Volume 5, Number 13 28 March 1988 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief Dale Lovell Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Contributing Editors: Al Arango FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. Copyright 1988 by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING received. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 FidoNet: Stand Up Now or Watch it Die .................... 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 Public Key Encryption .................................... 3 FireNet Revisited ........................................ 7 New Area Code in Florida ................................. 9 Introducing "The Good Egg Network" ....................... 10 MegaList - Seven months later (an update) ................ 14 Nominations for IFNA BoD Positions ....................... 18 Net 322 forming in Massachusetts ......................... 19 Setting Up NetMail With QuickBBS ......................... 21 3. COLUMNS .................................................. 26 Let's YACK about Electronic Voting ....................... 26 4. NOTICES .................................................. 28 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 28 Contact Hours Changing for RC 18 ......................... 28 Latest Software Versions ................................. 28 FidoNews 5-13 Page 1 28 Mar 1988 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Don Daniels, President International FidoNet Association FidoNet 1:107/210 FidoNet: Stand Up Now or Watch it Die I just heard something about Randy Edwards that appalls me. Oh, not what HE's said or done, but what is being done to him. It seems that someone out there has decided that Randy's controversial and rather vociferous opinions have justified, in return, certain threats against himself and his family, telephone harrassment of them, and attempts to crash his system. This type of response is absolutely wrong. Some might argue that to quite some extent, Randy deserves what he gets, in that his behavior has also resulted in a crashed system or two and he has certainly abused the hospitality of others who freely provide certain resources for specific purposes other than those pursued by Randy. But for the most part Randy, through overzealousness, is only guilty of certain insensitivities of the rights of others and the other results have been inadvertant by-products. But, regardless of his own level of any culpability, two wrongs never make a right -- and the escalation in this situation has moved beyond the realm of insensitivity of the rights of others to out-and-out anti-social behavior and illegality. Make no mistake about it: telephone harrassment is illegal, regardless of whatever form it takes and it should be something that FidoNet totally stands against, instead of, unfortunately, being an uninvolved party to its promotion. To quite some extent, what we see now is the unsurprising result of not taking stands in the past to protect the rights of others. On far too many occasions, individuals have been unjustly attacked or harrassed and the Net has sat by with a collective, "So what?" attitude instead of speaking out against such practices or seeking to effect a just disposition of such cases as have been brought forward. The result of such inaction is that now we have an atmosphere where freedom of dissent - no, freedom of any opinion - is likely to bring about personal attacks and where escalation into illegality is becoming a norm. The eventual result of this can only be the destruction of that ideal of FidoNet and the wonderful benefits it could provide to so much of society. Randy has questioned why IFNA should exist. Well, he's certainly discovered one of the primary reasons: as a non-profit, FidoNews 5-13 Page 2 28 Mar 1988 educational body, IFNA sees as one of its main priorities the formation and distribution of certain basic policies and procedures that are designed to safe-guard the rights of individuals thereby giving them the protections to freely continue in their personal "pursuit of happiness." Everyone, within FidoNet or not, should have the right to say, do, or experience anything they wish that, in turn, does not interfere with those same rights for others. But the net as a whole cannot just stand by and "let IFNA do it" or hope that perhaps someone else will speak out against injustices. If you believe in the perpetuation of FidoNet you must now take a stand against any and all such practices as have been directed against Randy and others. Each and every one of you should call for a stop of these blatant violations of rights and should demand that those in positions of authority take all necessary steps to see that the indiviuals responsibile for such acts be removed from FidoNet and that clear guidelines exist to prevent reoccurrences. This stand must be taken NOW, before it's too late -- if, indeed, it's not too late already. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 3 28 Mar 1988 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Public Key Encryption I have seen a few referances to Public Key Encryption recently and since I claim to actually know something about the subject, I thought I would try to clear up a few misconceptions. Let me start with a bit of history. Some time ago people were thinking about electronic communication (lets call it email even if most of what I plan to say could also be applied to other forms of communications like voice phone calls). This was quite a while before Fidonet. They thought that for email to be really usefull people need to have confidence in the confidentiality of their messages. To be honest it is just too easy to eavesdrop on email. These people thought that encryption was the best way to ensure confidential email. Other ways are possible but they all tend to rely on some form of trust in one way or another. Now there is nothing wrong with trusting someone but in practice it is depressingly rare. In fact various form of encryption were and are in common use for email already. They generally use a, so called, key which is used to translate, so called, plain text into a secure form before transmision and then used again to reverse the process after transmision. So to send a confidential email message you first must agree on a key since, of course, if you try to use different keys, you won't be able to reverse the original conversion appropriatly. This is where the problem comes up. How do you find out what key was used to encrypt the original message. The conventional answer is that you use a separate channel of comunications for agreeing on keys. If you use a telephone for the encrypted messages, then you send the key via the post office or a courier or an armed gaurd depending on how serious you are. This is where the Public Key Encryption idea started. Theses people wanted to use the same channels of communication for their keys as they used for the confidential email. They wanted to do away with the couriers and the post office and all the rigamarole but they did not want to give up the security that had been already accomplished. It is pretty obvious that you couldn't just put the key to decodeing your message right in front of the message since then ANYONE listening in could decode and then read your message. What was eventually figured out was that it IS possible to first send a message telling someone how to ENCODE a message which is then sent BACK to the original person and still have a secure message. For instance I can tell you how to scramble a message in a certain way so that only I can read