Volume 3, Number 43 10 November 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. 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. Copyright (C) 1986, 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. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL Double Dawns 2. ARTICLES CompuServe's side of the story The Ultimate Utility HOW TO BUILD A BETTER NODELIST Net 109: The Saga Continues 3. COLUMNS Doug's Column Off to a GREAT start! The Nautical View: The "Open BBS" 4. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Fidonews Page 2 10 Nov 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= What a weekend! I just got back from three days in New Hampshire. Bob Hartman (132/101) hosted dual meetings of the Bylaws Committee and the Technical Standards Committee, and it was quite an experience. [Side note: Thanks, Bob, for a job well done!] I can't really say that a new day is dawning. First, because it isn't yet. Everything that got discussed will take awhile to get implemented. The technical stuff will probably go faster that the political stuff, but that's always the case. But also, it's more like two new days will be dawning at once. On the one side, we came up with some really nifty techie stuff that should have some impact on all of us and how we view this thing we've created. On the other side, we've finally launched the seeds of an organization that will hopefully be able to manage what we are growing into. I really know more about the techie side, since that's the committee I was on, and where I spent my time. But I did see a little of the bylaws side. Mainly from walking through to get a drink. The bylaws guys had a PC with dual monitors, a printer, a modem, buckets full of sodas and ice and stuff, and bags and bags of munchies. We techies toughed it out with nothing but too much fresh air and too few chairs. The technical changes are simple and devious. I'll frankly admit that it looks like a godawful horrible kludge at first. But the more I looked at it, the better it looked. I'll let Randy Bush (122/6) describe it in detail, since he's the chairman of the Technical Standards Committee who already has sensitive toes by now that don't really need any more tromping on for a bit. But briefly put, we came up with a fairly simple mechanism that will allow us to handle zones, points, gateways to different networks (like UseNet and ArpaNet), echomail, and much, much more. Kludge it may be, but it's simple and straightforward, and it allows darned near limitless possibilities. I'd never stick my neck out so far as to say that one technical fix can solve all present and future needs, but this one probably comes close to solving all of the problems that we'd ever have been able to handle anyway. And here's the good news: The change will be FULLY backwards compatible with existing software! It's essentially an extended addressing ability that current versions of Fido, Opus, SEAdog, TBBS, et al will preserve and transmit without even knowing that they're doing it. It should even be possible (though not terribly convenient) for you to enter messages using extended addresses with current software. Fidonews Page 3 10 Nov 1986 It'll also be easy for you clonemakers out there to deal with it, since you can implement some, all, or none of it, as you wish. Now I guess I'd better deal with the political stuff. Like I said, I didn't see much of it. But from what I saw, everyone involved took it all quite seriously, and was very intent on seeing to it that everyone got a fair shake. I also gather that everyone is going to vote on it before it's fully accepted. So if you don't like it, vote it down and we'll lock them in a closet until they come up with something better. I haven't read the proposed bylaws yet, but I expect to soon. In fact, we have to get cracking on this, since the Colorado Springs group only gave us until January first to resolve all of this. I expect to get my copy soon, and I'll be shipping them out with FidoNews. In fact, next week's issue will probably be a special issue containing the proposed bylaws and not much else! I'm looking forward to reading what they came up with, even if it means wading through the legalese. I know all of them seemed pretty satisfied that they'd found an acceptable compromise. I don't expect it to be perfect; nothing in this world ever is. But I know they were wrangling with some pretty though issues, and I'm interested in seeing how they resolved them. So keep your eyes open for new software with new features, be watching for the proposed bylaws, and above all DON'T FORGET TO VOTE! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 4 10 Nov 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Vince Perriello Fido 141/491 Bill Roberts of the San Francisco DEC PC User's Group and I recently had a long conversation about CompuServe policies (you all know which ones we were discussing!). He was sufficiently interested to take it up with them; the following is the response he received, along with a few of his comments. COMPUSERVE INFORMATION SERVICE OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON COPYRIGHT POLICY October 1986 [Note: The following statement currently is available on CompuServe. It appears to have been produced in response to recent questions and criticism concerning certain ambiguities in CompuServe's policy toward "public domain" software uploads. The following text may be obtained on CompuServe by entering GO COPYRIGHT at any ! prompt.] The CompuServe Information Service provides more than 400 online products covering thousands of subject areas to its more than 300,000 subscribers. Material offered on the CompuServe Information Service originates with a wide variety of sources, ranging from creative public domain software programs uploaded by subscribers to multi-faceted databases provided by large corporations. The following information will address