Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only.
For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software.
FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the
FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of
individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized
agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this
compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors.
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. 1:1/1 is a Continuous
Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are
used with permission.
Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors
and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software.
Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every
responsible submission received.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
New version of ARTSPEC.DOC ............................... 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 8
The Planet: Pern Location is Brigadoon ................. 8
*CADNet* File Distribution Network ....................... 11
Known Distribution Networks .............................. 15
FidoNews: Must we print it all? .......................... 17
Commentary on the proposed Echomail Policy ............... 18
3. COLUMNS .................................................. 21
The Captain's Log ........................................ 21
Talk Me Through It, Honey ................................ 23
And more!
FidoNews 7-42 Page 1 15 Oct 1990
This week I finally broke down and changed ARTSPEC.DOC to reflect
the way that things actually happen around the newsroom these
days. I hope this helps make things clearer, without losing all
of the flavor of Thom's document.
I'm publishing it here in its entirety as the fastest means of
distributing it. Obviously, it will also be available from 1:1/1
as ARTSPEC.DOC.
Cheers,
Vince.
FidoNews
Article Submission Guidelines
Last Updated
10 October 1990
Based on the original work by Thom Henderson
FidoNews is the user group newsletter of the users of the
FidoNet(R) remote bulletin board network. As of this writing it
has an estimated readership of over two hundred thousand people
worldwide. In keeping with the nature of FidoNet, FidoNews is
an electronic newsletter which is passed from node to node over
the network. All of the articles which appear in FidoNews are
written or submitted by users of FidoNet. FidoNews is very much
an electronic newsletter by, of, and for Fido users and sysops.
This document describes the technical aspects of submitting an
article to FidoNews.
FidoNews 7-42 Page 2 15 Oct 1990
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are
used with permission.
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
FidoNews is assembled in a completely manual process each week.
Every Sunday evening the Editor runs a special utility called
MAKENEWS, which puts together the various articles which have
been received and generates the latest issue. The resulting file
is sent out using HATCH to 1:1/0, who passes it on to the Region
1 Coordinators using the TICK program. It is also placed in the
download/file request area of FidoNet node 1:1/1, both in
compressed form (FNEWSxxx.LZH) and uncompressed form
(FIDOxxx.NWS).
In practice, the primary purpose of the MAKENEWS utility is to
scan the articles which have been submitted for any technical
disqualifications. If MAKENEWS finds an article which does not
meet its technical specs, then a message is logged and that
article is not included in the newsletter. At this point the
article must be modified by hand until it passes the technical
requirements. Since this is dependent on the availability of
human resources, then an article which fails to meet the specs
may be delayed indefinitely, or even cancelled entirely.
It's important to note here that the FidoNews Editor is not
responsible for such cleanup. Although on occasion he or she may
in fact undertake to do so, there are no guarantees that a
non-conforming article will ever be published in FidoNews, nor
is it necessarily the responsibility of the Editor to even
correspond with the author of non-conforming material.
Much of this document is intended to describe the technical
specifications which an article must meet in order to be
included in the newsletter. Please read it carefully. The
article you save might be your own.
SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE
The first step, of course, is to create a file which contains the
text of your article. You should then send the file via FidoNet
mail to node 1:1/1.
Filename extensions are used to distinguish types of submissions,
as follows:
FidoNews 7-42 Page 3 15 Oct 1990
.ART An article, commentary, open letter, or general
news item.
.COL A column, or other regular feature.
.LET Letters to the Editor.
.SAL A "For Sale" advertisement.
.WAN A "Wanted" advertisement.
.NOT A notice for the back of the issue.
If your file doesn't have one of the above extensions, then it
will lay around taking up disk space until some human takes a
look at it and realizes what it is.
The name of the file is up to you, though you should use a name
which is not likely to be "stepped on" by someone else. For
example, FNEWS.ART is probably not a good name for an article.
If you are writing a regular feature, such as a column or a
series of articles, you can put a number at the end of the name,
and submit several in a batch. For example, you could send in a
set of five files, named:
These would be used one at a time in sequence. MYWORD1.COL would
be printed the first week, MYWORD2.COL the second, and so on.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
This section describes the technical requirements which an
article must pass before the MAKENEWS utility will include it in
FidoNews. If your file does not meet these criteria, then,
again, it will languish on the disk until some human happens to
notice, and fixes it.
These constraints are for purely practical reasons. There are
roughly a million different word processors out there, all with
their own different formats. We simply do not have the time to
convert them all to the format we use.
1. FLUSH LEFT MARGIN: The finished FidoNews is indented five
FidoNews 7-42 Page 4 15 Oct 1990
columns. We do that here. If your submission is also
indented, then your indent will be added to ours. So please
set your left margin all the way at the edge of the screen.
2. RIGHT MARGIN AT COLUMN 65 OR LESS: Less is tolerable, more is
definitely not.
3. NO FUNNY CHARACTERS: This includes formfeeds, returns without
linefeeds, linefeeds without returns, tabs and other oddities.
4. NO GRAPHICS CHARACTERS: Believe it or not, not everyone in
the world has an IBM PC. Please restrict yourself to
printable ASCII characters in the range 20 hex to 7E hex
(space to tilde).
