* How Did This Happen? Tom Jennings 1:125/111 Let's keep this simple: at no time have the sysops of our FidoNet¨ network given /0's the privilege of determining how our network¨ is run. They are not representatives of anyone but themselves;¨ they are merely administrative nodes to generate nodelist¨ fragments, help new sysops get online and act as repositories of¨ the necessary network files. They are ordinary nodes with more¨ work to do. A dangerous thing has been attempted, and is undermining the¨ trust that we rely on. "POLICY4" is simply not in effect, it was¨ not voted upon by the members at large. I, and many many others,¨ are simply ignoring the supposed policy "change". How did this¨ happen? POLICY4 is terrible policy. It takes the right to choose your own¨ net host way! It entrenches /0's as positions of authority. This¨ is insane and does not facilitate our communications. A "smoothly¨ running network" is not our goal; we are here to communicate,¨ that is all. We do that well now. Even voting on POLICY4 is¨ insane, it certainly will not benefit the 6000 or so sysops in¨ the network! I've had FidoNet users tell me that their host doesn't auto- matically route them their host-routed mail. This was the most basic purpose of a net host to begin with! The whole concept of host-routing was to make FidoNet more effecient by concentrating calls! Anyways, If a few-dozen or -hundred /0's can vote, then a few-thousand can represent themselves just as simply. So what if it takes a long time, expediency is not a goal. If we don't have the tool(s), write them or do it by hand. Freeze a nodelist as the "list of registered voters". Have everyone send in a message. Check them off the list. Hold redundant votes, compare results. Give it a month. The net runs fine, there is no need to implement bad policy just to satisfy some bureaucratic urge!