F I D O N E W S -- Volume 13, Number 43 21 October 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. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ REPEAT AFTER ME: "FIDONET IS A HOBBY." Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 FidoNet dead ends? ....................................... 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 Response to Bob Moravsik ................................. 3 A Short *.MSG Programming Tutorial [I] ................... 4 3. REVIEWS .................................................. 11 Digital Engineering's K-384 ISDN Network Simulator ....... 11 4. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 16 Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 292 ...... 16 5. WE GET EMAIL ............................................. 17 Region 13 fun and games .................................. 17 Nodelist problem revisited ............................... 17 6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 20 Some New Telephone Options ............................... 20 May the Geeks be with you? ............................... 21 7. COMIX IN ASCII ........................................... 24 What price glory? ........................................ 24 8. QUESTION OF THE WEEK ..................................... 25 Who uses speech synthesizers in FidoNet? ................. 25 9. NOTICES .................................................. 26 Future History ........................................... 26 10. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................ 27 Latest Greatest Software Versions ........................ 27 11. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ..................................... 34 And more! FIDONEWS 13-43 Page 1 21 Oct 1996 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= When FidoNet began under the sole aegis of the Fido mailer program invented by Tom Jennings, things were primitive and simple. So, too, were the issues [or lack thereof] concerning daily FidoNet ops or FidoNet structure and modus. Fido, the program, came to a dead end when Tom Jennings stopped working on it. By then, there was Opus and SEAdog and BinkleyTerm and FrontDoor and D'Bridge, to name a few, to make what was once just simple, unattended file transfers into the Hydra of today's FidoNet environment. Fido is still operated by a few hardy souls out there but it dead-ended, development-wise, for lack of interest in making it more complicated. Opus, SEAdog, and D'Bridge all dead-ended but are still in use because of our FidoNet standards. Now, we have routing systems and Echomail structures and CRPs and BBS interfaces and Internet links that make everything seem more complicated. But is it really more complicated or are a lot of folks just confused about what FidoNet is and does at the basic level? FidoNet is defined by a few published standards and its weekly Nodelist. Its glue is this weekly document. None of these things are inherently complicated when boiled down for their oil. FidoNet exists: 1. at the will of its inventor and trademark holder, Tom Jennings; 2. for the express purpose of providing a lowest common denominator means of telecommunicating with a minimum of hardware and software; 3. as an amateur hobby between consenting practitioners. The standards are maintained by an internal group known as the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee [FTSC]. This group operates under direct license from the trademark holder, Tom Jennings. Only Tom Jennings can cause the FTSC to change structure or responsibility. The FTSC does NOT create standards nor does it impose standards. The FTSC documents existing standards as they become de facto operational practices for the majority of FidoNet participants and/or software developers. This is something many folks don't understand or never knew. The FTSC collects, documents, and publishes standards and proposals. It is up the Coordinator structure to enforce those standards. It is up to the developers to get their proposals into wide acceptance and usage before they become standards. Proposals [also known as FSCs] ARE NOT standards. Their implementation is strictly voluntary. They become standards only when they become indispensable to FidoNet ops. There is discussion in several Echos and in these pages about whether the FTSC as currently configured is a dead-end. Is FidoNet going anywhere from here? Does it need to go somewhere from here? What does it take to go somewhere else? Who will be driving this bus to somewhere else? I invite all the principals to take this discussion to future Issues FIDONEWS 13-43 Page 2 21 Oct 1996 of FidoNews so all of us can better understand the dynamics and the expectations of getting FidoNet where it needs to be. ======= On a separate note, I got a message from Debra Turner in the FIDONEWS Echo asking if a text description could be included with the comix in our ASCII art section so folks using speech synthesizers to peruse FidoNews each week could get something out of that visual area. The answer was: absolutely! I apologize for not thinking of it. Today's comix contain such a description and all subsequent offerings in that section will be likewise annotated for the speech program group. Speaking of the FIDONEWS Echo, another question came in about how to format a message for FidoNews submission. Specifically, he wanted to know where the filename specification went in a message to identify where the content should go in FidoNews. The answer is: format the submission text in the body of the message as closely as possible to the ARTSPEC.DOC requirements, i.e. 70 columns, no high ASCII, etc. To define what type of submission it is, put the filename as the subject line, e.g. Subj: THISISA.JOK. All message submissions are manually processed by your Editor to meet the physical requirements of MAKENEWS. Including the apparent filename in the Subj: line makes it easier for me to determine where you wish your submission to appear. If none is included, I guess by the content and give the output file an appropriate filename for processing. The FIDONEWS Echo is open to all interested in FidoNews subjects and operations and is available via your regular Zone 1 Backbone Echo links. It is more real-time than FidoNews if you have a question. ******* As for the moving saga, who cares? I'm still not completely moved in but all the hitches have been standard [late movers, phone company foul-ups, utility headaches, etc.] so I'm sure no one cares to have me rehash it here. [grin] ASCII art and net/computer related humor is slowly starting to trickle in from new authors. That's great! Please keep it coming. Enough for now. I got a late start today by attending the simultaneous birthdays of my daughter and brother [same day, different years, similar names {Eric and Erica}] back down in Titusville from whence I fled three weeks ago. Enjoy! C.B. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 13-43 Page 3 21 Oct 1996 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= More EP2 nonsense By Lee Kindness, 2:259/7, lkindnes@csl.co.uk BM> As to the practical aspect of a Zone policy why BM> don't each of you read Section one of Policy BM> 4.07. Local policies MUST meet certain tests. BM> One important one is that they are REQUIRED BM> by local conditions. Not desired, wanted, BM> needed etc...but REQUIRED. Please, zone 2 policy is the business of zone 2 - not a zone 1 sysop. If anything EP2 will be a 'shell' of a policy, allowing policies to complement it at a regional level. I'm sure you agree regional policies make good common sense in zone 2, each region has it's own language for a start. Don't base you views on the policy Steve posted to FidoNews. That was a very early 'hash' and has been long abandoned. BM> Let me poise these questions: Well I'll answer them for a zone 2 sysop point of view, nothing else... (As i try to figure out what other possible view point i have...) BM> 1. If the people that "vote" against a Z2 EP ignore BM> it ...then what ? Depends if the policy is ratified as per EP1. If it is adopted then all nodes will be subject to it. I mean just because i don't like P4 doesn't mean i can ignore it. BM> 2. If those people put in another Z2ep is it anymore BM> enforceable then Woodmorepol. Bet you're glad I'm not Z2EC, Kindnesspol doesn't have such a harsh and evil sound ;) If it is: 1. Submitted before Steve's and ratified as per EP1 2. Ratified as per replacement conditions is EP2 Then sure. BM> Section one of the existing ratified policy contains BM> wisdom. Since message flow all over the world and BM> since any node can link to any other node via any BM> way...how do you expect to enforce a policy that BM> is limited by geography..as to a technology that BM> ISN'T. FIDONEWS 13-43 Page 4 21 Oct 1996 A zone 2 EP would apply to ZONE 2 ECHOES!!! Understand!!! BM> Look at the foolishness in Z1. First there was BM> an echopol attempt. It spent more time on distribution BM> then on policy. It bombed. Then we had "boppy". The My view is EP should focus more on distribution and technical issues rather than 'political' stuff. I mean what is the point of all the garbage about removing a moderator if it cannot be enforced? BM> OK WHAT IS THE SOLUTION: BM> So...Mr. Kindness and Mr. Woodmore. Instead of brushing BM> off an article with childish comments. Address the Good, i said last week - why not fix into ECHOPOL2 and make your views count instead of taking cheap shots in FidoNews... ECHOPOL2 was originally for the discussion of a zone 2 specific echopolicy (and that's still its main aim) but with the Z1EC's interest we might well end up with a global (well z1 + z2) policy. I think we have a broadly similar viewpoint (ie minimum politics in Fidonet) but the difference is you're out in the cold shouting where no one will take notice, if anything promoting Steve. In one of your previous messages you said something about 'zone 2 flexing it's geographical muscles' - the general consensus in ENET.SYSOP, 'about bloody time'... Sleep well, and never mind the purple crocus juice. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A Short *.MSG Programming Tutorial [I] Damian Walker, 2:2502/666 One question which pops up occasionally in programming and technical echoes is how to read and/or write netmail messages. This is one of the principal methods of communication in Fidonet, and so it seems a logical place to start when applying your programming skills to Fidonet for the first time. In this tutorial series, I hope to introduce those with moderate programming capabilities to the world of Fidonet netmail programming, using the *.MSG format (as defined in FTS-1) and the C programming language. Such knowledge could be used for a variety of purposes; you could write a simple netmail robot or other netmail utility. A while ago, someone even wrote a netmail MUD! In this series I'm not going to be nearly as ambitious; a simple netmail directory list utility will suffice for our examples. As the series goes on you will see some C source code published. This source code is in the public domain. Feel free to use it for whatever purpose you wish, whether for commercial, personal or educational purposes. Even Microsoft may use it :-) FIDONEWS 13-43 Page 5 21 Oct 1996 The series is split up as follows: Part [I] Disclaimer Introduction to the Message Format Reading *.MSG files from the netmail directory Finding *.MSG files in the netmail directory Part [II] A More Robust Routine to Read Messages Displaying the body of messages Using Other Header Fields Part [III] Writing *.MSG files Final Message Lister Conclusion Disclaimer Although I will take every precaution to ensure that the information in this tutorial is correct, the occasional typo or plain stupid mistake might creep in. In the event of mangled netmail directories, reformatted hard disks, or excessive frustration (with accompanying hair loss) resulting from use or misuse of this information, I take absolutely no responsibility. Introduction to the *.MSG Message Format The *.MSG message format is often used for netmail areas,