it. Anyone listening in will FidoNews 5-13 Page 4 28 Mar 1988 only find out how to scramble messages and they will also have a copy of the scrambled message that you eventually send me but they can't unscramble the message to find out what you are saying to me. The only practical and secure way of actually implementing such a system discovered so far is generally refered to as the RSA Public Key Encryption system. It is based on an article called "A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems" writen by R.L.Rivest, A.Shamir and L.Adleman published in the February 1978 issue of Comunications of the ACM. The system they discovered is based on very large prime numbers. The larger the numbers, the more secure the system becomes. Keys based on numbers of the size we contend with every day up to millions or billions are pretty easy to decode even if you don't know the key. However it is possible to set up keys with hundreds of digits and almost guarantee that no one will ever be able to decode the messages without the key. The process actually produces two different, but related keys. One part is used to encrypt or scramble the original message and the other part is then kept to yourself and used to unscramble the message. One you have produced a pair of keys, you can give out the first part to anyone that wants to send confidential messages to you. The half of the key that you give out is refered to as a Public Key because you send it out over the public comunications channel and it doesn't matter who knows it. If you want to send a private message to someone you must first get their public key. For two-way communication there is two sets of keys involved. Two public keys and two private secret keys. The public keys are exchanged before any confidential exchanges can take place. In fact you can publish your public key so that it is public knowledge. For instance I have generated a key for myself to use. It is: n = 2736819260645630669527694759316520435577 74311021562498273154432038898470487 e = 1318658420201053439930112933655370300596 0307881881836602807819529828909731 I had to break the numbers up to fit on these lines. They are about 75 digits each. This key is considered to be of "moderate" security. A high security key would consist of numbers of 150 to 200 digits each. Note that the two numbers above are just the one public key. There is a third number to go with the two above that is the private part of my key. Now you can use this key to send me absolutly (practicly speaking) confidential messages. About this time you might be saying "Now wait just a minute, what do I do with these big numbers? I don't think my computer will even understand numbers that big!" and you are FidoNews 5-13 Page 5 28 Mar 1988 perfectly justified in asking. As it happens, your computer WILL handle numbers like those well enough. You just need the right programs. To make it easier for you I have created a program to do all the RSA ecryption and decryption work for you. It will even generate the big number keys for you to have your own personal public keys. The encryption and decryption processes work with disk files on your MS-DOS computer. I called the program PKSCrypt and it is currently released at version 0.2a. You can call my Fido and download the file (called pkscrypt.arc) on your first call. (1-403-282-1703 no file requests though, sorry) If you actually go to the trouble of getting a copy of the program and play around with it, you will quickly find out why this system is not going to replace the conventional encryption systems. It is very slow. For example it will take about 15 minutes to encrypt a 1000 byte file using my key on a PC (give or take a few minutes). In fact it is so slow that you might think it is completely useless. Before we forget about the whole idea, remember what the original problem was. All we need to encrypt is the key for one of the standard encryption methods so that we can send it over our standard communications channel. Lets get more specific for a minute. Most of the readers of Fidonews are sysops on fidonet and I suspect that most of you are familiar with Bob Hartman's ConfMail system. Confmail has a built in encryption system of the conventional type. Some of you out there are probably already using this feature to make some of your links secure. You must have agreed with your corespondents on a key. Perhaps you just sent the other sysop a private message. You probably didn't and wouldn't have any trouble with such an arrangement BUT it is remotly possible that for the same reason that you descided to use the encryption in the first place, that key could have gone astray. You would be no better off than if you didn't bother at all. Maybe you thought of that and just phoned up the other sysop voice and told him the key. The only problem here is that the voice call is more expensive, in general, than a fidonet message since it is during daytime, higher rates and it usually will be longer in duration than a network call. However, if you knew the public encryption key of the sysop who you wanted to send the ConfMail key to, you could encrypt the ConfMail key with his public key. That way, only the person who knows the secret part of the key could decrypt your message and discover the ConfMail key. You can pretty safely assume that only one person will know that secret key. You can then send the resulting message over the regular insecure links. You can easily use the public key encryption to scramble the relativly small ConfMail key. You can still use the relatively fast and convientient encryption that is built into ConfMail for the bulk of the traffic. And you can do it all over Fidonet with the cheap communications possible with this medium. The topic of "digital signatures" was breifly touched upon. FidoNews 5-13 Page 6 28 Mar 1988 As it turns out the RSA public key encryption can also be used for identification purposes. It is possible to use the private key to create a, so called, signature which can be verified with that person's public key. While this would seem to be usefull to us on Fidonet also, it turns out that it is not as practical due to the slow speed of the algorithms. If you get my package, I talk about digital signatures some more in the dox that come with it. There are other, more controversial, applications of encryption techniques. If you are using regular netmail, but your mail is being routed through another node and perhaps you think the sysop of the intermediate system is reading your private messages, you could either "no-route" your mail or you could continue to use the same route but encrypt your messages. Most of us agree that a host or hub should pass along ANY traffic that he has promised to deliver but what would you say if the messages were encrypted? You might ask first of all, why is this person bothering to encrypt his messages? Is it because he is doing something illegal? Some places might even have laws about such practices (the cops think they should have the right to read your mail and listen to your phone calls even if they need to ask a judge about it first and some other government agentcies seem to have similar ideas). Of course none of us do anything along those lines do we? O:-) What about our pet crime - software piracy? If the pirates want to operate on the net they might be able to do it right under our noses. If you allow encrypted messages for any reason, you will not be able to prevent any other uses of the same techniques. One encrypted message looks just like any other encrypted message. You may have noticed, I have not come out