHER DEFINITION, INCLUDING THE
REQUIREMENT THAT EACH DIRECTOR SERVE ON AT LEAST
ONE STANDING COMMITTEE, PER BY-LAW 5.
TABLED F.
G. LIFE MEMBER DUES SET AT $250 TO ALL REGULAR
MEMBERS WHO REMAIN OTHERWISE QUALIFIED.
H. REFERENCED TO BY-LAWS AND RULES AND INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS COMMITTEES FOR RECOMMENDATIONS.
I. REFERENCED TO A "COMMITTEE" : REPORT OF COMMITTEEE
ACCEPTED, WITH MINOR TEXT CHANGES (REF:
GOODNEWS.TXT)
J. REFERENCED TO A "COMMITTEE" FOR REVIEW LATER.
K. AGREED TO CONFIRM DALE LOVELL'S APPOINTMENT AS
FIDONEWS EDITOR, WITH THE THANKS OF THE BOARD TO
DALE LOVELL FOR ACCEPTING THE POSITION TO BE SENT
BY THE PRESIDENT.
L. THE BOARD SUPPORTS THE EXISTING PRACTICE OF
PUBLISHING ALL SUB MISSIONS, EXCEPT THOSE THAT ARE
SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDED IN THE PUBLICATIONS
COMMITTEE'S REPORT. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SHOULD
BE ADVISED OF ANY ITEMS THAT ARE EXCLUDED FROM
PUBLICATION UNDER THOSE GUIDELINES.
M. FOREIGN MEMBERS' IFNA DUES AND ANY OTHER PAYMENTS
TO IFNA ARE SET IN US FUNDS.
N. DUPLICATION DELETED
S. FORMALIZATION OF COORDINATOR STRUCTURES - SUBSUMED
INTO THE FUNCTIONS TO BE PERFORMED BY THE
"COMMMITTEES" BEING FORMED TO DEAL WITH ECHOMAIL
POLICY (Rob Barker, BOARD REPRESETATIVE) AND TO
DEAL WITH POLICYx (Steve Jordan, BOARD
REPRESENTATIVE).
X. THOM HENDERSON: FIDO NODELIST INCLUDES DISCLAIMER
"EVERY EFFORT", CHANGE TO "REASONABLE EFFORTS". -
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD.
BRAD HICKS: SEND A RECOMMENDATION TO THE BY-LAWS
AND RULES COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER EXPANDING THE
MEMBERS DEFINITIONS TO INCLUDE CO-SYSOPS,
POINT-SYSTEMS, MAIL-ONLY NODES, ETC.
MARK GRENNAN: WRITTEN SUBMISSION RECEIVED 20 FEB.
1988, PROPOSAL TO CREATE AN IFNA ARCHIVE, A
DEPOSITORY FOR ALL FORMAL IFNA DOCUMENTS. - GREG
SMALL APPOINTED CHAIR OF ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
TO ORGANIZE SUCH AN EFFORT.
FidoNews 5-10 Page 27 7 Mar 1988
GREG SMALL: NEED TO CODIFY THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF
DIRECTORS, (AND ALTERNATES) OFFICERS, COMMITTEE
CHAIRS, ETC. IN THE FORM OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS.
BRAD HICKS: SEND OUT A PRESS RELEASE CONCERNING
THIS BOARD MEETING.
BRAD HICKS: MOTION - TO REQUEST THAT THE VP-TC ACT
TO INFORM THE ZC'S, RC'S, NC'S THAT THEY SHOULD
COOPERATE WITH THE ECHOMAIL COORDINATORS TO BRING
ABOUT THE CESSATION OF ANY INTENTIONAL DISTURBANCE
BY DECLARING SUCH ACTS AS BEING "EXCESSIVELY
ANNOYING" PER SE.
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FidoNews 5-10 Page 28 7 Mar 1988
A STATEMENT OF POSITION BY IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
IFNA believes in the continued and peaceful coexistence of
individual bulletin boards and electronic mail systems joined
together through the FidoNet network. Recognizing that FidoNet
is an international collection of system operators, users, and
supporters, it is with great caution and limited scope that an
international association must tread. Given this caveat, IFNA
accepts as primary responsibilities: maintaining a nodelist;
publication of a newsletter; the FidoNet Technical Standards;
and an international conference.
IFNA firmly takes the stand that all system operators within the
FidoNet network are joined by a moral and ethical thread to
further the development and education of international
communication for the benefit and good of all people.
Additionally, IFNA acts as an advisor and a resource to the
Fidonet group as a whole.
IFNA maintains a standard nodelist to provide a directory of all
FidoNet systems in a common format that permits international
communication to proceed unimpeded. IFNA also supports and
participates in the formation, promulgation, and publication of
the necessary technical standards to promote electronic
communication. Finally, IFNA fosters international
communication on a human level by sponsoring an annual
international conference (FIDOCON).
IFNA also serves in an advisory role to assist in the resolution
of any concerns that affect the local, regional, national, or
international nature of the network.
IFNA will provide the structures to promote international
growth, goodwill and understanding among electronic
communications systems and operators.
IFNA recognizes the current structures of FidoNet as they stand
and believes FidoNet is self-perpetuating and, in the final
analysis, self-governing.
Additionally, IFNA maintains that future policies will evolve
through the structure of, and be mandated by, the network.
IFNA's role will then be to codify these policies to protect the
interests of all.
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FidoNews 5-10 Page 29 7 Mar 1988
__
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.
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FidoNews 5-10 Page 30 7 Mar 1988
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________________________________
Zone:Net/Node____:____/____
Company_____________________________
Address_____________________________
City____________________ State____________ Zip_____
Voice Phone_________________________
Signature___________________________
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