However, if you are using PC-Write to create your file, then
feel free to use the "hard space", "hard hyphen", and "soft
hyphen" characters. MAKENEWS understands them, and will
handle them properly.
5. TOTAL ARTICLE LENGTH: Well, there IS an upper limit, but
we're not going to say what it is, because:
a) it's pretty big,
b) it changes from time to time, and
c) we override it now and then, as the circumstances merit.
Advertisements and notices are an exception. Since we don't
charge for ads, we feel justified in limiting them. The
maximum length of an advertisement is rather small (never more
than one page).
6. WHERE IS THIS ARTICLE FROM: A good question! You can submit
an article anonymously if you want to, but most folks start
out by stating their name and node number. You are encouraged
to do so, as any article which requires verification will be
automatically discarded if the author/submitter cannot be
reached.
If you want your article to be listed in the table of contents,
then you should start it with a "content line". This is just a
normal line, except that it is the FIRST line of your file, and
it begins with an asterisk ("*"). Here's an example of a
content line:
* My Word!
EXAMPLE
Here's a sample of what a typical submission might look like:
FidoNews 7-42 Page 5 15 Oct 1990
* A Sample Article
FidoNews Editor
FidoNet 1:1/1
This Is My Title
And here is my article. Note that it is flush left (zero
indent). Also note that the right margin is at column sixty
five, so that the result will look good when the formatter sets
it up. We also started the file with a content line, so my
article will be listed in the table of contents.
Note that we am not using any funny characters. This ensures
that the final article will look the same to every user, no
matter what sort of hardware he has.
This is the last sentence of our article.
And that's all there is to it! You should be able to get a file
like this out of any word processor.
FORMATTING ADVICE
There are certain things you should do to improve the general
appearance of your article when it is published. After all, two
hundred thousand of your fellow users will be looking at it. You
want it to look good, don't you?
You may have noticed that FidoNews articles are separated by
dashed lines. These are inserted by MAKENEWS, so you shouldn't
add them yourself. If you put a dashed line at the top and/or
bottom of your article, then it will appear right next to the
dashed line MAKENEWS inserts. Since your line is almost certain
to be a different length, then the result will not look very
good.
You should also put a blank line between paragraphs. This sets
them off better than just indenting the first line, and makes
you article easier to read.
You should not, however, put a lot of blank space at the top or
bottom of your article. MAKENEWS works hard to make sure that
the articles are well separated to the eye, so any space you add
at the ends will just waste paper when someone prints out the
news.
FidoNews 7-42 Page 6 15 Oct 1990
If you want to put in a table or a figure, go right ahead.
MAKENEWS does not rearrange text, so your table or figure will
remain exactly as you entered it.
If you want to justify the right margin, please feel free. You
may also leave it ragged if you wish. An even right margin
looks neater, while a ragged margin makes for text that is
easier to read. We've been told that an even right margin is
really just a gimmick, since typesetters don't really do it that
way, but you decide for yourself.
OTHER ADVICE
The biggest thing we see, the thing that irks us most, is when
someone submits an article that is full of basic errors in
spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation. Please remember, two
hundred thousand people will be reading what you write. Please,
for your own sake, use a dictionary when you're not sure how a
word is spelled. Or, if you're not good at grammar, get a
friend to help you write your article. We ain't the Literary
Digest here, and our standards are pretty (very) lax. If you're
willing to write it, we'll put it in. It's just that it's in
your own best interest to come off looking good.
EDITORIAL CONTENT
We suppose we should say something about article content.
Basically, it's up to you. As we've stated many times, FidoNews
isn't ours, it's yours. We will publish anything we receive
that doesn't seem to cause any legal quandaries for us. Most
articles tend to be related in some way to personal computing,
but that is by no means a requirement on our part.
WHEN WILL YOUR ARTICLE APPEAR
A good question indeed, and almost impossible to answer.
First of all, whether an article is published or not is MOSTLY
dependent on whether it meets the criteria mentioned above. If
they do not, then you're subject to the whim of the Editor.
That's usually OK, but everyone has their bad days. You may
never see your badly formatted article in FidoNews.
As for timing: At one time, the editorial staff attempted to keep
the size of the newsletter reasonably consistent by delaying
publication of some articles from weeks of heavy submissions,
printing them a week or so later. When the week or so of low
submission volume came along, the newsletter was filled out with
material that had been submitted the week or so before. This
became extremely difficult during some protracted periods of
extremely high volumes of submissions, and we dropped the policy
entirely when sufficient people objected.
FidoNews 7-42 Page 7 15 Oct 1990
By and large, everything submitted by Saturday night will make
the FidoNews sent out Sunday night. Often, submissions received
as late as sometime Sunday afternoon will make their way into
that week's edition.
There are good and bad aspects to this policy of printing stuff
right away. What's good about it is that everyone can time their
stuff to be published at the time they consider most
appropriate. What's bad about it is that articles seem to arrive
here in "spurts". We might get two articles one week, and then
twenty the next. Because we print everything received in each
cycle, it's entirely possible, and even somewhat likely, that
you could get a fifty page newsletter one week, and a two page
newsletter the next.