and promised this system will BE secure for all time. That is only because it has not been PROVEN to be secure in a mathematical sense. I am very confident of the security of the system but it may be possible that tommorow someone will find a simple and cheap way to beat it. This situation is not unique to the RSA system. It is actually true of most of the modern encryption systems still in use today. The primary exceptions are the ones which have been broken. It seems that it is much harder to prove that a system is secure than it is to come up with the idea in the first place, all of which isn't really that surprizing. Lloyd Miller 1988 March 15 Calgary, Alberta Node 1:134/1, The First Calgary Fido ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 7 28 Mar 1988 Christopher Baker MetroFire - 135/14 FireNet Echo Recap for the Neophyte Those of you new to FidoNet may have heard of FireNet but may not be sure what FireNet is or what it does. Herein lies a brief synopsis. Shortly after getting into FidoNet back in early 1985, it occurred to me that the FidoNet structure was such that it could lend itself very well all sorts of spin-off sub-nets. Having set up this system for the fire department I work for (Metro-Dade Fire & Rescue in greater Miami)as an experiment, I began to toy with the idea that a private Net could be created that would allow direct and convenient message communication between participating departments. The software was readily available, operated on most standard machines and modems, and could be configured specifically for fire depart- ment use. I began to write articles for FidoNews on the subject and began contacting other departments and fire service types who might be cajoled into participating in such a venture. At that time, special interest Nets existed in FidoNet (since abandonded as redundant) so I applied for and received the number Net 911 (now operating as a private Net) and started gathering interested systems. It wasn't until the advent of Jeff Rush's famous Echomail programs that the real potential of the original idea began to emerge. Woody Wood and Chuck Sanders of the Colorado Springs Fire Department and I began to exchange ideas and plans and Woody and Chuck got Echomail installed on their system and began to link-in other FidoNet systems. Echomail was much easier to hook into for established systems and gave a new dimension to the original concept of a sub-Net or private Nodelist. For one thing, Echomail allowed users to participate without having to set up a system, first. All anyone had to do was find a system carrying FireNet and enter messages. This is how many departments first became aware of the Echo. Many of those departments went on to set up full-fledged FidoNet systems. FireNet is now carried on the Echomail Backbone and has many participating systems and even more users. A detailed account of the structure of FireNet is in the works and will be related in this forum by Chuck and Woody in a future article. Basically, FireNet is an Echo conference devoted to the Fire, EMS (Emergency Medical Services) and Public Safety sector. We discuss equipment, procedures, service related software, hazardous materials, service related legislation and other topics directly related to the Fire Services. It has been a FidoNews 5-13 Page 8 28 Mar 1988 valuable tool in communication and dissemination of bulletins and warnings. FireNet is available to anyone who has an interest in the Fire/ Rescue Services. It is available from the Host and western Hub (FireNet Leader, 128/16), from the eastern Hub (MetroFire, 135/14), or from the Echo Backbone. It is a moderated conference that anyone may read or post Fire/Rescue Service messages of international interest. A list of the systems carrying FireNet will appear in the Sanders/Wood article soon to be published. If you get a link into FireNet from the Backbone or your Regional Echo Coordinator, please let Woody or Chuck know about it by sending a Netmail message to 128/16. We are trying to compile a current list of participating systems. Try it. You'll like it. If you'd like to take a look at the Echo, you can call MetroFire at 305-596-8611 or FireNet Leader at 719-591-7415 or St. Joe's Hospital at 602-235-9653 or SoundingBoard at 412-681-9464 for starters. If you have any questions or comments, you may send them to me via Netmail to 135/14. I'll be happy to assist you in convincing YOUR department to set up a system and get into the FireNet Echo. For a complete ARC of all my previous FireNet articles and other FireNet material, you may GET via SEAdog or other Bark request type program the file FIRENET.ARC or just FIRENET. If you are unable to GET it, I will send it upon receipt of a Netmail request. FireNet. It's here. It works and it's growing. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 9 28 Mar 1988 Christopher Baker Region 18 Coordinator 18/0 - 135/14 Southern Bell Declares a New Area Code Central/Eastern Florida Effective at midnight, 16 Apr 88, Florida will have a new area code. The new prefix will be 407 and will be replacing a large portion of what is now area code 305. The area of change will encompass the east coast from Palm Beach county north to Brevard and west to Orlando and south to Disney World/Kissimmee. Some of the cities affected will be: Apopka, Belle Glade, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Debary, Delray, Delray Beach, East Orange, Eau Gallie, Fort Pierce, Geneva, Hobe Sound, Hutchinson Island, Indian- town, Jensen Beach, Jupiter, Kenansville, Kissimmee, Lake Buena Vista, Lake Mary, Melbourne, Monteverde, Orlando, Oviedo, Pahokee, Port St. Lucie, Reedy Creek, Sanford, Satellite Beach, Sebastian, St. Cloud, Stuart, Titusville, Vero Beach, West Palm Beach, Windermere, Winter Garden and Winter Park. There will be a transition period from 16 Apr 88 through 18 Jun 88 to allow everyone to get used to the change and implement it. Net Coordinators in the affected areas of Florida should make sure that these changes are reflected in the Nodelist submissions as soon a practicable so the rest of FidoNet doesn't end up with voice connections from the Southern Bell recording that goes into place at midnight on 19 Jun 88. Both 305 and 407 will operate normally during the transition period. Don't forget to change all references to your area codes in your Origin lines, bulletins and questionnaires when the time comes. Those of you outside of Florida with manual overrides in your Nodelist compiler control files will want to make adjustments as necessary for any Florida Nodes you may be carrying that are affected by this change. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 10 28 Mar 1988 Ken Shackelford 133/1 Introducing the Good Egg Network By now, I suspect that there are very few in FidoNet that have NOT heard about "The Good Egg Net". Many think it's a joke, since it is scheduled to go into operation on April 1st. Some think it's an idea from Hell, designed to destroy the FidoNet and all who use it. Some folks think that it is a simply grand idea, and have given it alot of support. What is the truth here? Just what IS the "Good Egg Net", and who is behind it? And why? To answer these questions, you must have a pretty basic under- standing of the FidoNet, EchoMail, IFNA, and what has been going on in the various conferences lately. I will attempt in this article to give a little background, and provide the information that so many have been asking for. First of all, Good Egg Net (EGGNET) is NOT a joke, despite the fact that it begins it's operation on April Fool's Day. This is just pure coincidence. John Zimmatore (133/107) and I were just brainstorming at the end of February, and decided to start up an alternative network based on how FidoNet USED to be (pre-IFNA). We realized that we had two choices: simply announce AND begin operations (and be swamped and over our heads), or announce for a future date (one month later), and use that month to prepare. We chose the latter. Why are John and I doing this? Well, this has been the subject of ALOT of "flaming". Very basically, we no longer believe in IFNA. We think IFNA has had time enough to get it's act together, and it has not done so. IFNA has made promises and has not kept them. IFNA, by controlling the NODELIST, controls the Sysops in the FidoNet. A good percentage of the members of the IFNA BoD are not elected, but appointed (this because the elected people got fed up and quit). A full disclosure of the IFNA finances was promised; we got a small listing of very gross numbers that are meaningless. But I think perhaps the ONE thing that it did it for ME, anyway, was the attitude of the IFNA Board of Directors that you have only three choices in the FidoNet: Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of the way. This very statement is on the origin line of all EchoMail that the IFNA *president* puts out in EchoMail. This attitude, quite frankly, stinks. Since the early days when IFNA was formed, folks disagreed with the premise of IFNA. These folks, myself included, were told that if we didn't like what was going on, then we should go out and form a NEW network. We are doing so here. Now we are being flamed for doing so. Well, you can't please everyone it seems. Clearly, IFNA has stumbled and there are quite a few Sysops out there like me, like John Zimmatore, and like over two dozen others that believe that we need an alternative. FidoNews 5-13 Page 11 28 Mar 1988 EGGNET is that alternative. What we propose to do with EGGNEt is to recreate the way that FidoNet USED to be. We intend to have a nodelist that is published bimonthly. This nodelist will be PUBLIC DOMAIN. We further propose to have a newsletter that will be made available to everyone that wants it, but we will NOT make it a requirement that each coordinator down the chain carry it. It will be available from one central node, and will be available for file request. If a net host in EGGNET wants to make it available down the chain, then so much the better. But if a certain person in EGGNET decides that he or she does not want to carry the newsletter, there will be NO threats, NO ill will, and NO warnings from "Powers That Be". How will EGGNET be organized? Simply. We will have a system based on democracy, at least as close as we can come to it. We will have three "Egg Commissioners" at the top who have as their responsibility the creation of the NODELIST and the NEWSLETTER, and that is ALL. Nothing else. After the first 6 months, Egg Commissioners will be elected by the REGIONAL COORDINATORS. Also after the first 6 months, the Regional Coordinators will be elected by the Network Coordinators. And of course, the Network Coordinators will be elected by the sysops that make up their networks. If you have ever read Randy Edward's "Sysop Bill of Rights", you get the general idea of what it is that we are trying to do here with the "Power". We are trying to put it at the BASE of the network where it belongs, rather than at the TOP. How do conflicts get resolved in the EGGNET? Again, simple. We will have a Supreme Court. No one that is a Network Coordinator or Regional Coordinator will be permitted to serve in this court while they also serve as coordinators. And of course, none of the Egg Commissioners may serve. Members of the court serve for a period of one year. All issues brought before the court must be submitted formally and have a preponderance of evidence to support the case brought forward. Anyone may bring forward a complaint, but if it is judged that the complaint is trivial and is made simply for the sake of attention, then the court will recommend that the offender be suspended from EGGNET for a period of time that can range from 2 weeks to one year. Each Region has a representative sitting on the bench, and each rep is elected by the Network Coordinators from a list drawn up by the Egg Commissioners. The Egg Commissioners make this list up based on nominations submitted by anyone in the EGGNET. The Egg Commissioners themselves have no vote in the selection of the members of the bench. The decision of the Court CAN be appealed if an ONLY if at least 1/3 of the EGGNET petitions the court for a retrial. What is EGGNET all about? Well, that is real simple. We're in this for FUN! Remember that? Remember a time when running a node was fun, and you didn't have to worry about IFNA or the various cheerleading going on? Remember when FLAMES were some- thing that happened in your fireplace? Remember a time before Nomex suits were standard equipment in EchoMail? By trying to move the POWER out of the way, we hope to make everyone in the EGGNET peers such that there are no real Power Brokers. It only FidoNews 5-13 Page 12 28 Mar 1988 follows that if we can isolate and control the situations where power can be taken and abused, then what we are left with is a nice, friendly place to communicate and to enjoy our hobby. And we end up with a SIMPLISTIC network where intrigue and innuendo just don't happen. What about the EGGNET nodelist? How will it be structured? Well, it will be structured EXACTLY the same as the IFNA node- list is today, so all the various nodelist processors and software utilities will still work. The nodelist will be pub- lished twice a month: once on the 15th, and again on the 30th. We will use Zone 99. Our Regions will lay out EXACTLY the same as the FidoNet Regions, and will be numbered 910 through 920. All Networks in EGGNET will be numbered 9000 through 9999. As far as we are aware, this should not interfere with anything that currently exists in FidoNet. One other thing: EGGNET is NOT an "international" system. We are doing this for North America only. This is not because we don't care about the rest of the world. We do! But trying to MANAGE something THAT big would become a nightmare, and we do not want to get bogged down in administrivia. That is alot of what is wrong in FidoNet these days (our opinion). We would, of course, suggest that each area of the world consider well their own special circumstances, and if IFNA does it for you, then by all means stay there and enjoy. If you have problems with IFNA, then you can always do what we in the States are in the process of doing, and create your very OWN verison of the EGGNET. Different strokes for different folks, and diversity there is beauty. Listen folks, EGGNET is not here to try and "destroy Fidonet". We do hope to coexist PEACEFULLY with it. Lots of folks that will be coming to EGGNET will maintain dual identities so that they will ALSO be a part of FidoNet. While we do not encourage nodes in EGGNET to have dual or even triple identities, we will certainly no prohibit it either. We have decided to use ZONE 99 so that few if any in FidoNet will become upset over it. Our nodelist will be Public Domain, and if folks in FidoNet want to compile it in along with their regular nodelist, then super! We won't complain at all. No one will have to pay a cent to be in the EGGNET. No yearly dues. We will interface with the IFNA controlled Fidonet only through EchoMail (it is our view that Echomail belongs to EVERYONE, and not just FidoNet). Other than that, we just don't see a whole lot of reason for folks that