Volume 7, Number 32 6 August 1990 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | FidoNet (r) | | \ \\ | | International BBS Network | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software. FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is a Continuous Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software. Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every responsible submission received. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 Hello, I'm Back .......................................... 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2 FidoNews Broke My System ................................. 2 LHArc vs. ARC(r) and FidoNews ............................ 3 One FidoNet Policy ....................................... 5 IFNA Minutes of the Annual Membership Meeting 8/4/90 ..... 8 IFNA Minutes of the Board of Directors 4 August 1990 ..... 11 Public Notice to All Creditors from the Treasurer of IF .. 19 3. COLUMNS .................................................. 20 Talk Me Through It, Honey ................................ 20 And more! FidoNews 7-32 Page 1 6 Aug 1990 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= I guess I could ask you if anything important occurred in my absence, but too many people might take it the wrong way. Actually, two things happened in my absence. One of them was entirely trivial but has gotten everybody's attention; and the other was entirely important and has been generally ignored. What I want to talk about is what occurred yesterday in Lyndhurst New Jersey. We put IFNA to rest yesterday. It went, not with a bang, but with a whimper. I'm certain that everyone who had anything to do with IFNA at any point has his or her own memory of what happened, so I won't get into it much. Suffice to say that FidoNet has finally arrived at the conclusion that anarchy is what it does best -- so it's damned well going to do it. That's OK with me. Though I thought IFNA was going to help us do it by taking some of the other monkeys off our backs. I think it was when somebody decided that IFNA was a bigger monkey than the rest, that it all started to get ugly. Well, it's all water under D'Bridge (sorry Chris) now. By the way, since January FidoNews has been published under a specific license from Tom Jennings to myself for use of the name. I have also published any IFNA materials sent my way and will continue to do so as long as is necessary to clear up the business of dissolving the corporation. I think I'll pass on the other issue for a week. I want to give it all some more thought. In fact, I don't think that I'll change compressors again without a two week notice, so let's just say that the first issue in September will decide the issue. We'll either go back to ARC 5.12, keep LHArc, or choose another. I have some thoughts on what we should do and I'll try to give them a proper presentation next week. Cheers, Vince ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 2 6 Aug 1990 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= FidoNews Broke My System This week, I received my copy of FidoNews in LHARC format. It broke my BAT file. As a consequence, several people who called and requested FidoNews were inconvenienced. Upon discovering the problem and unpacking the issue, I discover an "editorial". I use the quotes because it was obviously not written by the editor, referring in the first paragraph to Vince in the third person. On the other hand, it wasn't signed. Considering the content, I was led to wonder why Jack Decker had been asked to write a guest editorial for FidoNews. I have two comments on this distribution change to LHARC. First, it was incredibly inconsiderate. I know that I am not the only person who had a BAT file which depended upon the packing method, and I'm sure that considerable inconvenience was caused to sysops throughout the net. Much of this could have been avoided by simply giving notice that the change was coming. Doing it without warning was, at best, inconsiderate; at worst, excessively annoying. Second was the motivation for the act itself. I was amazed, upon reading the editorial, to find that I had been forced to use products of SEA. Silly me! All these years I've been unpacking FidoNews using non-SEA products, and that was wrong! Strange, though. For a year I distributed FidoNews throughout zone 1, and I never touched it with an SEA product. SEA releases a new version of a product I don't use, and the packing method changes for FidoNews. A new brand of logic is born. So, whoever you are, mystery editorial writer and packer of FidoNews, thank you so much for breaking my system. So that you could make a silly political