Volume 5, Number 15 11 April 1988 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief Dale Lovell Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Contributing Editors: Al Arango 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 1988 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. IFNA may also be contacted at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING received. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 5 Did You See THAT? ........................................ 5 WARNING TO LAP-TOP OWNERS ................................ 11 3. COLUMNS .................................................. 12 Let's YACK about Starting a FidoNode ..................... 12 4. NOTICES .................................................. 14 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 14 Region Coordinator Position Open For Region 10 ........... 15 Latest Software Versions ................................. 15 5. COMMITTEE REPORTS ........................................ 16 IFNA Request for BoD Candidates .......................... 16 IFNA Organizes a "Job Bag" ............................... 17 FidoNews 5-15 Page 1 11 Apr 1988 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Well, things look a little better this week. I'm over the depression that lead to last week's editorial. However, I am somewhat disappointed in the number of submissions still arriving not matching ARTSPEC.DOC. If you need a copy of this, it is available for SEAdog style file requests from 1/1 and it is also available to first time callers for downloading. It is not my responsibility to get the specifications to you, it is your responsibility to get the document yourself. I am going to make it easy to match the specs. First off the specs are easy to match. There aren't that many rules. The first rule is no characters below space or above tilde ("~"). This includes the tab character and characters with high bit flags (which I associate with Wordstar in the document mode). The second major rule is your line length can not go beyond 65 columns. Your text should have a flush left. MakeNews (the program that puts FidoNews together) will indent the text for you. If you have a chart or graphic picture, by all means indent it. MakeNews just inserts a few spaces before every line. The reason you shouldn't put in the spaces as a general rule is because different people would indent a different number of spaces and that would result in a poor looking FidoNews. If you want an entry in the table of contents, your first line should start with an asterisk. This tells MakeNews to use this line as a table of contents entry. This line will not appear in your article. If you want a title in the article as well, you will have to have another line that tells the readers what this article is about. It is also suggested that you include your name and a network address either at the beginning or end of your article. That's all you really need to worry about inside your article. The filename you submit your article under is also important. MakeNews uses the file extension to determine the type of submission. "ART" extensions are articles, "COL" extensions are columns, "NOT" means a notice and "SAL" is a for sale ad. If you have a series of articles or columns you want to run in a certain order, you can easily number your articles so that they run during consecutive weeks. If you named your articles SAMPLE1.ART, SAMPLE2.ART and SAMPLE3.ART; SAMPLE1.ART would run the first week, SAMPLE2.ART the second and SAMPLE3.ART the third week. This allows you to send in a collection of related articles (or columns) and not have to worry about sending a different article each week. Instead you can send the whole batch at once and not have to worry about the order. The grand finale to all of this is a short submission tester I almost wrote. I have been thinking about doing something like this since Bob Arnold (editor of the Opus Gazette) suggested a program to do this some time ago. Due to the number of submissions not matching specs, I decided to write such a program last week. While it doesn't test for everything I'd like it to at FidoNews 5-15 Page 2 11 Apr 1988 this point. It does make for a start. Since I had the full source code to MakeNews, and could easily find the section that tests article submissions I decided to try it the easy way. I called up Thom Henderson at System Enhancement Associates (who wrote MakeNews) and asked him if it would be alright if I "borrowed" a piece of his program and explained the reasons why. He was kind enough to let me do this, so I really didn't write that much of this program. Following this editorial, you will find a complete source code listing for TESTART, the submission tester. In it's present state, all it tests for is that the file you specify contains no illegal characters and that no line is longer than 65 columns. Sometime in the future, I hope to put in sections that will check for a title line as well as try and check for a netmail address. If you write these sections yourself, please send me a copy and I'll reprint the source code. Many thanks to Thom for saving me a few hours work (and hopefully a few hours every week!). If you don't have access to a C compiler, you can file request (SEAdog style) the executable program from 1/1 under the magic filename of TESTART. If you can't make a SEAdog style file request, it is available for download to first time callers in the recent uploads and FidoNews directories. Over the next few weeks, my editorials are going to vanish again. I'm working on a new MakeNews which may make much of this unnecessary. I'm trying to make more easily configured as put in some punitive formatting for those of you who seem to be having problems matching specs. This is unfortunately going to