Volume 3, Number 47 8 December 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. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL Alternate Networks 2. ARTICLES The Australian FidoNet Association An Alternate Proposal for IFNA Bylaws Automatically Compile the Nodelist Doug's Column 3. COLUMNS Notes from the distributor Nautical View Part 4: A Review of GEOS The World of Computing: Ram-Resident programs 4. FOR SALE The Structured Programming Language for PC/MS DOS Dennis Baer 5. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Net/Node # for WORD.DBF Project Fidonews Page 2 8 Dec 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Alternate Networks Did you know that we are not alone? FidoNet isn't the only amateur mail network in the world anymore. There's a group called RamNet that's using a whole different approach to this sort of thing. But we needn't go far afield to find other amateur mail networks. There's CollieNet, of course. That's the net the Collie crowd has set up. Last I'd heard, they were trying to make their software compatible with FidoNet so that they could exchange mail on FidoNet. Great! The more the merrier. Tom Jennings himself has stated publicly several times over the last couple of years that he wants other vendors to get out there. That's a large part of why he helped the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee so much. Wynn Wagner grabbed the technical specs and ran with them, and now has his Opus program in gamma test and very near general release. TBBS and RBBS are also joining our ranks as fully FidoNet compatible systems. But all of that, as good as it is to hear, is still beside the point. Opus, TBBS, and RBBS are becoming compatible with FidoNet, and many sysops are eagerly awaiting the new software so that they can participate in FidoNet itself. But there's also another group forming a FidoNet compatible network competing with FidoNet. They call it "TechNet", which may be a better term in general than "FidoNet" is. After all, we aren't just Fidos anymore. This, too, is a healthy development. Nothing grows well that grows in a vacuum. Healthy competition is good for all concerned. And there is always the chance that if FidoNet takes a wrong turn somewhere, TechNet will turn out to have done it right. For the real concerns here are ones of organization and control. FidoNet has grown quite large, and quite a bureaucracy has grown up to control it. Maybe we've done it wrong. How can we know? We'll know for sure later, if it all falls apart. But that's a bit too late. It's good to know that there's an alternative waiting in the wings. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 8 Dec 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Bill Bolton 155/219 The Australian FidoNet Association ---------------------------------- The flow of information about IFNA to Australia has been poor. We have been unable to plug into the IFNA conference despite offers to pickup the conference from US boards and have had to live what information we could gleam from occasional captures of the conference from whenever I could log onto Ken Kaplan's Fido. The arrival of Fido News 344 which was totally devoted to IFNA matters was awaited with great interest. We had become a little alarmed at what we had seen in our snippets from the IFNA conference and the contents of Fido News 344 only served to increase that alarm. It seemed quite clear to a number of sysops in Net 155 that the "I" in IFNA was a misnomer and the only way to effectively represent the interests of Australian Fido sysops and users would be to form an Australian FidoNet Association. From a purely local point of view we needed to associate to be able to successfully lobby various arms of the Australian Government who have recently taken an interest in Bulletin Board systems. There is also a need to liaise with our local PTT, Telecom Australia, on various technical aspect of Fido net operation. So the AFNA will serve both a domestic purpose and an international purpose for Australian Fido sysops and users Fido is now spreading quickly Australia, from a small start in Melbourne during 1985, with 19 active public systems on Nodelist 325 (plus one in Papua New Guinea). There are approximately 20 new Fido systems due to join the network in Australia in the next few months. The geographical spread is also increasing with a new network in Western Australia about to come on line. Papua New Guinea is also adding new systems and should soon have its own net and FidoNet Association. It is AFNAs aim to work closely and co-operatively with other FidoNet Associations to encourage the formation of an International FidoNet Association made up of independent national associations. AFNA will also maintain and enhance FidoNet network standards in this part of the world. A motion to form the Australian Fido-Net Association was passed unanimously at the Network 155 sysop's meeting on November 23, 1986. A motion to adopt the following interim constitution was passed unanimously at the same meeting. The following sysops were elected unopposed to form the First Fidonews Page 4 8 Dec 1986 Committee of the Australian Fido-Net Association. John Blackett-Smith 155/301 [601/301] Trev Roydhouse 155/213 [600/303] Mike Hurst-Meyers 155/218 [600/402] Brian Gatenby 155/201 [600/101] Bill Bolton 155/219 [600/106] Special thanks to Trev Roydhouse and Mike Hurst-Meyers for their efforts in drafting this interim constitution. THE INTERIM CONSTITUTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN FIDONET ASSOCIATION 1. Name: The Association shall be known as the Australian FidoNet Association. 