some commonly-asked questions about copyright and ownership of material, particularly as it relates to public domain information and shareware programs. --WHAT IS A COMPILATION COPYRIGHT? CompuServe has copyrighted the contents of the CompuServe Information Service as a compilation copyright, just as many magazines and newspapers reserve such a copyright on the contents of their publications. This copyright is held in accordance with the 1976 Copyright Act of the United States. A compilation copyright is granted when an organization collects information in a lawful way, adds value to it, and offers it to others. In this case, the CompuServe Information Service is a value-added product; CompuServe Incorporated has committed substantial financial resources to collecting more than 400 databases and offering them in an organized, structured way to a defined user base through a nationwide telecommunications network. The compilation copyright is intended to protect that Fidonews Page 5 10 Nov 1986 substantial investment from unauthorized exploitation. This does NOT mean that CompuServe assumes ownership of individual programs and databases provided to the system by subscribers or information providers. --IF I UPLOAD A SOFTWARE PROGRAM I'VE DEVELOPED TO COMPUSERVE, DO I STILL RETAIN OWNERSHIP OF THE PROGRAM? Yes, you do. CompuServe's compilation copyright does NOT supersede individual ownership rights or copyrights to any of the material furnished to the Service by subscribers or information providers. For example, a subscriber who creates a program and uploads it to a CompuServe forum data library STILL OWNS that program, and may upload it to other information services and bulletin board systems. It should be noted, however, that CompuServe cannot grant any redistribution rights for materials copyrighted by the author, unless specifically authorized to do so, CompuServe does not own the material or the copyright. These rights must be obtained directly from the author. --WHAT IS COMPUSERVE'S STANCE TOWARD COPYRIGHTED, PUBLIC DOMAIN, AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS? Each of these types of property have special characteristics, and deserves separate explanation: COPYRIGHT. CompuServe does not allow copyrighted material to be placed on the CompuServe Information Service without the author's permission. Only the owner(s) or persons they specifically authorize may upload copyrighted material to the Service. Any subscriber may download copyrighted material for their own use. Any subscriber may also non-commercially redistribute a copyrighted program with the expressed permission of the owner or authorized person. Permission must be specified in the document, on the Service, or must be obtained directly from the author. PUBLIC DOMAIN. Any subscriber may upload public domain programs to the Service. Any subscriber may download public domain programs for their own use or non-commercially redistribute a public domain program. SHAREWARE. Only the owner or an authorized person may upload shareware programs. Any subscriber may download shareware programs for their own use, subject to the terms provided by the owner. Any subscriber may non-commercially redistribute a shareware program subject to the provided terms explicitly displayed in the software itself, or with permission of the owner or authorized person. See below for more information about redistribution guidelines. Fidonews Page 6 10 Nov 1986 --AS A COMPUSERVE SUBSCRIBER, CAN I DOWNLOAD PUBLIC DOMAIN INFORMATION AND SHAREWARE PROGRAMS FOR MY OWN USE FROM COMPUSERVE FORUM DATA LIBRARIES? Yes, you can. Public domain information and shareware programs are uploaded to CompuServe data libraries by their authors for use by other CompuServe subscribers. --MAY I DOWNLOAD PROGRAMS FROM COMPUSERVE FORUM DATA LIBRARIES AND SHARE THEM WITH A FRIEND, OR UPLOAD THEM TO ANOTHER BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEM? In keeping with the spirit of the development of public domain information and shareware, it is not CompuServe's current policy to prevent casual redistribution of this type of information -- this is low volume and low frequency use or redistribution of information where no commercialism is involved. This means that a customer may download a file and share it with others for no commercial gain -- either via a bulletin board service, diskette, or other means. A subscriber may not, however, download a large number of files for redistribution via any means, nor is it acceptable for a subscriber to update another bulletin board regularly with files obtained from CompuServe. It's important to note that CompuServe cannot grant redistribution rights for programs clearly copyrighted by the author, unless specifically authorized to do so. Such permission must be obtained directly from the author of the program. --MAY I DOWNLOAD AND RESELL A PROGRAM FROM A COMPUSERVE FORUM DATA LIBRARY? Commercial exploitation of material contained on the CompuServe Information Service is specifically prohibited by the CompuServe Service agreement, to which each subscriber agrees before being permitted to access the Service. Therefore, subscribers cannot lawfully download and redistribute public information or shareware programs for personal gain. In addition, mass redistribution of public domain information or shareware is also prohibited. Mass distribution is defined as high frequency and/or high volume transfers. --WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATING THE COMPILATION COPYRIGHT OR SERVICE AGREEMENT PROVISIONS? When a situation involving exploitation is brought to CompuServe's attention, we investigate and, if warranted, remind the violator of the terms of the Service Agreement. If subsequent violations are reported, access to the CompuServe Information Service may be terminated for the violator and, in extreme cases, a letter is sent from our legal