take some time away from FidoNews, so try and keep to the specs I've outlined. Until the next time I have some words of wisdom to impart.... Your Editor, Dale Lovell 1:1/1 (1:157/504) 216/642-1034 (data) Home Work 3266 Vezber Drive Parma Computer Center Seven Hills, OH 44131 5402 State Road 216/524-1875 (voice) Parma, OH 44134 216/661-1808 ----------------------------------------------------------------- /* TESTART - Article submission tester Version 1.0 Portions copyrighted by System Enhancement Associates and used with permission. Description: This program attempts to test a file to see if it matches the specifications for FidoNews. Hopefully this will cut FidoNews 5-15 Page 3 11 Apr 1988 down the number of bad submissions that have been annoying this editor. Please try and test your own submissions before submitting them to FidoNews. If you do not have access to a C compiler, it should be available from 1/1 under the "magic" filename "TESTART" Note: This program has been tested with Microsoft Quick C and C version 5.0 as well as Computer Innovations C86 Plus ver 1.1. */ #include #include main(argc,argv) int argc; char *argv[]; { FILE *art; /* file with article to test */ int c; /* one character of file */ int peek; /* another character of file */ int wid = 0; /* width counter */ int len = 0; /* length counter */ if (argc!=2) { printf("Incorrect usage. Correct usage is:\n\n"); printf("testart \nWhere is the file "); printf("you are submitting.\n"); exit(5); } if ((art=fopen(argv[1],"r"))==NULL) { printf("Can not open the file: %s",argv[1]); exit(5); } c=fgetc(art); for( ; c!=EOF; c=fgetc(art)) /* scan the article */ { printf("%1c",c); if(c=='\n') /* new line */ wid = 0; /* reset width */ else if(c>=' ' && c<='~' || c==0xfa || c==0xf6) wid++; else if(c==0x1d) { ungetc(peek=fgetc(art),art); FidoNews 5-15 Page 4 11 Apr 1988 if(isspace(peek)) /* these don't always add width */ wid++; } else { printf("\n -- Illegal character (%02x hex)\n",c); exit(10); } if(!isspace(c)) /* check width */ { if(wid>65) { printf("\n -- Line too long\n"); exit(10); } } } fclose(art); printf("\nFidoNews Submission appears good.\n"); } ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 5 11 Apr 1988 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Chuck Allen FIdoNet 1:129/41 Maltese Alien AlterNet 7:522/1 Did You See THAT? "Did You See THAT"? An appropriate title for this article, based on a running joke on my BBS, started by Keith Vogt, I believe. The object of the joke is: there was nothing to see! Last November, Thom Henderson asked me to do a guest editorial for FidoNews on why "FidoNet isn't fun anymore". Here it is, Thom. Greatly late. I plead it is no fun to write about not having fun. The article I composed the first time around was so damned depressing I destroyed it. In this rewrite, I will be quoting from recent FidoNews editorials and articles. I have done this as I know no other way to convey the sense of what I feel. I have made no attempt to quote in completeness, the selection is arbitrary. If I have quoted someone out of context, it is unintentional. "As alot of you know region 18 went thru alot of flexing and turnoil in the last several months. For those who don't know, our regional coordinator was replaced without hardly a wisper in the middle of the night. We had no say. The zone coordinator said it and it was done." "The new region 18 coordinator is a nice guy. Means well and all that, but I have to wonder if FIDO would have wanted it that way. I mean you know what happened in Boston some years ago. Something about the rights of the governed." FidoNews 5-05, Page 12, 1 Feb 1988 by Ben Mann "Why do I bring this up? Because FidoNet is based on RELIABLE communication between systems. While many may only be concerned about EchoMail, there is much more to FidoNet than EchoMail. This isn't to say that EchoMail isn't important these days, because it is. EchoMail may be one of the most important concepts ever introduced to FidoNet. But EchoMail is only a part of FidoNet, and even it is based on reliable communication. While catching up on some EchoMail conferences this past weekend, I noticed how this idea seems to be fading. If it ever does vanish, we may very well see the end to FidoNet. After all, if I can no longer count on my mail getting through, why bother sending it at all." "Another idea that seems to be vanishing is RESPONSIBILITY. FidoNet is not a right. When you joined FidoNet you were accepting the responsibility for several things. Primarily to "not excessively annoy others," "not be easily annoyed," and most FidoNews 5-15 Page 6 11 Apr 1988 important of all to make your node available only to other nodes during National Mail Hour (NMH). While NMH may be a little outdated these days with so many running continuous mail programs like SEAdog and BinkleyTerm, it is still important to observe NMH. Many nodes are unable to process mail at anytime of the day, and can only send and receive mail at specified times. To these people, NMH is the only way they can reliably send and receive mail. When the nodes they're trying to contact are always busy due to receiving a large batch EchoMail or allowing users, it only serves to annoy others. In time, it could even be classed as excessively annoying." "New software could easily cause the net to come apart in days. The base FidoNet protocol is very important. Any program meant for use in FidoNet NEEDS to be able to fall back and use this original. Without this, no one would ever know where it was safe to try sending mail. While this may be considered archaic by some, it is the basis of this network. Without complete compatibility, we are endangering something that many of us have worked hard to see continue. I ask that all network software authors keep this in mind, lest they