Subj : linked [1]
To : Gordon Lewicky
From : Frank Vest
Date : Tue Dec 17 2002 09:38 am
On (16 Dec 02) Gordon Lewicky wrote to Frank Vest...
Hello Gordon,
GL> Oh-oh... more rambling thoughts! ;)
:-)
FV> I always try to look towards the future. I can visualize a day when
FV> the only thing PSTN (note the change from POTS) will be Nodes that run
FV> a BBS only... no mailer on PSTN.
GL> I dunno about this not needing PSTN for transport. Maybe in 100
GL> years.
Maybe. I can only speak of my limited knowledge of Zone 1. It seems
like, for the most part, the only Fidonet mail that is transferred via
modem (POTS) is within Nets. Even there, that is changing. With the
phone system changing around in my area, many Nodes would probably be
long distance to other Nodes and not able to get Fidonet mail without
the IP transfers.
As a weird example that dates back to my first becoming a Node in
Fidonet's Net124;
McKinney, Texas is about 30 miles from Dallas. Dallas is the "center"
of Net124. When I moved to McKinney, the phone service offered a
"local" number that was good for Mckinney and "surrounding" towns.
Dallas wasn't one of the surrounding towns. In fact, there were only a
handful of the over 100 Nodes in Net124 that I could call locally. I
was fortunate that my Hub had a "metro" number (that cost him extra)
and could reach Dallas without a LD charge. When my Hub left Fidonet,
I took the Hub position and got a "metro" line to be able to do
that... besides, I wanted to be able to have callers from more than
just McKinney. Even with the "metro" line, there are some places in
the Net124 area that I can't reach via POTS without LD charges. Had I
had the IP stuff, I could have used the Internet to do the mail. The
Internet was available, but I didn't have it.
As time moved forward, the phone company has now added more area codes
and stuff to the area. My little town has at least two area codes. I
have no idea anymore of which phone numbers are LD and which are
local. If I had to do all the mail via dial-up, I really don't know
how I would get the translation table right for my mailer. My next
door neighbor could have a different area code than me, but be a local
call. Another person could have the same area code and be LD. :/
Anyway, as we move forward, I see it fast coming that Fidonet mail
will be totally IP transferred. There might be a few PSTN transfers,
but that will be rare and only within Nets or as a "fall back" for
emergency. I have a POTS link with my Hub, but most of the mail goes
IP. I think this is becoming more the norm than the exception.
GL> Yes, we are switching over to more and more inet bbs's and
GL> transport within our network. Hell, I'll be adding a telnet node
GL> soon. But I can't really envision my bbs going inet only within at
GL> least the next 10 years or more, and more then likely, as long as
GL> I have a bbs, it will be dial-up as well. :)
Same here, but a BBS is a little different than Fidonet mail. :-) I
have a long and drawn out vision of BBSs as well... I'll spare you the
stuff for now. :-)
GL> Thing is, I believe we'll keep PSTN transport for quite awhile,
GL> even if only for a backup in the more advanced countries, and it
GL> will surely have a longer lifetime in those countries which don't
GL> advance to domestic inet capabilities as fast as others.
Agreed. Although the other countries are catching up fast. Some might
even be ahead of Z1. ;-)
GL> Then there is always the real threat of a massive inet disruption,
GL> so the PSTN transport should always be there as the backup, since
GL> I just can't see us sitting and twiddling our thumbs if we do
<..>
GL> That's just our collective nature. Could you imagine a month or a
GL> couple of weeks with no mail? I think you'll find about 5000
GL> people doing whatever it takes to keep from going into echo
GL> withdrawal shock. :)
<chuckle> "No mail!" "There's been no mail for two days!!" "GOD!"
"PLEASE!!" "I gotta have my mail!!!" <gasp, wheeze> :-)
And you thought you rambled! :)
Regards,
Frank
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/flv
http://biseonline.com/r19
... BBS's are for the best, Inet is for the rest.
--- PPoint 3.01
* Origin: Holy Cow! I'm A Point!! (1:124/6308.1)