counsel asking that he or she cease and desist, or risk further legal action. Fidonews Page 7 10 Nov 1986 This is done as a positive step to protect the value and use of the material for CompuServe Information Service subscribers, and to discourage unauthorized redistribution of that material. Thank you for using CompuServe! [END OF CI$ statement] [One user's commentary: From the above, it appears that CompuServe is grappling with finding some way to protect its investment in establishing and maintaining a library of user-supported materials. The recent adoption of a policy of not charging for upload time is a two-edged sword: it is both a boon to the subscriber who goes to the trouble of uploading materials to CompuServe and a clear way for CompuServe to show that it has "paid" some consideration for the the material. However, nothing CompuServe may do can allow it to gather in rights which have been scattered to the public domain. As a fundamental concept of intellectual property law, once something is placed within the public domain, even the original author cannot reclaim it. CompuServe would appear to be justified in its stance that it holds a compilation copyright on its contents as a whole. It would be difficult to argue with this position because were it not the case, there would be little or no incentive for CompuServe to offer the services which it does. Similarly, a number of sysops of hobbyist bulletin boards (FIDOs, etc.) have clearly stated policies saying that they do not favor or permit massive downloadings of files on their systems. CompuServe's concern appear to revolve around a need and desire to protect its contents from being "cloned" onto a competing commercial or non-commercial system. Unfortunately, the line between casual redistribution and "mass redistribution" or "updating another bulletin board regularly" is both ill-defined and subjective. The CompuServe subscriber agreement is a much stronger protection for CompuServe than anything in copyright law. It gives CompuServe the simple right to suspend the subscription of anyone whom it believes is using its services in an undesirable manner. End of story. It is unlikely that CompuServe or any other service, be it commercial or hobbyist supported, will survive very long unless it adds some perceived value for its users. CompuServe's value lies in its providing a national network, extensive libraries (both public domain and proprietary), and a multi-user system available at all hours. While the hobbyist bulletin boards, including FIDO and FIDO echomail, provide similar services, they serve different (even if overlapping) user communities. Carl Neiburger, professional journalist and editor of the Silicon Fidonews Page 8 10 Nov 1986 Valley Rainbow newsletter, proposes a simple way in which anyone uploading material to CompuServe can protect his or her interest in the ownership and/or public domain status of the material being uploaded: "On the material I have uploaded to CompuServe so far, I have chosen one of these options: 1) Omitting any copyright, making it automatically public domain. As I understand it, CompuServe acknowledges that public domain is public domain and that's that. 2) Attaching a copyright that, in effect, asserts authorship but no financial control, i.e. "Free license is granted for non-commercial use." That amounts to saying, "It's mine, but I'm giving it away and you can give it away (but not sell it), too." The idea is to allow broad distribution of these programs, and I hope that CompuServe accepts this desire and does not interfere with it. Other people may and do upload software with their own license restrictions. It seems to me that CompuServe's policy on allowing downloading and distribution should be governed by these licenses rather than the company's best guess. At the same time, of course, authors are obliged to be realistic and up front about their licenses and expectations, which I think they are. I have seen, "If you like this program, send me $10'; I haven't seen, "You just downloaded my program; send me $200." In conclusion, it appears that CompuServe's only intent at the moment is to restrict the wholesale downloading of materials on its service for the specific purpose of placing those materials in their collective entirety on a competing commercial or non-commercial service. CompuServe's only practical means to prevent this is to refuse the subscription of anyone who engages in this practice. Authors of public domain and/or shareware materials who desire additional assurances may place appropriate copyright notices on their materials and/or upload their materials to multiple commercial and non-commercial services thus preventing the vesting of copyright ownership or control in CompuServe. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 9 10 Nov 1986 Richard Epson Fido 151/20 The Ultimate Utility After downloading a number of utilities for use with Fido, I have found the best to be one that was created by Marshall Presnell and Ben Mann (151/2) called Fido Utility 1.20 It is a collection of useful utilities and because they are intergrated into one "system" the ease of use is very apparent. I will try briefly to describe the many "wonders" of this program, but it is necessary to actually use Fido Utility to appreciate the power of this package. Fido Utility (FU) is a general purpose Fido utility package which replaces or emulates the following packages: - Killsrvr - scans the network message area and deletes all messages from "Server." - Lastuser - finds the last user of the system and prints it out to std-out. - Twituser - sets the TWIT attribute for the user specified on the command line. - Bounce - sends a network mail message back to the originator of the message. - Ricochet - allows you to forward messages to another user on another node, similar to forwarding the message. - Killto - kills messages in a specified