become known as the destroyer of FidoNet just because they need the ego trip of a "title" like creator of whateverNet." FidoNews 5-08, Pages 1 and 2, 22 Feb 1988, by Dale Lovell "To say a bill of rights is needed in FidoNet is like saying a drain plug is needed in the swamp. "Sir, I have no time to drain the swamp, I'am to busy fighting the aligators." Region 18 has a new EchoMail coordinator. Located in a non-PCP city. Good thinking. At least he has a 9600 baud HST and a sence of humor. The sence of humor is more important." "Every NC in Region 18 cast their vote (pun intended) and the outcome was a new EC." "Can anyone anywhere tell me why and how this happens? Does a friend of a friend call someone late in the night and make the change? Are there greater forces (farses) at work?" FidoNews 5-09, Page 9, 29 Feb 1988, by Ben Mann "It used to be you could trust what you read in EchoMail, not to mention FidoNews. Everyone treated FidoNet (and it's users and sysops) with respect and decency. If you received a netmail message from someone, you knew it was legitimate. Likewise, no one would have thought of impersonating anyone in EchoMail. What brings all this up? Let me tell you..." "I thought it very odd when some messages supposedly written by Thom Henderson popped up in the sysop echomail conference. I thought it very odd because they didn't sound like Thom, besides which I was under the impression he was leaving FidoNet alone. Well, the other day I received a phone call at work. Even though Thom is now in AlterNet, we keep in touch. This was unusual only because I was the one who usually placed the call. Thom's main FidoNews 5-15 Page 7 11 Apr 1988 reason for the call was to find out if I had seen any messages from him in the sysop echomail conference. After a long discussion with Thom, I am convinced that he isn't the one who sent those messages. If you've received a nasty message from Thom, odds are you've been hit by someone with a juvenile mentality and no respect for FidoNet." FidoNews 5-10, Page 1, 7 Mar 1988, by Dale Lovell "I've gotten a few people upset by referring to FidoNet as a "mature technology". Those of you who would dearly love to "play games" with the protocols (like the late, unlamented Yahoo experiment) rail at that designation, but in few (if any) cases have I been allowed to explain. By "mature" I mean that it is no longer solely (or even mainly) a province of the hackers. Few on your network either know or care how the stuff works. All they care about is that it does. And THAT is the true strength of your network, if you would only realized it. A percent or two of performance, or a widget or two that maybe three out of three thousand will use, is of little import compared to the mighty throng to whom your network is a powerful tool for COMMUNICATION. It is for them that Tom Jennings, Randy Bush, Ben Baker, and myself saw the need for a standards committee, because for THEIR needs stability is more important than widgets." FidoNews 5-11, Pages 1 and 2, 14 Mar 1988, by Thom Henderson "--- A Resolution --- Cut here ---" "AREA:DISINC" " The corporation of the International FidoNet Association has claimed to represent the FidoNet and it has been trying to function in this capacity for some time now. We've gone through IFNA's birth, its growing pains and have struggled to make it grow. Now after it has been in power and has shown us what type of organization IFNA is, we, the Sysops of the FidoNet call on the IFNA Board of Directors to disband and disincorporate the International FidoNet Association." "Signed," ", " "--- Cut here ---" "Let the sysops of the FidoNet decide IFNA's fate." FidoNews 5-12, Page 12, 21 Mar 1988, by Randy Edwards "One of the people who has benefitted most through this approach now believes that the time has come to get rigorous. To only implement to published standards. To not "make a big deal of any random group that meets at a wide spot in the road". Pardon me while I cough my lungs up into my handkerchief." "Okay, I'm back. Now, why do I disagree with this point of view? As a netmail author and a member of the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee I should be cheering this, right? Wrong. FidoNews 5-15 Page 8 11 Apr 1988 We still have work to do. To limit what we can do in the network to published specifications would be very wrong at this point. We still need to properly implement direct interzone mail. To add other protocols to our abilities, particularly such things as the Janus protocol and the X.25 code that is apparently working out so well in Europe, neither of which would have happened if we only allowed our mail transfers to take place using protocols documented by the FTSC. Why did I cough (an impolite thing to do while someone else is talking)? Well, to my knowledge there is no FTSC document describing SEAlink protocol, SEAlink Overdrive, passwords in packet headers, procedural guidelines for password mismatching, the so-called "BARK" method of requesting files from a remote system, or even the addressing method used by the author of the previous article (the address was in the form "net1/node1-net2/node2" where apparently you need to send mail for net2/node2 to net1/node1 but who can tell without a document?)