FidoNews · Vol 14, No 17 · 28 April 1997
F I D O N E W S -- Volume 14, Number 17 28 April 1997
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | 1-904-409-7040 [1:1/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Christopher Baker 1:18/14 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> cbaker84@digital.net |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
IS FIDONET DOOMED?
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
Everyone woke up again? .................................. 1
2. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 2
International BBS Week ................................... 2
Copyrights, Trademarks & Zone 2 .......................... 2
3. ARTICLES ................................................. 7
The Death of a Friend! ................................... 7
RC 2:24 election result .................................. 8
Zone 2 coordinator election result ....................... 9
The Great ZEC Election Hoax...Part 2 ..................... 10
4. GETTING TECHNICAL ........................................ 13
FSC-0061 - Proposed Guidelines for the FileBone .......... 13
FSC-0062 - Proposed Nodelist flag denoting time online ... 17
FSC-0063 - Proposal for FidoNet style messages ........... 24
5. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 29
Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 115 ...... 29
6. WE GET EMAIL ............................................. 30
1:13/10 Gateway update ................................... 30
7. NET HUMOR ................................................ 31
Least Known Chapters in "Dianetics" ...................... 31
8. NOTICES .................................................. 34
Future History ........................................... 34
Another virus alert ...................................... 35
9. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................. 37
And more!
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 1 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
We're chock full of strife and adventure in this week's Issue after a
week of rest.
I got a feeling that no one ever reads the Headlines since nobody
complained or sent me a dollar. [snicker]
Region 19 has a new RC but nobody from there sent in a notice about
that either. Bruce Bodger should be appearing as RC19 in your Nodelist
shortly if not already in there as same. Congrats, Bruce.
There is a ZEC election in progress in case you were unaware of it.
The details can be witnessed by linking to the ZEC Echo. It's mostly
harangues and counter-charges, as usual in Echomail, but if you want
to be informed, you need to go there and watch.
Rumor has it that the IC election is in deadlock again at 3 to 3. Here
is another GOOD reason to break Zone 2 up into an eastern bloc Zone 7
and adding another vote to the ZCC to avoid ties.
That's the view from the bridge this week. Enjoy!
C.B.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 2 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================
--- Following message extracted from NETMAIL @ 1:18/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Wed Apr 23 05:24:43 1997
From: David Chord @ 3:771/1560
To: Christopher Baker @ 1:18/14
Date: 19 Apr 97 17:53:38
Subj: FidoNews Note
INTERNATIONAL BBS WEEK
Just a note to say that if you want to do something to help reverse
the trend of BBS's vanishing to the internet, then International BBS
week might be the way to go.
Inspired by a message in FN_SYSOP by Ivey Iverson(sp), and proposed by
Anne Pickets in NZ_SYSOP, International BBS week is a week where
SysOp's do what they can to advertise BBS's in their respective areas,
whether it's doing a spot on a TV show, or taking out full-page
adverts in the local newspapers, each person doing what they can to
help out, whether it's appearing on TV or donating towards a week long
run of full-page (or even TV) adverts.
If the moderators don't mind, discussion should be carried out where
the most people can be reached. My personal preference is FN_SYSOP,
since it already reaches most areas, and of course local SysOp
conference's.
The date for International BBS Week is the first week of June, 1997 (s
suggested by Anne). However, this is only a preliminary date and is
open to discussion.
If we can make this thing big it enough, we should be able to spark
sufficient interest in the international media that they will do some
of the work for us, granting interviews and spreading the word to more
people than we could imagine reaching.
If any one has any questions they wish to ask me personally, or they
can't/ won't read FN_SYSOP, they can reach me at 3:771/1560 or on the
internet -david.chord@cobra.galaxy.gen.nz. Naturally, FidoNet Netmail
is preferable :-)
So, get out there, start planning, and let's do what we can to make
BBS's the popular places they once were!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
--- Following message extracted from NETMAIL @ 1:18/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Tue Apr 22 04:05:20 1997
From: Cindy Ingersoll @ 1:107/71
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 3 28 Apr 1997
To: Editor @ 1:1/23
Date: 21 Apr 97 10:54:35
Subj: Copyrights, Trademarks & Zone 2
Greetings Editor!
Here is a cross post from our new regional coordinator (Congrats
David! :) as seen in R13SYSOP. I thought this might be of historical
and academic interest, and so have submitted it to Fido News.
-CiAo
Date: 4:02 am Wed Apr 16, 1997 Number : 1787 of 1860
From: David Moufarrege Base : R13 SysOps
To : All Refer #: None
Subj: Z2 Nodelist Replies: None
Stat: Sent Origin : 15 Apr 97 17:43:19
As promissed I am forwarding Ward Dossche's answer on the nodelist
issue:
=== Begin ward.txt ===
(810) Mon 31 Mar 97 9:27
By: Ward Dossche
To: David Moufarrege
Re: Re: Copyright Notice
St: Pvt Rcvd
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello David,
> What is the background of your dropping the Copyright Notice of the
> Z2-Nodelist?
Some time ago a person wanted to write non-commercially something
somewhere about Fido and kinda liked the art-work on the dog with the
diskette. (name of the person escapes me, but I seem to recall a
similar incident connected to the last Eurocon) So, truthfully
believing Tom Jennings holds a trademark on this (as was mentioned in
the nodelist and still is in Fidonews) he asks permission to use it,
which Tom flatly refused.
As I found this rather a strange reaction, out of curiosity I asked
some of our corporate lawyers to look into the copyright- and
trademark-issue of "Fido", "Fidonet" and the artwork of the dog-with-
diskette. (FYI, I'm Deputy-Director at the Belgian telco, employing
some 27,000 staff and we have acorporate-law-division who does nothing
else than copyright and trademark stuff)
As I so suspected for a long time, I received confirmation after
researching relevant trademark-bureaus that no references to the above
nor any trademark held by a Jennings Tom or Tom Jennings relating to
Fidonet or something similarly sounding exists.
Mark my words ... this covers the whole of Europe (east and west)
including Israel and Turkey. It says nothing about the USA.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 4 28 Apr 1997
We discovered however expired Fidonet-trademarks in the name of other
individuals residing in Europe.
A quick search was done for Japan (where ZC/6 resides) without any TJ-
trademark. Same thing in Argentina (homebase of ZC/4) where TJ holds
no rights but where, very puculiarly, another trademark called "Latin
Fido" is held by a local sysop (this is also reflected in the Z4-
nodelist).
So let me summarise :
There is _NO_ existing trademark in Europe in the name of Tom Jennings
nor Jennings Tom for "Fido", "Fidonet" nor the "dog-with-diskette"-
artwork.
Then why write it in the nodelist? I don't see one single reason.
Now let's not confuse "trademark" with "copyright".
If TJ wants to have a trademark on all those items then as far as I'm
concerned he can have it ... which means he must have his brand-names
registered in each and every country - for zone-2 this means 35-
countries to be precise - and agree to pay the periodical hefty sum on
that. (worldwide 190+ ?)
This he has never done, nor will he do it, nor will anyone else
because it is just too expensive. "Control" over the nodelist can
never warrant such a high price nor can anyone ever expect a return on
that investment.
If anyone ever has any bright idea here to register the trademarks to
either "control" or "financially exploit" then I hereby post a claim
to be first in line to laugh that person straight in his/her face.
Less than a year ago there was the case of a company registering a
trademark on the wording "world wide web" and "www", which mind you
are nowhere legally protected. After initial astonishment by the
internet-community the "owners" were quickly reduced to the laughing
stock even while they followed correct legal procedures. They tried to
exercise a claim and finally gave up because it was reasonably un-
enforceable.
With Fidonet it is exactly the same thing.
Now one final word about "copyright". TJ does not participate in any
way in the production of any of the nodelists nor any of the segments
that comprise the nodelist. Hence there is not one square inch of
legal ground for him to claim copyright over it.
The NC's could have a copyright over net-segments, the RC's over
region-segments and the ZC's over zone-segments. Since the ZC's also
produce nodelists they could imo also post a copyright-notice for
their version of the nodelist although I think all these notices carry
little weight and are of little to no importance.
Anyone in zone-2 having problems with the nodelist without a TJ-
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 5 28 Apr 1997
copyright/ trademark notification can always freq at this node the
elements it takes to produce their own nodelist.
Every current zone-2 region-segment can be freqqed here with the
magic-name REGIONxx where xx = regionnumber.
On top of that every zone-segment can be freqqed here following the
same logic : ZONEy where y = zonenumber.
It enables everyone who wants that to build his/her own customized
nodelist.
If a person e.g. only wants R24, R50 and Z3, then he/she freqs
REGION24, REGION50, ZONE3 and gives that to his/her nodelist-compiler.
How's that for openness, availability, service, whatever you wanna
call it?
If they want to include the original notice they can equally freq "TJ"
here so that bit of information is accessible as well although it
makes no difference.
As a sidenote, I already received threats for a court-case by one
Randy Bush, the same person when slamming the Fido-door shut behind
him stated it was nothing else but a litter-box reeking of cat-piss.
I understand some valid concerns about intentions and motives, but I
do have a more than full-time and well payed job so I don't need to
try to squeeze some extra pennies (at what cost?) out of some peoples
pockets. I believe it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for
any individual to grab control of the nodelist and make a buck out of
it.
If that happens then it is because the sysops allow it to happen,
personally I would just totally ignore such a person.
There's a lesson to be learned from our German friends who would never
take any shit like that. This they proved after some "grab control"-
exercises there.