stay in IFNA/FidoNet to complain. Currently, we are scheduled to begin normal operations in EGGNET on April 1st. John Zimmatore will be taking care of the EGGNET nodelist and nodediff, so if you are interested in becoming a node in the EGGNET, send a message to John at 133/107 (via 133/0 after 4/1/88, as Steve Antonoff will be gating netmail into EGGNET after that time). I will be continuing to develop the basic policies and procedures for EGGNET. We are still looking for a third Egg Commissioner to handle miscellaneous chores for EGGNET, so if you are interested or know anyone else that would FidoNews 5-13 Page 13 28 Mar 1988 like to volunteer, please let us know! Finally, the one point to remember about EGGNET is that we are made up of volunteers. No one gets paid, no one gets their phone bills paid for them, and there is no glory or power OTHER THAN the feeling of friendship and accomplishment. This is how it originally was with Fidonet, and that is what we are going back to. If this flies, then great. Perhaps other networks will learn from us. If EGGNET flops, then so be it. At least, we will have tried. Ken Shackelford John Zimmatore ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 14 28 Mar 1988 MegaList - Seven Months Later (an update) Chris Irwin D'Bridge Support, 1:135/68 (1200-9600/HST) BACKGROUND Well, it's been seven months since I first wrote an article announcing the MegaList and I figured that it was about time to write a follow-up. For those of you that don't know about the MegaList, it's a national cross-system file listing and (if I may say so myself) it's doing rather well! As of this moment, there are over 28,000 files listed on 58 systems. (1.2 gigobytes!) When I first started, I envisioned the MegaList as a text file sorted by filename listing all the files on participating systems. This file still exists today, but it is over 400 pages long and unARCs to over a megabyte; it's grown to a point where it's a bit unreasonable to file-request or download unless you have a high-speed modem. So in early August, I wrote a database inquiry program called ML-FIND; this allowed users to inquire directly using wildcard searches identical to a DOS directory listing. This was setup as the "O" command in the file section of my board; instantly, you can locate any file on any system. CURRENT STATUS Part of the reason for writing this article was to announce a revolutionary new service offered by 1:135/68; this is the Mega- List inquiry service. Because of the awesome new capabilities of D'Bridge, it is now possible for all WaZOO-based mailers to issue "Function Requests" to D'Bridge. I won't go into exactly how it works here, but I'd like to explain how you can use it. If you wish to inquire into the MegaList via netmail, here's what to do: 1) Make sure that you are using a WaZOO/ZMODEM-based mailer such as D'Bridge, FrontDoor, Opus or BinkleyTerm. 2) Create a text file called MEGALIST.INQ; this file should contain the filenames (including wildcards) that you wish to search for. (one per line) 3) Send the file to 1:135/68 and make sure that you have the "pickup" option enabled. 4) When my system receives MEGALIST.INQ, it spawns the Mega- List Search program. This program prepares MEGALIST.OUT which contains the results of your search. This program has an internal timer so that no search may take over 30 seconds. 5) By ZMODEM "pickup" mail, D'Bridge will send you the output file, MEGALIST.OUT. This file is a subset of the current FidoNews 5-13 Page 15 28 Mar 1988 MEGALIST.TXT file containing just the files that you were looking for or an error message if the file doesn't exist or your MEGALIST.INQ format was invalid. Simple, right? I am aware that some other NETs (both here and abroad) are creating their own MegaLists for their area. If any of you are running D'Bridge or FrontDoor and would like to provide this service also, please contact me for the software; it is not available as a general release as of this time. To summarize, the MegaList is available from 1:135/68 in the following forms: - By download, WaZOO or Bark request with the filenames: MEGALIST.ARC - A rather "huge" file containing the text file MEGALIST.TXT; ALL files on ALL systems. MEGA-ARC.ARC - Another "huge" file with MEGA-ARC.TXT; .ARC files on ALL systems. MEGA-TXT.ARC - A small subset of .TXT, .DOC and files with no extension. ML-INDEX.ARC - The current database files for ML-FIND. This file is somewhere around 400K and can only be used with ML-FIND or ML-SEARCH. - By online inquiry through my Opus system using ML-FIND, the "Outside" command in the file-section. - Or by the WaZOO-based inquiry described above JOIN THE MEGALIST All BBS systems in North America are invited to join the National MegaList; All that is required is that your system be 100% IBM compatable and your BBS has Fido/Opus-compatable SYSTEM and FILES.BBS files. Get the ML-UPD program from 1:135/68 and run it about once per month; systems must supply updates at least once every 90 days to remain in the list. ML-UPD takes just a few minutes to run and is completely automatic. It creates an update file, ARCs it, then mails it to the National MegaList center in Miami, Florida. The following software relating to the MegaList is available for download or WaZOO/Bark file-request from 1:135/68: ML-UPD.ARC - MegaList update software; used to add your system to the national (or a local) list. ML-COL.ARC - Create MegaLists for your NET or REGION with this program; this also can create database FidoNews 5-13 Page 16 28 Mar 1988 files for ML-FIND. ML-FIND.ARC - An "Outside" command designed to be used with Opus that allows fast database inquiry into the megalist. Requires ML-COL or ML-INDEX to operate. THE FUTURE Well, I meant to release a "version 2" late last year, but my six-month project of writing D'Bridge kinda kept me more than busy. Now that D'Bridge is ready for preliminary release in the middle of March, I am ready to dedicate some time to making some revsions to the way MegaList works. It has been suggested that the best way to organize the list would be to break down the collection process using Regional MegaList Coordinators. These coordinators would maintain a list for their region plus submit the data to the national collection center on a monthly basis. I agree with this approach, but I think that we should go a step further and organize the lists by catagory/machine type. As of this time, I haven't written one line of code towards the "version 2" because I'm at a loss for exactly what to do. I'm at a point where I really need some feedback from the users and potential users of the MegaList. If you feel (as I do) that this project warrants continuing effort and organization, then your input and/or help would be greatly appreciated. Help along the following lines is requested: - Regional MegaList Coordinators needed; the IFNA nodelist is broken down into logical regions. If we could get one person from each region willing to act as a collection center, we could make the concept work much better. As I said earlier, the national list (in text format) is a little bit unreasonable in size; database inquiry is the only logical way for inquiry into this ever-growning list. - Software authors for non-IBM machines; from the beginning, people have complained about ML-UPD not working on non- compatables. I must admit, that I did this on purpose to keep non-IBM software out of the list. If we can come up with a way to put a "tag" on each file-area defining the machine and software catagory, we could segment the list in a very logical way... - General constructive