Volume 6, Number 41 9 October 1989 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello Editors Emeritii: Dale Lovell 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. 1:1/1 is a Continuous Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day. Copyright 1989 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. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and are used with permission. We don't necessarily agree with the contents of every article published here. Most of these materials are unsolicited. No article submitted by a FidoNet SysOp will be rejected if it is properly attributed and legally acceptable. We will publish every responsible submission received. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 Make Your SEAdog Do Tricks ............................... 1 BinkleyTerm-SEAdog Accord Reached ........................ 3 SEAdog 4.51b To Ship Soon ................................ 7 On FidoNet Standards, SEAdog and BinkleyTerm ............. 8 Standards: The D'Bridge/FrontDoor perspective ............ 10 Code-Free Packet Radio (act NOW) ......................... 11 IFNA Plebescite, EchoMail, and Other Stuff ............... 13 Preliminary Draft of Rules for IFNA Vote ................. 15 2. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 20 MakeNL bug found and corrected in Release 2.20 ........... 20 And more! FidoNews 6-41 Page 1 9 Oct 1989 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= System Enhancement Associates, Inc. 1:107/509@FidoNet, 520/1015@AlterNet Make Your SEAdog Do Tricks System Enhancement Associates, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of the SEAdog Option Package, a set of utilities that will enhance your mail system and expand the capabilities of your SEAdog in directions you never imagined. Here's a sample of the programs that are included: SECURE1 At last you have a way to ensure the integrity and privacy of your network mail! Secure1 provides complete message authentication and encryption. We are offering a $1000 REWARD to the first person who can crack Secure1! USNO Set your system clock to the correct time by calling the U.S. Naval Observatory or the National Institute of Standards and Technology. USNO can also be used to let a SEAdog system set its clock from another SEAdog. BOUNCE Are you tired of running up unneccesary phone bills trying to send mail to people who just aren't deliverable? Are you being deluged by mail for conferences that you don't carry? BOUNCE can cure your headache by sending undeliverable mail back to its originator. BOUNCE is a must for any host, hub, or conference mail system. KITTEN A full-featured, script-driven BBS system for use with or without SEAdog. Because of its powerful script language, KITTEN is the most flexible BBS program available, allowing you to do what you want the way you want to do it. Three sample scripts are included in the package, ranging from the simple to the ludicrous. LANDOG At last! The power, flexibility, and ease of use of SEAdog electronic mail on local area networks! LANDOG replaces the SEAdog MAILER to send and receive mail on ANY local area network. Multiple networks can be linked with SEAdog to send mail from any point to any point. FidoNews 6-41 Page 2 9 Oct 1989 ENCLOSE Allows file attaches to be routed, allowing you to send and receive files from laptops, private nodes, point systems, and other systems which cannot be dialed directly. SLAVE Allows for offline remote control of distant systems. SLAVE turns the text of a message into a batch file, executes it, captures the output, and reports back with the results. Many security features are provided, including Secure1 authentication of orders before they are executed. The SEAdog Option Package includes over a dozen other utilities to make your system do even more tricks. The list price for the SEAdog Option Package is $125, but it's being offered for a limited time at the introductory price of $75. To order, send your check or money order for $75 to: System Enhancement Associates, Inc. 21 New Street, Wayne, NJ 07470 or call us at 201-473-5153. We accept MasterCard and VISA. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 3 9 Oct 1989 Jack Rickard, 1:104/555 The following article will be published in the November issue of Boardwatch Magazine. It is reprinted here by permission of the publisher. BINKLEYTERM-SEADOG ACCORD REACHED A brewing imbroglio between various vendors of mailer software used by most amateur BBS mail networks, including the international Fidonet, was avoided early in October as the proponents of two competing mailer programs reached an historic agreement to share information on the SEAlink file transfer protocol. For nearly a year, BBS system operators had reported subtle but vigorously annoying difficulties in passing files and echomail between systems using the SEAdog mail program developed by System Enhancement Associates of Wayne New Jersey and the BinkleyTerm program developed by Bit Bucket Software Co. of Nashua New Hampshire. It is estimated that over 90% of the International Fidonet BBS systems use one or the other of these two programs with BinkleyTerm, a free shareware program comprising the vast majority of those systems. SEAdog, a $99 commercial program, served many of the larger multiline TBBS- based systems and had been in use for several years. Normally, the two mailer programs pass files using what is known as a BARK request and the SEAlink