I'm more worried about the censoring of Fidonews-worldwide by a ZC
which recently occured and nobody reacted upon it. Weren't you aware?
Thanks for writing. If there's more you want to ask, please do.
Take care,
\x/ard Dossche
ZC/2
=== End ward.txt ===
... "Cry on someone else's shoulder, I'm off-duty." Troi
-!-
* Origin: Kraut Haus * The German Culture BBS (1:2613/404)
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 6 28 Apr 1997
CiAo
---
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 7 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
The Death of a Friend!
By: Clay Tannacore 1:372/4
My friends, I write to you this day with a saddened heart. My friend
of thirteen years has passed away. Sure, I know he was only a dog,
but he was full of spunk, full of pride, and filled with everything
anyone could have asked for. I picked him up in 1985, and knew right
away he was my kind of dog. He was young and inexperienced with a
future that should have been endless. He was bright and trusting,
with just enough reserve to be cautious of new people, but was always
ready to allow them into his world. I would look into his eyes, and
he mine, and we understood each other, instantaneously. I named him
the only name I could think of, the only name that suited him, and he
in turn named me. His name was a struggle for me at first, but I
think I had heard the name before, and it just seemed to fit him
flawlessly.
Over the years we had grown up together, we learned from each other.
He with his youthful inexperience, and me new to having such a gifted
friend. There were many a cold night that he and I would reveal in
each others company. He would keep me in touch with the realities of
the world, and I would entertain myself by utilizing his abilities.
He never seemed to amaze me in his capacity to teach and entertain.
Even as a young and unknowledgeable puppy he still possessed the
capability to render me speechless with his stubborn wisdom of worldly
things. He ability to adept to new and better things was uncanny, and
soon I was a slave to his commands. No, he didn't require me to be
house-broken, but he did insist that I continually learn new and more
progressive things.
My dog made my life a better substance. He loved me, and I him. He
was faithful to me for all those years, by my side almost constantly,
and when not there, he was forever on my mind. I made it a point not
to leave him for to long, and I made a point of laying my hands on his
strong supportive shoulders as often as feasible. Then came that ugly
time in 1991, when sickness took over my body, and I was forced to be
away from my friend for too long. The sickness was worsening, and I
was made to go to the hospital for a very long time. I had to leave
my dog in those trying times, but I remained faithful to him, and he
didn't forget me.
As the time passed, and my health became a non-point, I was reunited
with my dog once again. I was happy, even jubilant at seeing him
still able to function. But, my dog had changed, and he didn't seem
to have the same old spunk or vigor about him. He had a different
personality, a different look, and a totally different feel about him.
I found it increasingly hard to relate to this wonderful puppy I had
once learned to love. The attitude of my dog was not the same, almost
nothing seemed the same anymore. He was more vicious, not only
towards me, but towards others, too.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 8 28 Apr 1997
I viewed my dog for months before trying to play in his new world, but
couldn't seem to revive my old feelings about him. He had become
sassy, inconsiderate and hateful. This was not the dog I remembered,
this was a total stranger, with nothing more than malignity on his
mind. No longer was my dog the happy, rousting puppy I had come
across in 1985, this was a vindictive, hateful mongrel who was an
unfriendly entity, possessed by some demonic apparition, but who was
passing himself off as my dog.
So it is that today, I have nothing but memories left of my little,
immature puppy, and all the fine things he once represented. No more
will I have the pleasure of knowing him, as I once knew him. He's
gone now, dead, passed away! But still I can fondly look back at that
special time he and I once had, and remember that fateful day that I
gave him his borrowed name. I called him FIDO, to start with, but
that didn't seem suitable for him, so I tried FIDOMUT, FIDONUT and
even FIDODOG. None of those names seem to suit him, but somehow he
was finally named FIDONET. It was a GREAT day for me when finally his
name was chosen, and it was an even greater time when he chose his
name for me, that being "1:372/4."
Well, what did you expect, he was only a puppy then, and I was a
virgin when it came to puppy-sitting. He has gone now, buried in the
shadow of the Internet, www.bullshit.com, MSN, AOL, etc., etc. He
will probably never undergo a resurrection, Never again will he be
the force he once was. Never again will he be the friendly puppy that
had a full life ahead of him. Never again will he be my friend!
So, I say to all of you out there who never had the opportunity to
meet 'my' FIDO. You missed the best years of FIDO's life, and there
will never be another like it. . . "BUT YOU CAN HOPE!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
RC 2:24 election result
by Frank Ellermann, 2:240/5815.1
The second RC 2:24 election following the local RegPol 24 (*1) just
ended. The following is its preliminary run-off result as reported
by the RO Jan N. Klug:
valid votes : 594 (100,00%)
abstentions : 48 ( 8,08%)
Volker Imre : 199 ( 33,50%)
Klaus Schaefer : 347 ( 58,42%)
No candidate got an absolute majority in the first run, therefore a
run-off was necessary. The preliminary result of the first run was:
valid votes : 375 (100,00%)
Frank Neubauer : 9 ( 2,40%)
abstentions : 24 ( 6,40%)
Ralf Schnele : 27 ( 7,20%)
Wulf Krueger : 76 ( 20,27%)
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 9 28 Apr 1997
Volker Imre : 115 ( 30,67%)
Klaus Schaefer : 124 ( 33,07%)
Condolence, oops, congratulations to Klaus, and thanks to Ralf, Wulf,
and Volker for standing. And after being VO in the 1st RC election '96
following RegPol 24 my special thanks to Jan (RO), Burkhard (VO), and
the election supervisor Ward Dossche. These are "interesting" jobs, if
I recall it correctly :-) Let's hope that the two weeks for nitpicking
objections and challenges are less "interesting" than 1996.
Footnote (*1): To be precise, RegPol 24 is not yet a real "approved by
IC" local policy, but only considered as in force by all affected *Cs,
just because there was no IC to ask for his approval.
To be more precise, we had no FidoNet IC since almost 2 years, because
the beloved leader of 131 nodes (including 43 redundant administrative
AKAs) Z5C wants to be IC and blocks democratic candidates like Pablo
or Ward. To call this XAB is pure understatement, just because without
an IC P4-Fido is officially non-functional and formally non-existent.
To be very precise, those who enforced policy 4 without a proper sysop
referendum should burn in hell together with Z5C for this sort of sh*t
(deliberately neither vague nor sorry).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 coordinator election result
by Frank Ellermann, 2:240/5815.1
Here's the final result of the Z2C election confirmed by Detlef Nick
as spokesman of the election committee:
Ward Dossche 2:292/854 18 RCs out of 22 = 81,8 %
Carlos Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 1 RC (R34) = 4,5 %
Stig Hansen 2:236/58 1 RC (R52) = 4,5 %
Robert Spangler 2:2494/360 0 RC
No vote 2 RCs (R22,R31) = 9,1 %
10 Regions (37, 38, 39, 42, 44, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, and 54) are not
represented by a valid vote, including 3 formally invalid or too late
votes for Ward. Congratulations to Ward, thanks to the other three
candidates, and last but not least thanks to the election committee:
Detlef Nick, Tony Kuznetsov, Frank Peterson, Tirs Abril, and Pertti
Heikkinen.
The most interesting aspect (for me :-) in this ZC election were the
procedural considerations and discussions before. In Z2 most regions
correspond to states, ranging from only a handful nodes as in Malta,
Iceland, Luxembourg, or Saudi-Arabia, to several thousands of nodes
as in Germany or Russia.
Of course it is not fair, if all these completely different regions
are equally represented by the one and only vote of their RCs, but a
simple "one sysop - one vote" approach would also not reflect the Z2
FidoNet reality.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 10 28 Apr 1997
Even worse, policy 4 disregards sysops in all kinds of coordination,
an RC could "legally" vote against the wishes of his own region. The
election committee used the same trick as in the ZEC election 1996 to
discourage such misbehavior: Regional polls before the RC votes were
strongly recommended, the votes of the RCs were published, and now we
have about two years to create a local policy with improved election
procedures for zone 2.
The result of the regional poll in R2:24 as stated by Eckhard Mueller:
Ward Dossche 79, Robert J. Spangler 29,
Carlos Fernandez Sanz 9, Stig Hansen 6,
abstentions 6, valid votes totally 129.
Not very impressive for a region with over 3000 sysops, but the list
of voters looks like a who-is-who in R24 FidoNet, so it's not too bad
after all. Maybe it's interesting, that a clear majority supported
Ward instead of the R24 candidate. Although the Z2 regions correspond
to states, this does not reflect nationalism, but banally the not yet
united national telecom providers and their tariffs in Z2. Of course
the former RC24 cast his vote for Ward following this regional poll.
Again the most interesting detail (for me :-) in this poll was a new
procedure invented by Eckhard Mueller. Normally (NC and RC elections)
we have 4 phases in an election, each two weeks, call for candidates,
discussion, first run, and run-off, if no candidate got an absolute
majority in the first run.
The time table for the regional ZC election poll was too limited for a
separate run-off, therefore Eckhard combined both in only one ballot.
Each vote contained up to 4 candidates in the order of preference,
e.g. Stig-Carlos-Robert would be a vote for Stig as 1st choice. For
the 1st run only the 1st choices were evaluated.
If hypothetically no candidate won an absolute majority in this first
run, but Ward and Robert are the run-off candidates, then in the same
example Stig-Carlos-Robert 1st and 2nd choice are eliminated. The vote
then goes to Robert in the run-off. That was a cute idea, wasn't it ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Great ZEC Election hoax...Part 2
by Zorch Frezberg, 1:205/1701
There comes a time and a point where you really have to sit down and
decide what is more important...personal feelings or principles.
