Volume 4, Number 29 3 August 1987 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. Copyright 1987 by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. Two Weeks to FidoCon! Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 Logic Chopping: A Study in Censorship .................... 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 FidoNet Conference Information ........................... 3 FIDO-FAM - FIDO BBS File Area Maintenance Utility ........ 4 Hotline! (2) ............................................. 7 FidoNet's Growing Pains -- A USENET Perspective .......... 10 3. NOTICES .................................................. 12 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 12 COMPUTERFEST '87 ......................................... 12 Special notice for FidoCon goers ......................... 12 Latest Software Versions ................................. 13 International FidoNet Conference Registration Form ....... 14 IFNA Order Form and Membership Application ............... 15 FidoNews 4-29 Page 1 3 Aug 1987 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Logic Chopping A Study in Censorship Most of you are probably aware of the recent brouhaha over EchoChop. Not long ago I announced that EchoChop would function no more, that it was all just an experiment. This left a question or two unaswered, like what was the experiment, and how did it turn out? I didn't answer that question before because the experiment was still running. It ran in two phases: Phase one: Create EchoChop and announce to the world what it is and what it's for. This served mainly to encourage expression from those who are against the idea. Phase two: Have EchoChop expire at a preset time, and then announce to the world that it is no more. This served mainly to encourage expression from those who are in favor of the idea. Phase one happened mainly in public in the echomail conferences, and is thus pretty well known. Phase two happened mainly in private network mail, and is thus less publicly known. Is still happening, I should say. I'm on the verge of creating a canned message that says, "No, you can't have it, it's gone." What did I learn from all this? Quite a bit actually. For one thing, a great many people feel a need for some sort of control over echomail content. But EchoChop (or anything like it) is not the way to go. Echomail is chaotic enough already without people using things like EchoChop. People want more order, not less. This implies some sort of central control over echomail. But that is a cure that leads to problems in its own right. For example, there are many conferences where none of the participants want anyone outside having anything to say about it. What I propose is a compromise approach based on the tools we already have at hand. Each conference in theory has a moderator who oversees the conference. But up until now a moderator has been pretty powerless to actually do anything. I propose that we define failure to abide by the wishes of a conference moderator as excessively annoying behaviour. The remedies stated in Policy3 then come into play to back up the wishes of the moderator. Of course, we'll need some agreed upon way to determine just who the moderator of a given conference is, since I'm assuming here that only the moderator can lodge a complaint for annoying behaviour. So we pick some sucker, er, dedicated volunteer to FidoNews 4-29 Page 2 3 Aug 1987 act as our official "Registrar of Conferences" (Thomas Kenny comes to mind). This would NOT mean that every conference must be registered. A conference would only have to be registered if its moderator wants to invoke the protection of Policy3. The moderator of an unregistered conference would simply be on his own when dealing with annoying behaviour (much like things are now for all conferences). Does this mean that IFNA will finally get involved in echomail? Well, yes it does. I've heard that the echomail backbone has sworn to go on strike (or some such) if IFNA ever touches echomail, but I'd like to point out that this approach involves IFNA in echomail only so far as the participants in any given conference desire -- and not really very far for all of that. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 3 3 Aug 1987 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= FidoNet Conference Information Your participation will help to ensure a successful and informative conference. Send in your registration form NOW. The registration form for the conference does not include hotel accommodations. The conference will be held at the Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel. If you wish to stay there you must contact the hotel directly. Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel 5000 Seminary Road., Alexandria, VA 22311 1-800-228-9822 Mention that you are with the FidoNet Conference and you will receive discounted room rates. The Radisson has agreed to extend these rates for any who wish to stay on after the conference and visit our nation's capital. The Radisson provides free transportation to and from National Airport any time of the day. A Metro stop (subway) at the airport will give you access to the Smithsonian, the Zoo, and other national landmarks in the District. Room Rates for the Conference: Single or Double Occupancy: $80.00 /night One additional cot in a room: $20.00/night Children under 17 accompanied by an adult: Free If you wish to share a room and need a roommate, please contact Brian Hughs at 109/634. He will help you find someone to share a room with. There are four restaurants in the Radisson ranging from relatively "inexpensive" to "very, very, expensive". The sysops in net 109 are compiling a list of establishments in the surrounding neighborhood which will be available when you get to the conference. During the Conference there will be a Banquet on Friday night and a luncheon on Saturday. If you are interested in attending these, don't forget to mark them on your registration form. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 4 3 Aug 1987 FIDO-FAM Version 3 Release Announcement by Dennis Glaeser filename : FFAM301.ARC (latest version is: 3.01) available from : Fido 100/10 (or any current user) FIDO-FAM is a FIDO BBS File Area Maintenance utility. It allows the user to quickly and easily review, modify, and coordinate the files in any FIDO File Area with the appropriate FILES.BBS file. Version 3 also has some features to support OPUS BBSs (ver 0). This utility uses SYSTEMnn.BBS files to define the directories to use, and manages the files named: FILES.BBS, DIR.BBS, FILES.BAK, and DIR.BAK in each file area. FIDO-FAM will work with any system which uses these files as defined by FIDO (version 11w) specs. FIDO-FAM can be run locally on any computer running MSDOS or PCDOS 2.x or higher, and which has an ANSI terminal or device driver installed. FIDO-FAM can also be run remotely. This allows authorized users to do file area maintenance from home. The remote terminal, or modem program, being used MUST respond to the ANSI terminal control strings for: - Cursor Positioning - Clear Screen - Clear to End of Line - Set Colors - Note: color display not required. An 80 x 24 display is used, to support remote users who don't have 25 line screens. Program Summary The following is an abreviated summary of FIDO-FAM's features. The ARC file contains a complete User Manual, ready to print. Syntax : FIDO-FAM [a] [b] [d] [i] [n] [r] [k] [path to system files] [SEND nn [nn..[nn]] TO filename] Command Line Parameters: A - Auto Adopt mode. Upon entry to a file area, new files are automatically added to FILES.BBS. B - No Backups. This option defeats the creation of .BAK files for FILES.BBS and DIR.BBS. D - Show File Date (the way OPUS does). I - Make Insert mode the default when editing strings (otherwise Overwrite mode will be the default). N - No ANSI Color commands are used. R - Restore original colors (for PCDOS machines only). Any multi-char input on the command line, except that which begins with the keyword 'SEND', is interpreted as the path where the SYSTEMn.BBS files are to be found. FidoNews 4-29 Page 5 3 Aug 1987 An environment string named FAMOPT may also be used to invoke FIDO-FAM options EXCEPT the SEND option. The FAMOPT string has the same format as the command line. If the keyword SEND is found on the command line, FIDO-FAM operates in a Batch SEND mode, rather than interractively. This means the program creates the SEND file(s) requested and then terminates. A SEND file is a copy of FILES.BBS with the File Size, and optionally File Date included. It is a file 'snapshot' of an Area's contents, and is also what a user will see when Fido (or Opus) displays a Files list for the Area. A SEND command will contain a filename and a list of Area Numbers. FIDO-FAM will create either a single file which concatenates the Areas together, or multiple files, one in each Area. SEND files can also be created while running FIDO-FAM interractively. The following is a list of commands available in the File Area Editor: Display Controls (scrolling, paging) Mark/Unmark Lines (many of the following commands operate on single or multiple entries in FILES.BBS. Multiple entries may be either a range of lines or all Marked Lines) Abandon/Adopt file(s) Send a Command to DOS Line Editor (for file names and comments) Find Regenerate the Display Insert a comment Jump (to a new location) Kill/Delete Line(s) Move/Copy lines (within this area or to another area) Overwrite this Comment Quit the Editor Rename the File Sort files (by Name, Extent, or Date) Date the file description View a File Move current line to another area Display a 'help' screen Adopt all orphans Remove Date from Comment(s) Edit DIR.BBS (one line only) Touch (update File Date & Time) This version of FIDO-FAM underwent about 3 months of Beta testing by a number of Sysops from all over the country. The program's functionality and user interface were developed in response to their comments. FidoNews 4-29 Page 6 3 Aug 1987 FIDO-FAM's copyright allows unlimited non-commercial distribution and use. User comments, criticisms, suggestions and/or contributions are solicited. User support is available by sending messages to Dennis Glaeser on Fido 100/10 [phone (314) 232-6881]. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 7 3 Aug 1987 James Zachary Fido 115/537 Hotline! (2) (c) 1987 James Zachary The telephone at the water and sewage department is often busy with calls from customers concerned with public health matters. RING! Southeast Treatment Plant, this is Zack. "Is this the water department?" Yes Ma'am, for most of this area. "Good. I have some very technical questions to ask you about the water." I'll try and help. "Why are my nipples getting so hard?" You're not really serious. "I AM SO!! My nipples ... they're hard and they have this white coating on them!" Uhhhh, huh ... hard, uhhh, nipples with white, uhh ... stuff ... "Not only that, they're getting warped!" I see. "They used to be soft, pink and round!" I'm sure they were. "Now they really look disgusting!" I'm sure they do. "So I want to know what you're going to do about this!" I really don't think I can help you. Have you discussed this with your personal physician? "Yes I have! He said I should call you because he thought it was from the water!" I see... uhhhh, just why and how does he think the water is causing this? FidoNews 4-29 Page 8 3 Aug 1987 "He said cleaning them in boiling water sometimes does that." Sounds painful. Can't you just sponge them off? "Painful?! THE BABY BOTTLE NIPPLES ARE THE ONES I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Now I understand. "Are you going to buy me new ones?" Why would we do that? "Because your water ruined these. My baby won't suck them anymore. He's been sick and I think it's from the white stuff ... he used to really suck ..." May I ask how old your baby is? "He's six, going on seven" Six ... and he refuses the bottle? Maybe he's getting a little old for the bottle. "DON'T TELL ME HOW TO RAISE MY CHILD!" I wasn't. How long have you been using these nipples? "Since he was born." "Hmmmmm. My guess is the white film is from the calcium carbonate in the water ... kind of like bathtub ring of the nipple ..." "AND?!" ... and they are hard and warped because of being boiled and bitten for six years. "So! You are refusing to pay!" Well, that's not for me to decide. I was only trying to suggest they might just be plain worn out. "THEY WOULDN'T BE WORN OUT IF YOUR WATER WAS ANY GOOD!" There is really nothing more I can do for you. "JUST HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET MY MONEY?" Well, why not grab your nipples and run down to our main office. There you can file an insurance claim. "What good would that do? Will they give me the money?" They will investigate and make a judgement whether to settle or FidoNews 4-29 Page 9 3 Aug 1987 not. "Well, you sure haven't been any help! How do I get them to pay more attention than you have?" Just show them your nipples. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 10 3 Aug 1987 FidoNet's Growing Pains A USENET Perspective [The following was extracted from the news.admin USENET news distributions. This message was massaged to fit the format of the FidoNews, but is otherwise unaltered. - Kurt Reisler SYSOP 109/74 - The Bear's Den] Article 621 of news.admin: Path: hadron!sundc!seismo!husc6!bloom-beacon!think!ames!ptsfa! ihnp4!cbosgd!hal!ncoast!allbery From: allbery@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery) Newsgroups: news.groups,news.admin Subject: Re: Fidonet (was Re: the USENET problems) Message-ID: <2922@ncoast.UUCP> Date: 17 Jul 87 03:52:35 GMT Reply-To: allbery@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon Allbery) Followup-To: news.groups Distribution: na Organization: Cleveland Public Access UN*X, Cleveland, Oh Lines: 47 Xref: hadron news.groups:1090 news.admin:621 As quoted from <45@oresoft.UUCP> by randy@oresoft.UUCP: > Unfortunately, Fidonet's 'governing body', IFNA, met with the > same kind of warm, friendly, cooperative attitude that such > suggestions meet on usenet. Entire echo conferences > (=newsgroups) died from the flaming and stupidity. Only about > 20% of the >1500 public Fidonet nodes have even joined IFNA. > > Note that the FidoNews one reads on usenet is the weekly > newsletter put together by the constructive folk. The > trashers prefer to occupy net.bandwidth with rumors, innuendo, > ad hominem attack, and the normal flaming. As Fidonet users > tend to be more amateur than those on usenet (no implication > meant in either direction), the Fidonet trashers usually don't > even make interesting reading. At the last few meetings of CASA (the Cleveland/Akron Sysops' Association), I had a discussion with some Fido sysops. The similarities between Fidonet and Usenet were striking. Indeed, Fidonet is going through the same problems as the Usenet. In fact, worse problems, because they don't have any "backbone" sites, in the Usenet sense: no gatech, no seismo (of course, that's about to happen to us as well), no UUNET, nothing of the sort. Excessively low SNR could destroy the Fidonet much more quickly than it would the Usenet: the current Usenet situation is untenable on the Fidonet. I've also become more involved with local Fido systems. And seen this myself. When it comes down to it, anarchy doesn't work when the population is too high. Fidonet is rapidly approaching the line, FidoNews 4-29 Page 11 3 Aug 1987 Usenet passed it long ago but continues on sheer blind inertia. (The loss of seismo may well blow Usenet sky-high. Add the possibility that Gene Spafford may leave the net, and it gets worse. If UUNET fails (still possible) on top of everything else, the loss of coordinated effort may damage the Usenet beyond all hope of recovery.) It's time to open our eyes and look at the world. Part of this may involve the "backbone cabal" meeting with the IFNA "board of directors" (if and when) and comparing notes; maybe together we can come up with a solution for both networks. As it is, it is certain that the current situation is teetering on the brink. -- [Copyright 1987 Brandon S. Allbery, all rights reserved] \ ncoast 216-781-6201 Redistributable only if redistribution is subsequently permitted.] \ 2400 bd. Brandon S. Allbery, moderator of comp.sources.misc and comp.binaries.ibm.pc ihnp4!