F I D O N E W S -- Volume 13, Number 39 23 September 1996 +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet community | "FidoNews" | | _ | 1-904-409-7040 [1:1/23] | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | | | (_| /_) | | | _`@/_ \ _ | | | | | \ \\ | Editor: | | | (*) | \ )) | Christopher Baker 1:18/14 | | |__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. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ NEXT WEEK FIDONEWS GOES TO ZIP DISTRIBUTION & THE EDITOR MOVES! Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 Changing the Archiver and Moving north ................... 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2 Fidonews Back Issues ..................................... 2 3. FIDONET HISTORY .......................................... 3 When Coordinators were invented .......................... 3 4. REVIEWS .................................................. 6 Six Mail Processors Reviewed [VI] ........................ 6 5. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 10 Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 264 ...... 10 6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 11 Take good care of those diskettes ........................ 11 7. COMIX IN ASCII ........................................... 13 More Cows? Where are all the Dogs? ....................... 13 8. QUESTION OF THE WEEK ..................................... 22 Do you have an ABOUT file available for file-request? .... 22 9. NOTICES .................................................. 23 Future History ........................................... 23 10. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................ 24 Latest Greatest Software Versions ........................ 24 11. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ..................................... 31 This Space intentionally left blank? ..................... 31 12. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 32 FIDONEWS 13-39 Page 1 23 Sep 1996 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= This is the LAST FidoNews Issue on this watch to be distributed in the LZH format. Next week's Issue will be in a ZIP archive. PLEASE UPDATE your batch files NOW!! Don't get caught next week with dead-ended file transfers because you put off this adjustment. All complaints about being unaware of the changeover will be returned unopened. The aggravation you save could be your own. [grin] This is also the last Issue to emanate from my Titusville computer room. The next one comes from suburban Edgewater_FL. My primary Node number also changes on Friday, 27 Sep 96, to 1:18/14. The new phone number will be 1-904-409-7040 and should be active no later than 1700 ET [2100 UTC/GMT] that day. This number already appears for 1:1/23 but if you try to call it before Friday the 27th, you're going to be disappointed. As a result of this changeover, you'd better send your submissions for FidoNews 1340 in a day or two early to avoid any possible snafus with the phone company that weekend. Use my primary Node number of 1:374/14 until then so it gets here. In response to some constructive criticism in the FIDONEWS Echo, the Masthead Information section has been trimmed down a few lines. The overall size of any given Issue of FidoNews is not particularly affected by those lines but every little bit helps. GOOD NEWS: Zone 3 is NOW updated in the Zone 1 Nodelist! There were only two responses to the Question of the Week concerning pictures in FidoNews. One for and one against is not much of a sampling. There was also concern in the against note that .GIF is now a royalty-requiring format by Compu$erve. Is that so? I hope they're not holding their breath waiting for the change to start rolling in from the millions of Internet webpage users displaying .GIFs by the billions. .PNG was suggested. I'm not familiar with that one but I'm sure Picture Publisher is. I can convert any format there. Would your local batch file choke if it came across a picture file inside the weekly FidoNews archive? Still awaiting more ASCII art submissions. I'm running out of cows. The first day of Autumn is here as I write this. It's raining before a 'cold' [using the term loosely in FLorida] front gets here. A change of seasons for the other changes here. [grin] C.B. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 13-39 Page 2 23 Sep 1996 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Fidonews Back Issues by Lee Kindness, 2:259/7, lkindnes@csl.co.uk I have recently uploaded the back issues of Fidonews onto Aminet, the worlds largest software archive. This will give most people faster access to these files for a lot more sites. The archives are named fnews1.lzh through to fnewsc.lzh in the directory pub/aminet/comm/fido on the ftp sites listed below: ftp.wustl.edu ftp.ninemoons.com ftp.netnet.net (ftp.aminet.org) ftp.uni-paderborn.de (ftp.germany.aminet.org) (ftp.italy.aminet.org) ftp.src.doc.ic.ac.uk (ftp.uk.aminet.org) ftp.grolier.fr These are the full mirrors of aminet, check out: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/README for a list of all mirror sites (>34 sites at time of writing). I will put all this information into an easy to download web page: http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/ffnews.html The full archive of FTSC documents (upto FSC-0091) is also available on the sites above as: ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/ftsc-all-91.lha ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 13-39 Page 3 23 Sep 1996 ================================================================= FIDONET HISTORY ================================================================= [An early explanation of Coordinators from Sep 85.] Ed. Coordinators List by Ben Baker -- Fido 76 There has been some confusion about the difference