While I am not the greatest nor fervent supporter of Bob Moravsik, I
do feel that he has a right to participate in an election for which
he is a nominee...if for no other reason than to find out what his
platform is, and whether his ability outweighs his rhetoric.
Unfortunately, it seems that the ZEC-appointed Election Coordinator,
who was also the ZEC-appointed EchoMail Ombudsman, who is also the
chief defender of the ZEC and moderator of the ZEC echo, with the
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 11 28 Apr 1997
assistance and advice of the ZEC, Bruce Bodger (who was also elected
as R19C but still remains in place with the ZEC hat on, as well as
the OBO hat on top of his personal FTSC Moderator hat...making at
least five hats in all), has seen fit to not only deny free and open
access to nominees for the ZEC post, but also to threaten those who
dare to 'ask questions'.
* Original In : netmail
* Original To : Zorch Frezberg, 1:205/1701
* Original From: Jason Steck, 1:285/424@FIDONET
* Original Date: Apr 27 14:08
==================================================
!DOMAIN FIDONET 1:205/1701 FIDONET 1:285/424
!MSGID: 1:285/424@FIDONET 229B714C
!REPLY: 1:205/1701 791ead69
*** Answering a msg posted in area ZEC (ZEC).
Saturday April 26 1997 22:18, Zorch Frezberg wrote to Election
Coordinator:
ZF> Is it true that Mr. Moravsik is being denied access to this
ZF> echo?
1) Terms of someone else's banning are not any of your business.
You have no standing to interpose yourself in those decisions.
If Moravsik wants to request removal of his banning, then HE needs
to ask and HE needs to deal properly with the issues which caused
the banning in the first place. Your comments are neither
solicited nor welcome. While my decisions are open to input from
many people, you are no longer one of those people.
2) Your continuing attempts to undermine the election and post off-
topic messages will result in a link cut if there are any future
incidents.
Jason Steck
Interim Moderator, ZEC
Internet: tutakai@oasis.novia.net
-!- GoldED/386 2.50+
=================================================
I openly challenge Jason Steck to present any evidence that I have
done any open action to 'undermine the election' process.
At the same time, I also challenge Jason Steck to present the
alleged "ZC Approval" he stated that he has to conduct the present
ZEC election as it is.
* Original In : FN_SYSOP
* Original To : Zorch Frezberg, 1:205/1701
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 12 28 Apr 1997
* Original From: Jason Steck, 1:285/424@fidonet
* Original Date: Apr 11 14:01
===========%< snip!
FYI, the election rules and procedures were approved by the ZC before
the election began, so continued whining, complaining, campaigning,
lobbying, conspiracy-mongering, threats, flames, etc, etc, etc is
without purpose.
===========%< snip!
Jason
Internet: tutakai@oasis.novia.net
-!- JMail-G 2.81
! Origin: PROZ Software -- JMail/JMQWK (FIDONET 1:285/424)
=================================================
The present ZEC election process is becoming more of a fraud each
passing day.
Candidates banned from campaigning, persons questioning the process
are threatened with feed cuts, and no open nomination process, with
everything being clandestinely covered up in netmail.
What is the true fear here? That an open election may result in a
candidate voted in that the Election Coordinator does not want...or
has been told not to allow to participate?
When open election discussion is so severely limited, there is little
doubt that an agenda of control and manipulation is involved...and
very little about 'fairness' and 'openness'...especially when no one
is allowed to know who has or has not been nominated in an open
manner.
Please contact your *C and *EC to help halt this farce of an election.
Several well-known names have been presented or volunteered to act as
Election Coordinator or ZEC moderator, and all have been rejected so
that Jason Steck and Bruce Bodger can remain in control of the
election process.
Why do we tolerate this level of control and manipulation?
# 30 #
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 13 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
GETTING TECHNICAL
=================================================================
[These are part of the continuing series of FidoNet History
presentations of the FidoNet Technical Standards and Proposals
documents that shape this hobby. They have been reformatted where
required to 70 columns and any tables may be askew as a result. Node
numbers and phone numbers may be out of date.] Ed.
Document: FSC-0061
Version: 001
Date: 08-Mar-1992
Proposed Guidelines for the FileBone
Erik VanRiper
1:107/230
Status of this document:
This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.
Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.
1. Purpose.
The purpose of this document is to set down basic guidelines for
the handling of File Distribution Networks on a "File
Distribution Backbone".
2. Definition of Terms.
a. FDN. FDN is a File Distribution Network, made up of at least
one file area dedicated to moving files through Fidonet
compatible mailers for other nodes to utilize. An example of
this is the Software Distribution Network or SDS as it is more
commonly known.
b. FTN. FTN is a term coined to signify that another Network
besides FidoNet has the same technology as FidoNet, and can
transfer files and mail via FTSC-001 compatible mailers. An
example of this is SigNet.
c. TICK. TICK (and HATCH) is (C) Copyright Barry Geller - 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991, 1992. TICK is the current popular way to
move files in FTN's participating in File Distribution.
d. FILEBONE. FILEBONE is the "File Distribution Backbone". The
term FILEBONE is used in place of BACKBONE because the
BackBone is used for transfering mail, not files. There is a
seperate document for procedures of FidoNet BackBone systems.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 14 28 Apr 1997
3. Reasons for this Document.
a. Spending the last five months compiling information on all the
FDN's and how the files are moving in each, I noticed that a
lot of time, money, and hassle can be avoided by creating a
well defined mechinism by which all FDN's can participate. In
the past, (and currently), there has been more concern by the
heads of individual FDN's as to WHO is picking up their FDN,
and not enough concern in how FAST those nodes are getting
newly hatched files. This document will attempt to address
both issues.
b. Personally, I feel that there is not enough credit given to
those major file hubs all over the world who pay an arm and a
leg to pick up different FDN's from several different
locations to support 50 or more FTN systems they have polling
for support. These HUMANS have always worked hard, and
received almost no credit. I would just like to take time out
in this document to thank each and every one of them for the
wonderful support they have contributed to several different
FTN's.
4. The Outline.
a. The FILEBONE will be created in several stages, taking up to a
year to become fully operational. This will require several
support programs to be written, tested, and documented, as
well as re-arranging current FDN links to test speed and
reliability of actually moving the files.
b. The FILEBONE will consist of no less than 15 systems in Zone 1
(I cannot speak for other zones). Each system will be
required to make at least one call a night to drop off and
pick up ALL the available FDN's that are participating in the
FILEBONE. These FILEBONE sites will also be primary hubs
(acting as "stars") for other FTN compatible systems
interested in obtaining parts (or all) of the files
transferred.
c. Each FILEBONE site will use several different programs written
to aid in locating delays, problems, and undesireable
conditions while processing the files. They will also be
required to submit "File Distribution Reports" each week to
the FILEBONE database, which will maintain and analyze the
information, detecting possible problem areas.
d. Each FILEBONE site will be required to submit to the wishes of
each FDN concerning hatching policies, linking policies,
cutting of links to problem nodes, and general reporting of
usage. FILEBONE sites are not "pawns" of individual FDN's,
but "tools" for each FDN to use to get their files (and
support conferences) from one end of the FILEBONE to the
other.
e. Each FDN will be required to submit a statment of agreement to
this document to the FILEBONE systems, as the FILEBONE systems
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 15 28 Apr 1997
are the ones paying to move their files.
f. The FILEBONE will consist of a two-tierd system. The largest
being the actualy FILEBONE, where all the "released" files
will be transported. The second smaller level will be a "back
area" for each FDN that requires one. The concept is this: If
a system hatches a file in area GENERAL, and Joe Smith, the
moderator of the GENERAL area has not authorized that system
to hatch into that area, the first FILEBONE site to get this
file will move that file to the GENERAL "back area" for review
by Joe Smith. Once Joe Smith decides on suitability, he will
then send a message back to that FILEBONE site (and all other
in-between) saying it is OK to let the file pass, delete the
file, or alter the description of that file before letting it
pass. The FILEBONE will move the file to that FDN's moderator
on the "back area", so all FILEBONE sites that have already
seen the file can simply "move" that file back into
distribution, so that those FILEBONE sites already having the
file will not need to re-transfer it. This system ensures
that there is only a small delay in time for checking the
validity of that file. A basic diagram follows:
Key: "=" = FILEBONE
"-" = "Back area"
1:0/x = FILEBONE sites
0:5/x = FDN nodes
A = Node hatching
0:5/5
|
|
A ----> 1:0/0 ---- 1:0/1 ---- 1:0/2 ---- 1:0/3 ---- 1:0/4
|==========+==========+==========+==========+
System A hatches file "FILENAME.ZIP" into the GENERAL file
area. 1:0/0 detects that system is not on the list authorized
to hatch files into the GENERAL file area, so sends the file
to 1:0/1 in the GENERAL backarea, enroute to 0:5/5. When
0:5/5 gets FILENAME.ZIP, 1:0/0, 1:0/1, 1:0/2, and 1:0/3 will
have already seen the file, and 1:0/4 has not. Joe Smith (The
moderator of the GENERAL file area), at 0:5/5 will test
FILENAME.ZIP to see if it is acceptable for distribution. If
it is, Joe Smith will send a netmail message back to a program
running on 1:0/3, letting the FILEBONE know it is OK to
distribute the file. 1:0/3 will then move the file to the
GENERAL area, and continue to send it on. 1:0/3 will also
generate a message back to 1:0/2 letting them know the status
of the file, and so on, until 1:0/0 has finally moved the file
back into the GENERAL area. Another options to Joe Smith are
to have the file deleted (Usually because it has been
duplicated), or to have the file fowarded to another FDN
moderator, where the file would be more suitable. With this
method of checking files, FDN's can allow the FILEBONE to let
anyone hatch files into their FDN without having to worry
about duplicates or programs that are not suitable for that
FDN.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 16 28 Apr 1997
g. FILEBONE sites will also be required to keep an online
database available to any nodes requiring information about
individual FDN areas. This information will include:
1. Average traffic per week and month.
2. Average time to obtain file submitted.
3. A listing of nodes carrying that FDN area.
4. Guidelines, applications, and policies associated with
that FDN.