statement, hundreds of people were inconvenienced. Cheap at twice the price? I can remember when the editor of FidoNews CARED about FidoNet. That is obviously no longer the case. FidoNews has become a tool for making political statements, rather than anything resembling a newsletter. That's truly sad. FidoNews, we'll miss you. Steve Bonine, 1:115/777 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 3 6 Aug 1990 LHArc vs. ARC(r) vs. Zoo and FidoNews - Or what a rude awakening Robert Heller Locks Hill BBS 1:321/153.0 (InterNet: heller@cs.umass.edu) I was somewhat irked when Harry Lee decided to change the packaging of FidoNews Vol 7, No 31. It didn't arrive at my system last Monday (no big deal - it is occasonally late). What did arrive (in the NESYSOP EchoMail conference) was a note from Harry letting us NE sysops know that the format had changed. It would have been better if Harry had given some notice so people could have had a chance to either have some input or at least prepare for the change. My system is somewhat usual - I run CP/M-68K on a Stride 440. Under CP/M-68K I have exactly two archival programs: a CP/M-68K port of a UNIX port of ARC (r) 5.12 and a version of LU310 I wrote for CP/M-68K. I'm planning on changing the OS of this beast to OS-9/68K, but that won't happen until I get a FidoNet package running on my other system, a Force CPU-30, which runs OS-9/68K on a 68030. *I* neither own nor use (or have access to) MS-DOS systems (at work I use VAXes, Suns, LISP Machines, and soon DECStations, at home 68K systems). Until about last Wednesday, I did not have LHArc on any of these machines. The only LHArc sources I had were one set in assembler and a set in ANSI Draft C. The assembler sources are useless to me, since it is 8086 assembler and the ANSI Draft C sources are not a whole lot better (only the VAX/VMS C compiler is close enough to ANSI Draft C to have any hope of compiling it). I had all of this on the "back burnner" - something to port (rewrite) after many other things had been done - probably in 6 months. Needless to say, when Harry's message arrived on my system I was rather irked. Suddenly, I was effectively cuttoff from my weekly dose of FidoNews. While I could live without FidoNews, the same could not be said of NodeDiffs. True, they are still in ARC (r) 5.12 format - but if someone decided to change them to LHArc (or worse ZIP or PAK), I'd be instandly screwed. I'd be effectively dumped off of the net. The only save was I just happened to notice a version of LHArc on UUNET.UU.NET while crusing through the index files under comp.sources.misc (I was looking for something else at the time). This was a port of LHArc to generic UNIX (more or less). After some fussing I managed to compile it on a Sun 4 under SunOS (UNIX) and this past Thursday running on my Force CPU-30. I don't think I'll even try to get it running on my CP/M-68K machine (it wants too many exotic functions not in the CP/M-68K CLIB). Meanwhile, since the sysop of my hub has gone on vacation, I have to download FidoNews from my NC's machine. FidoNews 7-32 Page 4 6 Aug 1990 Oh one other thing: LHArc might be freeware and the sources readily available, but those sources are not particularly "portable". Maybe not as god aweful as ARC (r) 5.12's sources (complete with non-standard pre-processor and tons of MS-DOS specific library and system calls), but still not really portable. This is unfortunately true of many MS-DOS programs. Please people, a little thought and a bit of carefull design can save a fellow programmer many hours of hair-pulling hassle. I allways try to isolate O/S specific functions in a separate file and avoid unnecessary use of non-standard constructions or when I do need to use them I bracket them with #ifdef's. Comments welcome. My machine runs FTS-0001 during Zone 1 ZMH (2400 BAUD max) or you crash routed netmail via my hub (1:321/152), which is a CM HST/DS system running BinkleyTerm. I poll 1:321/152 three times a day (a 1/2 hour before ZMH, a 1/2 hour after ZMH, and at noon Eastern time). Robert Heller, Locks Hill BBS, 1:321/153.0 Oh, BTW: If anyone else out there in FidoNet land needs a version of LHArc for OS-9/68K I'd be happy to send you a copy of the sources. Not lightning fast (Zoo is a lot faster), but seems to work. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 5 6 Aug 1990 Sid Rogers Fido (1:324/100) August 4, 1990 "One FidoNet Policy" FidoNet deserves one complete policy. A guideline to serve all the membership. A single document that provides all the guidance and provision we, as single node operators, Hub, Network, Regional or Zone Coordinators can reasonably expect to need. The current Policy4 document is lacking certain democratic provisions which Pablo Kleinman, with other contributors, strove to address in "World Policy Document"(WPD), version 1f, published here in FidoNews 730. WPD is a fine piece of work demonstrating what can be achieved through thoughtful considerations of the democratic process; but, it leaves way too many holes open for an international policy document. I propose we negotiate, draft or divine ONE policy document and that document subscribes to the "Four Corners Rule". Under the presented WPD, an individual node would be subjected to the WPD Policy, Zone Policy, Regional Policy, Network Policy, Hub Policy, FTS Policy and EchoMail Policy (if there is one or one gets passed). That's just too many "Policy" documents! The "Four Corners Rule" means if it isn't within the "four corners" of the policy document it isn't policy; that one does not have to look elsewhere for guidance; that everything is covered by one all inclusive, specific document. That means the basic policy, the minimum acceptable technical standards, standards of practice and echomail policy are all in ONE "official" document. Tech standards, standards of practice and Email Policy can be attached as either exhibits or amended articles or by any other means that firmly attaches them to the one, specific, democratically approved policy document. While the "Four Corners Rule" is the principle problem with the proposed WPD, there are other gaps, too. These are Financial Disclosure, Network Sovereignty, Policy Complaint Penalties, Standards of Practice, EchoMail Fees, and Conference Standards. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE Their are two separate financial disclosure issues neither of which are directly addressed by WPD. The first is an individual nodes absolute right to privacy regarding its financial status. I hold that an individual's financial arrangements are no one else's business; that no other node may demand an accounting of any other node's operation and that such a demand goes beyond "excessively annoying". I would also extend this to network financial arrangements which I consider sacrosanct to the network itself. FidoNews 7-32 Page 6 6 Aug 1990 This raises the second disclosure problem. Certainly if there is any "cost sharing" plan within a network that those participating should have access to those accounting records which must be kept for inspection. But such inspection is specifically limited to the parties involved. That means Network XXX cannot demand Network YYY open its books, if any, for inspection. Only the principals involved may reasonably expect a full and complete accounting. NETWORK SOVEREIGNTY I suggest each and every network is sovereign respective to its own region. That means individual members of Network XXX cannot directly call for action or make any demands, whatsoever, on Network YYY; that such an attempt at intervention goes way beyond "excessively annoying". If there is a dispute between Networks, then a formal policy must be followed to redress the grievance. Something of the order that a plurality of network nodes petition the NC who acts on their behalf to file a grievance against the offending network with the RC. POLICY COMPLAINT PENALTIES If any penalties are to be imposed by any mediator then these penalties need to be specific. I suggest FidoNet establish at least three, formal penalty classes: Explusion, Censure and Reprimand. Explusion You're outta here! Causes or crimes for explusion need to be as specific as possible. But it means you are outta FidoNet. Censure Less drastic that explusion but to carry a mandatory "down" listing in the nodelist for a specific time not to exceed, say, one year. Reprimand Less serious than Censure but to carry a mandatory "down" listing in the nodelist for a specific time not to exceed, say, thirty days or three nodediffs. I feel it absolutely paramount that penalties be specified and meted out according to defined World Policy; not at and on the whim of an individual moderator. FidoNews 7-32 Page 7 6 Aug 1990 STANDARDS OF PRACTICE Current Standards of Practices (SOPs) are not necessarily all that specific. Maybe they don't need to be; but, as of the last FidoNews publication some folk seem to feel others must not break their off-line processing procedures by sending them a file in a flavor they didn't expect. If the majority concurs then formal SOPs should be clearly defined and included in the final WPD. ECHOMAIL FEES What! You mean I gotta pay? No. Fees for mail and "cost sharing" plans should be defined and regulated in the WPD. Some places, like mine for instance, fall into the "you can't get there from here" category. We've