." FidoNews 5-12, Pages 15 and 16, 21 Mar 1988, by Vince Perriello "But the net as a whole cannot just stand by and "let IFNA do it" or hope that perhaps someone else will speak out against injustices. If you believe in the perpetuation of FidoNet you must now take a stand against any and all such practices as have been directed against Randy and others. Each and every one of you should call for a stop of these blatant violations of rights and should demand that those in positions of authority take all necessary steps to see that the individuals responsibile for such acts be removed from FidoNet and that clear guidelines exist to prevent reoccurrences." "This stand must be taken NOW, before it's too late -- if, indeed, it's not too late already." FidoNews 5-13, Pages 1 through 3, 28 Mar 1988, by Don Daniels "BBSs have escalated in complexity way out of proportion to their usefulness; most BBSs are used by highly skilled people with lots of resource$ to talk to people like themselves. This is fine, but most of the world isn't in the position to sit $1,000 (or more!) in a corner of the room for one special purpose only. Also, the trend is towards larger, more complex systems, wide area networking, extremely high throughput data transfers and other things that just push the likes of Fido, Opus, TBBS an order of magnitude or two out of the range of many (if not most) people who might benefit from them. Seems we've forgotten that the original intent of BBSs was to communicate with other people. It is not obvious to me that talking to more people is better. The best BBSs I've ever used, of any type, were all very small systems; RCP/Ms, Apple][/GBBS, etc. Most used awful software, but were still the best (meaning FidoNews 5-15 Page 9 11 Apr 1988 most useful or most amusing) systems I've run across. There's a hint there, I think." From Puppy's Documentation by Tom Jennings. Dear FidoNet Leadership, Echomail Leadership, and IFNA: I have quoted above from several recent issues of FidoNews. I did not quote from SYSOP, IFNA, or POLICY4; I try to limit my of depression to the Minimum Recommended Daily Allowance. I had to go back to FNEWS3xx to regain mental balance before continuing this missive. Gentlemen, we have a problem in FidoNet. You, as leaders (elected, appointed, self-appointed), have failed miserably. The time came and went to exert any sort of control over the anarchy reigning in FidoNet. You have allowed distrust to permeate the very heart of FidoNet. Hang your heads in shame. There, I feel better. Should we blame the leadership (actually, the lack thereof)? No. If we must place blame, look into a mirror. We, the sysops of FidoNet, have allowed this to happen. We have allowed this to be done to us. We can stop it. Without destroying the net. Step number 1 - join another net. This eliminates any control the IC, ZC, and RC have over you. Dave Dodell, as IC and ZC, or Ray Gwinn, as RC, can delete my node number from the nodelist and Maltese Alien wouldn't skip a beat. Things might be delayed while my friends changed mail destined here from one node number to the other, it would be minimal. Step number 2 - don't join IFNA. Without members or membership dues, IFNA is nothing. Step number 3 - Assume tyrants run the backbone and stars. Decide how to pick up echoes if the tyrant gets out of hand. These days, control of echomail is often control of the net. Some of you are using echomail as weapons, withholding it from nodes you don't like. Or in an attempt to usurp power from your net coordinator. You remind me of slugs and cockroaches. Step number 4 - Quit reading the "sysop" echoes. There are two sorts of people who participate in them. People who care and irresponsible egomaniacs bound and determined to bend the net to their will. You can tell the difference by who supports elections for net positions and those who crave "back room" politics. I say to the people who care, "Quit talking and DO IT NOW". Would Dave Dodell or Don Daniels stand in the way of an elected IC who received 2000 votes? For that matter, who would care if they did try to stand in the way? Step number 5 - Ignore the egomaniacs. These people enjoy arguing. Some don't even use their real name. Like spoiled FidoNews 5-15 Page 10 11 Apr 1988 children, they will sulk home crying if ignored. Too bad, eh? Step number 6 - What do your USERS (remember them?) want from a BBS? Could it be that TJ is right? Do we need ten terabit per second transfer rates, full screen color Word Star compatible message editors, multiple options on questionnaires, and all the other bells or whistles? Before you answer, ask your users for a candid evaluation of what is important on your BBS. What do they enjoy? Are you a "good sysop?" You may be surprised. I was. Step number 7 - Ignore the people who abuse echomail by trying to tarnish someone's name. These people are the lowest scumwads around, seeking attention like the naughty spoiled rotten children they are. Step number 8 - If all else fails, pull the plug on FidoNet. If we are worth anything as sysops, our users will NOT abandon us. They are our friends first and users second, right? Step number 9 - Ignore this article. Thinking about solutions to problems and acting on them is much harder than sitting back; waiting for the nodelist and echomail to arrive. If you take an active part in shaping FidoNet's future, you can't blame someone else. Be an Ostrich sysop, do nothing except take and take and take and take...... Now I go back to being happy. You see, I don't read the "sysop" echoes. I don't acknowledge Dave Dodell's authority, the worst he can do is delete my node from the nodelist. Who cares? I won't renew my IFNA membership. I won't lose any sleep if FidoNet comes crashing to a halt because of improperly designed or incompatible software. Don't get me wrong. Dave Dodell, Don Daniels, Butch Walker, Bob Hartman, Thom Henderson, Vince Perriello, and others too numerous to mention are fine people. We owe a great deal to many people. However, it does not follow that fine people make fine leaders. Nor does it follow net developers make fine leaders. In simple terms, all of the current problems can be traced to absent or inept leadership. I will help anyone I can. I will do what I can to assure mail moves from here to my friends. I will ask my USERS (remember them?) what they like. I will treat honest people honestly and ignore the ignoble slobs abusing echomail. I will test new software to make sure it doesn't break anything on another's system (the egomaniac net developers might not test it too well, if at all). I will ignore flames and messages from anyone ashamed to use their given names in echomail (hear that you sleaze bags hiding behind pseudonyms?). And I will end this article to go cough up a lung by the random group that meets at a wide spot in the road. Quote for the day: "Really big turds float to the top." ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 11 11 Apr 1988 Don Daniels 1:107/210 WARNING TO LAP-TOP OWNERS The other night while walking home with my lap-top slung over on my back as usual, the plastic D-ring connecting the strap to the bag suddenly snapped and, before I even realized I had a problem, my Zenith 183 crashed to the concrete. Incredibly enough, when I checked it all out on the train, it seemed to still be functioning fine although the case was broken and the latches don't work. (When I expressed surprise of its survival to a Zenith official he was less so, saying that they are specially engineered, well, not for that exactly, but certainly for the odd bump or two). However, if this can happen once it can happen again and as I know of several other Zeniths in the Net I thought a word to the wise would be in order. Note that this happened with no apparent wear whatsoever -- the ring just gave out. Zenith (which BTW has been very responsive on this and an earlier software incompat- ability I experienced) has requested the D-ring for analysis. I'd suggest that ALL lap-top owners regulary check their cases and rig up some kind of a back-up to protect from failure of the weakest link and the sickening feeling I experienced. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 12 11 Apr 1988 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= YACK Yet Another Complicated Komment by Steven K. Hoskin ( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 ) Episode 6: Starting a FidoNode I've wanted to start a FidoNode since I first heard of FidoNet. I've been intensely interested in FidoNet and its survival and expansion as long as I can remember knowing about it. Well, the time was drawing near; Money just isn't the problem now that it once was. This is the time to do all those things that one just never gets around to, for whatever reasons. I don't want to go part-way into FidoNet; when my time comes, I want to dedicate a system to the FidoNet. So now's the time to buy that spare computer (prices on XT compatibles are incredible right now!), put one of my hard disks into it and get that FidoNode going. My housemate just put a damper on my enthusiasm. He's put his system up as a part-time BBS and - lo and behold - has joined the FidoNet. I am now an assistant SysOp on EagleTech BBS (1:128/31). But my foot's in the door to FidoNet, and someday I'll have my own Node. But just what is it like to bring up a FidoNode these days? Most of you know, since most of you are FidoNet SysOps. But for the future FidoNet SysOp out there, here's a little heads-up on our experiences. First, we were fairly convinced we were going for Opus or Opus/Binkley as our setup. Most of the boards around town here run Opus, some with SEADog or Bink as a front-end. Well, we may be better off than we were, but we're not rich. $100 for Fido and $60 for SEADog just didn't cut it for starters. I personally planned to go to SEADog after awhile because I've seen it run and I like the way it interacts with human users. So I was biased to pay the $60 for SEADog after we were up and running. Then a friend suggested QuickBBS, commenting that he was HIGHLY impressed with it. So we borrowed a copy of it, being shareware and only $25 if you go for it. Seemed like a good price. So my housemate loaded QBBS and got the DOCs printed and FidoNews 5-15 Page 13 11 Apr 1988 started to set it up. We were almost there - minor problems getting the modem to behave properly with QBBS - when the computer came up with "Internal Stack Failure - System Halted". My home-built system gets that a lot if you hold down on a key with the keyboard in fast-repeat mode. The keyboard flat outprocesses the system and blows it open (custom BIOS is the culprit, I believe). But his system NEVER gets that error. His system refused to boot, and the dual-colored LED on the second hard disk was red and flashing instead of green and being happy. We disconnected the culprit drive and the system booted. After farting around with the drive, we found an arm inside the chassis which said "DO NOT TURN" on it, we turned the arm, replaced the drive and all was fine - except all the data was gone. Somehow we'd overwritten the 809 cyl/6 head format with information that it was 615 cyl/4 head. We just re-did the low-level format, then reformatted the drive and went on our way. The main drive had been backed up, but QBBS was being installed on the drive that went bye-bye on us, so it wasn't backed up. Unfortunately, all my housemate's archives were on that drive. No backup. You'd think we'd known better, being programmers. Hmm. Perhaps a message here... I still had his nearly-fully-configured QBBS on my system, but by this time, for a multitude of reasons, he decided to take Opus from the Net Host's board and grab a PC FOSSIL driver from a PC user in the Net. So it was like starting over. We hacked through the setting up of Opus, and eventually found that, for whatever reason, using a 9-pin serial port to the modem didn't work right, while using a 25-pin serial worked just fine. That could easily have been what was keeping QBBS from working; we may never know. Armed with a 25-pin RS-232 COM port, my housemate got Opus up and running, and proceeded to try