criticism; sometimes being the author of a widely-used package causes one to be a bit "myopic" in one's views. I admit that this is the case here. It would really help if I got some feedback about this and some suggestions about how I can make the MegaList work more effectively. Over the last few months, interest has slacked off a bit in the national list. There are many local/regional lists, but people seem less interested in the national list. Right now, the MegaList is actually shrinking rather than growing; at one point, 70 systems FidoNews 5-13 Page 17 28 Mar 1988 were listed! Anyway, I can't believe that I could type so much; I didn't think that I had so much to say. Thanks for listening/reading and please JOIN THE MEGALIST if you're not already participating. Stay tuned for my article announcing the amazing, WaZOO-based, 98% SEAdog-compatable Electonic Mail System, D'Bridge! Chris Irwin, D'Bridge Support, 1:135/68 (305) 232-9365 (1200-9600/HST) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 18 28 Mar 1988 David Garrett, 1:103/501 Nominations and Elections Chairman The time has come for all those who desire to run for the postion of Director for their Division (Region) to place their names on the ballot. The following Divisions have their BoD Representatives Positions up for re-election: Division 10 Division 12 Division 14 Division 16 Division 18 Zone 2 At-Large 5 Members In order to qualify to run for the position, it is necessary for to be a dues paying member of IFNA, if running for a Divisional position, to be a member of that Division (Region), and have the support of 10 members of IFNA from your Region. The procedure is as follows: 1. Send a Net Mail Message direct from your node to 103/501 stating that you intend to run for the position on the BoD (please state as to whether it is Regional or At-Large). 2. Have ten IFNA members submit their statement of support for your running to 103/501 by Direct NetMail. The subject line of the message should contain your name. If you are running for a Divisional position then you must have 10 Members from your Region support you, otherwise you can obtain any 10 Members names, duplicates are allowed. That's all that there is to it. Your Net Mail Message should reach me no later than May 21, 1988, names will be listed on the Ballot in alpha sequence by Region. At-Large directors will be listed in name sequence only. Ballots will be send to FidoNews for Publication by May 28th in order to meet the needs of the By-Laws. Remember that this is your organization and we need your support to make it match the needs of our membership. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 19 28 Mar 1988 A New Net in Massachusetts by David Kaufman (1:321/147) Starting with NODELIST.078 (barring some unforeseen occurence) a new net, Net 322, will form in Massachusetts. The new net will be comprised of nodes from both of the existing nets (Net 321 and Net 101). If you do echomail or have regular correspondence with any Massachusetts node, make sure you know which net that node will be in. Here's a list of those which will be moving: Net 322 (the new MassNet East) Old # New # | Old # New # | Old # New # ------- ------- | ------- ------- | ------- ------- 101/140 322/710 | 101/129 322/890 | 101/117 322/117 101/168 322/110 | 101/172 322/130 | 101/139 322/180 101/113 322/188 | 101/433 322/210 | 101/448 322/220 101/162 322/230 | 101/188 322/240 | 101/166 322/310 101/14 322/14 | 101/182 322/335 | 101/184 322/339 101/132 322/340 | 101/146 322/360 | 101/186 322/380 321/147 322/422 | 321/148 322/410 | 321/401 322/470 101/27 322/27 | 101/885 322/530 | 101/124 322/559 101/156 322/555 | 101/174 322/557 | 101/125 322/560 101/126 322/561 | 101/164 322/566 | 101/366 322/590 101/152 322/940 | 101/105 322/960 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 20 28 Mar 1988 MY COMPUTER You sit there on the table, With just a little RAM. I wish that you were able, To really give a Damn. Your screen is brightly colored, An your drive goes round and round. The inner workings dullered, The data you have found. Sometimes, you work just fine, An others you do not. I think you spend more time, Looking for what you've got. I wonder what would happen, If you could only talk. But if that should ever happen, Think I'd go out for a walk. So here's to my computer, You work so hard for me. You use to be my tutor. Now you've set me free. Jake Hargrove (CTBBS) (C)1987 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 21 28 Mar 1988 Setting up NetMail with QuickBBS By Gene Coppola 1/114 (107/246) By now you have downloaded a copy of Quick BBS and have decided that it is the BEST Shareware Bulletin Board system and have decided you would like to join the network. Okay, great. The first thing you should do is get a copy of POLICY3.DOC and read it thoroughly from start to finish. This file explains all you need to know to get a Net/Node number and join the network. (Okay I was obligated to tell you that first, now let's continue.) The world is divided into seperate Zones in the network. Each Zone is then divided into multiple Regions. Each Region is further divided into Nets. Each Net has a Coordinator and in most cases several Hubs that service the individual Sysops in each Net. Each Sysop who joins the Net receives a unique Net/Node identification number to identify his system. The Coordinator's Net/Node number is easy to find in the Nodelist as it ends in a zero. For example a Sysop in the Net 107 area who would like to request a Net/Node number would send a message to 107/0 who would start the processing on it's way. Current policy REQUIRES that all requests for Net/Node number assignments be sent via NETMAIL to the appropriate person. This might sound strange, but in fact is based on sound reasoning. If you have set up your system properly, then the message will get through, and in most cases this also means that you will be able to receive NETMAIL as well as send it. If your system is not set up properly then the message will not be sent, and you will have to do further work to get your system set up properly. No matter what system you are running ie; Quick BBS, TBBS, RBBS, Fido or Opus, you NEED to get a copy of the Nodelist if you wish to join the public network. The Nodelist is updated once a week as is available on most systems. The first time, you will need to get the complete Nodelist. Each weeks list is numbered with a Julian day as the last 3 digits of the file name. For example the Nodelist for March 18, 1988 should be named NODELIST.078 or in the archived form it would be called NODELIST.A78. The last 3 digits increase as the year goes on. Once you get the first copy you can update it each week by obtaining that weeks NODEDIFF which contains the weekly updates. The NODEDIFF files are also numbered the same way so the NODEDIFF for the above date would be NODEDIFF.A78. Way back when I first started, we updated the Nodelist by hand, adding and deleting nodes manually. However this soon got to be too much work, and utilities were written to automate this task for you. FidoNews 5-13 Page 22 28 Mar 1988 The BEST utility to use for this is known as XLATLIST and is usually available on systems under the following names of XLATRGEN.ARC or XLATLIST.ARC. The current version of this utility is 2.86 as of the date of this article. XLATLIST was written and designed to make the weekly updates as painless as possible. Once set up, XLATLIST will take last weeks Nodelist, process the current Nodediff and produce a new, updated Nodelist for you. This utility was written by Thom Henderson of System Enhancement