This will be an automated process, carried out much like a
node sending an AREAFIX or RAID request. The FILEBONE site
being queried for the information is only resposible for 2
things:
1. Ensuring the database is operational.
2. Placing the requested information on hold for pickup.
Anything else that FILEBONE site does with the request for
information is at their disgression, such as sending back the
information on their dime.
h. All FILEBONE sites will be required to drop the individual
"User Flags" in the nodelist that corespond to individual
FDN's (in regions that allow Uxxx flags in the nodelist).
They will instead use the "UFDN" flag. This will help (albeit
a small amount) cut down on the flag usage in the nodelist,
since all the FILEBONE sites will be moving most of the
available file areas.
5. The FILEBONE has started, with 21 systems in Zone 1, one system
in Zone 2, and several "OtherNets" getting involved by the day.
Several of the programs outlined in this document have already
been written, and are in use, being tested. There are still a
few more programs to be written, but things are running smoothly
as of the date on this document. 99% of the known FDN's in
FidoNet are linked into the FILEBONE in one form or another, and
the future looks very promising.
This document is by no means complete. There are several other
aspects to FDN's and FILEBONE that are not discussed here. This
document is put forth for comments, additions, deletions, and
all general changes. This is only how I (the author of this
document) envision the FILEBONE operating, and this document may
be flawed in one or several areas.
-30-
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 17 28 Apr 1997
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Document: FSC-0062
Version: 002
Date: 25-Jun-1994
A Proposed Nodelist flag indicating Online Times of a Node
| David J. Thomas
| 2:442/600@fidonet.org
Status of this document:
This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.
Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.
| Note
| ----
| Changes in content between the previous edition of this document,
| and this edition, are signified by bars (|) in the left margin,
| except where otherwise specified. I have changed the format of the
| document slightly to allow this. Where the format of the document
| has changed, but the actual text has not, bars are not present.
Purpose
-------
There are currently several systems within FidoNet that offer file
request or mail holding capabilities but are not continuously
online. The only time during which these nodes can be contacted with
reference to the nodelist is currently the Zone Mail Hour of the
zone to which the systems belong. In
| theory, mailers can only use the zone mail hour(s) specified by the
system in question to contact these nodes, which does not provide
for any method
of file requesting or calling for echomail that does not conflict
with the Policy requirement that no echomail or files be transferred
during the zone | mail hour. This means that, in practice, if it is
known that a particular
| node is online for more time than ZMH alone, but less than 24 hours
a day,
| it is necessary to "kludge," or set this up as a special situation,
in most | mailers whenever a node has to be contacted a number of
times, whether
| regularly or irregularly. The proposed flag would benefit the
mailers in such a way as to provide for them the online times that
the node is usually online for, thus cutting on the costs of calling
a non-continuous mail node, only to find that it is not available;
and also, hopefully preventing annoyance for a sysop whose mailer is
being called whilst it is not online, for example in the case of a
voice/data shared line.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 18 28 Apr 1997
Compatibility
-------------
Since the current nodelist format is always being extended and
nodelist
| processors look only for the flags that they know about, there are
no expected compatibility problems with the suggestion outlined
below.
Format of additional nodelist flag
----------------------------------
The proposed nodelist flag has the following form:
Txy
| where x represents the startup time, and y the end time, in the
following format:
+------+----+ +------+----+ +------+----+ +------+----+ +------
+----+ |Letter|Time| |Letter|Time| |Letter|Time| |Letter|Time|
|Letter|Time| +------+----+ +------+----+ +------+----+ +------
+----+ +------+----+
| A |0000| | F |0500| | K |1000| | P |1500| | U
|2000|
| a |0030| | f |0530| | k |1030| | p |1530| | u
|2030|
| B |0100| | G |0600| | L |1100| | Q |1600| | V
|2100|
| b |0130| | g |0630| | l |1130| | q |1630| | v
|2130|
| C |0200| | H |0700| | M |1200| | R |1700| | W
|2200|
| c |0230| | h |0730| | m |1230| | r |1730| | w
|2230|
| D |0300| | I |0800| | N |1300| | S |1800| | X
|2300|
| d |0330| | i |0830| | n |1330| | s |1830| | x
|2330|
| E |0400| | J |0900| | O |1400| | T |1900| |
| |
| e |0430| | j |0930| | o |1430| | t |1930| |
| | +------+----+ +------+----+ +------+----+ +------+----+
+------+----+
| The case of the letter could be relevant. Whereas the case is
currently not
| used by any flags in the document describing the current format of
the
| nodelist, there exists the potential for the case of a letter to
have
| relevant meaning. The case has to be correct for the CRC check
calculation
| to prove correct, and this would be a good use for the case of the
letter. If it is necessary to ignore the case, then the upper on-
the-hour time should be used, i.e. the time that is listed after the
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 19 28 Apr 1997
upper-case letter.
These times are expressed in GMT (UTC) so that the flag is useful
for systems all around the world, without the need for specific time
zone information to be included in the nodelist. They do not adjust
with
| daylight saving time for a similar reason. Note the section on
daylight
| saving time for information about handling adjustments without
changing the | flag; this is important.
Where necessary, the times can wrap around midnight, so for example,
for a node that is online between the hours of 1800 and 0600 GMT,
the flag TSG would be a valid indication of this time.
This nodelist entry is not required by any node. It is supplementary
to the | #01, #02, #08, #09, #18, #20 flags and their !xx
counterparts, though its
| meaning is different. It has been suggested to me about the
possibility of an additional flag with the same meaning, but having
a W as the first letter, indicating that the node is also available
for all hours during weekends; however, I believe that the simple
inclusion of the single flag indicated above will solve most
problems, as it does indicate a period for
| non-CM nodes during which the node is available, which is all that
is
| really required.
| Daylight saving time
| --------------------
| If a node changes online times with respect to UTC when daylight
saving
| time becomes effective (which would be the case with most part time
nodes),
| then this is to be taken into account when assigning this flag. An
online
| times flag assigned to a node should not be altered for the specific
| purpose of adjusting due to daylight saving time, since large
difference
| files (NODEDIFF's) would result if every node was allowed to do
this, e.g.
| my node used to be online from 2300 to 0800 in local time, which in
winter
| is GMT (which is equivalent to UTC for the purposes of this
document), but in the summer it becomes BST (British Summer Time).
This is one hour ahead of GMT, and the corresponding availability
times of my node during the summer period were 2200 to 0700 GMT.
Therefore my online times flag would
| have indicated availability between the hours of 2300 and 0700 GMT,
the
| daily time period encompassing both times, so the flag would be TXH.
| Policy considerations
| ---------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 20 28 Apr 1997
| This is a technical document. However, since the flag could make for
an
| increase in the size of difference files, the author feels that the
| following guidelines should be adopted concerning the use of the
flag.
| The online times flag does not replace the requirement for
exclusivity of
| zone mail hour to be maintained. It is still annoying behaviour to
have
| this flag and be unavailable during ZMH, just as it is annoying
behaviour
| to have the CM (continuous mail) flag in one's entry, and disregard
ZMH.
| Except for during ZMH, the sysop of a node using this flag finding
that
| they need to take their mailer offline during the specified times to
| perform system maintenance, or for any other reason, would not be
acting in | an annoying manner to do so, unless the practice is
found to be continuous,
| in which case the flag's times could be reduced, or the flag itself
could
| be removed from their node entry.
| It should be noted that this flag is present for the benefit of
mailers,
| not human beings. This means that the flag should be used only to
indicate
| when a mailer is ready to receive calls. A system that uses a
FidoNet-
| technology mailer in ZMH, and a human-access only system during
other
| period(s) of the day that cannot receive mail, should not use this
flag.
| This flag does not explicitly specify online times of a public
access BBS,
| although for presumably most nodes with FidoNet-capable software, a
public
| access BBS will be available during the times indicated.
| Where the flag is used, it should not often be changed. If a
situation
| exists, for example, where a node uses a certain set of times during
the
| first two weeks of a month, and a different set of times during the
| remainder period, the flag should be set to a time during each day
of the
| month when the node is online. For example, if a node is online
during
| 1800-0800 for the first two weeks, and then during 2200-1000 for the
| remainder, the time flag should specify 2200-0800 only. If there is
no such
| time (other than ZMH) then no flag should be used. Of course, any
permanent
| changes, and any necessary reductions in the times, should be
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 21 28 Apr 1997
permitted at
| any time, but changes owing only to daylight saving time should
certainly
| be expressly forbidden.
| File requests and user access are of course permitted during the
online
| times indicated (except ZMH).
| The above list may seem rather frightening! Please note that they
are
| guidelines rather than rules, unless FidoNet policy has included
them as
| rules. In the vast majority of situations where a node is online for
a
| fixed set of hours per day, the only thing to watch out for is that
you get
| the daylight saving time period right. Then you don't have to worry
about
| changing it at any time, except when your own online times change.
| Example
| -------
With regard to time zones now; this is a complicated topic, so I
wish to express an example. Imagine a node in Indiana, USA. It is
online for the
| time period beginning 6 o'clock pm (1800) and ending 8 o'clock am
(0800). This changes with daylight saving time, so the times
expressed effectively become an hour earlier with respect to GMT
during daylight saving time.