to test it both local (keyboard) and remote modes. We'd though ahead in this area; we already had two phone lines. Good to go on February 29, 1988. Need I say what happened on March 1st? You guessed it - good old Opus 1.03a had its little date problem, and another day or two was lost getting upgraded to 1.03b using FIXDATE.COM. Now armed with 1.03b, my housemate sent a Network Mail message to the Net Host requesting a node number, which has been approved, and by the time you read this in FidoNews should be a part of the National NodeList. I'd like to thank all the people that helped get EagleTech BBS up and running cleanly, especially Richard Evers, Net Host of Net 128 and Joe Rock (128/15), whose technical assistance reduced the headaches of starting a FidoNet BBS to a mere irritating itch. It's really not as bad as it seems. :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 14 11 Apr 1988 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 16 May 1988 Digital Equipment Corporations Users Society Spring Symposium. Will be held May 16-May 20 in Cincinnati, OH. 25 Jun 1988 EuroCon II starts in Tiel, Holland. Sponsored by the Dutch Hobby Computer Club. Will run for 2 days. Contact Hans Lichthelm at 2:2/999 for information. 16 Jul 1988 A new areacode, 508, will form in eastern Massachusetts and will be effective on this date. The new area code will be formed from the current areacode 617. Greater Boston will remain areacode 617 while the rest of eastern Massachusetts will form the new areacode 508. 25 Aug 1988 Start of the Fifth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in Cincinnati, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Just a follow up on the January 12, 1988 article titled "FidoNet Cuts Across BBS Borders" by Christopher Johnson that appeared in "PC Magazine" in the After Hours Section. The article included a reader service card follow up and IFNA has just received the 500th inquiry. The article seems to have made its way across Europe, Africa and the Middle East and today we received our first inquiry from India at the PO Box. Anyone know how to flame a budhist? ;-) Ken Kaplan 1:1/10 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 15 11 Apr 1988 Region Coordinator Position Open for Region 10 David Dodell FidoNet Node 1:1/0 or 1:114/15 Steve Jordan has tendered his resignation as the Region Coordinator for Region 10. I am therefore asking individuals interested in serving in this position to please contact me by netmail. I would appreciate a short message telling me a little about yourself, including your experiences in FidoNet (i.e. Net Coordinator, Echomail Coordinator, etc.) Steve would like to transfer the responsibilities on May 1, 1988. Therefore, please contact me as soon as possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.81* EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21 Fido 12g* MakeNL 2.03 ARCmail 1.1 Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.31 SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86* EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1 BinkleyTerm 1.40* QuickBBS 2.00* * 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 5-15 Page 16 11 Apr 1988 ================================================================= COMMITTEE REPORTS ================================================================= Nominations and Elections Committee 1:103/501 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * U R G E N T ! ! * * * * * * * * Time is running out for you to announce your candidacy * * * * for a position as a Director of IFNA. Candidates are * * * * required for Divisions 2, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18. In * * * * addition, five more directors are required to fill at- * * * * large positions. If you are interested in campaigning * * * * for one of these positions, please send a message to * * * * 1:103/501 immediately. * * * * * * * * Once you have announced your candidacy you only have * * * * until April 25th to get your nominating petition, which * * * * must be endorsed by ten (10) voting members, to the * * * * above address or to the Secretary of IFNA. (If your * * * * only problem is getting the ten endoresements, let us * * * * know and we'll see if we can be of help). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 17 11 Apr 1988 Administration and Finance Committee 1:148/122 CREATION OF AN IFNA "JOB BAG" Being volunteers, there just isn't enough time available to do many of the things that we would like. Either we don't have the time to adequately define a job or, when we need something in a hurry, we can't seem to find anyone to help out, and end up doing it all ourselves, perpetuating the cycle in the process. There are a couple approaches to addressing this concern. One will be the establishment of what has been called an IFNA 'head-hunter' -- essentially an internal 'personnel office' that maintains resumes of candidates for certain IFNA posts. Leading up to (or concurrent with) that, we are establishing the IFNA Job Bag. Any IFNA officer or Committee Chairman will be able to submit jobs to the Job Bag. These will then be advertised here and volunteers will be able to respond to a centralized clearing-house. Actually, we're not 100% sure as to how this will all work because, as can be seen below, one of our first jobs is that of running this effort for the Administration an Finance Committee. Please respond to 148/122 if you are interested in taking on one of these jobs. And please don't be upset if it turns out you are not selected -- there should be plenty more to come! IFNA JOB BAG JOB EST. NO. JOB TITLE TYPE FOR EFFORT 001 IFNA Job Bag Manager Perpetual Admin Comm. 3hrs/wk This person will establish the procedures for the IFNA Job Bag, post qualified requests received, accept and screen applicants, and make the assignments in some cases. 