message area TO a specified user. - Killfrom - kills messages in a specified message area FROM a specified user. - Waittime - waits until until a certain "real-time" specified on the command line and exits. - Wait - waits until the minute rolls-over so you will not have multiple invokations of a 1-minute external event. - Month - sets the errorlevel based on the current month. - Userlist - lists all the users in the Fido user.bbs file. Many options are available for listing passwords, access levels, etc. - Weekday - returns an errorlevel based on the day of the week. - Killrobt - scans the network message and deletes all messages from "Robot." - Status - displays a status report for your configuration of Fidonews Page 10 10 Nov 1986 Fido. - Password - allows for changing a user's password without going through the SysOp program. - Setpriv - sets a user's privilege level to the one given on the command line. - Adopt removes the "ORPHAN" mark from one or all mail messages. - Twix - scans the network message area and prints the messages that have not been read yet. Options also exist for printing ALL messages, also for NOT updating the "number of times read" flag in the userlist. - Robot - performs automated mailings of files. This version also had an interactive mode for sending files. - Sched - allows you to list, set, and query the Fido schedules from a command line. - Time - simply prints the time to standard output without a carraige return. - DTR - allows for the control of the DTR signal to you modem from DOS. - Task - is a "Timed Ask" facility for use in batch files. It will time out unless you answer Y or N within the specified time period. Error levels are returned based on the response (or lack thereof). - Log - allows you to maintain a sysem activity file with little difficulty. - Space - a utility to determine how much space is left on the default disk drive. An option exists to set an error level based on whether a certain amount of disk space is free. - Datefile - utility to rename files based on the system date. - Julian - utility to rename files based on the system date in Julian form. - Nodedata - prints information about a selected node An added extra is that since all utilities print to "standard output", they can be redirected anywhere a normal DOS function can! This is true for all of the utilities except TASK. AND new in Fido Utility version 1.20 is the Fido Utility Environment settings which control the banner that FU prints as it is started, and the format of the dates used in FU. Now for the bad part - This package has been out across the Net for months now and to date there are very very few registrations. Fidonews Page 11 10 Nov 1986 Anyone who has seriously tried it I am sure will find it to be much more valuable than the $15.00 registration fee. The public distribution archive containing FU.EXE can be obtained from any BBS which has it available. If you find (and I am sure you will) FU to be of value to your BBS, Marshall and Ben request that you register your copy with them so that they can supply updates and enchancements. There is also a structure in place for reporting "bugs" in Fido Utility, answering questions, and making comments; If you have a problem with FU, send a note with a detailed description of the problem to Fido Node 151/3 (The Wizard Line). If the "To user:" line is "FU BUGS", you will receive a reply much faster. Questions can be sent to the user "FU QUEST", and comments to "FU CMT". The bug reports will be consolidated and forwarded to Marshall. Also, requests for a demo version of "Smartman", a 'smart fido message manager' that is a commercial product by Marshall Presnell can be sent to the user "SM REQ". The latest version of Fido Utility is always available on the Alert Data Fido (151/2) at (919) 274-5760. It is also available on the Charlotte MetroNet (151/20) at (704) 541-8626. The point is - it is an excellent utility program and deserves to be seen and used, and the authors deserved to be compensated! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 12 10 Nov 1986 Brian Walsh From 109/640 Yet Another Nodelist Builder ---------------------------- NODEGEN.EXE Yes I know what you are saying to yourself, why another nodelist builder? Well first there was Listgen which was slow and needed a Huge control file. It had updates that changed a few things but then version 5.26.86 became obsolete because the nodelist excceded it's limits. Second there is XLATLIST which a faster than Listgen But It does still require a hefy control file but doesn't relly offer anything new. Now there's NODEGEN! Nodegen uses a VERY small control file, usually about 1K or less, and has some interesting features as well as Being VERY FAST. This being the first version of Nodegen and I want to make it designed to suite Fido Sysops' needs so there are a few things that aren't there that will be in version 1.1. I know you are asking why then did you release this as version 1.0. Well you see I wanted you to see it and run it and then make some constructive critisism. The one feature that is new to the nodelist builders is that you can restrict the nodelist.bbs to your net only. The reason for that option being there is for the Fido Sysops that are running off a IBM PCjr or just want to save space and want to restrict the sending of mail. Another feature that should probably be called an alteration/enhancement is the way the NodeGEN creates the Fidolist.80 & Fidolist.132 files. Before It was difficult to extract information from the listings or performs types of database functions, but now you can. Also Fidolist.80 is now an Indexed file in the respect that all you have to do is read the margin to find the node you wanted. Hopefully this package will be useful and used, but that again is all up to you. If you want to get NodeGEN you can: File Request It Through Seadog anytime Send a note & I'll file attach it