F I D O N E W S Volume 16, Number 08 22 February 1999

F I D O N E W S Volume 16, Number 08 22 February 1999
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | +27-41-515-913 [5:5/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Henk Wolsink 5:7104/2 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 5:5/23 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> [email protected] |
| [email protected] |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
2. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 2
Dem Bones, Dem Bones ..................................... 2
3. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
Announcement ............................................. 3
The nab is connected to the johnnie bone, the bobby bon .. 3
An Alternative to Empty Echos and Dross-Filled Internet .. 4
4. NOTICES .................................................. 6
5. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 7
6. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 11
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 1 22 Feb 1999

=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================

Greetings,

What the heck is going on with all this 'backbone' bull in Zone 1?
Will somebody please sent me Netmail and tell me the full story?
E-mail will also do, thanks.

In the not to distant future, it's my intention to do some travelling
to another Zone for a few weeks. I'm looking for a stand-in or if you
prefer, an assistant to take care of FidoNews. If you are interested
please sent me Netmail.

Happy reading,

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 2 22 Feb 1999

=================================================================
GUEST EDITORIAL
=================================================================

Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

Douglas Myers, 1:270/720, [email protected]

Despite another break in the Backbone, mail mover notables assure us
that echomail will continue to flow. The first crack in the
Backbone occured recently when George Peace withdrew, citing
differences with John Souvestre's strong-arm attempts to control the
organization. However, George didn't actually stop moving mail and,
after the dust settled, echomail continued to flow. Not to be
outdone, John Souvestre last week quit the Backbone and started his
own. Supporters of the new Zone 1 Backbone (I count at least two)
predict the demise of the old North American Backbone within 6
months.

It's ironic that as echomail volume decreases, presumably due to the
increasing influence of the internet, echomail organization becomes
increasingly complex. At the moment, I'm aware of nine
organizations dedicated to the distribution of echomail, and there
are probably more:

FS - FidoSpine
FTPB - FTP Bone
FTPH - FTP Hub
IHub - Internet Hub
NAB - North American Backbone
PC - Planet Connect
TFPD - The Funny Papers Distribution
WWB - World Wide Backbone
Z1B - Zone 1 Backbone

Some have noted that all this splintering is actually good for Fido
echomail, as the ensuing arguements about distribution methods are
keeping the echoes alive. If the past is a reliable guide, then the
formation of the Z1B will keep the beef coming... we'll just have
more 'bones to contend with.

In the spirit of further divisiveness for the good of Fido echomail,
I'd like to offer some more acronyms for the enterprising amoung us:

POB - Peace O' Bone. Why shouldn't George have his own?
WWF - Hulk Hogan gets into echomail.
Z1T - Teens abandon AOL chat rooms and take to echomail.
Z1P - Compressed echomail with a new packet format: PKZ1P.
ZZZ - For those of us who prefer to sleep through the echo wars.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 3 22 Feb 1999

=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================

Announcement
by John Bodoni, 1:284/99

Greetings.

It has become apparent that there are two distinct schools of
thought regarding mail movement within Zone 1. Some members of
the North American Backbone (NAB) are unsatisfied with the
direction the distribution system has taken, others are content
with the way things are currently being handled.

The time has come for the two groups to part ways.

The Zone 1 Backbone has been formed.

Consisting of volunteers who are willing to be held to a group-
defined standard of operation, the goal of the Zone 1 Backbone
(Z1B) is to distribute echomail and echomail-routed-netmail as
rapidly and reliably as possible.

For further information about the Z1B, feel free to connect to
the Z1BACKBONE conference, which should soon be available at a
distribution system near you.

John Bodoni
Zone 1 Backbone Coordinator

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The nab is connected to the johnnie bone, the bobby bone is

By Bob Moravsik, the Southern Star

We have just witnessed an event that made no difference. Malcontent
John John Souvestre resigned from his imaginary backbone and is
posturing to start the JohnnyBone. Souvestre has been Fidonet's
malconrent, ever since he tried to enforce boppy on everybody that
carried a message with 396/1 in the seenbye.
Needless to say most of his "dicta" have been laughed at. Now he
wants to start another backbone of one and will take it upon himself
to carry conferences when nobody asked that "his bone" carry them.
Hence the Johnnybone has NO CONFERENCES unless he creates this
fiction that the Johnnybone will carry all conferences unless asked
not to.

All moderators might want to carefully thinkout the wisdom of carrying
conferences on the Johnnybone. Remember, if this guy don't get his
way, he gets very vindictive. He's dropped conferences before on a
whim. If the Johnnybone doesn't carry any conferences, the nodes
linked to the Johnnybone will SIMPLY route around the Johnnybone.
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 4 22 Feb 1999

Its been done before.

The Johnnybone will have one conference for the Johnny groupies. The
rest will be swiped from the FidoSpine or the BWP bone. (Or is it BW
bone...hmmmmm). We are all awaiting the unilateral proclamation from
the Johnnybone on its officiality. The real question on peoples minds
is what "council" can this guy latch onto to fake you all into believe
he's "official".