2. Purpose: The Association shall represent the interests of the members. 3. Members: The Sysop Members of the Association shall be those Fido Sysops resident in Australia who are operational in the Australian FidoNet network and have registered with the Association. Associate members of the Association are those persons who intend to be Fido Sysops, but are not operational within the FidoNet network. On becoming operational, they shall be automatically be registered as Sysop Members. 4. Voting: Only Sysop Members have the right to vote on matters within the Association. Associate members may attend meetings but do not have a right to vote. 5. Fees: All classes of membership of the Association shall pay a joining fee of One Dollar. The joining fee to be collected by the First Committee when and if it deems it necessary. The First Committee to be empowered to deal with any joining fees in whatever manner it sees fit. 6. Liability: The liability of a member of the Association to contribute towards the payment of the debts and liabilities of the Association is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid by the member in accordance with Rule 5. 7. Prime Meeting: There shall be a Prime meeting to be held not later than 31 January 1987 to determine the Constitution for the Association. All members must receive 21 days notice by mail detailing the time, place, agenda and draft Constitution. Members shall be deemed to have received such notice by the posting for transmission Fidonews Page 5 8 Dec 1986 by Australia Post of a notice in writing addressed to the members last notified postal address. Such posting to occur not less than 21 days before the meeting date. 8. Committee: The business of the Association shall be conducted by the First Committee until the conclusion of Elections at the Prime Meeting. The First Committee shall comprise of five members. In the event of a committee member retiring, that member shall nominate a replacement. If the replacement is not nominated within a reasonable time, the First Committee shall determine how the vacancy is to be filled. 9. Elections: An election of office bearers of the Association shall be held at the Prime meeting in accordance with the terms of the draft Constitution when that Constitution has been adopted by a three quarters majority of Sysop Members voting in person or by proxy. 10. Quorums: Any three members of the First Committee shall constitute a quorum of that Committee. The members of the First Committee shall elect a chairman from among their number. 11. Definitions: "Operational" To have installed a Fido Bulletin Board Service in accordance with the FidoNet document POLICY3.DOC, and have requested and been assigned a Node number in accordance with that document. 12. Election of the First Committee: The members of the First Committee shall be elected from amongst the Sysop Members of the Association who are included on the FidoNet Nodelist for day 325 of 1986 and are present in person. That election shall take place on the adoption of this Constitution by a simple majority of those Sysop Members present in person. 13. Proxy Vote: A proxy vote shall be in writing and signed by the person concerned, with or without voting directions, and shall be tendered at the commencement of a meeting. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 8 Dec 1986 NOTE: These proposed bylaws are NOT a joke! They are presented in all seriousness as an alternative to the previously proposed IFNA bylaws. PROPOSED BYLAWS for the INTERGALACTIC FIDONET ALLIANCE This document contains the proposed bylaws of an organization to be known as the Intergalactic FidoNet Alliance, herein referred to as IFNA. 1. IFNA shall exist solely to serve the Knights of IFNA, and such others as the Knights shall desire served. 2. The following orders of Knights are established: A. The Order of the Golden Dawn. To be eligible, an applicant must be the system operator in good standing of a PUBLIC ACCESS node, and must have paid any tithes required. A Knight of the Order of the Golden Dawn is entitled to one vote. B. The Order of Mercantile Grammarie. Any entity which profits by the existence or operation of the Intergalactic FidoNet Alliance shall be eligible to join the Order of Mercantile Grammarie by paying the required tithes. If said entity would otherwise be eligible for the Order of the Golden Dawn, then it shall be entitled to one vote. C. The Order of the Rose and Cross. The Peers of the Realm may award membership in the Order of the Rose and Cross to any being which they feel worthy. Knights of the Order of the Rose and Cross are exempt from paying tithes, but are not permitted to vote. D. The Order of the Garter. Any being wishing to be a Knight, but not qualifying for any other order, may join the ranks of the Order of the Garter by submitting an appropriate contribution to the Keeper of the Exchequer. A Knight of the Order of the Garter is not entitled to vote. 3. Applications for knighthood shall be submitted to the Mundane Interface. In the case of any applicant whose character, reputation or conduct are such that knighting them may be questionable, the Mundane Interface shall refer the application to the Peers of the Realm. In all other cases, the Mundane Interface shall have the power to knight the applicant. 