002 IFNA Statistician Perpetual Admin Comm. 3hrs/wk This person will collect and maintain various historical data relative to FidoNet and will provide services to the other areas of IFNA. Should have the expertise to answer questions like "What is the projected rate of growth for FidoNet in 1989?" "How many nodes will there be in 1990?" 003 NodeList Editor Perpetual President 3hr/mo The Nodelist which IFNA licenses to DAK will be replaced periodically. Each time, it will have to be edited to remove non-applicable entries (a list of these will have to be maintained) and shipped to them in an appropriate format. When required, turn-around time must be immediate. PLEASE, do not bother to respond to any of these unless you are sure you have the resources to do a good job! FidoNews 5-15 Page 18 11 Apr 1988 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 19 11 Apr 1988 Don Daniels, President International FidoNet Association FidoNet 1:107/210 IFNA Status Report for April 1988 PROGRESS DURING THIS PERIOD General One of the major problems facing IFNA is the fact that, as an all-volunteer organization, we are all subject to many outside influences on our limited time to which we attach higher priority. As a result, our good intentions for IFNA are not realized. This is very apparent to the officers of IFNA, but, because we don't adequately report this to our membership (that time bugaboo again) the membership feels free to create its own reasons for our setbacks. This is an area which we are now trying to address. To begin with, I'm making reporting to the membership my highest concern. I've instructed the Committee Chairman to restructure their committees so that each includes its own Executive Board. The intent is that they will run each committee while the Chairman need only be responsible for general direction, management, and reporting. There are so many things that we are trying to undertake to do that there is no way to get it all done. We could/should cut back on our scope of effort, but the membership keeps rightly clamoring for services which they feel are needed. It is our intention to make a reality of IFNA's original goal: to make it and FidoNet equivalent by expanding IFNA's operations throughout the entire membership. Expect to see quite a few opportunities for this in the future. This is not a "we vs. them" situation, despite misconceptions to the contrary by a few. It is only all of US struggling to do what's best for FidoNet. In order to cut-down on the length of this report, the usual PROGRESS/PROBLEMS/PROGNOSIS format has been combined. ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE Under the brand new Chairmanship of Greg Small in Canada, this committee spent most of this period trying to get itself organized. There are quite a few ideas underway whereby this committee will truly provide the needed administrative services the rest of IFNA requires, such as committee operating procedures, information repositories and services, and job handling and personnel functions. FidoNews 5-15 Page 20 11 Apr 1988 BOARD OF DIRECTORS The BoD has experienced quite a few technical difficulties with a recent change of topology and the resignation of its moderator Bob Hartman who feels that he no longer can give the level of effort required. BY-LAWS AND RULES I was expecting a verbal report from Steve Jordan on some concerns relative to this committee but it has not been received by press time. Work is underway trying to make the By-laws reflect the desires of the membership, but its almost impossible to know what their concensus is. We are looking into taking some straw votes on certain issues in order to write modifications for presentation in time for the summer voting. It appears that other pressures are calling upon those most active in this committee and that they will have to augmented, if not replaced. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Essentially, our tie-ups with other concerns have left little time for efforts here. However, it was decided to proceed with a member's offer to provide an independent report on IFNA's books for the period prior to 1988. The process of copying all the necessary information and forwarding it on to the CPA has begun. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS N For the most part, this Committee is only operating in Europe as there are too many obstacles yet to be resolved for full international involvement. There are still very real concerns relative to the ZoneGates. Not so much in the technical sense, but the financial. This is a very expensive undertaking which IFNA would like (but is presently unable) to be better able to address. Europe will be having their FidoCon in southern Holland the last weekend of June. MEMBERSHIP SERVICES This is one of the committees that has been involved in discussions regarding the missions of various committees and how we might better define and structure them to meet all our goals. As this committee is so important to our future support and success, particularly from the user community, it is a prime candidate for reorganization and expansion. Part of these discussions have been consideration of such items as the IFNA "Head Hunter" for pre-qualifying individuals for certain jobs so that we don't go into panic mode everytime an xC or committee chairman steps down. NOTE: this would be a SERVICE which any authority in the Net could ELECT to utilize. FidoNews 5-15 Page 21 11 Apr 1988 There appears to be a need for some regional FidoCons. This would help to get more people involved and, through direct interaction, aware of our true situation and objectives. The problem with this is the work getting it to happen. Essentially, it must be left to the various regions to provide the necessary level of effort required, but we could provide some expertise and general support. A lot of people have worked hard to produce audio and VCR tapes at two of the FidoCon meetings. We are still struggling to find a way to get them out to the folks who want them. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS This committee has suffered from a recent change of chairmanship but appears to be making necessary efforts to meet the By-laws requirements for this summer's elections. David Garrett has just stepped right into the firing line on this one. No status report was received for this period. PUBLICATIONS The committee has reviewed the existing FidoNews publication policies and has determined that they should be confirmed for the present. There are still quite a few issues to be resolved relative to the format of FidoNews and any possible additional publications. Tim Sullivan says, "I must reiterate that neither this committee nor the BoD decides what is/is not published in FidoNews on a day to day basis, that is the job of the Editor. The Editor does what an editor is supposed to do: manage and run the day to day affairs of the newsletter. "We still receive article submissions that don't even come close to specs. This is resulting in Dale spending much more time than should be necessary preparing each week's issue." He also report the problems with lack of time. TECHNICAL STANDARDS No written report was received. I did have a chat with Randy who described a few happenings and concerns but, frankly, it was so late at night that I can't remember them, let alone repeat them. Hopefully, we'll have a report next month. ETHICS COMMITTEE This is a new Committee just getting underway. No report was received from its Chairman Bill Allbritten. FidoNews 5-15 Page 22 11 Apr 1988 VP-TC Dave Dodell (with his IC hat on) reports, "Still trying to get South America on line on their own. Granted them Region status so they could have a little more independence, but that has not come about. Every time I give them a block of node numbers to use, they reinvent the wheel with numbers that they want to use. "Also will be breaking the eastern half of Canada into a new region within the next couple of weeks. This is also to give them some independence on a national level. "Have been working with Randy Bush and FTSC to develope an assignment scheme for nets/region numbers. At the moment, there is no clear formula to assignment of regions to zones, and nets to regions." FIDOCON LIAISON This report did not come through the Vice-President (liaison according to the By-laws) but was received directly from Tim Sullivan. "Monies have been received from IFNA to aid in start-up costs. We have spent much time organizing and assessing future directions. Early registration has been opened up. Vendor and Attendee information packets are being developed. The business of putting on an international conference is progressing on schedule [although] there never seems to be enough time or resources available. "Because the SYSOP of our registration node 1/88 moved, accessed to this board was interrupted and should be back on-line shortly. We are still soliciting speakers for the conference. We have not yet found an appropriate guest speaker for the banquet. "Registration will be in full swing and we will try to accommodate most special requests. The attendee information packets we hope to have ready for mailing by mid-May. We may delay this if registration is slow. Site preparation and planing will also be an area of concentration. "After a rough start planning and preparation for this event is in full swing. We are VERY optimistic about the quality of this year's conference. Much effort is going into this event to ensure a success. However, net participation is the key to great time. IFNA can help by encouraging participation by all members of FidoNet. I would like to see more discussion about FidoCon'88 in Echo areas just to bring about more awareness. Any help along these lines would be appreciated." ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 23 11 Apr 1988 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm) Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications. Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________ Address _________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________________________________ State ________________________________ Zip _____________________ Country _________________________________________________________ Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________ BBS Name ________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________ Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________ Board Restrictions ______________________________________________ Your Special Interests __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in US Funds to: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-4112 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 and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. The first elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input to this Conference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-15 Page 24 11 Apr 1988 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1:1/10 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 Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____ Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member International orders include $10.00 for surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____ SUBTOTAL _____ HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112 USA Name________________________________ Zone:Net/Node____:____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ -----------------------------------------------------------------