file transfer protocol. Two basic problems arose in passing files between the two programs when using high-speed modems such as the US Robotics HST 9600 and 14,400 models. In passing files from a SEAdog system to a BinkleyTerm system, the BinkleyTerm would respond with a Negative AcKnowledge (NAK) character repeatedly to the very first block of the file sent. After about ten tries, the systems would give up and disconnect the call but the calling party was still billed by the telephone company despite the fact that the transfer had failed. The second problem involved file transfers from BinkleyTerm systems to SEAdog systems. The entire transfer would proceed normally until the final block of the file. The SEAdog system would never detect the End Of Text (EOT) character ostensibly sent by BinkleyTerm to end the transfer. Although the file would be intact and onboard, SEAdog assumes it failed and deletes the file from the drive. The BinkleyTerm shows the file as successfully sent, while SEAdog recorded it as a failure. Telephone charges could be quite large since the entire file was transferred before the failure. Worse, operators would get into disagreements as to whether the file was ever sent. FidoNews 6-41 Page 4 9 Oct 1989 The actual causes for these communication difficulties were probably due to some rather subtle timing incompatibilities that the authors of both programs wrestled with for many months with mixed success. BBS system operators, incurring increasing expenses and network difficulties were growing increasingly aggressive in complaints to both companies. The matter was brought to a head when a Fidonet sysop filed a policy complaint with Fidonet authorities over his inability to get mail from another system. Everyone seemed to have a bit different view of "whose fault it was" while in truth, the technical vagaries of advanced protocols preclude such easy answers and authors of both programs, when pressed, admitted they were not sure precisely what caused the problems. Additionally, communications between the two companies was not particularly noteworthy. Unable to "reverse engineer" a solution from the scant information available on the SEAlink protocol, the BinkleyTerm team of Vince Perriello, Bob Hartman, and Alan Applegate announced during the first week in October their intention to drop support for SEAlink in an October 12 release of BinkleyTerm Version 2.40. This would have the effect of forcing BinkleyTerm and SEAdog transfers to use the Fidonet Technical Standard (FTS) 001 communications method. While this would cure the problem, it essentially meant dropping back to a now archaic XMODEM file transfer algorithm which slows down transfers markedly. A 9600 bps transfer would effectively be forced back to an effective transfer rate of perhaps 2500 bps. This is somewhat akin to cleaning a baby's bottom with Comet Cleanser and a wire brush - very effective, but a bit shy of an ideal solution and likely to cause problems later on. Thom Henderson, of System Enhancement Associates, is currently releasing a maintenance update to SEAdog in an attempt to address some of the problems. The new version 4.51B should be available by the time you read this. Existing SEAdog users can obtain this update by mailing in their original SEAdog diskette, a self-addressed mailing label, and $1 to cover postage. According to Henderson, this should cure most of the problems between SEAdog 4.51 and BinkleyTerm 2.30. But neither solution fully addresses the lingering difficulty in engineering protocols in mail software. This is complicated by a host of both technical and economic issues that are very real to the parties involved and for which there simply are no easy answers. Given the growing number of mailer protocols, coupled with the use of ever higher modem speeds, and ever more exotic protocol algorithms, writing a program to efficiently communicate with someone else's proprietary protocol becomes virtually an impossible task. And universal communications capability is not only desireable in communications software, it is crucial. At the same time, most authors are understandably reluctant to release the source code to a program that may have taken years to develop. FidoNews 6-41 Page 5 9 Oct 1989 Fortunately, in this particular case the parties involved all appear to have recognized the impact on the community as a whole and taken some fairly dramatic steps to not only address the current problem, but in a sense to set a model for the future. In an unusual move, Thom Henderson provided source code for the SEAdog mailer program to an unnamed third party who volunteered to develop some general state-table documentation on the SEAlink protocol and SEAdog session negotiation. In theory any author will be able to use this forthcoming specification to develop a SEAlink/BARK implementation in any programming language. And the BinkleyTerm team, who had already publicly announced the October 12 release date of BinkleyTerm 2.40 and who in reality "owns" the lion's share of the Fidonet market, recalled their beta test copies and committed to support the SEAlink protocol in Binkley in all future versions - an awkward and perhaps expensive change in direction for a relatively young software company such as Bit Bucket Software - and based on an as yet unseen specification. Chris Irwin, author of the commercial D'Bridge software, and Joaquim Homrighausen, author of Front Door, took a more