between a "network" and a "region." Let me try to shed some light. The network, as we use the term here, is merely a formalization of an informal concept that has been around since Fido version 7. Fido has known since then that when told to do so, he should send mail addressed to node A to node B instead. The advent of "routing" permitted the formation of informal structures known variously as "regional nets" or "area nets" or simply "nets." They vary a great deal in form and complexity, but they share one thing in common. They each have one node defined as "in-bound host" who receives the mail for all members. We have now given these networks a formal identity. When the node list appears in the new format, Fido will know about all the networks, who the host of each is, and which nodes are members. Without being told he will automatically send mail for any member to the network host. The network number will be part of the identity of every member node. This was done for several reasons. Many nodes were not taking advantage of routing. Now it'll be automatic. It will make it easier for private networks (there are several) to interface with the public net. Perhaps most important, it permits us to decentralize control of FidoNet's only official document, the node list. Because, in the past, node numbers had to be unique, one person had to be responsible for node list maintenance, a task which has become too big for one unpaid volunteer. Now numbers need only be unique within a network. Different networks may use the same numbers with no ill effects. Thus, network hosts may administer their own node lists and the national coordinator merely collects and assembles the pieces into a complete node list. But what of the more than 200 independent nodes around the country? The region allows us to divide them into ten geographic groupings called Regions. A region is a numbered entity much like a network, with a coordinator to manage its node list. The only difference is that a region has no in-bound host. Mail to all members is sent direct, without routing. The file COORD.nnn is a list of all regions and networks and their assigned coordinators. Also included is their current network or region number which can be followed by a /0 in order to send FidoNet Mail. FIDONEWS 13-39 Page 4 23 Sep 1996 *=*=*=*=*=* FIDO COORDINATORS LISTING DOC All requests for node numbers should contain information as explained in the Fido Doc's and be sent via FidoNet Mail to the appropriate coordinator. A coordinator can be reached by sending FidoNet Mail to his Network or Region # followed by a /0. After you read this doc file you can find a listing of current coordinators (COORD.NNN) as extracted from NODELIST.NNN. The NNN is the current Julian Date. _____________ Region/Net# Location Coordinator Node # Coordinator # _____________________________________________________________________ NATIONAL FIDONET COORDINATOR Region 1 National_Net -- Ken Kaplan 100/22 1/0 (For FIDO technical information contact Tom Jennings at 125/1) If you wish to obtain a node number, but DO NOT want to be a part of a network and prefer to be an independent then contact the REGION COORDINATOR for your state. Your Region Coordinator is also your contact to obtain instructions for application for new networks. If you wish to join an existing net contact the NETWORK COORDINATOR (listed after the Region Coordinators) that is in your geographical area for a node number. The Network Coordinator will give you further information as to his geographical coverage and special routing instructions for FidoNet Mail. REGION COORDINATORS Assigns Nodes in: Region 10 Calif_Nevada (See COORD.NNN 10/0 CA,NV Region 11 Central for Current Listing 11/0 IL,IN,KY,MI,OH of Coordinator Names) WI Region 12 Hawaii 12/0 HI Region 13 Mid_Atlantic 13/0 DL,DC,MD,NJ,PA VA,WV Region 14 Mid_West 14/0 IA,KS,MN,MO,NB ND,SD Region 15 Mountain 15/0 AZ,CO,NM,UT,WY Region 16 New_England 16/0 CT,ME,MA,NH,RI VT Region 17 North_West 17/0 AK,ID,MT,OR,WA Region 18 South_East 18/0 AL,FL,GA,MS,NC SC,TN Region 19 Texarkana 19/0 AR,LA,OK,TX NETWORK COORDINATORS (See COORD.NNN file) FIDONEWS 13-39 Page 5 23 Sep 1996 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP REGION COORDINATORS (We will only permit ONE published appearance in the nodelist so if you prefer to be listed in a SIG then that will be your only listing. We recommend use of your alternate net/node assignments to join a SIG. These are REGIONS and therefore will NOT have inbound HOSTS) (See COORD.NNN file) -30- [Remember, this is just history. Don't try to use any of these names or Node numbers to reach real people living or dead.] Ed. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 13-39 Page 6 23 Sep 1996 ================================================================= REVIEWS ================================================================= Six Mail Processors Reviewed [VI] Damian Walker, 2:2502/666 This is the final article in the six-part review series covering mail processors. This week it is the turn of the Squish echomail processor, and following the review of Squish there is a feature table and a conclusion to the entire series. SQUISH Squish is a mail processor for the Squish message base, by Lanius Corporation. The version under test here is 1.11, dated November 1994, so it is the oldest package under test with the exception of GEcho. I have no idea whether a later version is available (sorry!). First Impressions You'll have noticed that one of the things I always look at when looking at a new piece of software is the quality and quantity of documentation, and I'm not about to change my ways now. Squish comes with an impressive 129-page manual with the comprehensive contents, tutorial, reference and index sections you would come to expect of a commercial quality application.