We wait with unrelenting glee for this posturing.

Regards Bob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

An Alternative to Empty Echos and Dross-Filled Internet Newsgroups
by Steve Quarrella, 1:124/9005 or [email protected]

These days, folks are running off to the Internet in droves. Well,
I like the Internet as much as the next guy, but there is one area
where I think Fidonet absolutely beats the tar out of the Internet.
That's our message echos. It is a constant annoyance to me to go
into a certain newsgroup, looking for chatter or information, only
to find it overrun by career flame artists, spammers, bullies, idle
chatterers, and other destructive persons whose goal in life appears
to be to suck the life out of the newsgroup and scare everybody off.

While there ARE Internet alternatives, like moderated newsgroups and
-- don't forget this one -- private mailing lists, I like to think
our Fidonet echos are a wonderful alternative for folks who just like
to talk. I started my system because I liked participating in the
echos, and I've always liked to think that anybody who shared the
same interest would feel at home here at 1:124/9005. We've got many
conferences, covering a broad number of topics, and most are governed
by reasonable people and guidelines that spare us from the
aforementioned destructive behaviour. Unfortunately, many of these
conferences once had double digit per day traffic -- some of my
favourites were MST3K, MUSIC, and ZYMURGY -- and they have since
shrivelled up and have become shades of their former selves. I
personally moderate several echos whose readership has declined, for
various reasons, and I don't care to see those conferences disappear
into the wind.

There _is_ an opportunity for us to have our cake and eat it, too.
It's not a big secret, many folks are doing it, but it's time to
spread the word. I can't beat 'em, so I'll join 'em, in the form of
a private, Internet mailing list that originates from Fidonet. I
have managed to breathe new life into some echos that faced certain
extinction or crippling injuries due to the disappearance from the
conference of the chatterboxes who made the echo worthwhile, and who
kept things alive, just by doing what comes naturally.

Alec Grynspan (1:2424/224, [email protected]) has been kind enough to
gate several of my echos to the Internet as mailing lists. As
moderator, I still retain a modicum of control over the echo --
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 5 22 Feb 1999

users are effectively users on Alec's system, and they cannot
haphazardly subscribe and unsubscribe -- while at the same time, I
have opened up the echo to people who might not otherwise have
access to a local Fidonet node. The most important thing is that
the conference remains a Fidonet echo, and the talk keeps happening.
This has had a tremendous effect on an echo like HOLYSMOKE -- I
have one reader who wouldn't have a chance in hell of reading the
echo over in Qatar -- and I've gotten a message from one reader of
MOORCOCK who prefers the Fidonet echo to the spam-filled
alt.books.moorcock. Sounds like a win-win scenario for all involved.

If this sounds like an appealing way to kickstart your conference,
drop Alec a line at one of the addresses I mentioned. Maybe we can
get enough folks interested that Alec will need a secretary to handle
the requests. :)

--Steve Quarrella
Moderator of A_THEIST, CONCORD, HOLYSMOKE, MOORCOCK, and WHO.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 6 22 Feb 1999

=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================

Future History

12 May 1999
12th Anniversary of Fido Operations in Zone 4;
10th Anniversary of the creation of FidoNet Zone 4.

24 Jul 1999
XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99].

9 Jun 1999
Tenth Anniversary of the adoption of FidoNet Policy 4.07.

10 Sep 1999
10th anniversary of Zone 5 operations.

26 Oct 1999
Thirty years from release Abbey Road album by the Beatles.

31 Dec 1999
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.

1 Jan 2000
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.

1 Jun 2000
EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.

15 Sep 2000
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.

21 Sep 2000
10 years of FidoNet in +7 (xUSSR)

1 Jan 2001
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.

-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 7 22 Feb 1999

=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================

This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the
FidoNews Editor as of this issue; see the notice at the end.

FidoNet:

Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html [ASCII]
WWW sources http://travel.to/fidonet/
FTSC page http://www.ftsc.org/
Echomail [pending]
General http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
http://www.nrgsys.com/orb/foti
List servers:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/fidonet-discussion

============

Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org

Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html

Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/

Region 13:

Net 264: http://www.net264.org/r13.htm

Region 14:

Net 282: http://www.rxn.com/~net282/

Region 17: http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/

Region 18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/

Region 19: http://www.compconn.net/r19

Zone 1 Elist http://www.baltimoremd.com/elist/

Not sure where the following should be placed:

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/snwvlly/fido.html

============

Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org

ZEC2:
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/echolist/

Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 8 22 Feb 1999

Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)

Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)
Fido-IP: http://home.nrh.de/~lbehet/fido (English/German)

Region 25: http://www.bsnet.co.uk/net2502/net/

Region 26: http://www.nemesis.ie
REC 26: http://www.nrgsys.com/orb

Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm

Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French)

Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (German)

Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian)

Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (Spanish)
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr

Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/

Region 38: http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html

Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (Greek/English)

Region 42: http://www.fido.cz

Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl

Region 50: http://www.fido7.com/ (Russian)
Net 5010: http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/ (Russian)
Net 5015: http://www.fido.nnov.ru/ (Russian)
Net 5030: http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English)
Net 5073: http://people.weekend.ru/soa/ (Russian)

============

Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org

============

Zone 4:

Region 90: http://visitweb.com/fidonet
Net 903: http://www.playagrande.com/refugio
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)

============

Zone 5: http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm

============

Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 9 22 Feb 1999

Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (Chinese)

============

Pages listed above are as submitted to the FidoNews Editor,
and generally reflect Zone and Regional Web Page sites. If
no Regional site is submitted, the first Network page from
that Region is used in its place. Generally, Regional pages
should list access points to all Networks within the Region.