neutral stance on the issue but also agreed to support SEAlink in future releases "once the specification was completed and signed off by both Henderson and the Fidonet Technical Standards Committee." Squabbles in Fidonet have become so common that many poignantly refer to it as the "International Fight-O-Net". The death of Fidonet has been knelled so many times by so many pundits that its very survival is widely considered a mystery. To outside observers, the sometimes rabid infighting over what often amount to scant pennies is both humorous and alarming. Against that backdrop, it is encouraging to find gentlemen in Fidonet who face very real and very substantial economic and technical issues, but can still find a creative way to meet on some common ground to the greater good of such a community. It is no small task in itself to try to eek a living from such niche products in the software world and we feel obligated to point out that neither Henderson nor the BinkleyTerm team derives a significant portion of their income from the Fidonet market. We applaud the notable, and in some sense heroic efforts of Vince Perriello, Bob Hartman, Alan Applegate, and Thom Henderson to rise above their personal interests and view the landscape from a higher vantage point. We would offer it as a model worthy of emulation by the Fidonet as a whole. BinkleyTerm 2.30, Bit Bucket Software, Co., 427-3 Amherst St., Suite 232, Nashua, NH 03063. FidoNews 6-41 Page 6 9 Oct 1989 SEAdog 4.51B, System Enhancement Associates, 21 New Street, Wayne, NJ 07470; (201)473-5153 voice; (201)473-1991 data. Jack Rickard is Editor of Boardwatch Magazine, a $28 per year monthly print publication covering online information services and electronic bulletin board systems. Boardwatch Magazine, 5970 South Vivian Street, Littleton, CO 80127; (303)973-6038 voice; (303)973-4222 data; Fidonet 104/555. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 7 9 Oct 1989 System Enhancement Associates, Inc. 1:107/509@FidoNet, 520/1015@AlterNet SEAdog 4.51b To Ship Soon It has been brought to our attention that there exists a minor discrepancy between FTS-0001 and how SEAdog handles a mail session. Accordingly, we will be releasing a new version of SEAdog in the near future. While we're at it, this version of SEAdog will also take steps to work around the bugs in BinkleyTerm 2.30 relating to SEAdog requesting files from BT and to SEAdog=>BT file transmission. Shipment may be delayed if any problems are found in beta test, but we expect to begin shipping sometime in October. FidoNet sysops with SEAdog versions 4.50, 4.51, or 4.51a may obtain a free upgrade by sending their disk with a self-addressed return mailer or a self-addressed address label plus one dollar to cover postage and handling to: System Enhancement Associates, Inc. 21 New Street, Wayne NJ, 07470 Normal upgrade policies apply to earlier versions of SEAdog. FidoNet sysops with maintenance contracts will receive this upgrade automatically as soon as it is available. This is a maintenance release related to SEAdog operation within the FidoNet amateur electronic mail system. Hence, SEAdog users within corporate mail networks do NOT need this version. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 8 9 Oct 1989 Vince Perriello, 1:141/491 Alan Applegate, 1:104/36 Bob Hartman, 1:132/101 On FidoNet Standards, SEAdog and BinkleyTerm In Fidonews issue 640, we told you about problems we were having in "enhanced" mail sessions with other mailer software. At the time we told you that on October 12, 1989 we were going to release new software which adhered directly to established specifications in order to alleviate those problems. We also stated that we would not implement the "enhancements" that were causing most of the problems until there were established standards describing them accurately. Well, now we are here to tell you that the documentation we (and others) have asked for is going to be written! It has been a long time in coming, but it looks like it is going to happen. All of us are really pleased at this turn of events. What did it take to make this come about? It has involved a lot of talking, and some give and take from several parties. What we, the BinkleyTerm developers, have agreed to is to forgo releasing our strict FTS-0001 implementation for a short time. What the authors of SEAlink and "bark" have agreed is to support a documentation effort which will result in an FTSC standard. This effort has in fact already begun. When the standard is complete and agreed to by SEA and by the FTSC, it will be implemented in BinkleyTerm and released as part of our highly-compliant update. Provided that this effort proceeds at a reasonable pace, we will not release a version of BinkleyTerm without SEAlink and "bark" support. This is probably the best possible solution to what had become a really serious problem. We fervently hope we will never find ourselves in a situation like this again. In this case, our expectation is that the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee will have suitable documentation to act on well before year's end. That was the good news. Now for more good news. At the same time, several implementation problems with SEAlink sessions have been tracked down. System Enhancement Associates will be releasing a new version of SEAdog for FidoNet sysops that will solve many of the problems with SEAdog talking to BinkleyTerm. In general, these are