Subj : Re: Echo Rules
To : Mike Powell
From : Reverend Shaft
Date : Tue Sep 17 2024 02:38 am
MP> > The issue is the use of "real names only" in Fidonet.
MP> > Do keep up.
MP>
MP> The point would be that a new or returning sysop should not take advice
MP> about echo rules from someone who doesn't know what they are talking
MP> about.
This particular returning sysop wishes he hadn't asked in the first place. :)
Mike, this is obviously not directed at you:
My thought, from my early days, was that FidoNet was a collection of people who organized conversational and informational topics into categories, and -- either through reasonable moderator mandate or collective opinion of the participants -- decided on rules of conduct. Those rules. of course, included the issue of real names or aliases.
I was a member of other networks that followed a similar system. It's a guideline for order and civility, akin to telling the kis to stop fighting or lose the toy, and asking guests to take their shoes off and not prop their feet up on the coffee table.
It's a group of hobbyists and enthusiasts, not a geopolitical government entity. Either you complied wth the rules or lost access to the echo (or the net, in severe cases). If you didn't like the rules, you started a new net.
I'm beyond flabbergasted that a simple request for clarification started such a flood of insults and posturing.
RS
... Sent from my mobile device using a pocket bluetooth keyboard.