Indiana is in the Central time zone, which is 6 hours ahead of GMT.
| Therefore, the online times in UTC can be expressed as 1200-0200 UTC
during
| winter. During daylight saving time, however, the local time for
Indiana is
| 5 hours ahead of UTC. The online times during this period are 1300-
0300
| UTC. The subset should be used, so that the online times flag for
the node
| should indicate availability between 1300 and 0200 GMT, which is
indicated by the flag TNC.
| ANSI C routines to Calculate the Online Times Flag
| --------------------------------------------------
These were not provided in the first edition. Change bars will not
be used here, since they would interfere with the syntax of the
presented routines.
The first program calculates the online times flag from the user's
entry of the online times of a system, expressed in the local time
zone, and the offset to UTC used by the user's country. It takes
into account that the clock is put forward and back once a year by
reducing the end time by one hour. The program should work on any
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 22 28 Apr 1997
platform, and has been tested.
=== start of code ===
/* TIMEFLAG.C
Calculates FSC-0062 time flag requirement from user input */
#include <stdio.h>
char *onlineflag(char *on, char *off, int utc_diff);
void main()
{
char on[6], off[6]; int utc_diff;
printf("\nPlease specify the time you come online [HH:MM]: ");
scanf("%s", on);
printf("\nPlease specify the time you come offline [HH:MM]: ");
scanf("%s", off);
printf("\nSpecify the difference between your local time zone in
winter\n" "time and UTC (e.g. if your time zone is 6 hours ahead
of GMT,\n"
"enter -6): ");
scanf("%d", &utc_diff);
printf("\nYour online time flag is %s\n\n",
onlineflag(on, off, utc_diff));
}
char *onlineflag(char *ontime, char *offtime, int utcdiff)
{
int onhour, onmin, offhour, offmin;
static char flag[4]="T ";
sscanf(ontime, "%d:%d", &onhour, &onmin);
sscanf(offtime, "%d:%d", &offhour, &offmin);
if(onmin>30) ++onhour;
--offhour; /* to correct for daylight saving time */
onhour = (onhour+24+utcdiff) % 24;
offhour = (offhour+24+utcdiff) % 24;
flag[1]='A'+onhour;
flag[2]='A'+offhour;
if(onmin>0 && onmin<31) flag[1] += 'a'-'A';
if(offmin>29) flag[2] += 'a'-'A';
return flag;
}
=== end of code ===
The second program calculates the online times from the time flag,
input as a pointer to char to the routine (this being of the format
"Txy"). It returns a pointer to a structure which contains the on-
and off-times in UTC. This is not a complete program; it is designed
to be used by mailers to determine the valid online times. It has
also been tested.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 23 28 Apr 1997
=== start of code ===
/* INTFLAG.C
Interprets online time flags and converts them to a set of UTC
times */
struct TIMES {
int on_hour;
int on_min;
int off_hour;
int off_min;
};
struct TIMES *interpret_flag(char *time_flag);
struct TIMES *interpret_flag(char *timeflag)
{
static struct TIMES times;
times.on_min=0;
times.off_min=0;
times.on_hour=timeflag[1]-'A';
if(times.on_hour>23) {
times.on_hour -= 'a'-'A';
times.on_min=30;
}
times.off_hour=timeflag[2]-'A';
if(times.off_hour>23) {
times.off_hour -= 'a'-'A';
times.off_min=30;
}
return ×
}
=== end of code ===
The above routines can be copied and re-used as desired. I am not an
amazing C programmer, and make no guarantees about them!
| Summary
| -------
I believe this to be a neat and compact solution to, what is in my
opinion, one of the gravest problems currently facing FidoNet. In
FidoNet, most nodes are continuous mail, but it is important for the
growth and popularity of FidoNet that non-CM nodes do not receive
many mailer calls at times when they are off line. Users are bad
enough in this respect. It is also useful for people wishing to
contact hubs that are non-CM with mail for a downlink, and for
people wishing to file request from a node that is not CM. There is
no need for systems that are only online in zone mail hour | to
adopt this flag; also, there is no need for CM systems to adopt this
flag.
| Contacting the Author
| ---------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 24 28 Apr 1997
| My board is now online continuously, except for periods of down time
during
| which the board is maintained. Netmail contact is therefore possible
at any
| time. I went CM because of a certain number of nodes calling at the
wrong
| times, and also users. Users weren't too bad, but I dislike 0600 am
wake-up
| calls, repeated at regular three-minute intervals for an hour, by
mailers,
| rather intensely :-)
End of document.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Document: FSC-0063
Version: 001
Date: 10-May-1992
A Proposal for FidoNet style messages
Jem Miller
1:147/33.0 @FidoNet
Status of this document:
This FSC suggests a proposed protocol for the FidoNet(r)
community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Distribution of this document is unlimited.
Fido and FidoNet are registered marks of Tom Jennings and Fido
Software.
I. Introduction
The current message strucures that are transmitted
between systems is fast becoming outdated. Dupe checking,
path checking, and zone aware routing are all areas of
weekness in the current format. This proposal both
simplifies the current processing needed of mail tossers,
and eliminates the worst problem areas and limitations of
the current methods.
Currently, Seen-By lines and Path lines are appended
and maintained in all EchoMail type message sent into FidoNet
technol-ogy networks. The original intention of Seen-By's
was to help eliminate duplicate messages, and give a sort
of "tracking his-tory" of each piece of EchoMail. Path lines
tell us what systems have actually processed the mail and
sent it on to another sys-tem, and offer some audit checking
in case of problems.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 25 28 Apr 1997
Unfortunately, these systems can not reliably detect
and/or correct duplicate messges, or point to the offending
system with any surity. In recent times, a MSGID kludge has
been used, requir-ing the maintaining of databases (one per
echo usually) to test each message for duplication. While
this procedure cures much of the duplication problems, it
does nothing for the audit trail of each message. Further,
it needlessly slows the tossing/packing process, and promotes
disk fragmentation problems further.
Yet another consideration as we enter wider acceptance
and useage of our electronic media is overhead. Overhead
can be viewed in many ways, two of the most important are
Cost per mes-sage to transmit, and disk space used for
needless information. The proposed changes outlined below
address all of these items and more, giving a means of
expanding into the future.
II. Proposed Changes
Seen-By lines will be greatly changed as compared to the
cur-rent structure, Path lines will be eliminated, and
the MSGID kludge will also be eliminated. Tear lines and
origin lines will remain unchanged. INTL kludges, FMPT
kludges, and others will be eliminated.
This audit system is not new in concept. In fact it is
cur-rently used in a similar manner in the popular TICK and
FLEA file echo processors. Each system that processes a piece
of mail adds its node number into an audit list. The audit
list is similar to current Seen-By's only in that node numbers
are listed at the end of each message.
Node numbers added to the audit list are FULL node
numbers, ie.
Zone:Net/Node.Point
A system ALWAYS adds itself to the Audit list, but
NEVER adds any other system address to the list. The mail
processor must be capable of automatically zone matching its
own node ad-dress to that of the system it is currently
sending a message to. For example: If I am sending an echo
to zone 1 AND zone 42, my mail processor would add the
following Audit entries:
For each zone 1 message:
1:147/33.0
For each zone 42 message:
42:1036/33.0
My system then sends the message to the correct
receivers. If the receiver is at the end of a line (not
sending the area to any other systems), it simply checks the
audit list to ensure that the senders address is listed
only once, and tosses that mes-sage to the correct area.
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 26 28 Apr 1997
ONLY SYSTEMS THAT RE-SEND A MESSAGE add themselves to
the Audit list. A system NEVER adds itself to the Audit list
if its sending system is listed more than once. In this
case, the mes-sage is a duplicate, and is killed.
The Audit list is NEVER sorted, or disturbed in any way
ex-cept to add a new node to the end of the list.
There are no databases to maintain, no path lines to
check, and best of all, only SENDING systems are listed. In
national echos, it is not uncommon to see 5 to 8 lines of
Seen-By's and 2 or 3 path lines in EACH message. Even though
including the full zone address (including points) adds to
the length of node num-bers, far fewer node numbers are
listed. In the case of a problem, the offending
system can be quickly and easily idetified, and the
problem corrected.
Security is also enhanced by allowing the mail processor
to check the sending system against its send-to list in the
areas file to determine that it was received from the correct
node ad-dress (the senders address can be cross checked by
the Audit list as well as the packet header).
III. Implementation
A. Packet Header
The current packet header needs no changes (except
the packet type identifier). This allows full backward
compatibility.
B. Packed Messages
No change to packed message structures or procedures.
C. MSGID Line
Eliminated.
D. Message Body
Unchanged.
E. Tear Lines
Unchanged.
F. Origin Lines
Unchanged.
G. Seen-By's
Replaced by Audit list. The Audit line begins with a
unique tag:
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 27 28 Apr 1997
AUDIT:
followed by a space (ASCII #32). Each node number is seperated
by a space. Each Audit line is terminated by a carriage
return and optionally a linefeed (ASCII #13 and #10). The
length of each Audit line follows current Seen-By line
specifications (79 characters).
Node numbers in the Audit list are full
Zone:Net/Node.Point numbering. The maximum feild length per
entry is 23 characters of text up to and including:
65535:65535/65535.65535
H. Path Lines
Eliminated.
