Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication
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Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
How Big is FidoNet? ...................................... 1
Announcing The Programmers Distribution Network! ......... 2
Remote Control and You ................................... 4
2. NOTICES .................................................. 6
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 6
FIDONEWS 7-29 Page 1 16 Jul 1990
From time to time, some of us (far be it from me to suggest that
there may have been a brewski or two in the room, or that the
room was full of net 285 sysops) have wondered how big the
network really is. After all, my knowledge is the space the
NODELIST takes up on my disk, and we all /know/ that it's full
of duplicates because of coordinators and hubs and zones and
such. Right?
As part of a class I'm taking in Mass Media Law, I had occasion
to wonder a little more critically. The only published figures
were several years old, and mentioned the 3,000 - 4,000 range.
So I decided to do a little checking.
My method was to import the nodelist into a database and check
for duplicate telephone numbers. There were 1525 duplicates,
base on NODELIST.194. Of these, 345 were annotated "duplicate"
because the telephone number is "-Unpublished-".
So, not being wanton or frivolous enough to hand check 345
telephone numbers, I'm assuming that coordinators, regions and
such aren't likely to have the number -Unpublished-. So, I
added back in the -Unpublished count. The final figure, of
presumably physically independent nodes, is
8739 entries
less 1525 duplicates
plus 345 -Unpublished-
=======================
7559 nodes
and that's the way it is, as of NODELIST.194. Trivial Pursuit
fans please take note, everyone else (including yours truly)
just try to figure out why I bothered!
The Programmers Distribution Network (PDN) is here!
After being forced to log on to BBS's all over the world to find
the latest CXL library, (mostly because I cannot afford C$erve
or the phone bill!) or a Library for Fossil Routines, I would
think to myself: "Why is there no means for transferring these
kinds of files like there is for the SDS?". Well, I finally
decided to do something about it.
On Monday, July 9th, I did a mass mailing to all the
nodes in Zone 1 with a USDS flag in the nodelist. Some I could
not get through to, for unknown reasons, but for the 100 or so I
did get through to, I received an overwhelming response within 12
hours. I also found a few Nets doing this same idea more locally
and they have agreed to join forces. A lot of people came up
with many ideas on how things should be distributed, and I have
taken them all into consideration. I figured that the best way
to handle the distribution would be to set up one node in each
Region, then have that coordinator pass the files to their own
Region, and off to one other Region. We would (of course) use
TICK, because it works!
Things will be set up in the following fashion:
Area Name Area Description
========= ================
CEE Any MSDOS related C or C++ files
PASCAL Any MSDOS related Pascal files
BASIC Any MSDOS related Basic files
ASSEMBLY Any 80xxx related Assembly files
BATCH Any .BAT related files
PDNOS2 Any OS/2 related files
PDNOTHER Any Amiga, Macintosh, etc. related files
LANGUAGE Any Other files that do not fit under the
other areas (Unix, Modula-2, Cobol, etc).
In the above chart, I refer to "files" as Libraries,
Object code, or Source code in each area. I would also ask that
the author (or authorized agent) please make sure that the file
being entered into the PDN be documented, and functional. I
would like to not see "CrippleWare" or "VaporWare" included.
Only Public Domain and ShareWare should be submitted.
The following Nodes have volunteered to be Regional
Distribution points for the PDN:
* Note 1: A Gateway between Zone 1 to Zones 2 and 3 has
been arranged via Mark Howard (260/0).
* Note 2: 116/36 has provided gateways to the following
Zones: 6, 8, 29, 99, and GTNet.
If you are in a different Zone, or if you would like more
information on the PDN, please contact one of the above PDN_RC's,
and File Request PDNINFO.ZIP.
If you are interested in distributing the PDN for your
Net, please contact one of the above PDNRC's to pick up the
area(s) your Net wants.