workarounds in SEAdog for problems with BinkleyTerm's reverse-engineered software. However, the changes will probably also improve reliability with other systems also. This combination of occurrences lends even more support to the proposition that FidoNet standards must be carefully documented and vigorously enforced. This singular issue has managed to unite network mailer authors to an extent never before seen. The authors of Fido, BinkleyTerm, D'Bridge, FrontDoor, Isis and QMM have all agreed that having a proper implementation of FTS-0001 standard is something that we should all strive for. FidoNews 6-41 Page 9 9 Oct 1989 Each of these programs is capable of communicating with the others using other protocols (be it WaZOO or SEAlink or whatever), but that is not helping other authors wishing to join FidoNet with their programs. Someone currently implementing to FTS-0001 would have serious problems talking to some of our implementations, and that is a situation we all agree should be quickly addressed. Hopefully, with the software writers' new insistence that standards should be adhered to, the FTSC will now be able to get actively involved in compatibility issues which have troubled us for years. In one united voice, we have declared that not only are these standards the only thread that keeps us together, but they are so critical to our continued existence that non-compatible mailers cannot be allowed in FidoNet. We're excited about what has happened here. It has been one heck of a week. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 10 9 Oct 1989 Chris Irwin, 1:18/68 Joaquim Homrighausen, 1:135/20 Last week, the authors of BinkleyTerm, FrontDoor and D'Bridge told you about a problem with the undocumented extensions that are commonly used in Fidonet. We are, of course, referring to those extensions to FTS-0001 created by System Enhancement Associates and used in the SEAdog EMAIL package. Much has happened over the last week; compromises and agreements have been made by several parties. We are not directly a part of such agreements, thus we have a slightly different point-of-view than Bob and Vince. Much has been accomplished by the stand that we have taken. It appears that the SEAlink and "Bark" standards will be clearly documented and approved by their creator. When this happens, we will support them in our software. Unfortunately, until such documentation exists, we are forced to remove all undocumented extensions for the sake of reliability. Because of all that has happened, we have decided to delay the release of our software until October 31st. We would wait until the standards have been established, but frankly our marketplace demands a new release sooner than we anticipate that happening. We wish to assure you that we truly have the best interests of Fidonet in mind as we make this decision. We think that the reliability of a mailer is more important that the speed at which it communicates with the systems that use undocumented extensions. We hope you agree. The bottom line is that until both SEA and the FTSC give their official endorsement to the standards documents, we can not continue to support these extensions. In fact, we can assure you that in the future, FrontDoor and D'Bridge will not use any internal transport mechanisms that are not documented clearly. We hope you understand our point-of-view. We're not trying to be the "Bad guys," but we have to listen to our customers' comments and make rational decisions about what is best for our marketplace. We sincerely hope that the FTSC documents that we require will be written and approved quickly. "The ball is no longer in our court." ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 11 9 Oct 1989 Jack Decker 154/8 CODE-FREE PACKET RADIO (NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT) If you are a modem user, you may have wished at times that you could "cut the cord" and use the radio waves instead. Amateur radio users do this regularly, using what is known as "packet radio." Instead of modems and phone lines, you use transceivers, radio waves, and devices known as "Terminal Node Controllers." It's more fun and quite often much less expensive than using the phone lines. The only problem is that you have to be a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator to do this, and at present, in order to get an amateur license you have to demonstrate proficiency in Morse Code! This is a requirement that seems to discourage many potential amateurs from getting a license (some have commented that it reminds one of having to pass a test on proper buggy whip technique before being issued an automobile operator's license). According to The W5YI Report (an amateur radio newsletter), the Federal Communications Commission is taking steps toward restructuring the Amateur Radio Service in such a manner that it would be possible to obtain an amateur radio license without the necessity of passing a test in Morse Code. No less than twelve different proposals have been submitted to the FCC, all of which propose the creation of a no-code amateur radio license to a greater or lesser degree. "On September 14th, the FCC Secretary's office circulated a Public Notice (Report No. 1794) entitled 'Petitions for Rulemaking Filed' asking the public whether the Commission should further proceed toward amateur restructuring..... Interested parties should now file a statement in support of or in opposition to the further