YOUR TURN
That's enough from us for now. Now it's YOUR turn to sit down
and write that article you're thinking about! Best wishes, and
good luck!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 8 15 Oct 1990
James Pallack, WeryLeader of High Reaches Weyr
1:325/101@FidoNet 69:2700/1 @KinkNet
10:101/101@PernNet 9:1010/11@ParaNet
Press Release - Distribute Everywhere - The Brigadoon Weyr Group
There's a new improved consortium of telecommunications
enthusiasts in the works, recalling the good old days of
Dada, Discordianism, searching for the Truth, hippie communes,
and guerilla ontology, and it is known as...
The Brigadoon Weyr Group
The Brigadoon Weyr Group is open to any computer system that is
network compatible, regardless of which network you belong to
as a primary or secondary link. The Brigadoon Weyr Group is in
the hobby of telecommunicating for the fun of it; whatever is
easiest for YOU to link with US is the best way for EVERYONE
involved.
ANY network that can link successfully to any of our varied
systems is welcome to join. The Brigadoon Weyr Group will
remain very unstructured; it is up to the people linking to
hope in and enjoy the fun. This is so all can sit back lazily
and enjoy the same fun you mere mortals are enjoying, without
the responsibility and awesome power of network topology handling.
The Brigadoon Weyr Group is devoted to the weirder things in
life -- fringe groups, nonstandard religions, Elvis searchers,
cult movies, bad audio and video, and certified maniacs and
politicians. It is the goal of The Brigadoon Weyr Group in its
"psychological experiment to allow us to complete a doctorate in
psychology" mode to allow the weird, the odd, the huddled
masses yearning to be free an electronic playpen in which to
espouse their varied belief systems. It is a network of losers,
winners, dreamers, screamers.
for a free starter kit...FREQ: BRIGADOON from 1:325/101 @FidoNet
at HST 14.4 v.32 (5K) and/or PERNLIST for a system map.
it includes a gift certificate good for one established link to
The Brigadoon Weyr Group via your network system. Please post
the gift certificate in every area you feel you can, for others
to discover the joy of The Brigadoon Weyr Group.
The message bases currently part of the The Brigadoon Weyr Group
package are:
FidoNews 7-42 Page 9 15 Oct 1990
BW_ASK_AB Auntie Bellums Parlor
BW_AUDIOACTIVE Punk Rap Heavy Metal Bouts
BW_GRAFWALL Great way to meet people
BW_GREEN_DRAGON Green Dragon Good Time Pub
BW_GUVMINT Whats wrong w/our government
BW_INSANITY Insanity, anything goes
BW_MAYBE Just say Maybe to drugs
BW_PERN Open discussions area for the citizens
of PERN
BW_PAGANS_AN Pagans Against Normalcry
BW_PARACITY Where the Down boys go!
BW_PREACHNIX Preaching
BW_VIDEOACTIVE Cult Movies, Bad Films, tapes. etc.
BW_BOOKSACTIVE SciFi Books, cults, etc.
BRIGADOON Brigadoon City Hall
(aka SysOp's room)
Feel free to pick up any or all of these echos -- via negotia-
tions with the system of your choice. The ONLY thing we
requests of Brigadoon Weyr postings is that they follow common-
sense rules of echo procedure, whatever those are. The big
things are staying on topic in the specific base, and allowing
access to BW_PARACITY to people strong or old enough to handle it.
We make no distinctions as to age, background, religion, sex,
gender, et cetera. We are an Equal Opportunity Network, limited
solely by the ability to move echomail around in a reasonably
good manner. Problems with offending nodes will be dealt with
via the path structure of the network until it reaches The
Brigadoon Weyr Group Central (1:325/101) where we will deal with
it as need be.
A rough topology map will be compiled monthly to give The
Brigadoon Weyr Group users an idea of who gets the net from
whom, and for new users to have an idea where to plug in.
In closing, I point out that we are all of us doing this as a
hobby, and will tolerate no politics or powerplays. I hope to
keep The Brigadoon Weyr Group open and free for all by dealing
with problems as they arise. It is my hope that official
regulations and policies will not be needed, to the enjoyment
and betterment of all concerned.
Current national hubs for The Brigadoon Weyr Group:
FidoNet
Net Address City Sysop Baud
--------------- ------------------ ------------------ ----
1:325/101 Burlington, VT James Pallack HST 14.4
1:363/71 Orlando, FL Carl Finkeldey 2400
1:3601/70 Gainesville, FL McArthur Sandridge 9600 HST
FidoNews 7-42 Page 10 15 Oct 1990
The Brigadoon Weyr Group - The smart move for today's
discriminating telecommunicator
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 11 15 Oct 1990
*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*
* *
* *CADNet* Support and Distribution Network *
* Carrying AutoCAD and other CAD/CAM *
* files related to user enhancement, *
* information and reference. *
* *
*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*CADNet*
National *CADNet* Headquarters
The DawgByte at up to 14.4 USR HST at
FidoNet 1:116/29
Distribution Headquarters - Kevin Snively 1:116/29
Distribution Coordinator - Stan Bimson 1:116/32
*CADNet* has been in operation since June 1990 and is an
Exciting New Distribution Network For CAD/CAD-CAM and AutoCAD
Support Utilities, Newsletters and Shareware Programs. We are
Not Directly Affiliated with AutoDesk or any other Commercial
CAD Software Companies. Many of us are Users though. Through
the Network we can share the latest in AutoLisp, shareware
programs and utilities for AutoCAD, drawings, slides libraries,
fonts and shape files, and electronic CAD magazines. We can
stay in touch directly with a *CADNet* Member specific Echo
Conference called CAD_NET.