{hoptoad,cbosgd}!ncoast!allbery <> ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 12 3 Aug 1987 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 20 Aug 1987 Start of the Fourth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, VA. Contact Brian Hughes at 109/634 for more information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with all this time. We're hoping to see you there! 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- COMPUTERFEST '87 August 22-23 1987 Saturday 10am to 6pm Sunday 10am to 5pm Dayton Hara Arena Speakers, Seminars, User Group information, Product demonstrations, Flea Market. Drawing each day for a personal computer. Hourly door prize drawing. Tickets $3.00 at the door for each day. Parking is FREE and there is a lot of it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fourth International FidoNet Conference With the conference rapidly approaching, I want to remind everyone to send in your registration forms. Even though registrations will be accepted on Thursday Evening and Friday Morning at the Conference, It will not be possible to sign up for the Banquet on Friday or the Luncheon on Saturday if you do not pre-register. We need to have a final head count for these functions by Tuesday, August 18th. Please send in your registration forms before that date. Anyone wishing to charge their registration fees on either Visa or MasterCard, feel free to contact Brian Hughes at the number listed below. Remember, your participation will help insure a FidoNews 4-29 Page 13 3 Aug 1987 successful conference. Brian Hughes: 202-543-4200 (work) 202-546-0883 (home) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.51 EDITNL 3.3 ARC 5.21 Fido 11w LISTGEN 05.25.86 ARCmail 1.00* Opus 1.00* Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.00* SEAdog 4.00 TestList 8.3 EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M XlatList 2.81 Renum 3.30 * Recently changed Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 14 3 Aug 1987 OFFICIAL REGISTRATION FORM FOURTH INTERNATIONAL FIDONET CONFERENCE RADISSON MARK PLAZA HOTEL ALEXANDRIA, VA. AUGUST 20 - 23, 1987 Name _________________________________ Date _____________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Number in Your Party _________________ Staying at the Radisson? _____________ Number of Rooms? _____________________ Arrival Date? ________________________ Departure Date? ______________________ Registration Fees: How Many Total Full Conference $60.00 each ________ $________ Late registration $10.00 each ________ $________ (after Aug. 1) Friday Night Banquet $30.00 each ________ $________ Saturday Luncheon $16.50 each ________ $________ Total Amount Included (Registration and Meals) $________ IFNA MEMBERS ONLY: How many in your party will be attending the Sunday morning Board of Directors meeting? ________ Send your registration form and a check or money order to: Fourth International FidoNet Conference 212 E. Capitol St., Washington, D.C. 20003 Attn: Brian H. Hughes -- voice: (202) 543-4200 This registration form does not include hotel accomodations. If you wish to stay at the Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel, please contact them directly and mention you are with the FidoNet Conference. Conference room rates are $80/night for single or double occupancy, and $20/night for an extra cot. Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel 5000 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, Va. 22311 1-800-228-9822 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-29 Page 15 3 Aug 1987 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each publication, but we can make no written guarantees. Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986 IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____ IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____ IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____ SUBTOTAL _____ IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____ SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member International orders include $5.00 for surface shipping or $15.00 for air shipping _____ SUBTOTAL _____ Mo. Residents add 5.725 % Sales tax _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: IFNA P.O. Box 41143 St. Louis, Missouri 63141 USA Name________________________________ Net/Node____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ FidoNews 4-29 Page 16 3 Aug 1987 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications. ** Name _________________________________ Date ________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Country_______________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Board Name____________________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Baud Rate Supported___________________ Board Restrictions____________________ Special Interests_____________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Is there some area where you would be willing to help out in FidoNet?_______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to: International FidoNet Association P. O. Box 41143 St Louis, Missouri 63141 USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. ** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization in formation and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. An Elections Committee has been established to fill positions outlined in the By-Laws for the Board of Directors. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Elections Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------