worked it out (actually Jim Greely has worked it out) and mail freely arrives for the time being. But others are not so fortunate and cost is a very real factor. As an organization, FidoNet should endeavor to remove all costs via any means at its disposal while at the same time overseeing fees or "cost sharing" and regulating same. CONFERENCE STANDARDS I firmly believe the WPD should include specific subsections dealing with the WORLDCON and ZoneCONS. This section should include selection procedures, minimum standards, if any, and policy regarding "seed funds" together with financial disclosure provisions. CONCLUSION While the efforts to reduce the length of the WPD are greatly appreciated, now is the time to put an end to vagueness and add more specificity to the final document, creating ONE true World FidoNet Policy on which the membership at large can embrace knowing all their "rights" are truly protected. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 8 6 Aug 1990 International FidoNet Association, Inc. (IFNA) Minutes of the Annual Membership Meeting 4 August 1990 14:00 The Annual Membership Meeting of IFNA was opened by the Chairman of the Board Thom Henderson at 14:10 hours in the City of Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Members present were asked to see the Secretary/Treasurer to verify their eligibility to vote at this meeting. The Chairman of the Board discussed general points of Robert's Rules of Order and the definition of a Chairman of the Board. The Agenda for the meeting was read by the Secretary/ Treasurer and approved. - Agenda 1990 IFNA Membership Meeting - I. Ammendments to the Agenda A. None as of the opening of the meeting II. Old Business A. Dissolution of the IFNA III. New Business A. None as of the opening of the meeting Agenda item I. was open for discussion. No ammendments were brought forth by the membership. Agenda item I. was closed. Agenda item II. was opened for discussion. Mr. Vince Perriello asked that the following statement be entered into the minutes of the meeting - If you vote to retain the International FidoNet Association then you must accept person responsibility for the International FidoNet Association. A motion was made to dissolve the International FidoNet Association and seconded. The Secretary/Treasurer read the Statement of Dissolution FidoNews 7-32 Page 9 6 Aug 1990 as recommended by the Board of Directors. On the Future Dissolution of the International FidoNet Association WHEREAS: At the Board of Directors Meeting concluded on 27 Aug 1989 a Resolution was passed to hold a Referendum of FidoNet to determine if the International FidoNet Association, Inc. should continue to exist, and WHEREAS: In the Referendum of FidoNet concluded on 1 Dec 1989 fewer than one half of the sysops of FidoNet desired that the Association officially represent them, and WHEREAS: The Board of Directors established the rule for the election that upon failure of this Referendum the Board of Directors would initiate dissolution of the Association, and WHEREAS: Missouri statute requires receiving at least two thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by members present at a membership meeting in order to dissolve a corporation therefore be it RESOLVED: That the Board of Directors recommends to the membership that the Association be dissolved. RESOLVED: That the question of dissolution be submitted to the membership for a vote at the next Annual Membership Meeting, or, prior to that meeting, by consent of the membership pursuant to Missouri statute 355.460. RESOLVED: That the Association take no action that is not required by statute, Articles of Association, or Bylaws until such time as the vote to dissolve is completed. RESOLVED: That the Regular Annual Board Meeting of our Association scheduled for 16 February 1990 is hereby canceled. FidoNews 7-32 Page 10 6 Aug 1990 RESOLVED: That the next Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Association shall be at the Annual Meeting of our membership after the vote is concluded, and that all motions now before the Board regarding the disposal of assets be tabled until that time. Motion was opened for discussion. No Discussion. The Secretary/Treasurer was asked to take a Roll Call vote. Results of Roll Call Vote: Yes No Abstain ----------------------------------------------------------- Ben Baker Don Daniels Irene Henderson Kris Veitch Tom Jennings (proxy by Vince Perriello) Burt Juda Robert Moravsik Jeffrey Nonken Blanche Nonken George Peace Vince Perriello John Roberts Karl Schinke Bill VanGlahn Total 12 0 2 Motion to dissolve the International FidoNet Association passed. Motion to adjourn. Seconded Motion to adjourne passed The Annual Membership meeting of the IFNA was adjourned at 14:30 hours on August 4th, 1990. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 11 6 Aug 1990 International FidoNet Asociation, Inc. (IFNA) Minutes of the Board of Directors 4 August 1990 15:00 The meeting of the Board of Directors of the IFNA was opened by the Chairman of the Board Thom Henderson at 15:02 hours in the City of Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Agenda Item I. Roll Call Attending: Phil Buonomo Don Daniels Fabian Gordon Irene Henderson Jim Hruby Burt Juda John Roberts Robert Rudolph Ivan Schaffel Karl Schinke Kris Veitch Alternates Held: Bill VanGlahn alternate for Mark Hawthorne Thom Henderson alternate for Steve Jordan George Peace for Steve Barnes Vince Perriello for Tom Jennings Robert Moravsik for Bill Bolton Sam Saulys for Matt Whelan Agenda Item II. Ammendments to the Agenda Special Rule made to adjourn no later than 15:55 hours. Rule seconded. Passed. FidoNews 7-32 Page 12 6 Aug 1990 Agenda Item III. Reports No Committee Reports Available Treasurer's Report was given and approved. Mr. Phil Buonomo asked that the minutes show that no monies were issued to the 1990 FidoCon committee. Agenda Item IV. Old Business A. Dissolution of the IFNA B. Dissolution of the FTSC C. Dissolution of the VP/TC D. Dissolution of the Publications Committee Motion to bring back items A,B,C and D from Old Business. Seconded. Appeal by Don Daniels on a new motion. Motion reads: RESOLUTION TO DEAL WITH THE PROCESS OF CORPORATE DISSOLUTION The Board of Directors shall appoint a commission of five trustees who shall be charged with the responsibility of handling any and all affairs of the corporation related to its dissolution and final distribution of its assets, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Articles of Association and Bylaws. The Secretary/Treasurer is to fill one of the five seats on this commission. All decisions of the commission resulting in the distribution of any corporate assets shall require unani- mous concurrence. Motion not seconded. Failed. Motion to bring back items A, B, C, and D passed. FidoNews 7-32 Page 13 6 Aug 1990 Motion to ammend agenda to move item A to last. Seconded. Failed. Motion to accept item A. Seconded. Passed. Motion to accept item B. Seconded. Discussion on Resloved point 1 and 2. Call for Vote. Passed. Motion to accept item C. Seconded. Passed. Motion to accept item D. Seconded. Discussion. Motion to ammend first RESOLVED and strike ",effec- tive immediately on the publication of a copy of this Resolution." Motion to ammend passed. Vote on item D. as ammended. Passed. Special Rule called. Motion to Ignore. Seconded. Passed. Nominations for dispursement of cash funds. Nominations closed. Roll Call Vote: Nominees are: Tomorrow's Children Vietnam Veterans Tomorrow's Children designated as receipient of funds. Fabian Gordon requested that the minutes show that the vote was unanimous. So noted. Agenda Item V. FidoNews 7-32 Page 14 6 Aug 1990 New Business Motion to post a public notice in FidoNews to all creditors to the corporation that they have 60 days to place before the Secretary/Treasurer any debts owed them by the corporation. Seconded. Passed. Motion to Adjourn. Seconded. Discussion. Mr. Vince Perriello asked that it be noted: This is not a time of celebration, a lot of mistakes were made, and we are now at the end of a very long road. Thom Henderson stated his agreement. Close of discussion. Passed. The meeting of the Board of Directors of the International FidoNet Association was adjourned at 16:10 hours on August 4th, 1990. Detail of Items A,B,C, and D of Agenda Item IV. Item A: On the Dissolution of the International FidoNet Association WHEREAS: At the Board of Directors Meeting concluded on 27 Aug 1989 a Resolution was passed to hold a Referendum of our membership to determine if the International FidoNet Association, Inc. should continue to exist, and WHEREAS: In the Referendum of our membership concluded on 1 Dec 1989 fewer than one third of our membership desired that the Associ- ation continue to exist, and WHEREAS: Under the rules established for that Referendum greater than two thirds of our membership is deemed to desire that the Association cease to exist FidoNews 7-32 Page 15 6 Aug 1990 therefore be it RESOLVED: That the International FidoNet Association, Inc. is hereby dissolved as of the end of the Board meeting in which this resolution is passed. RESOLVED: That the Treasurer of the Association is hereby directed to pay all outstanding debts of the Association. RESOLVED: That any undeposited checks for dues from our membership are to be returned or destroyed. RESOLVED: That in accordance with Article XII of our Articles of Association, any remaining funds or other material assets of the Association not otherwise provided for are to be turned over to [501(c)3]. RESOLVED: That any non-material assets of the Association not other- wise provided for, including but not limited to good will, copyrights, and trademarks, are hereby released into the public domain. Item B. On the Dissolution of the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee WHEREAS: There exists a FidoNet Technical Standards Committee of the International FidoNet Association, Inc. which is responsi ble for the development and documentation of technical stand- ards used by FidoNet, and WHEREAS: The International FidoNet Association, Inc. is being dis- solved, and WHEREAS: The affairs of the International FidoNet Association, Inc. must be concluded and its assets disposed of in accordance with Federal and state law, Article XII of our Articles of Incorpo- ration, and the wishes of our membership therefore be it FidoNews 7-32 Page 16 6 Aug 1990 RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to copyrights, that the Association may have in any past or present copies of any FidoNet technical documents are hereby released into the public domain. RESOLVED: That any authority anyone may have to copyright any techni- cal document or other publication in the name of the Associa- tion is hereby withdrawn. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to trademark rights, that the Association may have granted to the Chairman of the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee or to any other person to use the term "FidoNet" are hereby withdrawn. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to copyrights or patent rights, that the Association may have in any process or method embodied in a FidoNet technical document are hereby released into the public domain. Item C. On the Dissolution of the IFNA Technical Coordinator WHEREAS: There exists an officer of the International FidoNet Asso- ciation, Inc. known as a Vice President/Technical Coordinator who is responsible for the weekly publication of a node list known as the "IFNA FidoNet Nodelist" and bearing the copyright of the Association, and WHEREAS: The International FidoNet Association, Inc. is being dis- solved, and WHEREAS: The affairs of the International FidoNet Association, Inc. must be concluded and its assets disposed of in accordance with Federal and state law, Article XII of our Articles of Incorpo- ration, and the wishes of our membership therefore be it RESOLVED: FidoNews 7-32 Page 17 6 Aug 1990 That the authority of the VP/TC to publish an "IFNA FidoNet Nodelist" is hereby withdrawn. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to copyrights, that the Association may have in any past or present copies of the IFNA FidoNet Nodelist are hereby released into the public domain. RESOLVED: That any authority anyone may have to copyright any node list or other publication in the name of the Association is hereby withdrawn. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to trademark rights, that the Association may have granted to the VP/TC or to any other person to use the term "FidoNet" are hereby withdrawn. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to trademark rights, that the Association may have been granted to use the term "FidoNet" hereby revert to Tom Jennings as original holder of that trademark. Item D. On the Dissolution of the IFNA Publications Committee WHEREAS: There exists a Publications Committee of the International FidoNet Association, Inc. which is responsible for the publica- tion of certain documents on behalf of the Association, pri- marily consisting of a weekly newsletter known as "FidoNews", and WHEREAS: The International FidoNet Association, Inc. is being dis- solved, and WHEREAS: The affairs of the International FidoNet Association, Inc. must be concluded and its assets disposed of in accordance with Federal and state law, Article XII of our Articles of Incorpo- ration, and the wishes of our membership therefore be it FidoNews 7-32 Page 18 6 Aug 1990 RESOLVED: That the newsletter known as FidoNews shall cease to be the Official Publication of the International FidoNet Association, Inc. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to copyrights, that the Association may have in back issues of the publication known as FidoNews are hereby released into the public domain. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to trademark rights, that the Association may have in the word "FidoNews" are hereby released into the public domain. RESOLVED: That any authority anyone may have to copyright any news- letter or other publication in the name of the Association is hereby withdrawn. RESOLVED: That any and all rights, including but not limited to copyrights, that the Association may have in any other publica- tions of the IFNA Publications Committee are hereby released into the public domain. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 19 6 Aug 1990 PUBLIC NOTICE As of 6 August 1990, all persons, companies, and corporations are hereby given 60 days in which to present the Treasurer of the Inetrantional FidoNet Association with any and all debts due them. The International FidoNet Association membership has voted and approved immediate dissolution of the corporation. Send all debts and appropriate receipts to the following address for review: Kris A. Veitch Treasurer International FidoNet Association 1405 SW 81st Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73159 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 20 6 Aug 1990 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Henry Clark 124/6120 Scattershooting from the Truck -- Man oh man, Fidonews is getting big, isn't it ? Fortunately for me, that archive method change didn't choke my batch file, which I'll share with you : @echo ---NEWSPROC--- if not exist c:\netfiles\fnews*.* goto End cd \fidonews for %%o in ( fnews*.* ) do set OLDNEWS=%%o cd \netfiles for %%n in ( fnews*.* ) do set NEWNEWS=%%n cd \binkley if "%OLDNEWS%" == "%NEWNEWS%" goto Dupenews del c:\fidonews\fnews*.* copy \netfiles\fnews*.* \fidonews\ del \netfiles\fnews*.* goto End :Dupenews del \netfiles\fnews*.* goto End :End set OLDNEWS= set NEWNEWS= Actually, there is a little more to it than this, for example, right after the netfiles delete, there is a call to a robot sender. But you get the idea. The environment variable comparison does the trick of avoiding duplicate file processing. New Software -- Last week, rather than writing this column, I installed Binkley 2.40 and Opus 1.13. These were both upgrades ( from 2.30 and from 1.03, respectively ). This column is a lot more fun. I have a lot of source code changes to Binkley which I like to run. Unfortunately for me, I had scrapped the Microsoft C 5.1 compiler in favor of 6.0, and this caused several problems in porting my changes from 2.30. Not the least of which is, nobody else seems to be able to run my version of the program ! FidoNews 7-32 Page 21 6 Aug 1990 One of the less fancy/more useful features is a RingTries Bink config parameter, I usually set it to 4. On a dial out, if the other modem is RINGING 4 times, Bink gives up, hangs up and reports NO ANSWER. I believe this is an important feature because I don't think you should leave your line 'off hook' when your system goes off line. As for Opus, well, it's nice, except for the 'A' area change command. In the old Opus, the 'A' command would give you a list of areas. The new Opus gives you a secondary menu, and you have to enter again. Of course, this is not explained in the menu, it just happens that I can't type "shift ?" without lifting my shoulder ! The Opus install program quit with a run time error, but seemed to do enough that I didn't bother to try it again. I guess I knew enough to be prepared for that. But now it runs, and I get to save about 650k by no longer needing the old style nodelist. Man oh man, that Nodelist sure is big, isn't it ? Interesting Code Section -- I came across some assembly language that uses the CPU pre-fetch queue to determine what type of CPU is present, and whether or not the program is being executed by a debugger. It uses self modifying code which will run or not run depending on whether the CPU has pre-fetched the modified instruction. If you run the self-modifying code under a DEBUGGER, the pre-fetch queue is circumvented by the debugger's execution of the program instructions. For example : mov al,L2 ; possible address lea si,L0+1 ; modify address cli mov [si],al ; overwrite jmp destination L0: jmp SHORT L1 ; if trace active, goes to L2 ; else goes to L1 L1: sti ; normal running address ... L2: sti ; being traced address The overwrite instruction will always modify the memory, but if the pre-fetch queue of the CPU has already read the instruction at L0, ( before the mov is executed ) then the jump will occur as coded. If a debugger is active, the CPU will not have pre-fetched the jmp instruction, and the jump will go the overwritten address, L2. Now the CPU detection code ( don't try to trace it ! ) : FidoNews 7-32 Page 22 6 Aug 1990 xor ax,ax ; clear ax lea si,L1+1 ; attempt to set mov BYTE PTR [si],al ; al to zero nop ; queue fill nop ; L1: mov al,1 ; al=1 if not i8088 lea si,L2+1 ; attempt to set mov BYTE PTR [si],al ; al to zero or one nop ; queue fill nop ; nop ; nop ; L2: mov al,2 ; al=2 if i386 The resulting values of al=0 : i8088, al=1 if i8086 or i286, or al=2 if i386. PC Magazine has a WHATCPU utility that uses stack and flag instructions to tell you exactly what CPU your program is running on ( see V9N13 ). 