As a SysOp the first thing you will need to do is find a direct
link into the Network. As the Network grows it will become
easier to do. I apologize in advance if it is going to be an
additional long distance connect. But, it will be well worth
it to be able to share CAD support files among others.
Zone 1
Region 11
236/13 Mike Siebern Angola, IN 219-665-8767
2200/141 Stan Waldrup Ypsilanti, MI 313-483-1359
Region 13
107/411 Mike Quinlan Shrewsbury TWP, NJ 201-544-8193
109/420 Yann LeGuellec Germantown, MD 301-428-8998
Region 14
283/630 Peter Elliff Cedar Rapids, IA 319-377-0134
Region 18
372/42 Taine Gilliam Charleston, SC 803-556-9094
116/24 Kevin Nashville, TN 615-353-3476
116/29 Kevin Snively Nashville, TN 615-385-4268
116/32 Stan Bimson Hendersonville, TN 615-824-4938
Region 19
124/4115 Dean Lachan Irving, TX 214-556-2982
124/4225.228 Steve Nye Somewhere in the great state of TX
394/6 Brian Stanga Ponchatoula, LA 504-294-5027
FidoNews 7-42 Page 12 15 Oct 1990
First of all you will need to get TICK by Barry Geller (latest
Version TICK200.LZH). Tick is the utility used to "Echo" files
among the Network. If you do not have a linkup point you may
link with The DawgByte at up to 14.4 USR HST @ FidoNet 1:116/29.
Should you need to Drop a note to the Dawg Byte's RAID (RAID is
an AreaFix for File Echos - Dawg Byte Does run a "OpenSystem"
for Applicable File Echos). Also send a note with all pertanant
information about your BBS and CAD Support File Area
Example of Information from *CADNet* member:
Board Name and information
EET BBS (Electronics Engineering Technologies BBS)
Nashville State Technical Institute
120 White Bridge Road, Nashville, TN 37209
615-353-3476 * 14.4 USR V32 Modem N-8-1
SysOp Kevin * System Coordinator Richard McKinney
File Requestable 24hrs a day
* 8 files max request per session
* Pwd not needed
Hours (please note mail time in your local zone, if applicable)
Open System - Users allowed online 1 hr per day.
Supporting Nashville Area CAD Groups
Related File areas:
AutoCAD, CAD-CAM, and *CADNet* Support Files
As a member of *CADNet* you may pick up from any it's members
that will allow "connection" into the Network. But first please
take time out and get your info into *CADNet* headquarters so we
have a current membership list at all times also be sure to
introduce yourself in the CAD_NET echo conference. This confer-
ence is for Members Only so please do not place it online. We
shall talk about new files, membership, routing, new releases,
and any other topic which is benifical to the Network. Feel free
to participate fully.
Any participant of the Network can send files. We ask that the
files be new (please no outdated files - within the last 18
months is ok), without ZIP or ARC comments, no files other than
the authors original distribution files, be sure the file(s) has
been properly tested, and for all of our convience sake use the
CAD Files areas:
CADM - CAD/CAM and Related Programs
CNEW - Electronic CAD Newletters, magazines or announcements
Also when "hatching" (sending) files please use a Description
which follows the following Notation (Description line form):
FILE.EXT XXXXX [CAD package] [file type]: [description]
^ ^ ^
| | |
ACAD - AutoCAD <---+ | |
VCAD - VersaCAD | normal file
GCAD - Generic | notation
(see others |
listed above) |
+-------------------------------------+------------------------+
LSP: for Lisp programs SLD: for slides and libraries
DWG: for drawings, even if ADS: for the soon coming
it's a block library ADS in R11 AutoCAD
DRV: drivers NEW: Newsletters, articles,
SHP: shape or font files, general text files not on a
even if it's a SHX listed topic. Files from CAD
MNU: for menus, even if and CAD/CAM magazines
it's a MNX DXF: for file transfers
MSC: for when you really don't
have any other idea where
it belongs
o If the file(s) work with a particular release such as Release
10 use [R10] in the description to define that condition.
o If the file(s) are a DEMO it should be noted as such. Please!
o If the file(s) are not a fully operational, some form of
Crippleware, it should be noted as such.
o Documentation. Please check that the file has some form of
documentation. It seems Lisp authors are the worst about
this, some don't even put comments in their code (!?). If
one of your local users can not write a few lines about the
file, please at least put the description text in the file.
o For-Pay-BBS: We don't want to shut anyone out, so we ask that
you don't. If you charge your callers for access and you want
to post this Echo's files, you must make access to them open
to any caller.
Any files that support these items will be in that file echo.