There will also be two message Echo areas created, and
they will be passed during the distribution of the files. One
will be for the PDNRC's to coordinate the transfers, and the
second will be used by the users of individual BBS's to enable a
conference for support.
"What? That database isn't working? Can you tell me what error
message you're seeing?....happens too fast eh?...hmmm...Sounds
like I'll need to hop the next red-eye to Los Angeles. That's ok,
this Connecticut weather is bumming me out anyway. Hope the boss
signs that travel voucher. This could get expensive..."
Remote control. It's a pretty simple concept actually. One device
being controlled by another device without any true physical
contact between the devices. We use it everyday with our cable,
TV, and stereo systems. I personally am the proud owner of 8
"clickers"! When applied to the PC's on our desks at both home
and work, it is the same concept.
Using the example above, remote control can save the techie some
considerable time and money. The administrator in LA needs only
to run a "host" program and then sit back while the techie modems
in from Danbury with the "guest" program, diagnoses the problem
with the database and even fix it while connected. Everything
that the techie is doing is being done on the PC in LA yet it is
being controlled remotely from Danbury. Pretty neat eh?
The possibilities are almost endless! A good true life example
exists in Utah. At the bottom of a lake, a PC is sealed in a box
with phone and power cables routed from the shore. This PC has
equipment and software that monitors water temprature and flow
and controls flood gates for a dam nearby. Attached to the PC is
a modem. The person in charge of this system (whose office is
about 50 miles away), can see exactly what is happening and can
make emergency adjustments at any time simply by calling this PC
and remotely controlling it. No trip to the lake has to be made.
At the software level, all that is being done is redirection. The
video output from LA is being sent and maybe translated to the
video display of the Danbury machine. The keyboard input from
Danbury is being sent to and processed by the machine in LA. Some
remote control programs even re-direct printer output. Most
remote control programs provide file transfer as well.
Now, you are probably asking me why I'm writing this. I have
recently created an echo conference that deals with this topic -
remote control. I know that MANY people do use it. I know that
MANY people don't. I know that MANY people don't understand it.
The goal of this conference, called REMOTE, is to educate those
that don't understand and assist those that use remote control
software. REMOTE's sideline goals are to induce new ideas for the
market, discuss problems with current or previous attempts at
remote control, and keep the user aware of this little niche of
the software industry.
FIDONEWS 7-29 Page 5 16 Jul 1990
As moderator/creator of REMOTE, I can only hope that people
realize that a forum of this type could really benefit both the
user and sysop of any bbs system in Fidonet. Remote control
software is BIG. Each commercially available package is selling
in the millions while there is a growing presence of remote
control shareware and public domain software. A node that carries
this conference could use it as a selling point to attract users!
REMOTE is currently available from my system, theWeb! 1:141/735,
along with a majority of the HUBS of Net 1:141 in Connecticut.
With a bit of luck and lot's of usage, REMOTE could even become a
backbone echo!
Christopher L. Browne
Creator/Moderator of REMOTE
theWeb! 1:141/735 (203)790-6612
27 Jul 1990
The beginning of the REGION 17 Convention at Menucha Resort in
the Columbia Gorge, Oregon. For details contact Ken Zwaschka,
1:105/54.
1 Aug 1990
Start of FidoCon '90. Contact Bill Vanglahn at 1:1/90 for
details.
17 Aug 1990
Start of first ever Searchlight SysOps convention in Chicago, IL.
Contact Marge Robbins at 1:283/120 for details.
5 Oct 1990
21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
6 Nov 1990
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
14 Nov 1990
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
2:332/16.0
1 Jan 1991
Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact
Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description.
16 Feb 1991
Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush.
7 Oct 1991
Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland,
Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo,
Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay
Islands will retain area code 415.
1 Feb 1992
Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and
eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area
code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport,
West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los
Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and
Montebello) will retain area code 213.
FIDONEWS 7-29 Page 7 16 Jul 1990
5 Jun 1997
David Dodell's 40th Birthday
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