to you Call 109/640 and just download it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 10 Nov 1986 Minutes of the 4th Fido Net 109 Sysops' Meeting October 18, 1986 presented once again by Michael Klein (109/610) I received so many positive comments about my last compila- tion of meeting notes that I decided to come back and do it again. Chalk it up to masochism, if you prefer. Anyway, the meeting was held on Saturday, October 18th, 1986 at Woodlake Towers in Falls Church, Virginia. In attendance were Steven Ranger (621), Alexander Wall (606), Robert Rudolph (628), Michael Wyrick and David Ross (both of 449), Michael Klein and David Schuetz (both of 610), Tom Tugman (645), David Page (604), Jack Liebsch (605), Peter Thomas (622), Alan Williams (647), Andrew Bilski (611), Sam Hargadine (115), and Kurt Reisler, our illustrious coordinator and sysop of both 109/74 and 109/483. We got underway at about 1300 with introductions and a lot of side conversations between individual sysops. Kurt started the official meeting by telling us that we had 44 nodes in the net, with 2 awaiting entry. By the end of the meeting, we had 45 in the net and 1 waiting, due to the node number assignment of 647. After the "State of the Network Address" from Kurt, we talked about Kurt's trip to San Francisco and his meeting with Tom Jennings. The question that most people had was answered quickly when we listened to the tape of the DECUS meeting, at which Tom stated that Fido version 12 will continue to be distributed as it is currently, with no charge for hobbyists and $100 for profit and private organizations. The documentation, however, will cost money, since it is now professionally written, bound, typeset, and all that fancy printing stuff. He could not say, however, what was going on with a membership fee in the network, since that's the administrator's territory. When asked whether Fido versions will become more reliable and stable due to this new rewrite, Tom explained in no uncertain terms that the versions change like mad, and will continue to do so. From there, we moved on to local topics, such as certain nodes with modem and line problems, and who couldn't connect to whom for whatever reasons. We also discussed the problem of DoubleDos crosslinking File Allocation Tables, and the only solution offered (and the only one that will work) was not to try to write the same file from both partitions at once. In other works, renumbering message area 1 while there's someone on the board is a definite no-no. Andrew Bilski (611) once again offered his problem that Fido, while it usually catches and handles device specifications as filenames (i.e. "T COM1:"), does not do so properly under DoubleDos. No solution to this was reached. Fidonews Page 14 10 Nov 1986 The next topic of conversation was SeaDog, which was explained and praised by David Page (604), who also explained some of the possible future implementations of the program. He talked about the features of SeaDog, and offered to help anyone install it once they get it. The meeting soon rolled around to the topic of donations and the ways in which various sysops regulate the use of their systems. Andrew Bilski (611) asks his users (through the Editorial) for donations, also letting them know that their access will in no way be hindered by not sending any money. He has received many donations, with $100 of it going to Tom for Fido. Alex Wall (606) said that he gives normal access to anyone who doesn't send in any donations, with a raise to Privel for a $5 donation, and Extra for a $10 donation. In both cases, it seems, people have been more than willing to send in money to help cover the cost and expenses of running a Fido system. We then discussed the ways in which people back up their hard drives. This is a crucial step in running any kind of changing system, since hard disk failures are often sudden and severe. The two most popular backup utilities, aside from just straight copy-restore techniques, are DataCare and Fastback. Both are nice and fast at backing up, the difference being that DataCare backs up without compression, and the DOS RESTORE command must be used to recover the data onto the hard disk. Fastback has its own restore function, which allows for compression of data (so it takes up about half-3/4 of what it normally would on floppies) and quick restoring. Andrew Bilski and I advocated Fastback, while Robert Rudolph said that he'll stand by DataCare. Now that we'd gotten the old brain cells whirring, we went into a biggie: How to switch over to XLATLIST and ROUTEGEN without screwing up. Jack Liebsch (605), our resident Routing Doctor, now sends out all routing files in ROUTEGEN format, which was found to be more flexible (not to mention the fact that LISTGEN has gone to the great House of Obsolescence) in the route file structure. Kurt put up a sample XLATLIST control file (his own) on his system for people to download and modify, and I haven't heard any reports of trouble over the conversion. Someone then came up with a question about 9600 baud modems. Kurt says that he has two of them, but never even bothered to unpackage them. They cannot communicate at anything other than 9600 baud, making them well nigh impractical. It was decided that they might be quite useful on inbound and outbound hosts, but for the most part, due to the fact that they're not in wide use as of yet, they're not much good to us right now. Echomail was the next topic of discussion. Kurt, as the SYSOP and IFNA hub, took down the node numbers of those who wanted to be added to those two areas. We also discussed the latest version (1.36) of Echomail and the general opinion seemed to be that it's more trouble to implement that it's Fidonews Page 15 10 Nov 1986 worth in added features. Michael Wyrick (449), Michael Klein (guess who), and David Schuetz (co-sysop of 610) presented their plan for a new program called