IV. Operations
A. Sender
The originating system begins the Audit sequence by
creating the initial Audit line and adding his node
number after the AUDIT: tag.
AUDIT: 1:147/33.0
Then packs the message to the receiving system as it
normally would.
A system that is re-sending the message to other
systems first completes the Receiver requirements in step B
below. Then the system adds its own node number (zone
matched) to the LAST Audit line of the message (or creates a
new line if needed). The sender then packs the message as it
normally would. This process is repeated for each message,
and each system that recieves a copy of the message. Zone
gates may or may not be listed in the Audit list to correctly
identify any problems (open to ruling).
B. Receiver
Upon processing a packet, the receiver scans for the
Audit lines as it currently does for a Seen-By line for each
message it processes. Each entry in the Audit list is
checked against the LAST entry, as well as its own address,
for duplication. Addition-ally, the LAST address is checked
against the receivers list of valid systems for that
message area to insure that security is not breeched.
Optionally, the receiver may check the address of the packet
header against that of the senders Audit entry to en-sure
correct addressing.
After all tests are made, the message is tossed to the
cor-rect message area. If the receiver is to send the message
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 28 28 Apr 1997
to any other systems, it then becomes the sender and procedes
as in step A above.
V. Qualifications
I am a programmer by trade, and hold a degree in
Electronic Engineering. I attended Oklahoma State University,
and MIT. I am the author of the SuperComm bulletin board
system which includes:
SCBBS The BBS program
SCMAIL The Mail processor
SCED The offline Message editor
SCSET Set-up utility
SCNET Network interface (Front-end mailer).
The SuperComm system holds a current FidoNet product
code, and is fully compliant in its mail handling. A working
model of ScMail including these changes is available for
review. Source code ideas are also available for the proposed
changes, either in C or Turbo Pascal.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 29 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
COORDINATORS CORNER
=================================================================
Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 115
By Ward Dossche, 2:292/854
ZC/2
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
|Zone|Nl-087|Nodelist-094|Nodelist-101|Nodelist-108|Nodelist-115|%%|
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
| 1 | 9088| 8900 -188 | 8837 -63 | 8675 -162 | 8675 0 |32|
| 2 | 15923|15922 -1 |15902 -20 |15993 91 |15992 -1 |59|
| 3 | 800| 800 0 | 800 0 | 800 0 | 800 0 | 3|
| 4 | 548| 549 1 | 548 -1 | 547 -1 | 547 0 | 2|
| 5 | 87| 87 0 | 87 0 | 87 0 | 87 0 | 0|
| 6 | 1090| 1090 0 | 1083 -7 | 1083 0 | 1083 0 | 4|
+----+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+--+
| 27536|27348 -188 |27257 -91 |27185 -72 |27184 -1 |
+------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 30 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
WE GET EMAIL
=================================================================
--- Following message extracted from NETMAIL @ 1:18/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Tue Apr 22 04:04:39 1997
From: Stephen Reinen @ 1:107/700
To: Editor @ 1:1/23
Date: 21 Apr 97 19:24:18
Subj: 1:13/10
Chris,
I am sending you this note to you as a progress update for the re-
building of 13/10. You have my permission to re-print this in
Fidonews, and in the Echos.
I will try to send you updates weekly as things progress.
I spoke with Burt Juda last week, he is working on the
configuration files. The configurations for IEEE were very complex
and specific to that installation. Burt plans to send me the
configurations and utilities on diskette, this should make things
easier for the installation on to my server.
In the mean time, I am working on the interface configuration to
the EMSI mailer. I hope to provide FTP access to allow outgoing mail
to enter the gate.
Initially, the I/O gate will only support the gating on netmail.
We hope to be able to resume UseNet capabilities eventually.
Currently 13/10 will be operating on limited bandwidth (56k). I have
obtained permission to install a server on the LAN at the ISP. When
this machine is built, we should ba able
to bring 13/10 back to where it was.
- Stephen
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 31 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
NET HUMOR
=================================================================
To: cbaker84@digital.net
From: top5@lists.zdnet.com
Priority: normal
Subject: Top5 - 2/28/97 - Least Known Chapters in "Dianetics"
Errors-To: top5-errors@lists.zdnet.com
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 10:42:19 MST
_____________________________________
_________| |________
\ | The Top Five List | /
\ | www.topfive.com | /
\ | | /
\ | Sponsored by Windows Sources | /
> | www.winsources.com | <
/ | | \
/ | February 28, 1997 | \
/ |_____________________________________| \
/___________) (__________\
IMPORTANT LAWSUIT-AVOIDING DISCLAIMER-TYPE NOTICE:
The following list is a comedic look at the book, "Dianetics",
and its author, the world-renowned, highly-esteemed, late
science fiction writer/adventurer/yachtsman/horticulturist
L. Ron Hubbard. In it we stretch the truth, bend the facts,
and probably even make up some stuff. Nothing you read here
should be taken seriously. I'm sure the Scientologists are
fine people. Okay, I'm not *really* sure, but there's always
the remote chance that they're fine people, isn't there?
Regardless, we don't want them suing us (not that they're
famous for doing that or anything), so don't believe anything
you read here. Just laugh at it, then go back to your jobs.
The Top 15 Least Known Chapters in "Dianetics"
15> "Getting Chicks To Say Yes: L. Ron Answers the Booty Call"
14> "Hey, If It's In a Bestseller, It MUST Be True!"
13> "Travolta 3:16"
12> "Making Your Own E-meter With Dixie Cups And Duct Tape"
11> "Chapter 26: In Which Luke Discovers that L. Ron Vader is His
Real Father"
10> "Chapter 5: Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot"
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 32 28 Apr 1997
9> "'Old Mother' Hubbard -- L. Ron, the Transvestite Years"
8> "Chapter 12: Geez, You're Still Buying This, Aren't You?"
7> "The Human Mind: That Vast Realm Half an Inch Behind the
Forehead (Two Inches Back for Scott Hamilton)"
6> "When a Lawsuit Hits Your Eye, Like a Big Pizza Pie,
That's Scientology"
5> "He's NOT the Telescope Guy!"
4> "Chapter 11: How To File For It"
3> "Movie Stars -- Are They Gullible, or What?"
2> "Chapter 3: Post This on the Internet and We'll Sue Your Ass!"
and the Number 1 Least Known Chapter in "Dianetics"...
1> "Commandment Number One: 'Show Me the Money!'"
[ This list copyright 1997 by John Smith and Ziff-Davis ]
[ *To forward or repost, please include this section.* ]
[ The Top Five List top5@walrus.com www.topfive.com ]
Selected from 105 submissions from 38 contributors.
Today's Top Five List non-anonymous authors are:
----------------------------------------------------------------
O.J. Simpson, Brentwood, CA -- 1 (Guilty of his 1st #1!)
John Paul, Vatican City -- 2
Reader's Digest -- 3
Joan D'Arc, France -- 4
Tammy Fae Messner, Bible Belt -- 5, 12
Albert Belle, Clevel-- er, Chicago -- 6
H. Ross Perot, Dallas, TX -- 7
Mrs. Olson, Folgers, CO -- 8
Mary Richards, New York, NY -- 9
Riddick Bowe, Parris Island -- 10
Willie Nelson, Austin, TX -- 11
anonymous, anytown, USA -- 13
Alan Smithee, Sugar Land, TX -- 14
Tori Spelling, Lso Angeels, CL -- 15
John Smith, Tulsa, OK -- List owner/editor
----------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Runners Up list, "Herbalife Dealers",
can be found at our website: http://www.topfive.com
================================================================
*** Windows Sources Spotlight ***
Netscape's share of the browser market has been steadily
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 33 28 Apr 1997
declining in the face of the Microsoft juggernaut.
Can Communicator pull the company out of its slump?
Visit Windows Sources Website for a sneak preview of our review!
http://www.winsources.com
================================================================
T H E T O P F I V E L I S T
To subscribe: Send mail to top5-on@lists.zdnet.com
To unsubscribe: Send mail to top5-off@lists.zdnet.com
For more information: Send mail to top5@walrus.com
with "INFO" in the *subject* line of the message.
To report a sighting of a Top Five List in other media:
Send mail to top5@walrus.com with "BINGO!" in the *subject*.
================================================================
Ruminations & Ponderances
Sometimes I think to myself: "I sure am
glad I wasn't born in China, 'cause I'd
hate to have to eat Chinese all the time."
(Thanks to Mac Helton)
================================================================
The Top Five List http://www.topfive.com
Sponsored by Windows Sources http://www.winsources.com
This delivery powered by Mercury Mail, Inc. http://www.merc.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 34 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
Future History
17 May 1997
Independence Day, Norway.
3 Jun 1997
2 years since FidoNet had an International Coordinator.
6 Jun 1997
National Commemoration Day, Sweden.
12 Jun 1997
Independence Day, Russia.
1 Jul 1997
Canada Day - Happy Birthday Canada.
9 Jul 1997
Independence Day, Argentina.
13 Oct 1997
Thanksgiving Day, Canada.
1 Dec 1997
World AIDS Day.
10 Dec 1997
Nobel Day, Sweden.
12 Jan 1998
HAL 9000 is one year old today.
22 May 1998
Expo '98 World Exposition in Lisbon (Portugal) opens.
1 Dec 1998
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
Tom Jennings.
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.
15 Sep 2000
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.