4. Tithes shall be set by the Peers of the Realm, and be payable in advance. For members outside the United States territorial zone of the planet Earth, the Peers of the Realm shall assess Fidonews Page 7 8 Dec 1986 such additional costs as may be required. 5. The Mundane Interface shall notify all Knights of any tithes required to keep their peerage not less than thirty days prior to the date the tithes are required. Any Knight who submits his tithe within thirty days of the deadline shall not be regarded as having lapsed. 6. No entity shall be a Peer of the Realm or hold any other position within the Intergalactic FidoNet Alliance unless they qualify under all applicable statutes. 7. The Peers of the Realm shall be five in number, and shall be elected annually by the Knights. Each Knight may cast one vote, consisting of five choices for Peers of the Realm. 8. The Peers of the Realm shall be elected by ballot cast at a time selected by the previous Peers of the Realm, save that they may not wait longer than eighteen months between ballots. 9. The Mundane Interface shall notify the Knights of an impending ballot not less than three months before the ballot is scheduled to take place. The Mundane Interface shall also take nominations for Peers of the Realm up to one month before the ballot. Any Knight may be nominated for Peer of the Realm by submitting a petition endorsed by ten other Knights. 10. The Mundane Interface shall close nominations and post the list of candidates one month before the scheduled ballot. If less than six Knights are nominated for Peer of the Realm, then the Mundane Interface shall consider them elected without a formal ballot. 11. The Mundane Interface shall arrange for the counting of all votes received, and shall post the result. Votes received by the Mundane Interface after the close of balloting shall not be counted. 12. At the first meeting of the Peers of the Realm each year they shall elect one of their number to be the Royal Figurehead, who will preside over all meetings of the Peers of the Realm. They shall also appoint the following officers: A. The Lord Chancellor B. The Chief Executioner C. The Grand Wizard D. The Mundane Interface E. The Keeper of the Excequer 13. The Peers of the Realm shall meet when and as they please, and shall conduct their business as they see fit. 14. A majority of the Peers of the Realm or of any Squad shall constitute a quorum at any meeting. Fidonews Page 8 8 Dec 1986 15. Questions of order and procedure not otherwise determined by these By-Laws or by the parties involved shall be settled by private duel, or by Trial by Combat. 16. The Lord Chancellor shall, subject to instruction from the Peers of the Realm and with the assistance of the Chief Executioner, represent IFNA in its relationships with the public and the various governments, governmental agencies and officials with which IFNA may be concerned and shall be the official spokesperson of IFNA in regard to all matters of IFNA policy. 17. In the absence or disability of the Lord Chancellor, the Chief Executioner shall assume the duties of the Lord Chancellor. 18. The Mundane Interface shall: A. Record the proceedings of all meetings of the Peers of the Realm and of the Royal Kibitzers, and publish such minutes in FidoNews. B. Be responsible for the maintenance of the corporate status of IFNA and the filing of all reports and certificates which may be required of IFNA under the corporation laws of the State of Missouri. C. Maintain the corporate membership and voting records of IFNA. D. Perform other duties as described in applicable By-Laws, of which there are plenty to keep any mortal occupied. E. To the extent that may from time to time be required by law, it shall act as agent for the service of process, but only while present in the State of Missouri. It is not authorized to accept service of process elsewhere. 19. The Keeper of the Exchequer shall: A. Be the recipient of all monies of IFNA and shall deposit the same in the name of IFNA in a depository of his own choosing. B. Sign checks drawn by the Lord Chancellor in payment of obligations known by him to be proper and authorized. C. Submit a report to the annual meeting of the Peers of the Realm. D. Post an annual finance report in FidoNews. 