consideration of the issue." The W5YI Report also points out that at this stage of the proceedings it is not yet appropriate to debate the relative merits of the various proposals. That will come later, but for now the FCC is simply looking for a for a show of support to their going forward on the proposals to restructure the Amateur Radio Service to include a code-free license. If you would like to see a code-free license become a reality, you should file a declaration with the FCC as follows. Include your name, address, and the date, and if you are already an Amateur Radio operator, you should include your call sign (and club affiliation if applicable). You may also include a short (*not to exceed one paragraph*) statement as to why you feel the petitions should be further considered. The W5YI Report again emphasizes that now is not the time to get into a debate on the details of the various proposals. All you are indicating now is that the petitions should go forth and a "Notice of Proposed Rule Making" (the next step in the process) should be issued. Please note that the FCC must receive your declaration ON OR BEFORE OCTOBER 14! That means time is *VERY* short! FidoNews 6-41 Page 12 9 Oct 1989 Your declaration should read as follows. The heading should be copied verbatim, but you may vary the text in the body a bit if you wish. Please consider sending this in today if you are at all interested in a code free Amateur Radio license. Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) A Class of Operator License ) In the Amateur Radio Service ) RM 6984 through 6995 That Does Not Require a ) Demonstration of Proficiency ) in Morse Telegraphy ) DECLARATION OF SUPPORT On September 14, 1989, the Federal Communications Commission gave public notice to the filing of RM-6984 through 6995, Petitions for Rule Making. These petitions contain various proposals for restructuring either the classes of operator licenses in the Amateur Radio Service or the qualifying requirements for such licenses or both. We believe that continued growth in the Amateur Radio Service would be promoted by the modification or creation of a class of operator license that does not require a demonstration of Morse code proficiency as a qualifying element. To the extent that the captioned petitions propose such an Amateur Radio operator license, we submit this declaration of support, pursuant to Section 1.405(a) of the Commissions's Rules. Signed: _______________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 13 9 Oct 1989 Steve Bonine, 115/777 Zone 1 Coordinator I apologize for my absence from FidoNews. In a sense, no news is good news. However, there are several important issues which I wish to address in this short article. IFNA Plebescite ---- ---------- If you're a reader of FidoNews, you know that the IFNA Board of Directors decided at the annual meeting in San Jose to hold a netwide vote to decide the future of IFNA. The basic idea is that if IFNA does not receive a majority approval from the nodes in FidoNet, it will dissolve. Matt Whelan, the IC, pledged the support of the FidoNet coordina- tor structure for this effort. Last week, I agreed to serve as the chair of the IFNA Nominations and Elections committee for the purpose of conducting the election. Plans are under way. Details will be available soon. Current plans, subject to change, are to open the polls in early November and close them on December 1. Voting will be done through the coordinator struc- ture; local nodes will vote to their NC and the vote totals will be passed up through RC to ZC to IC. In addition to tallying the vote, NC's will be requested to provide a total for eligible voters in the local net, which will be used to calculate the 50% requirement. An important aspect of this project is that the FidoNet coordina- tors have responsibility for CONDUCTING the vote. They do not have any responsibility for explaining the issue, defending IFNA, or answering questions on which way to vote. They are collectors of votes; nothing more. This does not preclude individual coordinators from expressing their opinions, but they are just that -- opinions. Coordinators are not empowered to speak for IFNA, and should not be asked for official opinions. Full details will be available by the end of October. EchoMail and Excommunicated Sysops -------- --- -------------- ------ Some months ago, David Dodell issued a policy ruling which stated that excommunicated sysops are not allowed to participate in any echomail conferences. Policy4 states that such interpretations may be changed, and the zone-1 ruling will be as follows. The content of echomail conferences is the responsibility of the moderator of the specific conference. In some cases (for exam- ple, the national SYSOP conference), membership in FidoNet is not a requirement for participation in the conference. I am unwill- ing for the *C structure to become "echomail police". The establishment and enforcement of rules for conferences should be FidoNews 6-41 Page 14 9 Oct 1989 done by the moderators and by the *EC structure. The *C structure will act on any formal policy complaint. Policy4 treats echomail as a special case of netmail, thus it IS possible to be annoying in echomail. If the moderator of a specific conference does not wish participation by non-FidoNet nodes, then that should be a part of the rules for the confer- ence. Persons who violate that rule should be handled using the