'Hun'ey Checks In -- Of course the airlines destroyed Honey's bags, so right off there's a couple of hundred. She and Kevin call everyday, so there's another hundred. Taking everyone out for dinner, more hundreds. New clothes, glassware, etc. : more hundreds. Jutland, visiting cousins : hundreds. Will go to Legoland ( a hundred ) and probably Germany ( several hundred ). Hundred, hundred, hundred. Hun is Danish for 'she', dread is English for 'extreme anxiety'. Hundred, hundred, hundred. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 23 6 Aug 1990 ================================================================= LATEST VERSIONS ================================================================= Latest Software Versions MS-DOS Systems -------------- Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version DMG 2.93* Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5e* Fido 12s+ QuickBBS 2.64* TBBS 2.1 Lynx 1.30 RBBS 17.3A* TComm/TCommNet 3.4 Kitten 2.16 RBBSmail 17.3A* Telegard 2.5* Maximus 1.00 RemoteAccess .03* TPBoard 6.1* Opus 1.12+* SLBBS 1.76* Wildcat! 2.15* PCBoard 14.2* Socrates 1.00 XBBS 1.13 Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version BinkleyTerm 2.40* EditNL 4.00 ARC 6.02 D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.20 ARCAsim 2.30* Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ARCmail 2.07 FrontDoor 1.99c* Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00 PRENM 1.47 SysNL 3.11 Crossnet v1.5* SEAdog 4.51b XlatList 2.90 EMM 2.02 TIMS 1.0(Mod8)* XlaxDiff 2.35* Gmail 2.05 XlaxNode 2.35* GROUP 2.16 GUS 1.30 INTERPCB 1.20* LHARC 1.13 MSG 4.1* MSGED 1.99 PK[UN]ZIP 1.10* QM 1.0 QSORT 4.03 Sirius 1.0w* SLMAIL 1.35* StarLink 1.01 TagMail 2.20 TCOMMail 2.2 Telemail 1.20* TMail 1.15 TPBNetEd 3.2 TosScan 1.00* UFGATE 1.03 XRS 3.40* ZmailQ 1.10 FidoNews 7-32 Page 24 6 Aug 1990 Macintosh --------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Red Ryder Host v2.1b10 Tabby 2.2 MacArc 0.04 Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0d* ArcMac 1.3 WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.51 FBBS 0.91* TImport 1.331 Hermes 0.88* TExport 1.32 Timestamp 1.6 Tset 1.3 Import 3.2 Export 3.21 Sundial 3.2 PreStamp 3.2 OriginatorII 2.0 AreaFix 1.6 Mantissa 3.21 Zenith 1.5 UNZIP 1.02b Amiga ----- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Paragon 2.06+ BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23 TrapDoor 1.50* AReceipt 1.5* WelMat 0.35 booz 1.01 ConfMail 1.10 ChameleonEdit 0.10 ElectricHerald1.66* Lharc 1.10 MessageFilter 1.52* oMMM 1.49b ParseLst 1.30 PkAX 1.00 PK[UN]ZIP 1.01 PolyxAmy 2.02* RMB 1.30 TrapList 1.12* UNzip 0.86 Yuck! 1.61* Zoo 2.00 Atari ST FidoNews 7-32 Page 25 6 Aug 1990 -------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version FIDOdoor/ST 1.5c* BinkleyTerm 1.03g3 ConfMail 1.00 Pandora BBS 2.41c The BOX 1.20 ParseList 1.30 QuickBBS/ST 0.40 ARC 6.02* GS Point 0.61 LHARC 0.51 LED ST 0.10* BYE 0.25* PKUNZIP 1.10 MSGED 1.96S SRENUM 6.2 Trenum 0.10 OMMM 1.40 Archimedes ---------- BBS Software Mailers Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version ARCbbs 1.44* BinkleyTerm 2.03* Unzip 2.1TH ARC 1.03 !Spark 2.00d* ParseLst 1.30 BatchPacker 1.00* + Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software) * Recently changed Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-32 Page 26 6 Aug 1990 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 17 Aug 1990 Start of first ever Searchlight SysOps convention in Chicago, IL. Contact Marge Robbins at 1:283/120 for details. 5 Oct 1990 21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" 6 Nov 1990 First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28 14 Nov 1990 Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at 2:332/16.0 1 Jan 1991 Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description. 16 Feb 1991 Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush. 7 Oct 1991 Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland, Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay Islands will retain area code 415. 1 Feb 1992 Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport, West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and Montebello) will retain area code 213. 5 Jun 1997 David Dodell's 40th Birthday If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. -----------------------------------------------------------------