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
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 35 28 Apr 1997
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 19:41:43 -0700
FROM: update@versions.com
TO: cbaker84@digital.net
SUBJECT: Versions! Update
Christopher,
This message is being sent to you because your VERSIONS! Preferences
are set to receive e-mail regarding
Important Internet News & Windows OS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
New PC Virus Discovered By ZDNet
Symantec and Dr Solomon Patches Available Exclusively
on the Web at ZDNet Software Library Site
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Software experts at
ZDNet, the Web's undisputed source for computing and Internet
information, today announced the discovery of, and cure for, a
previously unknown and undetectable computer virus that can destroy
many of the most common types of PC files. ZDNet's technical experts
worked with leading anti-virus utility providers Symantec (Nasdaq:
SYMC) and Dr Solomon's Software (Nasdaq: SOLLY) to successfully
develop software patches for the new virus. Both patches are
available via free download exclusively at the ZDNet Software Library
(http://www.hotfiles.com).
The new virus, which is referred to as the 'HLL.5850A' virus by Dr
Solomon's and 'Weed.5850' virus by Symantec, encrypts and corrupts
'.com' and '.exe' files on personal computers. ZDNet discovered the
virus during a routine virus check performed on all files before the
files are uploaded to the Software Library, a ZDNet channel. ZDNet
contacted Dr Solomon's Software and Symantec, two of the leading anti-
virus and utilities providers, for assistance in detecting and
repairing the virus.
"Our colleagues at Symantec and Dr Solomon's were exemplary for
the speed in which they were able to identify and rectify this
previously undiscovered virus," said Preston Gralla, executive editor
in charge of the ZDNet Software Library. "We're proud to offer a
quick remedy for the virus, saving PC users the possible agony of
having to replace large amounts of corrupted data. This is yet
another exclusive offer available at the Software Library site."
PC users can download free virus protection patch files for
Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus and Dr Solomon's FindVirus, the scanner
found in Dr Solomon's entire line of anti-virus products. Evaluation
copies of the latest versions of Norton Anti-Virus and FindVirus are
also available for download at the Software Library Web site.
"After ZDNet alerted us to this new virus threat, the Symantec
Anti-Virus Research Center team sprung into action. The minute we
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 36 28 Apr 1997
received the virus sample from ZDNet, our researchers jumped on the
problem and provided a detection and repair solution to ZDNet on the
same day," said Alex Haddox, product manager for Symantec Anti-Virus
Research Center (SARC). "This fast response proves Symantec's
commitment to protecting computer users and, exemplifies how SARC
protection extends beyond the Symantec AntiVirus product line, by also
protecting our partner, ZDNet, and its users."
"When ZDNet reported files were increasing in size, we immediately
suspected a computer virus. Within two hours, we provided ZDNet the
means to ensure the integrity of their data," said Shane Coursen,
senior technology consultant at Dr Solomon's Software. "With more
than 200 new viruses appearing every month, Dr Solomon's Software's
technology experts are always on alert to deliver this type of
resolution. Our combined effort demonstrates the value of cooperation
among the leading anti-virus experts to provide the highest level of
protection to all computer users."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Versions! will soon be offering some great new Premium Services
including e-mail notifications on SHAREWARE updates, integration with
the ZDNet shareware library, and more. Get details at
http://www.versions.com.
|| http://www.versions.com
|| VERSIONS!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 37 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING
=================================================================
Latest Greatest Software Versions
by Peter E. Popovich, 1:363/264
Note: Mid-May, I will phase out the entire "Old Info" section. As
always, I'll be happy to process any information I get, either before
or after it is phased out.
-=- Snip -=-
Submission form for the Latest Greatest Software Versions column
OS Platform :
Software package name :
Version :
Function(s) - BBS, Mailer, Tosser, etc. :
Freeware / Shareware / Commercial? :
Author / Support staff contact name :
Author / Support staff contact node :
Magic name (at the above-listed node) :
Please include a sentence describing what the package does.
Please send updates and suggestions to: Peter Popovich, 1:363/264
-=- Snip -=-
MS-DOS:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Act-Up 4.6 G D Chris Gunn 1:15/55 ACT-UP
ALLFIX 4.40 T S Harald Harms 2:281/415 ALLFIX
Announcer 1.11 O S Peter Karlsson 2:206/221 ANNOUNCE
BGFAX 1.60 O S B.J. Guillot 1:106/400 BGFAX
Binkley Docs 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOC_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOS_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm-XE XR4 M F Thomas Waldmann 2:2474/400 BTXE_DOS
CFRoute 0.92 O G C. Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 CFR
CheckPnt 1.0a O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 CHECKPNT
FastEcho 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FASTECHO
FastEcho/16 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FE16
FidoBBS (tm) 12u B S Ray Brown 1:1/117 FILES
FrontDoor 2.12 M S JoHo 2:201/330 FD
FrontDoor 2.20c M C JoHo 2:201/330 FDINFO
GEcho 1.00 T S Bob Seaborn 1:140/12 GECHO
GEcho/Plus 1.11 T C Bob Seaborn 1:140/12 GECHO
GEcho/Pro 1.20 T C Bob Seaborn 1:140/12 GECHO
GIGO 07-14-96 G S Jason Fesler 1:1/141 INFO
GoldED 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GED
GoldED/386 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEX
GoldED Docs 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEM
GoldNODE 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEN
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 38 28 Apr 1997
Imail 1.75 T S Michael McCabe 1:1/121 IMAIL
ImCrypt 1.04 O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 IMCRYPT
InfoMail 1.11 O F Damian Walker 2:2502/666 INFOMAIL
InfoMail/386 1.21 O F Damian Walker 2:2502/666 INFO386
InterEcho 1.19 T C Peter Stewart 1:369/35 IEDEMO
InterMail 2.29k M C Peter Stewart 1:369/35 IMDEMO
InterPCB 1.52 O S Peter Stewart 1:369/35 INTERPCB
IPNet 1.11 O S Michele Stewart 1:369/21 IPNET
JD's CBV 1.4 O S John Dailey 1:363/277 CBV
Jelly-Bean 1.01 T S Rowan Crowe 3:635/727 JELLY
Jelly-Bean/386 1.01 T S Rowan Crowe 3:635/727 JELLY386
JMail-Hudson 2.81 T S Jason Steck 1:285/424 JMAIL-H
JMail-Goldbase 2.81 T S Jason Steck 1:285/424 JMAIL-G
MakePl 1.9 N G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 MAKEPL
Marena 1.1 beta O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 MARENA
Maximus 3.01 B P Tech 1:249/106 MAX
McMail 1.0 M S Michael McCabe 1:1/148 MCMAIL
MDNDP 1.18 N S Bill Doyle 1:388/7 MDNDP
Msged 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41D.ZIP
Msged/386 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41X.ZIP
Opus CBCS 1.73a B P Christopher Baker 1:374/14 OPUS
O/T-Track 2.66 O S Peter Hampf 2:241/1090 OT
PcMerge 2.8 N G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 PCMERGE
PlatinumXpress 1.3 M C Gary Petersen 1:290/111 PX13TD.ZIP
QuickBBS 2.81 B S Ben Schollnick 1:2613/477 QUICKBBS
RAR 2.00 C S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 RAR
RemoteAccess 2.50 B S Mark Lewis 1:3634/12 RA
Silver Xpress
Door 5.4 O S Gary Petersen 1:290/111 FILES
Reader 4.4 O S Gary Petersen 1:290/111 SXR44.ZIP
Spitfire 3.51 B S Mike Weaver 1:3670/3 SPITFIRE
Squish 1.11 T P Tech 1:249/106 SQUISH
StealTag UK 1.c... O F Fred Schenk 2:284/412 STEAL_UK
StealTag NL 1.c... O F Fred Schenk 2:284/412 STEAL_NL
T-Mail 2.599I M S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 TMAIL
Telegard 3.02 B F Tim Strike 1:259/423 TELEGARD
Terminate 4.00 O S Bo Bendtsen 2:254/261 TERMINATE
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK
TosScan 1.01 T C JoHo 2:201/330 TSINFO
TransNet 1.00 G S Marc S. Ressl 4:904/72 TN100ALL.ZIP
TriBBS 11.0 B S Gary Price 1:3607/26 TRIBBS
TriDog 11.0 T F Gary Price 1:3607/26 TRIDOG
TriToss 11.0 T S Gary Price 1:3607/26 TRITOSS
WaterGate 0.92 G S Robert Szarka 1:320/42 WTRGATE
WWIV 4.24a B S Craig Dooley 1:376/126 WWIV
WWIVTOSS 1.36 T S Craig Dooley 1:376/126 WWIVTOSS
xMail 2.00 T S Thorsten Franke 2:2448/53 XMAIL
XRobot 3.01 O S JoHo 2:201/330 XRDOS
OS/2:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ALLFIX/2 1.10 T S Harald Harms 2:281/415 AFIXOS2
BGFAX 1.60 O S B.J. Guillot 1:106/400 BGFAX
Binkley Docs 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOC_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BOS2_260.ZIP
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 39 28 Apr 1997
BinkleyTerm-XE XR4 M F Thomas Waldmann 2:2474/400 BTXE_OS2
CFRoute 0.92 O G C. Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 CFR
FastEcho 1.45a T S Tobias Burchhardt 2:2448/400 FE2
FleetStreet 1.19 O S Michael Hohner 2:2490/2520 FLEET
GEcho/Pro 1.20 T C Bob Seaborn 1:140/12 GECHO
GIGO 07-14-96 G S Jason Fesler 1:1/141 INFO
GoldED 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEO
GoldED Docs 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEM
GoldNODE 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEN
ImCrypt 1.04 O G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 IMCRYPT
Maximus 3.01 B P Tech 1:249/106 MAXP
Msged/2 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41O.ZIP
PcMerge 2.3 N G Michiel vd Vlist 2:500/9 PCMERGE
RAR 2.00 C S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 RAR2
Squish 1.11 T P Tech 1:249/106 SQUISHP