same mechanism as is used for anyone who violates the rules for any echomail conference. If it becomes necessary to file a formal Policy4 complaint, then the *C structure will become involved. Until that point, this is the responsibility of the *EC structure. This does NOT mean that I condone the participation in echomail by systems which have been removed from the FidoNet nodelist. In my OPINION, if the FidoNet backbone is being used to distribute a conference, that conference should be populated by FidoNet sysops. But I do not spend my money to move this traffic, and if those individuals who DO spend their money choose to subsidize other networks, then that is their decision. In short, I will support the *EC structure when requested, but I will not put the *C structure in the position of doing their job for them. Other Stuff ----- ----- Work continues on a document to formalize gateways between FidoNet and other networks, both those which use FidoNet (FTS- 0001) technology and those which do not. At least four groups are working on revisions to Policy4, not counting IFNA. It promises to be an interesting Winter. Or Summer, depending upon your hemisphere. The October 12 release of D'Bridge, FrontDoor, and BinkleyTerm has been cancelled, pending the establishment of an FTSC standard for the protocols used by SEAdog. This we call "progress". Rick Moore tells me that FTSC is moving towards a certification program for software. This is something we have needed for years. A first in zone 1: A Regional Coordinator was elected by vote of the sysops. Welcome to Tony Davis, new RC for region 19. One last note. I have always prided myself on answering 100% of my netmail. I still do a pretty good job of that, but I've been rather busy lately, so if your response is delayed, please understand. But one way to insure that you will NOT get a response is to send me mail from a non-FidoNet address. I do not respond to those. Please be sure your mail has a FidoNet address if you expect a response. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 15 9 Oct 1989 Steve Bonine, 1:115/777 Election Rules Version 0.10 FidoNet Plebescite Oct. 7, 1989 ***** DRAFT ****** Please be aware that this is a draft document. I wanted to share it with the entire sysop community in this early stage of its development to solicit your input and to show you that progress is, indeed, being made. I will be surprised if this doesn't change in some pretty important ways by the end of October. If you have questions or input, feel free to send them to 1:1/11, and I will move them into the temporary echomail conference that has been set up to handle the discussions. Or direct your comments to a member of the discussion group, which includes myself, Bill Bolton, Phil Buonomo, Randy Bush, Jim Deputy, Fabian Gordon, Jim Grubs, Thom Henderson, Les Kooyman, Harry Lee, George Peace, John Summers, and Matt Whelan. And probably someone I've forgotten, since I just made up that list from my AREAS.BBS, and I don't feed everyone direct. Now, on to the actual document: 1. What we're voting on. The International FidoNet Association Board of Directors, at the 1989 annual meeting at FidoCon in San Jose, passed a resolution which calls for a vote to be conducted throughout the entire FidoNet network to decide the future of IFNA. The text of this resolution is as follows: We, the representatives of the International FidoNet Association, have heard a cry for democracy in the administration of the network. As IFNA is supposed to represent the interests of the sysops, and as such representation is deemed to have failed, be it hereby resolved that: Without a mandate from the sysops of FidoNet, IFNA has no purpose or reason for existence. THEREFORE, the board proposes the following action, of which failure to pass will mean the dissolution of IFNA: It is hereby resolved that a special election be held for consideration by the Sysops of FidoNet of the following: IFNA shall be empowered to re-draft the bylaws of IFNA and to draft a Policy document for FidoNet. Such FidoNews 6-41 Page 16 9 Oct 1989 documents are to include: 1. An independent judicial system. 2. A reduced size Board of Directors, to be completely reseated in an election on or before FidoCon 1990. 3. Better representation from outside the United States. 4. Make each sysop in FidoNet a member in IFNA with all rights and privileges of membership. Voting for referendum of this document shall be completed on or before December 1, 1989. The rules of the election shall make it clear that failure of the election to approve the questions presented shall result in the current Board of Directors acting under Article XII to dissolve the corporation. In addition, it shall be made clear that approval must be gained from a majority of the eligible nodes in the nodelist in effect at the time of the election. (End of resolution.) 2.0 Eligibility. The sysop of each node in the FidoNet nodelist issued on October 27 (NODELIST.300) is eligible to vote. 2.1 Definition of "sysop". Each person receives only one vote, regardless of how many systems he or she runs, and what names are used in the nodelist. For example, Steve Bonine runs two separate FidoNet systems, 115/444 and 115/777, with slightly different sysop names, but this entitles Steve Bonine to only one vote. Network Coordinators (Regional Coordinators for independent nodes) will, to the best of their ability, enforce the one- person-one-vote rule. These are the individuals at the best level to know the sysops. 