Right now we are just planning to carry AutoCAD related files.
Can't find any BBS's for any other CAD systems but we are not
limiting ourselves by any means. If you are a BBS caller, please
point out this message to the SysOp of your system.
And thank you for your support,
Stan Bimson 1:116/32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 15 15 Oct 1990
List of Known File Distribution Networks, Systems & Info files:
List compiled by Kevin @ The Dawg Byte, 1:116/29, 14.4 HST
Last Updated Friday 9/28/90
DDS Doorware hook up & System Info - Alan Davenport 1:13/75 Hq
DDS.LST 14927 membership lst (6-11-90) updated at Hdq
DDSINFO.TXT 7263 hook up information
DVNet (Desqview Support Netork) Peter Stern 1:75/13 (DvNet Hq)
DV-INFO.LZH 6906 Complete package - info & membership
Net-Node.Dv or DV (magic file name) should get you a list
of files in DVNet from any DVNet System.
PDN (Programming) IC is Eric Vanripper @ 1:260/230
PDNINFO.ZIP 2804 Original info file (file echos renamed)
PDNINFO.REQ 2809 New File - Membership Application
PETNet <Defunct>. Was Pet Related Files and Programs.
SDN (Shareware) req PID via SDN_SYSOP Ray Kaliss 1:141/840 Hq
SDN300.EXE 42353 self Extract SysOps & Software authors
CDN (Christian) Affiliated w/SDN - Contact Ray Waldo @ 1:394/1
CDN_JOIN.EXE 19943 self Extract Membership & Info Pkg
SDS BBS & related Network Tools Tom Hendricks 1:261/662 Hdq
At last look, SDS Regional coords were listed in the top
of the nodelist (Zone 1) in nodes 3xx where xx is Region
SDSGUIDE.ARC 9223 Original Info Packet
SDS.TXT 14003 Policy & Proceedures Guide
WIN*Net (Windows 3.0 Support Network) Larry Mundy 1:130/38 Hdq
WININFO.ZIP 8819 Information Package for WinNet
WINNET.RCT 1352 Recruitment message
WINNET.MAP 3238 Distribution Map current Sept 1990
In the works: - ANSI Distribution Network for ANSI Artwork &
ANSI Screens .. interested? Just ask. Netmail 1:116/29 (no
official announcments or documentation yet)
* all have related Distribution conferences Member SysOp only *
many are already avaliable in other than Zone 1 in FidoNet
AND in other Networks
FidoNews 7-42 Page 16 15 Oct 1990
For More Info Join in the fun on the FILE_REQ Echo Conference
Avaliable via the FidoNet Backbone.
I apologize for any distribution Network which is ommited.
If you would please send Info packet, I will update the List.
I also have all the files listed avaliable for Request 24hrs.
Kenneth "Kevin" Snively FidoNet 1:116/29
End List
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 17 15 Oct 1990
Fredric Rice
1:102/901.0
In FidoNews 7-40, we are treated to someones opinion about the
media motivated circus: Abortion. The debate still rages on in
every city, and now, in FidoNews. The other debate, if FidoNews
should print _everything_ it receives, has been discussed a lot
in the past four or five years. We also got a lot of ecological
enlightenment in the past month.
When I wrote directly to 1:3800/6.0 about wasting SysOps money
by distributing hate through FidoNews, I was informed in return
mail that the SysOp simply submitted the article uploaded by a
user. Basically, the SysOp refused responsibility for it.
To my mind, FidoNews should be technically motivated, not
politically, economically, and not repeating what the media
chooses to hand to the public; We get enough of that every day.
I would like to submit to the FidoNet community at large that
a debate be opened in the newly created FidoNews echo NEWSCHAT,
currently available from 1:369/21 or 1:135/36. If provided on
the backbone, all SysOps could offer comments and suggestions
to what exactly FidoNews is about and after a peroid of time,
take measure of option, pass a vote, and rework or retain
FidoNews policy based on the conferenced findings.
One of the reasons we have had the network split into several
parts is due to the political orientation FidoNet has taken on.
We need to _all_ determine what FidoNews should contain, and
not let just a few crack pots and religious zealots determine
it for us.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 18 15 Oct 1990
Todd Serulneck
1:322/337
Overall, I agree with the policy. It makes sense. But
I do have a few items that should be changed:
More than a few months should be given to testing the
policy in action. The events that fall under the
jurisdiction of the document do not occur all that often
such as a new moderator being implemented or a coordinator
position changing hands.
It not should be the *C's and the *EC's who vote for a
new conference moderator, but the sysops who carry the
conference. Some backbone echos are not read by the
coordinators. It should be the sysops who carry the echo
and have been monitoring and participating that get to vote.