DirectMail, which works differently from the Echomail concept, and allows netwide messages between individual users. (Editor's note: The program, at this stage, is approximately 3/4 of the way finished. Look for it at a theater near you in about three weeks). We then talked about in-net routing, and the use of our NCR (No-Cost Routing) system. Jack Liebsch (605) will continue to serve as our Routing Guru. Net 109, being in a rather odd local/long distance area code breakdown (which I won't go into here for fear of a migraine), has a very odd routing scheme, but Jack seems to have kept it straight so far. An idea was suggested (and has been thought about for a long time) to have the numerous Baltimore nodes split off and form their own net, which would ease routing and take a few nodes off Kurt's back. That one's still up in the air. By now, it was about 1530, and the question was posed as to whether anyone had anything else to say. Surprisingly enough, nobody did, so we scheduled the next meeting for sometime in the middle of November and called it a day. Meeting adjourned. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 10 Nov 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Doug Mohney Fido 109/74 "The Bear's Den" Doug's Column IF THEY CAN DO IT, SO CAN I: Look at Dvorak, Webster, and Pournelle. All of them write about computers, but let's face facts: Everyone and their grandmother cuddles up to them to get Good Press, sending them free computers and software to review, going out on magazine-funded junkets to strip bars in Atlanta (Dvorak), and not knowing anything about computers. Think I'm kidding? Ok: How many common users do you know who use S-100 buses and have the fantasy of seeing Concurrent CP/M becoming the operating system of the 80s' in 1986. That's ok; Mr. Pournelle writes Science FICTION. I have this urge to write. So I'm writing a column; if I'm lucky, lots of software companies will send me free software to review and the FidoNews will fund my junket to Comdex/Atlanta. If not, I'll keep on writing just to make people think. WHO AM I?: I'm a college student at the U. of Maryland (the place where the basketball player died), don't use drugs, and am the president of the Personal Computing Association. PCA is an undergraduate user group. I keep on getting elected Pres because I do all the paperwork. I also use/apply/poke around with IBM-PCs, Macs, Apple //es, Atari STs, VAXen, HP3000s, and IBM 4341s. Most of my useful work is done on micros, and I don't claim to be a hacker or an expert on anything. I am a USER, and proud of it. I've written some docs, put on two computer shows, and got DEC to donate a MicroVAX I to PCA. And I don't use drugs. GOSSIP TIME: All good columnists either A) Give good gossip, B) Review products or C) Talk about products and then speculate about the latest products (Gossip). I'll pass on my tidbits, then rip on companies. Green Berets Use Macs: I went to a dPub "seminar" at a local Apple dealer. A whole 4 people showed up, including an enlisted man from Special Forces. After the Apple rep had finished his sermon on dPub, the Beanie and I played with the Abatron 300 dpi scanner, and talked for a little. The Beanies, due to their unique "mission" in the Army, write their own manuals, using Tempest Macs and PageMaker. The grunt was running around trying to find Fidonews Page 17 10 Nov 1986 a high-quality scanner to feed lots of pictures through and asking hard questions on delivery (ASAP) and price. OTHER GOODIE: My friends, 2nd generation hackers who are Indian/Chinese and eat pizza, keep on muttering about building a lap-top UNIX machine with 68020, SCSI, 40 Meg hard-drive and Ethernet. Wish they'd hire me to market it, but I have no idea who'd need one: NASA or NSA? Hope they're nice and let me beta-test or review it. Naw. RUDE COMMENTS HERE: AT&T has stated it is getting out of general micro sales. Hahahahahaha. They never started. Example: PCA tried to get an AT&T rep to talk about machines. No call back. No mail. We sent in an application for an equipment grant via registered mail. No phone call. No mail. This from a company who helped develop the nation's phone system. Uh huh. AT&T sells (sold?) 6300s through the computer store at Maryland. Amount of advertising in school newspaper for AT&T long-distance: Massive. Amout of advertising for 6300: Nada. This on a campus where Apple is spending lots of money on gimmicky promos and IBM doesn't have to advertise 'cuz they donated 600+ machines. DEEP STATEMENT: The 8-bit world is dead. At Computerfest '86, there were plenty of Amigas, some Atari ST's. Half the room was PC-DOS/MS-DOS. Some Mac. No Apple //. No Atari 8-bit. Few C-64 groups. I think Atari will own the $1,000 (full system price) market by Summer '87. Current price for an Apple //e box, with 128K card, no drives, no monitor is $599. A 520ST with 1 drive, mono monitor, and built-in serial, parallel, DMA, and MIDI is $495. Which would you buy, ignoring the technical superiority of 6502 vs 68000, 128K vs 512K RAM, and 360K 3 1/2" vs 128K 5 1/4"? Trying to compare the C-64 to the ST isn't even funny. Oops. Forgot the ST has a mouse. MOST STUPID COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT: HP's showing various Yuppies stepping out of the shower, leaping over floor waxers, and stopping their sports cars in the middle of nowhere because they have found "The Answer". Which one of them had the brainstorm for the HP150? Or the slow hard disk in the speedy Vectra? It's going to take more than commercials to keep HP from becoming a glorified printer maker; a lot of accounts which have run out of firepower on the 3000 series are upgunning to IBM or VAX. If anyone has seen an installed Spectrum running MPE at a customer site, send me mail. Fidonews Page 18 10 Nov 1986 OK, YOUR TURN: If you want to reach me, send me FidoMail to Doug Mohney at 109/74. Or call me at (301) 350-1437. Good gossip or demo copies of anything welcome. Money not refused (although if I get real successful, I may have to give a cut to my SYSOP at 109/74). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 10 Nov 1986 Jerry Hindle 123/6 123/0 MemphisNet 2400 baud MAX 901-353-4563 Well, since I wrote the article explaining exactly what I was trying to do in setting up a software distribution node, I have heard from and been called by a LOT of you out there. I have received calls from Australia, the UK, Sweden, Canada, and from all over the US. As I explained in that article, I am attempting to set up a distribution node for the LATEST in Fido software and related support programs and utilities. To date I have been sent over 30 files for this area alone and have been sent messages requesting I pick up certain files from either this node or that node. I attempt to do so in as many cases as possible, but I simply cannot stand the LONG DISTANCE for too much longer. I will eventually get to you if you asked me to get your program and please be patient, I am working as fast as I can. Now on to other things.....namely, the programs in the distribution area. I have over 130 files now ranging from utilities that will let you customize your menus to EchoMail version to Mailcost version 1.4 to the latest in a variety of other system utilities and support programs. I am overwhelmed by the response you have shown by this and I guess it could be deemed a huge success by these standards alone, however, now I face another problem. I am being barraged by requests for me to send the files out on disk to this net or that one to save them on the LONG DISTANCE charges. I will ATTEMPT to do so ONLY in the case of INTERNATIONAL callers and then only if they will agree to send me a box of disks to copy the files onto and a mailer (stamped and addressed to themselves) to mail them back in. Again I can't afford all the disks this could possibly cost me even though I pay only $29 per hundred in bulk less sleeves. I mean the postage alone on a box of ten disks suitably packaged for mailing would run about $2 or $3. I will either format them here in IBM 360k format, or you can format them and tell me what format they are in so I can copy the files over to them. Right now the entire distribution area is almost 3 MEG and growing. I can also FASTBACK (tm) the files to disks for you if you want to and can restore them to a hard drive. I do not however trust the DOS back-up command too much so I will have to shy away from that format. In Fastback (tm) format it takes about 7 disks to do In copy format it takes about 10 disks to do ALL files are ARCED (tm) and will un-arc using arc512 (which I can also provide as a regular file) If you wish me to send you these files on disk then here is what you do: Send me a box of disks (you will receive them ALL back) and a self-addressed STAMPED mailer big enough to hold them all to: Fidonews Page 20 10 Nov 1986 Jerry Hindle P.O. Box 16223 Memphis, TN 38186-0223 U.S.A. I will copy over the files and send them back free of any other charges. If you do send a donation though, I will forward it on to IFNA. I do ask that you send me a few files (I will keep those that I need for the distribution area) on the disks when you send them to me. This way the distribution area will constantly grow so that Fido and FidoNet can continue to grow with it. One last point. I cannot be selective in what files I send out, I simply copy the file area over to disk and mail them out. That way you get EVERYTHING I have here on the day I get the disks ! But remember it is always growing so..... I also have EVERY ISSUE of FidoNews here too ! I have them in two formats, the second of which will interest those with a LARGE Commodore userbase. The first format is ARC, issue by issue. The second is also ARC, BUT it is a NEW ARC program for the Commodore 64 that is Public Domain. These files are almost as small as the IBM arc versions of the same files and I will provide them along with the program for the Commodore to un-arc them with ! The NEWS files I can provide in either IBM disk format OR Commodore 1541 disk format (if you have one of those). The IBM format is ready to place ON-LINE for users to d/l to their Commodores since all are converted to Commodore ASCII format and then ARCED with the Commodore ARC program. I cannot IBM arc these since the two programs (IBM version and Commodore version) are SO CLOSE in operation that the only difference I find is in the ARC file header. If I IBM ARC these files then they will be corrupted, thus I sent them as standard IBM files. All FidoNews issues in Commodore format are compliments of Mr. Mike Gordon (one of my hard core supporters) and I wish to thank him for making the conversions in the text and ARC services on his Commodore. If you have any questions about the Commodore ARC program or its operation you can netmail Mike Gordon or myself at 123/6. Again......Thank you for the tremendous response you have shown in having a distribution node. I have not heard from IFNA or anyone associated with it in regards to it impact or even it's usefulness as a system, but I think they would not mind. If they are reading this I would like to APPLY for listing under the International FidoNet Association as the "official" support distribution node, in the nodelist. I think this way the net will know that I carry as much Fido stuff as I can lay my hands on and they can be 80% certain to be able to get it here when they call. Authors postscript.....If I do receive any funds from this for copy services I will forward them on to IFNA for their use. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 21 10 Nov 1986 Joe Lindstrom Fido 134/1 Calgary, AB +=================+ !The Nautical View! +=================+ Part 3: The "Open BBS" I realize that this column is normally Commodore oriented. I am a Commodore owner, but I am also a sysop of a local BBS ("The Flight Deck", 403-235-1659). There is a phenomenon occuring that deserves comment: the concept of the "open BBS". I've heard about this spreading throughout the U.S., and in fact some areas have nothing but "open boards". What I mean by this is a board in which all you must do to gain full access is type your name. No security checks, no nothin'. Generally, the boards here in Calgary are NOT open boards (the Calgary Fido being one of the few exceptions). This, in my opinion, is the way it SHOULD be! What sysop in his or her right mind would allow any person to logon and have full access? I just can't see it. To illustrate my point, I'll relate the story of a board here in town called "The Means of Escape". This was an open board, whereby all you had to do was call. If you weren't an established user, it gave you an ID# and a password, so that nobody else could logon as you. It did not work. Soon there was chaos. Twits logging on and bad-mouthing the board and/or the sysop and/or one or more of the users. Pirates advertising their "warez". Users impersonating other users and saying things uncomplimentary. Etc. Etc. All the while I was maintaining a public debate with the sysop. He argued that a BBS should be "open", and that intelligent conversations could occur. His opinion only, since all I ever saw was name-calling and mud- slinging. Worst of all, there were practically NO users who used their real names: all handles, so you could never go on to one of the more intelligent boards and say "So and so did this", because you never know who so and so is! Anyway, "The Means of Escape" is BBS history now. The world is a better place without it. This is the policy on my BBS. You, the new user, call up. On the opening prompt, you are asked to enter your name. The board then checks to see if you exist, and if not, displays the application information. When applying, you MUST provide your real name, real phone number, what city you live in, and a password for future use. After 24 to 48 hours, you'll be validated. I look over the names of prospective new users, and any that I'm suspicious of get a phone call. I've managed to "intercept" dozens of hoax names, and I'm damn glad of it. As a result, the conversations on my board tend to be of a more sophisticated level. None of this "My computer rules! Your's sucks!" crap. We talk about a LOT of things, and mild profanity IS allowed. Wanna know something? People rarely use it. They KNOW that their real names are attached to anything they write, Fidonews Page 22 10 Nov 1986 and if the profanity is abusive, they are warned (further infractions result in their accounts being turfed). Although some of the humour encountered is rather "bent" (we've got a troupe of older gentlemen who are a tad bizarre), it isn't anything to be ashamed of. There are numerous other boards in town who operate this way. Long before I began running my own BBS, when I first got my modem, I tried calling every board in town every day. This became cumbersome after awhile, so I started dropping some boards. Most of the ones I dropped were of the "open" or "handles only" variety. Don't get me wrong: there ARE some boards where handles are allowed and intelligent conversations happen: boards like Fly By Wire, Calgary Fido, Flight Service Station, and a few others. These are the exception to the rule, however. My opinion boils down to this: as a general rule, boards that allow handles or are of the "open" variety aren't worth bothering with. They generally attract users of the "immature" level, and that just isn't for me. I fail to comprehend the reasoning behind the "open" or "handles only" boards. Is there anyone out there who can explain it to me? If so, please submit a reply to the FidoNews, as I am MOST interested in hearing it. For now, I will cut this short. Till we meet again: ciao fer niao, and let's do the lunch thing REAL soon! I'm interested in answering any of your questions about either the 64 or 128. If you are having a problem, please address your mail to Joe Lindstrom via Calgary Fido (Net 134 Node 1), and I'll address it in an upcoming article. If you would like to contact me in person, I run a 300 baud BBS ("The Flight Deck") at 403-235-1659. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 23 10 Nov 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= Are there any Fidos with an interface to Bitnet? If so, would you let Bill Allbritten, 11/301 know? If our university could tie in in a modest way in this manner, I would be very appreciative. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Interrupt Stack 23 Nov 1986 Twenty-third anniversary of Doctor Who. 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 10 Nov 1986 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) Charter Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications.** Name _________________________________ Date ________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Country_______________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Board Name____________________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Baud Rate Supported___________________ Board Restrictions____________________ Special Interests_____________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Is there some area where you would be willing to help out in FidoNet?_______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to: International FidoNet Association P. O. Box 41143 St Louis, Missouri 63141, USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. ** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization in formation and BYLAWS are presently being prepared by an International Rules Committee. Membership requirements and fees are subject to approval of this Committee. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the BYLAWS Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------