2.2 Definition of "nodelist". For purposes of determining eligibility, the nodelist segment from a given zone will be used. In other words, NODELIST.300 as it exists in zone 1 is used to determine whether a given sysop in zone 1 is eligible; NODELIST.300 as it exists in zone 2 is used to determine eligibility for a zone-2 sysop, and so on. This negates any effects of non-synchronization of nodelists for that particular edition. FidoNews 6-41 Page 17 9 Oct 1989 2.3 Definition of "sysop of record". Only the sysop listed in the nodelist is eligible to vote. No co-sysops or point sysops associated with the system may vote. The voting right is not transferable; the person listed in the nodelist may vote but may not transfer the right to another person. 3.0 Voting procedure. 3.1 Ballot The official ballot will be published in the nodelist difference file (and thus will appear in the nodelist) for NODELIST.300. The ballot will contain the official text of the resolution in question. The ballot and resolution will also be published in the October 30 FidoNews. 3.1 Collection of votes. Network Coordinators will collect votes from their nets. Regional Coordinators will collect votes from independent nodes in their region. Sysops vote by sending netmail to their NC (independents to the RC) with a CLEAR INDICATION of a vote of YES or NO. The voter will also provide a password (8 characters or less) to be used in a public list of votes. See sections 3.4 and 7.0. 3.2 Acknowledgement of votes. The coordinator will acknowledge the votes received using netmail. Network Coordinators will handle this netmail in the same manner as if it had been received as normal host-routed mail, that is, if the sysop normally polls to pick up host-routed mail then that is how it will be delivered. Regional Coordinators will send an acknowledgement to independents unless prior arrangements are already in place for the independent to poll the RC (for example, an arrangement to pick up the NodeDiff). Any sysop who votes and does not receive an acknowledgement within 48 hours should follow up with the coordinator to be sure that the vote was not lost. (Note: Coordinators take vacations, usually with the knowledge of the systems in the local net. This may explain a delay in acknowledgement.) 3.3 Responsibility of coordinators. The responsibility of the coordinator structure is to conduct the election. Coordinators answer questions on voting procedure, but are not authorized to speak for IFNA on policy questions. Coordinators are free to state their opinion, but may not pressure the sysop to vote in a particular way (YES or NO). FidoNews 6-41 Page 18 9 Oct 1989 Coordinators have a responsibility to inform the nodes in their net (or independents) of the election. In fact, this is an excellent opportunity to make sure that all nodes in the net (or independents) are still capable of receiving netmail. However, voting cannot be imposed as a condition of being in FidoNet. If an individual prefers not to vote, that is their right. 3.4 Public posting of votes. At the end of the voting period, each coordinator is to make available the results of the vote in their jurisdiction. The normal method of doing this is to publish the information in a local echomail conference. If no such local conference exists, the coordinator should include in the acknowledgement message for votes the method to obtain the results. In addition, the coordinator must respond to any netmail requesting the results. Coordinators are encouraged to provide the information in a file-requestable file named VOTEnnnn.TXT where nnnn is the net or region number. The results to be posted are: (a) A list, by node number, of who voted. (b) A list, by password (see item 3.1) of the individual votes. (c) A count of the number of eligible voters in the net, or for RC's a count of the number of eligible votes from regional independent nodes. 4.0 Tabulation. Using the schedule in item 5, results will be reported up the coordinator structure. The three items in 3.4 will be reported. 5.0 Schedule. October 27: NODELIST.300 is published. Coordinators begin accepting votes. December 1: Polls close at midnight local time at the collection point. NO LATE VOTES WILL BE ACCEPTED. December 4: Coordinators post final vote detail (see 3.4). Note: Coordinators are encouraged to post interim lists of which nodes have voted each week during the voting period, but should not post actual vote counts until the polls close. FidoNews 6-41 Page 19 9 Oct 1989 December 11: Deadline for challenges. Any questions based upon the public posting of votes must be received by the collection system no later December 11 at midnight local time. December 15: Deadline for NC's to report their totals to RC's. December 18: Deadline for RC's to report their totals to ZC's. December 22: Results published in NODELIST.356. 6.0 Miscellaneous. 6.1 Changing votes Changing votes is NOT ALLOWED. Tabulating each vote once is enough work for the *C structure. 6.2 Cheating An attempt by any individual to cast more than one vote will disqualify that individual from this election. 6.2 Appeals The decision of the NC or RC can be appealed to the IFNA Election and Nomination Committee by sending netmail to 1:1/11. 