I agree with the policy that the coordinators should be
the ones who do the final voting when it comes to electing
new coordinators, but the voting time should be extended to
allow the Coordinators to discuss the upcoming vote with the
regular members who hold no coordinator position. I know it
is important that position changes be done as swiftly and
smoothly as possible, but the membership as a whole will
have to be dealing with these people, so let them have some
say. Possibly we should use the same voting method used in
government- let the general membership report their opinions
and votes to the NC or NEC if that member is in a net or to
the RC or REC if he or she is independent. Then let the
coordinators be delegates and represent the view of his
sysops as a whole. It would be a shame to have the sysops of
a net want to impeach a coordinator, not because he does his
job improperly, but because he doesn't represent the views
of the sysops under him when it comes to elections. I know
that many coordinators would consult with their sysops under
them, but it should be included for those who do not. In
emergencies where a new coordinator is needed immediately
there should be a provision for someone to be the acting
coordinator until a permanent one can be voted in.
My main grudge is the paragraph about paying for
echos:
5. CHARGING FOR DISTRIBUTION: Any entity which
makes a profit from the distribution (passing from
system to system) of echomail shall be deemed to be
excessively annoying and in violation of Fidonet
policy subject to enforcement under existing
Fidonet policy. Profit as defined in this
paragraph is the charging for echomail distribution
that exceeds actual cost to obtain and distribute
the Echomail over a sustained period. The cost of
the equipment used to obtain and distribute
echomail may only be recovered on a strictly
FidoNews 7-42 Page 19 15 Oct 1990
voluntary basis. A Sysop that charges users for
access to their BBS shall NOT be in violation of
this paragraph.
Exactly what is that last sentence supposed to mean?
Sysops who regularly charge their users may exclude
themselves from the rules of the paragraph or they must make
sure that they follow the rules like anyone else? Or does it
mean something else? Charging for echos is an important
subject. More than 4 sentences should be spent on this. I
think that a standard should be made and included in this
paragraph.
Maybe some different scenarios for charging for echoes
should be included rather than leaving the scenario up to
whoever wants to implement it. I recommend placing a daily
price on each echo. But what should the terminal nodes be
charged for? The cost of the stars working together + the
cost of the REC getting it off the nearest star + the cost
of getting it from the REC to the NEC to the local hub would
be difficult to compute into a value that each sysop that
subscribes to the echo should pay.
If I was on a regional border, I may prefer to call to
a node that is a local call in a another region where
echomail is free rather than pay toll fees to a coordinator
in my own region. Sort of like the Massachusetts liquor
tax- Buying liquor just over the New Hampshire border
without the tax rather than buying it here in Massachusetts
where we have to pay the tax. What do you do with people
like that? Do you leave it up to the REC's of the two
regions or the NEC's of the two nets? Is it to be allowed?
If it is, then the regional than net borders as far as
echomail is concerned will not be so definitive. And what
is to be done if we can call long distance to a toll free
region for less than is charged by the coordinators of the
local region. My personal view is that asking for help with
the phone bills is OK. Voluntarily paying is OK. But to let
someone take their phone bill and divide it by the number of
sysops in the net or region is absurd. I don't want to pay
for echoes I don't carry. Charging for the echoes becomes a
chore and then people start whining, "You charge him a
dollar less because he doesn't carry this one heavy volume
echo." What a mess and trouble these people who charge for
echoes will be getting into. And how do the people he is
charging monitor exactly what is the phone time being used
for? What if they are being charged for a ton of Netmail?
I am against charging for echomail. This is a hobby,
not a job. If I had to pay for my echomail, the money
wouldn't come from me, I'd begin to charge my users. Isn't
that against the idea of fidonet? We don't want this to
become like Compuserve or Prodigy where everything is toll.
I understand that there is a whole huge phone bill that is
not being evenly distributed. But how difficult it is to
FidoNews 7-42 Page 20 15 Oct 1990
make up a separate price for everyone based upon how much it
costs to get them echomail and the volume of the echos they
carry. It is unfair to say, "Let the coordinators pay for
it." But in a few years after I come out of college, I plan
on buying a system that can handle the heavy volume of mail
that a coordinators system must handle. At that time, I may
want to give a coordinator a rest and wear his hat. I would
be willing to foot the bill for my own system and only have
sysops under me pay for the costs of getting the mail from
my system to theirs, not the cost of getting it from my
system to the system on the level above me.
The best way to charge for echomail is to have each
sysop pay for the cost of getting the mail to and from the
system at a higher level. This means that non-coordinators
must pay the bill from the NEC or REC or hub to his system.
The hub pays for the bill from his system to the NEC. The
NEC pays for the link between his system and the REC. The
REC pays for his link to the nearest star. The stars pay
their own way.
Under this system, if a link is local, then the lower
system pays nothing. If a link is toll, then the lower
system pays the bill.
What if a lower system can't afford it and would like
to charge the systems at a lower level. I am against
monetary charging because it is difficult to compute fairly.
Why not instead rotate hubs every 3 months or so. Make 4
areas.bbs files (or your system's equivalent) and 4 routing
files- one for each season. Then pick the 4 largest systems
to take turns at hubbing. Every time a season changes, all
the sysops in the net or region change the file to the one
for the season. No money involved and the yearly cost is
still divided among 4 systems as evenly as if monetary
charges were being sent around.
I'd like to hear some feedback on the following
subjects:
My idea of a rotating hub.
Different Methods of charging.
Todd M. Serulneck
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 21 15 Oct 1990
"Captain's Log, Stardate 9010.14..."
by Phil Buonomo, 1:107/583@FidoNet 520/583@AlterNet 9:807/1@PNet
It's been a number of months since I've written here, and a lot
has happened since that time.