Associates, and we all owe Thom thanks for this fine utility. Other people have written utilities but none perform up to the high standards of XLATLIST. XLATLIST was freely given to Sysops to use, while other utilities require payment for continued use, and in certain instances have even been know to send Netmail messages to their authors, notifying them that you are using their software. XLATLIST is great, and the author is a concerned Sysop, who deals with problems as they occur and provide updates as needed. An important note is needed here. In order for XLATLIST to properly work, you MUST run it EACH and EVERY week without fail. This will assure you that your list is up to date and you will not be accidently calling a "little old lady" in the middle of the night, trying to send Netmail. Okay, once you XLATLIST, you set up the control file for it, with the appropriate information. In the case of a new Sysop requesting a node number, use a -1 as your node number. For example, after reading the nodelist and determining you are in the Net 107 area, you would put 107/-1 as your node number UNTIL you receive your permanent number. This special number (-1) notifies the Coordinator this a request for a node number. PLEASE, do not make up a node number. This is the "accepted" way of requesting a node number. Making up a node number will just confuse the entire process and result in a delay for you to receive your number. Now copy the file that XLATLIST produces (nodelist.bbs) to your Quick BBS directory. Run Qconfig and set up the basic parameters, including a message board for Netmail (there can be only ONE such board in Quick BBS) and the basic information requested. Now run Qnode which will process the information contained in nodelist.bbs and produce a file that Quick BBS uses to know where to send Netmail. Now send a message to the Coordinator in the area that you are in requesting a Net/Node number. Please be sure to include the following information as a minimum. FidoNews 5-13 Page 23 28 Mar 1988 1) Sysops Name 2) Bulletin Board Name 3) Phone Number 4) Full Address Of The System. 5) Maximum Baud Rate 6) Hours System Operates. 7) Name Of Front End Software 8) Protocols In Use. This is the MINIMUM information required. If the Coordinator requires more information, you will be notified of this. Quick BBS requires some type of external software to handle the Netmail functions. The following software (in no special order) works quite well with Quick BBS. Binkley, SEAdog, Dbridge, Front Door, and Dutchie. I prefer Binkley which is widely available and works quite well. Once Quick BBS and your Front End are set up, it is time to send the message to your Coordinator. Remember that the Coordinator's number will end in a zero (107/0). Hopefully the Coordinator will send back information pertaining to any special routing your Net uses to process Netmail. At this point in time you must make your system available to process mail during National Mail Hour (NMH). NMH has been carefully established to allow mail to flow between systems when the costs are the lowest. On the East Coast (EST) NMH is currently between 4 and 5 a.m. Your Coordinator can help you translate this into the proper time frame for your location. So to recap, the following files are the minimum required to set up for Network mail. 1) Current Nodelist File. 2) XLATLIST or XLATRGEN File. 3) One Of The Various Front End Mail Programs. If you cannot find these anywhere else, they are available from 1/114 at (516)-328-7064. We are open from 6:15 a.m. until 2:45 a.m. for bulletin board access. All files above and all the Quick BBS software and utilities are available to FIRST time callers. Here is a current list of the Quick BBS software and utilities currently on-line. QUICKBBS.ARC QuickBBS Standard Package (Main Program) QUICKDOC.ARC QuickBBS Sysop Documentation QUICKNET.ARC QuickBBS Net Mail Option QUICKECO.ARC QuickBBS EchoGen Mail Option QUICKPAK.ARC All Of The Above Files HELPFILE.ARC New Quick BBS Help Files SAMPMENU.ARC Menus Used On This System <-Updated SAMPQEST.ARC Sample New User Questionnaire FidoNews 5-13 Page 24 28 Mar 1988 STRUCT.ARC File Structures For Quick BBS X00109.ARC Fossil Driver BULLMAKE.ARC News/Bulletin Generator (FREEWARE) CVTMSG.ARC Imports Messages From Opus To Quick BBS CVTUSER.ARC Converts Opus User File To Quick BBS DSZ0208.ARC External Zmodem Protocol (Latest Version) ECHOAREA.ARC Echo Mail Utility For Version 2.0 and up FILESCAN.ARC Creates List Of Available Files V 2.12 <-New MGMLINK.ARC Very Handy Echo Mail Utility PCB-QBBS.ARC Run Quick BBS As A Door On PcBoard QBBSEXAM.ARC Changes Caller Count In SYSINFO TODAY.ARC Highlights Each Day In History (Door) USERLOG.ARC Userlog/Message Base/Answerfile Utility <-New UPURGE.ARC Purge By Date, Security Level WXMODEM.ARC External Wxmodem Driver BINKBATS.ARC My Cfg And Bats To Run Binkley BEXE_140.ARC Latest Version Of Binkley BT_286.ARC Binkley 1.40 Compiled For 286 Machines BINKOMMM.ARC Using OMMM With Binkley FILESCAN.ARC Now Supports Binkley V 2.12 <--NEW OMMM_107.ARC Message Handler With COMPLETE Docs OMMMHELP.ARC More Help Using OMMM With Binkley ONODE146.ARC Nodelist Utility For Binkley REMAPPER.ARC Service Points With Binkley Here is a list of the Door software now available, please note that these are for Quick BBS 2.0 and up! ADVE0288.ARC Adventure Yes it is the old Adventure game ALPH0288.ARC Alpha Word game in space ARAB0288.ARC Arab Word game on the Hot Sands AROU0288.ARC Around Word game make it around the world ATLA0288.ARC Atlantis Word game getting out of Atlantis BBSL0288.ARC BBS listing program CAST0288.ARC Castle Adventure Game CAVE0288.ARC Cave Multi-User takes place in a Cave CHAT0388.ARC Eliza Like 'Sysop' Chat Routine CHES0288.ARC Chess Users play chess Excellent!! CIA0288.ARC C.I.A. Word game Beat the bad people CRAZ0288.ARC Crazy Word game in a mental hospital KILL0288.ARC Killer Word game GET out of harlem KING0288.ARC King A Multi-User trivia game MARS0288.ARC Mars Word game on Mars MEGA0388.ARC Search/View The National Megalist MONI0288.ARC Monitor Good program to tie Doors together NETM0288.ARC NetMail puts you on the Fido Net (For RBBS) PIRA0388.ARC Pirate Multi-User Takes place on the ocean REVE0288.ARC Reverse Try to reverse numbers for points RIPP0288.ARC Ripper word game Jack the Ripper ROVE0288.ARC Rover Try to get Rover Robot across grid SWOR0288.ARC Sword Word game kill medusa if you can SYSU0388.ARC Remote Sysop Utility TIME0388.ARC Time word game about time travel FidoNews 5-13 Page 25 28 Mar 1988 TW5A0388.ARC TradeWars 500 part 1 of 2 TW5B0288.ARC TradeWars 500 part 2 of 2 As you can see, in the short time that Quick BBS has been in operation, it has developed into a full featured Bulletin Board program, which takes a back-seat to no other software. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 26 28 Mar 1988 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= YACK Yet Another Complicated Komment by Steven K. Hoskin ( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 ) Episode 4: Electronic Voting I don't know about y'all out there, but I want to see a democratic FidoNet. You know, where each FidoNode gets one vote on matters that concern the InterNational FidoNet. I thought originally that was why the InterNational FidoNet Association went corporate; so there'd be rules to follow about collective voting. As it turned out, for whatever reasons, IFNA did not turn out to be that voting tool, that graceful central coordinator of the collective will of all FidoNet SysOps. One of its problems is that members of FidoNet are NOT necessarily members of IFNA. Therefore, IFNA cannot do things to control FidoNet, as FidoNet SysOps don't get to vote on IFNA matters if they're not IFNA. To join IFNA costs $25. You should NEVER have to pay to vote on something that affects the way you run your life. Period. I joined IFNA because I thought it would help to insure the survival of FidoNet during hard times. That may still hold true, and I will probably be an IFNA member for life, but one thing has become clear to me: IFNA IS NOT ESTABLISHING NET-WIDE DEMOCRACY. Don Daniels, president of IFNA, has requested ideas for ways to establish a fully democratic FidoNet, BE IT VIA IFNA OR SOME OTHER MECHANISM. Now there's a man who's interested in FidoNet. Well, here we go again, folks, YET ANOTHER idea: Electronic Voting. Reserve a FidoNode, just like 1:1/0 does the NodeList, and 1:1/1 does the FidoNews, to handle strictly Electronic Voting. For sake of example, I'll use 1:1/9. I don't know if this Node number is being used for anything, but that's my example. For starters, if IFNA is to be retained (as many of us would STILL like to see), we must adopt a by-law (if nothing stronger can be used) that states in whatever legal wording is needed that IFNA as an organization MUST ABIDE BY FIDONET SYSOP VOTE RESULTS. And that IFNA MUST ISSUE BALLOTS FOR VOTE ON ANY RESOLUTION REQUESTED BY ANY FIDONET SYSOP. FidoNews 5-13 Page 27 28 Mar 1988 Then get 1/9 going. An automated system, disallowing human tampering, whereby ballots and resolutions are sent to the node, 1/9 sends the ballot via Network mail AUTOMATICALLY to ALL Nodes in the NodeList DIRECTLY, and waits for some predetermined amount of time for a vote result. If one month is the predetermined time, have 1/9 re-send ballots to any Node from which no vote has been received on a weekly basis until either a vote is received or the time limit has been reached. As vote "ballot" messages come back to 1/9 via Network Mail, in some predetermined format such that a relatively unsophisticated program can determine the vote, 1/9 tallies the vote, stores the message, and sends a verification message via Network Mail DIRECTLY to the node that allegedly sent the ballot. Duplicate Node votes would be cancelled and the ballot reissued to the Node in question with a note commenting on the duplication. A password could be set up for each Node and placed somewhere in the Ballot return vote message. Improperly passworded ballots would cause 1/9 to send a message DIRECTLY to that Node informing him or her that a password failing had occurred. A place for changing of passwords could also be added to the ballot return message. This should eliminate "bogus" node voting, as the SysOp of the REAL Node could then be aware that somebody is trying to break into his or her vote. When all Nodes have responded OR the time limit is reached, 1/9 forwards the vote results to anybody that wants it, either via Network Mail or as an Echo Area. Have a preformed message format for requesting a ballot, which could be sent to 1/9 such that no human could interfere with the request for the vote. This eliminates interference with the vote request system if someone feels that their ballot/resolution has not been properly sent to 1/9 by IFNA. Improper resolutions thusly sent could be construed as being "excessively annoying" and multiple occurrences of such could then be voted on by the Network for possible EXCOMMUNICATION of the offending Node. Choosing who runs Node 1/9 is a sensitive subject, since that person could theoretically tamper with things. There's simply going to have to be SOME kind of trust out there. This is not a full overview, as I am trying to limit the size of this column. Replies, questions, comments, etc. contact me as STEVE HOSKIN at Node 1:128/31. I'd love to see this thing implemented. I'd even write the software. :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 28 28 Mar 1988 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 16 May 1988 Digital Equipment Corporations Users Society Spring Symposium. Will be held May 16-May 20 in Cincinnati, OH. 25 Jun 1988 EuroCon II starts in Tiel, Holland. Sponsored by the Dutch Hobby Computer Club. Will run for 2 days. Contact Hans Lichthelm at 2:2/999 for information. 16 Jul 1988 A new areacode, 508, will form in eastern Massachusetts and will be effective on this date. The new area code will be formed from the current areacode 617. Greater Boston will remain areacode 617 while the rest of eastern Massachusetts will form the new areacode 508. 25 Aug 1988 Start of the Fifth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in Cincinnati, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 for more information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with all this time. We're hoping to see you there! 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Christopher Baker MetroFire - 135/14 (18/0) Effective 22 Mar 88, my working hours will be changed from day shift to afternoon shift. Those of you used to reaching me in the A.M. should make a note of my new schedule. You may contact me from 1430-2230, Tuesday-Saturday, at 305-596-8576. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions FidoNews 5-13 Page 29 28 Mar 1988 BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.80 EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21 Fido 12g* MakeNL 2.03 ARCmail 1.1 Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.31 SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86* EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1 BinkleyTerm 1.40* QuickBBS 1.02 * Recently changed Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 30 28 Mar 1988 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm) Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications. Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________ Address _________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________________________________ State ________________________________ Zip _____________________ Country _________________________________________________________ Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________ BBS Name ________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________ Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________ Board Restrictions ______________________________________________ Your Special Interests __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in US Funds to: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-4112 USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. The first elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input to this Conference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-13 Page 31 28 Mar 1988 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each publication, but we can make no written guarantees. Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986 IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____ IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____ IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____ SUBTOTAL _____ IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____ SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____ Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member International orders include $10.00 for surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____ SUBTOTAL _____ HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112 USA Name________________________________ Zone:Net/Node____:____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ -----------------------------------------------------------------