6.3 Irregularities and Difficulties Any problems with the voting process should be reported to 1:1/11. Please report problems as early in the voting process as possible, so that they can be addressed while the polls are still open. 7.0 Sample Ballot My vote on the IFNA resolution published via NODEDIFF.300 is: _____ YES _____ NO Post this vote using the following password: _______________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 20 9 Oct 1989 ================================================================= LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ================================================================= From: Ben Baker of 7:44/76@Alternet To: FidoNews Editor of 1:1/0@Fidonet Subj: New MakeNL Please publish a notice at your earliest convenience that a serious bug in MakeNL has been discovered and fixed. The new version is 2.20. It is important for ZCs and RCs to upgrade ASAP. The bug probably doesn't affect NCs. It can be obtained from 1:1/0, 7:7/0 and 7:44/76 (the latter supports bark at 14.4 KB). Ben ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 21 9 Oct 1989 ================================================================= LATEST VERSIONS ================================================================= Latest Software Versions MS-DOS Systems -------------- Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version Fido 12n+ Phoenix 1.3 TBBS 2.1 Lynx 1.30 QuickBBS 2.04 TComm/TCommNet 3.4 Kitten 2.15* RBBS 17.2A TPBoard 5.2 Opus 1.03b+ Wildcat! 2.00P Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version BinkleyTerm 2.30* EditNL 4.00 ARC 6.02 D'Bridge 1.21 MakeNL 2.20* ARCmail 2.0 Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ConfMail 4.00 FrontDoor 2.0 Prune 1.40 EMM 2.02 PRENM 1.47 XlatList 2.90 GROUP 2.15* SEAdog 4.51A XlaxDiff 2.32 LHARC 1.13 XlaxNode 2.32 MSG 3.3 MSGED 1.99 PK[UN]ZIP 1.01* QM 1.0 QSORT 4.03* TCOMMail 2.2 TMail 1.11 TPBNetEd 3.2 UFGATE 1.03 XRS 3.0* ZmailQ 1.09 Macintosh --------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Red Ryder Host v2.1b3 Tabby 2.1 MacArc 0.04 Mansion 7.12 ArcMac 1.3 WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.51 TImport 1.331 TExport 1.32 FidoNews 6-41 Page 22 9 Oct 1989 Timestamp 1.6 Tset 1.3 Timestart 1.1 Tally 1.1 Mehitabel 1.2 Archie 1.60 Jennifer 0.25b2g Numberizer 1.5c MessageEdit 1.0 Mantissa 1.0 PreStamp 2.01 R.PreStamp 2.01 Saphire 2.1t Epistle II 1.01 Import 2.52 Export 2.54 Sundial 2.1 AreaFix 1.1 Probe 0.052 Terminator 1.1 TMM 4.0b Amiga ----- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Paragon 1.00+* BinkleyTerm 1.00 ConfMail 1.10* ChameleonEdit 0.10 RMB 1.30 Atari ST -------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Star-Net 2.00 BinkleyTerm 1.03g ConfMail 1.00 EchoDoor 0.11 ParseList 1.30 GS Point 0.61 ARC 5.21 FoReM Door 1.00 TurboArc 1.1 LHARC 0.40 PKUNZIP 1.00 MSGED 1.96S SRENUM 6.2 OMMM 1.30 Timestop 1.00 FidoNews 6-41 Page 23 9 Oct 1989 + Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software) * 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 6-41 Page 24 9 Oct 1989 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 11 Oct 1989 First International Modula-2 Conference at Bled, Yugoslavia hosting Niklaus Wirth and the British Standards Institution. Contact 1:106/8422 for more information. 11 Nov 1989 A new area code forms in northern Illinois at 12:01 am. Chicago proper will remain area code 312; suburban areas formerly served with that code will become area code 708. 23 Nov 1989 26th Anniversary of "Dr. Who" - and still going strong 30 Dec 1989 Telephone area codes (5, 3 and 0) are abolished in Hong Kong If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 25 9 Oct 1989 OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Thom Henderson 1:107/583 Chairman of the Board Les Kooyman 1:204/501 President Fabian Gordon 1:107/323 Vice President Bill Bolton 3:3/0 Vice President-Technical Coordinator Kris Veitch 1:147/30 Secretary Kris Veitch 1:147/30 Treasurer IFNA COMMITTEE AND BOARD CHAIRS Administration and Finance * Board of Directors (CoB) Thom Henderson 1:107/583 By-laws and Rules John Roberts 1:385/49 Executive Committee (Pres) Les Kooyman 1:204/501 International Affairs * Membership Services * Nominations and Elections Steve Bonine 1:1/0 Public Affairs * Publications Irene Henderson 1:107/9 Technical Standards Rick Moore 1:115/333 Ethics * Security and Privacy * Grievances * * Position awaiting confirmation by appointee. IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVISION AT-LARGE 10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732 Don Daniels 1:107/210 11 John Rafuse 1:12/700 Phil Buonomo 1:107/583 12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Hawthorne 1:107/238 13 Fabian Gordon 1:107/323 Tom Jennings 1:125/111 14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Irene Henderson 1:107/509 15 Scott Miller 1:128/12 Steve Jordan 1:206/2871 16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628 17 Kathi Crockett 1:134/30 Dave Melnik 1:107/233 18 Andrew Adler 1:135/47 Jim Hruby 1:107/536 19 Kris Veitch 1:147/30 Burt Juda 1:107/528 2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 Karl Schinke 1:107/516 3 Matt Whelan 3:54/99 John Roberts 1:147/14 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-41 Page 26 9 Oct 1989 __ 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 PO 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 and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input to this Conference. FidoNews 6-41 Page 27 9 Oct 1989 -----------------------------------------------------------------