TCP/IP accessible node access information should be submitted
to the FidoNews Editor for inclusion in their Region or Zone.

-----------oOo-------------

Fidonet Via Internet Hubs

Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+------------
1:12/12 | Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo.
1:13/25 | Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
1:106/1 | Matt Bedynek | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 64k | $5/$15mo.
1:106/6018 | Lawrence Garvin | FTP,VMoT | 64k | $5/mo.
1:107/451 | Andy Knifel | FTP, VMoT, UUE | 33.6 | n/c
1:124/7008 | Ben Hamilton | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 64k | $10/$20mo.
1:140/12 | Bob Seaborn | FTP | T1 | $5/$20
1:270/101 | George Peace | FTP | T1 | $30mo.
1:271/140 | Tom Barstow | UUE | T1 | n/c
1:275/1 | Joshua Ecklund | UUE | 28.8 | $10/yr.
1:280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
1:2401/305 | Peter Rocca | FTP,UUE | T1 | unkn
1:2424/10 | Alec Grynspan | FTP,UUE | T1 | n/c
1:2604/104 | Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo.
1:2624/306 | D. Calafrancesco | VMoT | 33.6 | $15yr.
1:345/0 | Todd Cochrane | FTP | T1 | n/c
1:346/250 | Aran Spence | FTP,UUE | T1 | $10mo.
1:396/45 | Marc Lewis | UUE | 33.6 | $26/yr.
1:3651/9 | Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6
1:396/1 | John Souvestre | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $15mo.
2:335/535 | Mario Mure | VMoT,UUE | 64k | n/c
2:254/175 | Alex Kemp | UUE | 56k | n/c
2:284/800 | Jeroen VanDeLeur | FTP,UUE | 64k | n/c
2:335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
2:469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
2:2411/413 | Dennis Dittrich | UUE | 64k | n/c
2:2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn
3:633/260 | Malcolm Miles | FTP | 33.6 | n/c
4:905/100 | Fabian Gervan | VMoT, UUE | ??? | n/c
5:7104/2 | Henk Wolsink | FTP | 28.8 | n/c
--
* FTP = Internet File Transfer Protocol
* VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
* UUE = uuencode<->email type transfers
[I'm only cataloging transfer methods, eg, ftp, email, telnet.
Specific programs using these protocols are no longer being listed.
Contact the system operators for details of which programs they have
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 10 22 Feb 1999

available.]

Compiled by C. Ingersoll, 1:2623/71, (609)814-1978, [email protected]
Posted on the 1st of every month in FN_SYSOP, R13SYSOP and Fidonews.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 11 22 Feb 1999

=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================

------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------

Editor: Henk Wolsink

Editors Emeriti: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees, Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg

"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 5:5/23
BBS +27-41-515-913, 2400/9600/V.34/V.90

more addresses:
Henk Wolsink -- 5:7104/2, [email protected]

(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 12325
Port Elizabeth,
6006
South Africa

------------------------------------------------------

FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
FidoNews and/or the Editor.

Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright (C) 1999 Henk Wolsink. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
the Editor.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSGnn.ZIP] for a
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [8], i.e., FNWSJAN8.ZIP for all the Issues from Jan 98.

FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 12 22 Feb 1999

Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 15 for 1984 - 1998, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.4M.

INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:

http://www.fidonews.org
** http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
** ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/Fidonet/Fidonews

And in non-English formats via:

** http://www.hvc.ee/pats/fidonews (Estonian)
http://www.fidonet.pp.se/sfnews (Swedish)

** LINK HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED

*=*=*

You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist

and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the
email distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist
with no message to the same address above.

*

You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: help

and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
www.fidonews.org.

*=*=*

You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:

http://www.fidonews.org

STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:

ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/
FIDONEWS 16-08 Page 13 22 Feb 1999

Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 13 Megs.

=*=*=*=

The current week's FidoNews are now also available almost immediately
after publication on the FidoNews Editor homepage on the World Wide
Web at:

http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html

There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an
email link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews Editor, or file-requestable
from 5:5/23 [5:7104/2] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone Coordinators
should have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.

"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
and are used with permission.

"Disagreement is actually necessary,
or we'd all have to get in fights
or something to amuse ourselves
and create the requisite chaos."
-Tom Jennings

-----------------------------------------------------------------