Originally I stopped writing a regular column because I was so
busy working on the Conclave '90 convention that we held in
August in New Jersey. It was a lot of fun and a lot of hard
work, but it was worth it.
God knows that this hobby of ours brings us a lot of
satisfaction and a lot of aggravation. Just like any love
affair, I think there's a lot to be said for the love-hate
relationship of what we do. Everybody's made friends and
enemies through this electronic medium of ours. The lucky ones
make more of the former, and fewer of the latter.
It's a lot like life, I think.
However, as many have pointed out before me, this is fantasy,
whereas life is reality, and sometimes life has a way of
reaching out and reminding us of what's important. Hurricane
Hugo did that for many of us last year when one of our own lost
his home to the ravages of that storm.
I met a lot of folks at Conclave '90, some of whom I had only
corresponded with. I also met someone there who made a big
impression on me, someone who delighted in teasing me and making
me uncomfortable, but all in a good naturedly way. I enjoyed
that person's company very much, and looked forward to seeing
them again someday.
Well, reality intruded on my fantasy today about 20 minutes ago
when, in the course of my reading echomail, I saw that they'd
died suddenly. I will never get to meet that person again.
That person is gone forever, unless I am lucky enough to meet
them again 'on the other side'.
Let me just say that in the little time I knew my friend, I
learned what a warm hearted, good person they truly were. I
shall miss that person very much, and grieve along with those
that have been left behind.
For a brief time, my friend brought joy to my life. I hope that
person is happy once again now, wherever they are.
FidoNews 7-42 Page 22 15 Oct 1990
And I hope that when I next sit down to do this activity again,
I will remember to keep my priorities straight, and remember
what is truly important in life.
Good-bye, my friend.
Sincerely,
Philip J. Buonomo
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 23 15 Oct 1990
Henry Clark
124/6120
My God, It's Full of Stars --
Our little net of the woods selected a new RC, REC, and NC this
past month. We got some real buttheads in office now... Just
thought I'd poke the embers with a stick one last time.
I actually ran for the RC position, garnering the fewest votes
of any candidate. The whole election was rigged because the
incumbent RC decided to run for re-election. It'll cost me a
bundle in psychiatric fees to get over this one.
In conjunction with that vote, the RC called for the election
of the REC, and our incumbent REC was not at all amused. This
led to flames of the 'Hell Fire' proportion, much policy
disputing and general shakeout of the regional echomail
operation in the 'Maximum Volume Load Test'. ( It works ! )
A policy complaint over the REC solicited the opinion of the
ZC, no less, which is the main reason you read the Echomail
Policy last week in Fidonews. After electing the RC and REC,
by a majority of votes tendered, the sysops of Region 19 are
probably not going to appreciate the movement toward
'old-boy-ism' touted by the new policy's selection process.
On that same ballot were two regional echomail policies to
choose from, neither garnered enough votes to warrant
implementation. Interesting result.
On a much lighter note, our NC selection process was a model of
interpersonal concern. At our monthly Pizza Party, we read
from the absentees mailings, narrowed the nominees, agreed on
one unanimously and got back to the important stuff ( pizza and
beer ). It took all of 30 minutes. None of this 6 week
campaign-netmail-password stuff. It was great.
Congratulations Bryny and to all of Net 124.
One interesting side note on the idea of participation in these
Fidonet proceedings. I suggest that a sysop in Fidonet not
only run Net Mail Hour, but also respond personally to a
quarterly poll from the net Host, as a condition of keeping
his/her node number. I'm sick of the "simple majority -
majority of sysops" arguments. Let's make this one and the
same. It's redickalust to see a 30% participation rate.
Mini-Blinds --
FidoNews 7-42 Page 24 15 Oct 1990
Oracle won't run in Windows Enhanced mode. It will run in
Desqview. QEMM didn't help. More upgrades to follow. Let's
see : write software, sell for 50. Upgrade three times for 20
each. Which is more profitable ? If you run the kernel as
machine type J ( expanded memory ), you get the error "No
VPCI". If you run it as type 2 ( extended memory ), you get
the error "Can't get memory", which is to say the XMS driver (
QEMM ) won't give it up. There was one other configuration I
tried and Windows threw up the "Can't run protected mode app in
enhanced mode".
ORA_DBMS is a new backbone echo, re. anything at all to do with
Oracle and Relational Databases. Check it out.
(Super PC Kwik Information Bulletin)
Windows 3.0 and QEMM 5.11 : we have found that some people seem
to be able to cache extended memory, but we can't cache
expanded memory. Okay to use "loadhi" with this combination.
I don't think I want to 'seem' to able to cache.
Why is that Windows SDK box still unopened ? That Zoom utility
is fun. Open it up to about 9/10s of the screen size and move
the whole window around. Zoom zooms itself ! I'm quite sure
the Spy icon is the same character as those Spy vs. Spy guys
from Mad magazine. Of course, they're a rip off of Heckel and
Jeckel. We already had clip-art wars, now I guess it's time
for icon copyright wars.