T-Mail 2.599I M S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 TMAIL2
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK
XRobot 3.01 O S JoHo 2:201/330 XROS2
Windows (16-bit apps):
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BeeMail 1.0 M C Andrius Cepaitis 2:470/1 BEEMAIL
FrontDoor APX 1.12 P S Mats Wallin 2:201/329 FDAPXW
Windows (32-bit apps):
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BeeMail 1.0 M C Andrius Cepaitis 2:470/1 BEEMAIL
Binkley Docs 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BDOC_260.ZIP
BinkleyTerm 2.60 M F Bob Juge 1:1/102 BW32_260.ZIP
CFRoute 0.92 O G C. Fernandez Sanz 2:341/70 CFR
GoldED 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEO
GoldED Docs 2.50 O S Len Morgan 1:203/730 GEM
Maximus 3.01 B P Tech 1:249/106 MAXN
Msged/NT 4.10 O G Andrew Clarke 3:635/728 MSGED41W.ZIP
PlatinumXpress 2.00 M C Gary Petersen 1:290/111 PXW-INFO
T-Mail 2.599I M S Ron Dwight 2:220/22 TMAILNT
WinFOSSIL/95 1.12 r4 F S Bryan Woodruff 1:343/294 WNFOSSIL.ZIP
WinFOSSIL/NT 1.0 beta F S Bryan Woodruff 1:343/294 NTFOSSIL.ZIP
Unix:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ifmail 2.9 M G Eugene Crosser 2:293/2219 IFMAIL
ifmail-tx ...tx8.1 M G Pablo Saratxaga 2:293/2219 IFMAILTX
ifmail-tx.rpm ...tx8.1 M G Pablo Saratxaga 2:293/2219 IFMAILTX.RPM
Msged 4.00 O G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 MSGED
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK
Amiga:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrashMail 1.23 T X Fredrik Bennison 2:205/324 CRASHMAIL
CrashTick 1.1 O F Fredrik Bennison 2:205/324 CRASHTICK
DLG Pro BBOS 1.15 B C Holly Sullivan 1:202/720 DLGDEMO
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 40 28 Apr 1997
GMS 1.1.85 M S Mirko Viviani 2:331/213 GMS
Msged 4.00 O G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 MSGED
Tobruk 0.33 T G Paul Edwards 3:711/934 TOBRUK
TrapDoor 1.86.b2 M S Maximilian Hantsch
2:310/6 TRAPDOOR
TrapDoor 1.86.b2 M S Maximilian Hantsch
2:310/6 TRAPBETA
TrapToss 1.50 T S Rene Hexel 2:310/6 TRAPTOSS
Atari:
Program Name Version F C Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BinkleyTerm/ST 3.18pl2 M F Bill Scull 1:363/112 BINKLEY
Semper 0.80beta M S Jan Kriesten 2:2490/1624 SMP-BETA
Function: B-BBS, P-Point, M-Mailer, N-Nodelist, G-Gateway, T-Tosser,
C-Compression, F-Fossil, O-Other. Note: Multifunction will
be listed by the first match.
Cost: P-Free for personal use, F-Freeware, S-Shareware, C-Commercial,
X-Crippleware, D-Demoware, G-Free w/ Source
Old info from: 01/27/92
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MS-DOS Systems Other Utilities Other Utilities
-------------- Name Version Name Version
-------------------- --------------------
Network Mailers 2DAPoint 1.50* Netsex 2.00b
Name Version 4Dog/4DMatrix 1.18 OFFLINE 1.35
-------------------- ARCAsim 2.31 Oliver 1.0a
D'Bridge 1.30 ARCmail 3.00* OSIRIS CBIS 3.02
Dreamer 1.06 Areafix 1.20 PKInsert 7.10
Dutchie 2.90c ConfMail 4.00 PolyXarc 2.1a
Milqtoast 1.00 Crossnet 1.5 QM 1.00a
PreNM 1.48 DOMAIN 1.42 QSort 4.04
SEAdog 4.60 DEMM 1.06 RAD Plus 2.11
SEAmail 1.01 DGMM 1.06 Raid 1.00
TIMS 1.0(mod8) DOMAIN 1.42 RBBSMail 18.0
EEngine 0.32 ScanToss 1.28
Compression EMM 2.11* ScMail 1.00
Utilities EZPoint 2.1 ScEdit 1.12
Name Version FGroup 1.00 Sirius 1.0x
-------------------- FidoPCB 1.0s@ SLMail 2.15C
ARC 7.12 FNPGate 2.70 StarLink 1.01
ARJ 2.20 GateWorks 3.06e TagMail 2.41
LHA 2.13 GMail 2.05 TCOMMail 2.2
PAK 2.51 GMD 3.10 Telemail 1.5*
PKPak 3.61 GMM 1.21 TGroup 1.13
PKZip 1.10 GROUP 2.23 TIRES 3.11
GUS 1.40 TMail 1.21
NodeList Utilities Harvey's Robot 4.10 TosScan 1.00
Name Version HeadEdit 1.18 UFGATE 1.03
-------------------- HLIST 1.09 VPurge 4.09e
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 41 28 Apr 1997
EditNL 4.00 ISIS 5.12@ WEdit 2.0@
FDND 1.10 Lola 1.01d WildMail 2.00
MakeNL 2.31 Mosaic 1.00b WMail 2.2
Parselst 1.33 MailBase 4.11a@ WNode 2.1
Prune 1.40 MSG 4.5* XRS 4.99
SysNL 3.14 MsgLnk 1.0c XST 2.3e
XlatList 2.90 MsgMstr 2.03a YUPPIE! 2.00
XlaxNode/Diff 2.53 MsgNum 4.16d ZmailH 1.25
MSGTOSS 1.3 ZSX 2.40
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Key to old info:
+ - Netmail Capable (Doesn't Require Additional Mailer Software)
* - Recently Updated Version
@ - New Addition
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Please send updates and suggestions to: Peter Popovich, 1:363/264
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 42 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY
=================================================================
[this must be copied out to a file starting at column 1 or
it won't process under PGP as a valid public-key]
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6.2
Comment: Clear-signing is Electronic Digital Authenticity!
mQCNAzINVLcAAAEEAM5dZN6t6j5Yc0kl7qegVFfiBeVoteuhDg4ay8h43u38Q4kO
eJ9Mm7J89wXFb9vgouBVb4biIN6bTWCwcXTbGhBe5OIceLvluuxuEKsaIs/UwXNe
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-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
File-request FNEWSKEY from 1:1/23 [1:18/14] or download it from the
Rights On! BBS at 1-904-409-7040 anytime except 0100-0130 ET and Zone
1 ZMH at 1200-9600+ HST/V32B. The FidoNews key is also available on
the FidoNews homepage listed in the Masthead information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 43 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================
This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the Editor as
of this appearance.
============
FidoNet:
Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fidonews.html
HTML FNews http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6894/
WWW sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
FTSC page http://www2.blaze.net.au/ftsc.html
Echomail http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/index.html
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html
============
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: http://www.smalltalkband.com/st01000.htm
Region 14: http://www.netins.net/showcase/fidonet/
Region 15: http://www.smrtsys.com/region15/ [disappeared?]
Region 16: http://www.tiac.net/users/satins/region16.htm
Region 17: http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/region17.htm
Region 18: http://www.citicom.com/fido.html
Region 19: http://home1.gte.net/bhamilt/index.htm
============
Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org
ZEC2: http://fidoftp.paralex.co.uk/zec.htm [shut down?]
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fidonet.ch/z2_elist/z2_elist.htm
Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (in German)
Region 25:
http://members.aol.com/Net254/
Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 44 28 Apr 1997
Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (in French)
Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (in Swiss)
Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (in Spanish)
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr
Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/
Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (in Greek and English)
Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl
============
Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org
============
Zone 4: (not yet listed)
Region 90:
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (in Spanish)
============
Zone 5: (not yet listed)
============
Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org
============
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 45 28 Apr 1997
=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------
Editor: Christopher Baker
Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees
"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS 1-904-409-7040, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(ds)
more addresses:
Christopher Baker -- 1:18/14, cbaker84@digital.net
cbaker84@aol.com
cbaker84@msn.com
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 471
Edgewater, FL 32132-0471
U.S.A.
voice: 1-904-409-3040 [1400-2100 ET only, please]
[1800-0100 UTC/GMT]
------------------------------------------------------
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.
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1997 Christopher Baker. 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 [FNEWSEnn.ZIP] for a
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 46 28 Apr 1997
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [7], i.e., FNWSFEB7.ZIP for all the Issues from Feb 97.
Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 14 for 1984 - 1997, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.4M.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/
*=*=*
You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:
jbarchuk@worldnet.att.net
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 can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6894/
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/
Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 11 Megs.
=*=*=*=
The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
available almost immediately after publication on the Editor's new
homepage on the World Wide Web at:
http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/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.
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
A PGP generated public-key is available for the FidoNews Editor from
FIDONEWS 14-17 Page 47 28 Apr 1997
1:1/23 [1:18/14] by file-request for FNEWSKEY or by download from
Rights On! BBS at 1-904-409-7040 as FIDONEWS.ASC in File Area 18. It
is also posted twice a month into the PKEY_DROP Echo available on the
Zone 1 Echomail Backbone.
*=*=*=*=*
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 1:1/23 [1:18/14] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone Coordinators
also 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
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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