F I D O N E W S -- Volume 13, Number 37 9 September 1996 +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet community | "FidoNews" | | _ | 1-407-383-1372 [1:1/23] | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | | | (_| /_) | | | _`@/_ \ _ | | | | | \ \\ | Editor: | | | (*) | \ )) | Christopher Baker 1:374/14 | | |__U__| / \// | | | _//|| _\ / | | | (_/(_|(____/ | | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MORE addresses: | | | | submissions=> cbaker84@digital.net | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | For information, copyrights, article submissions, | | obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ | | please refer to the end of this file. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ MY ELEVENTH ISSUE HITS THE CYBERSTREETS! Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 Don't forget to get ready for changes .................... 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2 comp.org.fidonet - It's Full of Life! .................... 2 In Defense of Bink and Max ............................... 2 Re: EchoPol2, 'ep1eu' .................................... 4 A Californian point of view: Comment to Fredrik Bennis .. 4 The World-Wide-Web Fidonet Resource Updated .............. 5 EchoMail...Now What? ..................................... 6 3. COLUMNS .................................................. 8 Doc Logger Returns! ...................................... 8 4. FIDONET HISTORY .......................................... 10 Here are some FidoNet primer examples from the old days .. 10 5. REVIEWS .................................................. 17 Six Mail Processors Reviewed [IV] ........................ 17 6. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 20 Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 250 ...... 20 7. NET HUMOR ................................................ 21 Can computers sing? ...................................... 21 8. COMIX IN ASCII ........................................... 22 A matter of perspective? ................................. 22 9. QUESTION OF THE WEEK ..................................... 23 Who has FidoNet primers they use locally for newbies? .... 23 10. NOTICES ................................................. 24 And more! FIDONEWS 13-37 Page 1 9 Sep 1996 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Beginning with FidoNews 1340, the distribution archive format will be ZIP. Instead of FNEWSDnn.LZH, you will be receiving FNEWSDnn.ZIP via the standard FIDONEWS file channels. BE SURE to update your batch files and/or script routines to allow for this change of archiver. Please note in the Masthead that I've already changed my U.S. mail contact address. FidoNews ops will remain at 1:1/23 but the phone number will be changing in NODELIST.271. My primary Node will also change from 1:374/14 to 1:18/14 on 27 Sep 96. If you wish to put in an override on the 27th pending your receipt of your new Nodelist you can set 1:1/23 and 1:18/14 to: 1-904-409-7040 in Edgewater_FL. The phone company assures me the new number will be functional by 1800 on Friday, 27 Sep 96. The old number will have a forwarding info recording on it for 3 months for those who aren't too sharp in keeping their Nodelists up-to-date. These changes should be fairly painless if everyone stays aware of the timetable. I will continue to issue these gentle reminders through the changeover. [grin] Unlike the previous weeks, there was no answer at all from anyone about Echolists in other Zones. Does this mean there aren't any? I'm happy to report that this week's Humor and Comix are not from my archives but from actual contributors! I'd like to see a lot more of that in future Issues. Thanks. C.B. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 13-37 Page 2 9 Sep 1996 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= comp.org.fidonet - It's Full of Life! by Lee Kindness, 2:259/7, lkindnes@csl.co.uk I'm sure quite a few people have noticed the comp.org.fidonet newsgroup on Usenet. This is a moderated group, that has never been posted into in all the time i've been subscribed to it (about 2-3 years). Wondering what its purpose was i set out asking a couple of questions. From what i can gather it used to be used to distribute FidoNews articles and the moderator of the group is one of the former editors. Anyone else got more information? Perhaps the group could be used again to distribute the Snooze, or even throw it open for general Fidonet discussion (would be great for arranging cross zone feeds and so on). Of course we'd have to find the moderator, or does anyone know how the group could be 'unmoderated'? Hmmmm... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Response to "Two Choices: UPGRADE or DIE" by Phil Roberts, 1:157/554 >We need to be progressive, up-to-the-minute with technology. We're in agreement here. :) >BinkleyTerm and Maximus just don't cut it in '96. Today's users >(and sysops) want advanced graphics, and easy-to-setup software. BinkleyTerm is difficult to set up the first time, but I provide sample BINKLEY.CFG and BINK.BAT so new sysops can just copy my setup. This method has worked well, and a number of people have used my sample batch files for both BinkleyTerm and FrontDoor. >And we need to make it easy for people to GET NODE NUMBERS! Anyone wanting a node number in my area needs only to download a short file called HOWAPPLY.TXT and follow the _simple_ directions. While POLICY4 is a must read for new sysops, HOWAPPLY is a simple cheat sheet. This could be implemented in any net in Fidonet. >Using mail and news on the Internet is dirt simple with all the new >graphical-based software available. In contrast, the average BBS >package used by a FidoNet sysop is quite clumsy and hard to figure >out by comparison. This is not necessary. Sysops want to hold onto >the BBS package they were running back in '85. This is ridiculous - >you don't still use the computer you used in '85, do you? Then why FIDONEWS 13-37 Page 3 9 Sep 1996 >use its software? Nope. I sold my Apple //'s back in 1991. I'm running the current revision of Maximus. I've been running a BBS since 1988, and changed to Maximus in 1995 because of it's incredible versatility. This is my 3rd BBS software, and I've tried many others without putting them up for the users. >Even up-to-the-microsecond graphical BBS packages >like Excalibur for Windows now have Fidonet capability. Very user friendly, but these BBS hosts require the user to download a dedicated client to use them. How many BBS clients will a user download before tiring of this? >There's even a fully Windows-based mailer that's NOT simply an old >MS-DOS mailer with a Windows shell wrapped around it. And how many >such systems are in FidoNet? To my knowledge, ONE -- Myself. Would this be Platinum Xpress? If Hector ever fixes Areafix, Filefix, and gets Platinum to reliably connect with other mailers, I'll respect this mailer. >Even from a Sysop standpoint, joining FidoNet is difficult. You've >got to first figure out how the whole thing works, and there's NOT >ONE SINGLE CREDIBLE DOCUMENT ON IT ANYWHERE! BIGDUMMY.ARJ is a good file, albeit a few years old. >The average person has this "hard-to-use-straight-ugly-ASCII-based" >view of what FidoNet is, even if they've never used a FidoNet system. >This has to be changed. In case you haven't noticed, the *.INI files in your Windows system are also text files. The only thing lacking in the Bink/Max mentality is a decent menu-driven setup program. I go FAR out of my way to make my BBS very easy to use. I'm sure many other sysops do this too. >There's plenty of DOS-based ANSI system which use >lightbar menus and such, which is light years ahead of where 95% of >Fidonet systems are right now. My Maximus BBS has RIP emulation, lightbar file tagging in the file transfer system, and 7 different user-selectable ANSI menus! One of these ANSI menus uses lightbars. It can also be ported to Windows or OS/2 when the needs of the BBS require it. Maximus isn't married to DOS, and doesn't have to be plain looking. >People won't put up with it for long. Eventually, the only thing >the SPAMmers will be able to SPAM to are OTHER SPAMMERS! People will >need somewhere else to talk. Will it be FidoNet? It could be. Because of Fidonet's message control, the Fidonet message bases are smaller and contain a better content than most Usenet newsgroups. Users also don't run the risk of spam email every time they post. FIDONEWS 13-37 Page 4 9 Sep 1996 Fidonet does need some rethinking in a number of places, but Bink and Max aren't the reasons for the decline in the size of the nodelist. There are easier packages for sysops to install, and many sysops take that route. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The problems with EP2 (ep1eu) in Zone 2 by Lee Kindness, 2:259/7, lkindnes@csl.co.uk > ZEC2 has a lengthy article in this Issue about a new Zone 2 Echopol > All those affected please take note. Other Zones might want to pay > attention as well for future reference. While my support is 100% behind Steve in the creation of a new echomail policy for zone 2 this document simply is not in force. I'll point out a couple of flaws: o Steve publicly announced in a number of echoes that EP1 was in force in zone 2, and he would abide by its guidelines in the creation of a new policy. o 1 week later (or thereabout) he announces his rehash of EP1 is now the echomail policy. Hang on, what happened to the vote of the regions REC's to support a policy change? o The changes in 'EP2' are minor. Do a diff on the two and you'll find that most of the changes are "national"->"Regional", "policy3"->"policy4", "insure"->"ensure" and a lot of ZEC references to REC. Why bother with such a minor change? o The policy covers the zone 2 echomail backbone and any echo the moderator wishes it to cover. Zone 2 does not have a echomail backbone (we have regional backbones due to language differences). In the wildest imagination less than 10 echoes could be considered to be on a 'zone 2 backbone" at the moment (ENET.SYSOP...). Don't get me wrong, a zone 2 backbone is a good idea (for technical, sysop and other echoes) but you can't enforce policy on an entity that does not currently exist. Steve has to setup a zone 2 backbone first! I didn't wish to take these concerns and observations in Fidonews. However my (and others) questions to Steve in ECHOPOL2 were left unanswered. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A Californian point of view: Comment to Fredrik Bennison Fredric Rice (frice@stbbs.com) 1:218/890.0 The Skeptic Tank (818) 335-9601 Fredrik (2:205/300.0) brought up a couple of good points in the 2/Sep/1996 issue of FidoNews which I would like to briefly comment upon. FIDONEWS 13-37 Page 5 9 Sep 1996 The first is about NetMail routing success here in Zone 1 at times being haphazard. I'm not so sure there is very much of a problem sending and receiving NetMail. Though I can't know if something didn't reach my system without implementing checks to find out, my inbound Net Mail folder is always full of routed mail awaiting my attention. Fredrik, I would suggest that if there are Net coordinators who do not accept both inbound and outbound NetMail, it _might_ be better to _vote_ them out of the position rather than impose a rule that they do so. (Always assuming there is someone who is willing to accept the job, of course.) I don't have P4 here with me (I'm at work sluffing off) yet I'm surprised that there isn't already such a rule. If there isn't, I find it mildly distasteful having rules added to this hobby of ours. Call up a vote and "throw the bumbs out" as we say here in the States. As for Policy 4 needing revamping, I couldn't agree more. Our shiney new FidoNews editor had been coordinating a serious effort to develop Policy 5 for some time now and it looks like inertia is keeping the somewhat outdated Policy 4 in force. And isn't there an ECHO forum specifically set up to discuss the eventual Policy 5? If there isn't, that would be a good place to start. ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Look for the World-Wide-Web Fidonet Resource by Lee Kindness, 2:259/7, lkindness@csl.co.uk The World-Wide-Web Fidonet Resource (w3fr) has recently been given a major overhaul. It has been split up into easier to navigate sub sections, been given a major cosmetic job (in response to several suggestions regarding the former background pattern) and, as always, a couple more links added. So aim your browsers at: http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html The old, all in one page, version of the w3fr is still available as a link off the new page. I'm always open to suggestions (and constructive criticism) for new lin