On the subject of metaphors ( aren't I always on that
subject ) : I want a metaphor modifier feature. Like the
ability to change color combinations, the GUI user wants to
alter his desktop operation in a procedural way. For example :
deleting a file. On the MAC you have that Basketball metaphor,
where the file is slam dunked into a basket. ( So what ?! ) I
want a World Politics motif where my file becomes a terrorist
camp and I drag in an F-16 to blow it away. I want a Surgeon
motif to rename a file ( you figure it out ). Instead of
highlighting, I want Thor's hammer to strike a lightning bolt
to start an application.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 25 15 Oct 1990
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-42 Page 29 15 Oct 1990
4 Nov 1990
Area Code 214 fragments. Part will become area code 903.
6 Nov 1990
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
13 Nov 1990
Third anniversary of Fidonet in Austria (zone 2, region 31).
14 Nov 1990
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
2:332/16.0
16 Nov 1990
100% Democratically elected administration takes over the
coordination structure in Zone-4 Latin America
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.
12 May 1991
Fourth anniversary of FidoNet operations in Latin America and
second anniversary of the creation of Zone-4.
8 Sep 1991
25th anniversary of first airing of Star Trek on NBC!
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
FidoNews 7-42 Page 30 15 Oct 1990
Montebello) will retain area code 213.
1 Dec 1993
Tenth anniversary of Fido Version 1 release.
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.
TELECOMPUTING MAGAZINE PARTY AT COMDEX
YOU'RE INVITED!
Telecomputing will be throwing a party at COMDEX in Las Vegas on
Wednesday, November 14 from 6pm to 10pm at the Dunes Hotel,
Regency Room. All BBSers are invited to meet the entire staff at
Telecomputing, as well as some of the biggest names in BBSing.
Scheduled to attend are:
John Dvorak - Co-Author of Dvorak's Guide to Telecomputing
Writer for computer magazines
including PC Magazine, Telecomputing
Nick Anis - Co-Author of Dvorak's Guide to Telecomputing
Writer for numerous computer magazines
Phil Katz - Author of PKZIP file compression utilities
Tom Scott - Editor in Chief, Telecomputing Magazine
Michael Banks - Author of computer and science fiction books.
Writer for Computer Shopper, Telecomputing.
Dean Kerl - Contributing Editor, Telecomputing Magazine
Director of Operations, CONNECT-USA
Sysop on Galaxy Information Network
Tim Stryker - Author of The Major BBS
Writer for Telecomputing Magazine
Jerry - Writer for Byte Magazine, Telecomputing,
Pournelle and other publications
Mark Hiatt - Sysop on GEnie, Writer for Telecomputing
Chuck - Author of ZMODEM and numerous communications
FidoNews 7-42 Page 31 15 Oct 1990
Forsberg products
Phil Becker - Author of TBBS, President of eSoft
Jim Harrer - President of Mustang Software (Wildcat! BBS)
Rusty & Edie - Sysops and owners of Rusty & Edie's BBS
50 Line PCBoard BBS in Youngstown, OH
The following companies have provided door prizes to be given away
at the party. They will also have representatives available to
answer your questions.
Company Door Prize
------- ----------
Intel - Ultra 9600 EX Modem (V.32 & V.42bis Capable)
Hilgrave - 5 copies of Hyper Access V Comm Software
Hayes - Ultra 9600 Modem (V.32 & V.42bis Capable)
Mustang Software - 3 Copies of Wildcat! BBS Software
Pro-Star - 2400 Baud Modem
Henry Bird & Assc. - Demo Diskette Packages
Anchor Automation - 9600 or 2400 Baud Modem
Omnitronix - VCR Backup Board
Ohio Software - Software Programs
PC Industries - CableMate /IBM
Galacticomm - 5 copies of The Major BBS
Exec-PC - 2 One Year Subscriptions
eSoft, Inc. - Complete 16 Line TBBS system, eSoft T-Shirts
Channel 1 - 2 Six Month Subscriptions
PKWare - PKZip Software Package
Galaxy Networks - 9600 UFO Modem (V.32 & V.42bis Capable)
Rusty & Edie's BBS - 2 One year subscriptions
Telecomputing is dedicated to the world of BBSing. If you would
like to receive a free copy of Telecomputing, please call
(800)477-1788 during normal business hours.
Telecomputing Magazine will be publishing a printed national BBS
FidoNews 7-42 Page 32 15 Oct 1990
Directory in the January 1991 issue of the magazine.
If you operate a BBS, or would just like to see your favorite BBS
listed, call Telecomputing at 800-477-1788 during normal business
hours. Each system will be allowed a listing similar to a standard
business listing in a telephone book. The information required is:
name of system, the computer types supported, the city where the
BBS is located, and the main telephone number of the system. There
is no charge for this type of listing. The deadline for listings
is Friday November 9, 1990.
Longer, more detailed "advertisements" are available at varying
charges depending on the size of the ad.
Each subscriber to Telecomputing will receive a copy of the
directory. Computer clubs and users groups may order bulk supplies
of the directory for their members.
Telecomputing is dedicated to the world of BBSing. If you would
like to receive a free copy of Telecomputing, please call
(800)477-1788 during normal business hours.