20. The Grand Wizard shall: A. Be responsible for maintenance of the master NODELIST, and the distribution of the weekly update file thereof. B. Ensure the smooth operation of the IFNA NETWORK as prescribed by the Peers of the Realm. C. Serve as a member of the Designing Loft. 21. Perpetual Squads A. The following perpetual squads are established: 1. Royal Kibitzers 2. Designing Loft 3. Rumor Mongers Fidonews Page 9 8 Dec 1986 4. Graft and Vice B. Appointments of all perpetual squads shall be made by the Peers of the Realm, and may be rescinded by the Peers at any time. The Royal Figurehead shall designate the Squad Leader of each perpetual squad. Squads may originate studies in their fields and may generate recommendations to the Peers of the Realm on their own initiative. C. The Graft and Vice Squad performs studies and makes recommendations to the Peers of the Realm, and acts as advisor to the Lord Chancellor, with regard to services provided to individual Knights, other than publications and including, but not limited to the ANNUAL MEETING. D. The Rumor Mongers perform studies and make recommendations to the Peers of the Realm, and act as advisors to the Lord Chancellor, with regard to IFNA's publications, including FidoNews. E. The Designing Loft shall be responsible for: 1. Providing a rigorous definition of FidoNet and all FidoNet protocols sufficient to implement a compatible electronic mail system. 2. Producing and enhancing standards for: a) Data Transmitted b) Connection c) Protocols d) Nodelist e) Routing F. The Royal Kibitzers shall be responsible for: 1. Monitoring progress of the Peers actions and recommendations in order to see that they are expeditiously accomplished. 2. Monitoring expenditures for legal assistance. 3. Providing assistance to the staff and general counsel in connection with recommendations by the Peers of the Realm for petitions to the Federal Communications Commission and other governmental agencies. 4. Evaluating for the Peers of the Realm proposed rules and regulatory changes. 22. The Peers of the Realm, and other officers of IFNA, may appoint additional squads to perform additional tasks on their own initiative as the work demands and as willing Knights are located. 23. There shall be an official publication maintained by IFNA, in the form of a weekly journal, the name of which shall be FidoNews. A copy of this journal shall be available each week to every Knight in good standing. The general management of this journal shall be in the hands of the Lord Chancellor. The policy of the journal shall be determined by the Peers of the Realm. Fidonews Page 10 8 Dec 1986 24. These bylaws may be amended by a majority of the Knights who are empowered to weild a vote. 25. Without changing their import, the Mundane Interface may from time to time, on notice to the Peers of the Realm, renumber these By-Laws so as to serve the purpose of ready reference. References in these By-Laws to Articles shall be corrected, when necessary, by the Mundane Interface to conform to the renumbered Articles. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 11 8 Dec 1986 Roger Smith, Jr. RSBBS - Fido 18/14 904-682-3232 300/1200/2400, 24 hours Automatically Compiling the Fido Nodelist I've got my Fido trained to do many things without my intervention (he even fetches the paper). But I had a problem getting Fido to compile the Nodelist then exit back to my batch file after receiving the Nodediff file each week. After trying many complex methods (even patching Fido) that all failed to work the way I wished, I discovered that the solution is incredibly simple. I just created a text file (CONTROLC.TXT) containing a control-C (^C), then I executed Fido with the following command: FIDO_IBM 101/301 <--> 101/302. The direct data line for the BeyondWar/IPPNW BBS is (617) 731-1575. Many text files relating to this issue are also available for download or FIDONET mail. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Interrupt Stack 16 May 1987 Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut! All Fido Sysops and Families Invited! Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more information. 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ken McVay 1BHex Fido, 340/20 (Voice) 604-758-4137 (Data) 604-758-3072 Note to those misled folks who have been trying to reach me via Fido 138/45, in regard to my Bible project article...I am now a part of NET 340 (CanWest), as NODE 20. My apologies to those of you who had to phone me (especially Dana Montgomery, in Mass.). For those of you who wish to download WORD.ARC: Please let me know through 340/20 in advance; just send me a message contain- ing your log-on name, password, and WORD.ARC. Upon receipt, I will clear access and add a call to your record to avoid the 1st caller limit (20 minutes.) The file requires about 35 minutes, at 1200 baud. It would be less expensive if you would send me a disk, in a disk mailer, and $1.00 for return postage. I will copy the file onto the disk and return it the same day via 1st. Class Mail. If you would rather call my board, be advised that it is best to do so immediately after an event - particularly at 23:02 hours or 07:01 hours, PST. Fidonews Page 25 8 Dec 1986 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 26 8 Dec 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. -----------------------------------------------------------------