Volume 6, Number 9 27 February 1989
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| _ |
| / \ |
| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
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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. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1
hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted
although submissions can be uploaded.
Copyright 1989 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.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
are used with permission.
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. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
Graphic GroupMail (OR... How GroupMail REALLY works!) .... 1
MSGHOLD - Holds your user's Group/EchoMail for them! ..... 4
SEA Letter: A Sample Script .............................. 5
It won't happen in America! .............................. 6
UNITEX: More Than Just Echo Mail ......................... 9
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 15
Let's YACK about Why Anyone Would Run a BBS .............. 15
3. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 16
Latest Software Versions ................................. 16
4. NOTICES .................................................. 17
And more!
FidoNews 6-09 Page 1 27 Feb 1989
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Graphic GroupMail -OR-
How GroupMail REALLY Works
In the interests of clearing up some of the misinformation
regarding GroupMail technology that has been spread around the
networks, I have worked up this short graphic representation of
how a pure GroupMail conference works. It is hoped that with
this documentation, the reasons for the impossibility of
duplicate messages and faulty topologies will become clear as
crystal.
Let's take the WARNINGS conference, for example, and set it up as
a GroupMail conference. We have a Top Star, 440/1, several
middle stars at the net level, and the leaf nodes (YOU). Here's
how it might look:
+----------------+
| Top Star: | +------------+
| Conference |----> |WARNINGS.XXX|
| Moderator | +------------+
| WARNINGS 440/1 | GroupMail
+----------------+ ARChive File
^ ^ ^ (Distributed to ALL)
| | |
------------------ | -----------------
| | |
+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
| NET 100 | | NET 200 | | NET 300 |
| MID LEVEL STAR | | MID LEVEL STAR | | MID LEVEL STAR |
| 7:100/1 | | 7:200/1 | | 7:300/1 |
+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
| | | | ^ ^ | | ^ | |
Other Net 100 Nodes | | Other Net|300 Nodes
| | |
------------------ | |
| | |
+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
| Node 201 | | Node 202 | | Node 301 |
| 7:200/201 | | 7:200/202 | | 7:300/301 |
+----------------+ +----------------+ +----------------+
^ ^ ^
Any of these can be your system.
Please notice that all arrows go in ONE direction ONLY (UP).
Now lets trace the way a message entered on, say 200/201 would go
about being distributed to the network in general.
User Alan enters a message on 201. Later that day it is removed
from the message base and packed up and sent to his uplink, mid
FidoNews 6-09 Page 2 27 Feb 1989
level star Net 200 (when using non-Group-aware echo processors,
the message might have to stay in the message base - small price
to pay).
When the ARCmail file (identical in every way to a normal
echomail bundle) hits the midlevel star, he unpacks it, usually
into his netmail area. Then, his group processor realizes that
since the message is for the WARNINGS conference, it has to be
bounced on up to the next uplink, so rather than moving into his
message base, he redirects it to 440/1, packs it up for shipment
(the same way that 200/201 did it!), and removes the message from
his netmail area (a native GroupMail processor will do this for
you).
Finally, the message, in a normal ARCmail 'echomail' packet
arrives on 440/1, the 'top star' for the conference. Since he's
the top star, 440/1's group processor unpacks the message into
his message base, where the moderator can peruse it for possible
off-topic content, flame content, etc. The moderator then packs
up Alan's message, along with ALL the other messages that have
been passed along from nets 100 & 300, into one GroupMail style
ARCmail file named WARNINGS.xxx (where 'xxx' is a base 36 minute
of the month ARCmail naming convention), and is made available
for pickup.
You will notice that at no time did my hands leave my arms, er,
at no time did the message touch any other systems message base.
Alan's message was not ECHO'd ANYwhere. It was simply passed
along, sight-unseen by all the star systems between 200/201 and
440/1. At this point, it exists only on the top star's system,
and in that GroupMail packet, sitting on 440/1.
Meanwhile, the midlevel stars have finished their daily
processing, and are ready to call to pick up the new day's mail.
Since their high water mark files (WARNINGS.!) have a date/time
stamp of the last WARNINGS.xxx file they processed, when they do
a File UPDate REQuest, their systems will see that the new
WARNINGS file is 'later' than their high water mark file, and
pick it up. They import the file into their message base, then
turn around and make the WARNINGS.xxx file available to the next
level of systems WITHOUT MODIFYING IT AT ALL. Alan's message now
resides in the message bases of 440/1, 100/1, 200/1, and 300/1.
They change the date time stamps of their WARNINGS.! file to
match the date/time stamp of the WARNINGS.xxx file (for
tomorrow's update request).
However, what happens if one of the mailers that's being run on
the mid-level star isn't running a program capable of generating
a File UPDate REQuest? There exists in some GroupMail processors
the ability to DELIVER the GroupMail ARChives by generating a
File ATTach message to a specific list of nodes anytime it does a
Group PACK (for Top Stars) or a Group IN (for mid-level stars).
In this way, people without mailers sophisticated enough to
perform the necessary requests can participate. This is a
definite short-term kludge, however, since delivering a confer-
ence is NOT the way GroupMail should work (think about what could
FidoNews 6-09 Page 3 27 Feb 1989
happen if a node had a conference delivered to it by more than
one node, or if it also requested the conference!) Hence, this
short-term fix may disappear in the near future, as most mailers
are brought up to date.
Finally, the leaf nodes get their turn. They use their own high
water marks (WARNINGS.!) to generate File UPDate REQuests to
their uplinks, the mid level stars, and pickup WARNINGS.xxx.
This is the SAME file that was distributed to 100/1, 200/1, &
300/1, and now resides on 200/201, 200/202, and 300/301. Since
everybody has the same file, there is no need for SEEN-BY lines
(non-group-aware echomail processors may need a SEEN-BY with just
the uplink, or mid-level star in it, else they might resend the
whole file back up the chain again. Still, its better than 3 or
4 lines of them!) Alan's message now resides on every system in
the net. If 200/201 is running a non-groupmail-aware echomail
processor to 'kludge' this process, it may have 2 copies of his
message in its base, unless it has a sophisticated dupe killer,
which would catch it on the way back. Either way, that'd be the
ONLY message that appeared twice. As more and more GroupMail
processors are developed for the different boards, this problem
will become extinct.
As you can see, only two boards handled Alan's message twice.
200/201, and its uplink, 200/1. No boards handled ALL the
messages twice. And of course, with no SEEN-BYS or DUPES (or
even FLAMES or off-topic messages if the moderator fully edits
his conference), the GroupMail ARC files are much smaller and
more quickly processed. No dupes can be generated because the
conference isn't ECHO'd anywhwere. Alan gets positive confirma-
tion that his message was seen by EVERYONE in the net (sort of
like having electronic receipt mail!), and that the whole net
probably saw it faster than echomail could ever possibly
distribute it.
Well, 'nuff said. I wanted this to be brief, but I also wanted
it to be understandable. If you have any questions, or if you
want to file-request GROUP (for FidoNet sysops), GMAIL (for QBBS
sysops), or GMM (for Phoenix sysops), feel free to contact me at
7:520/583, 1:107/583, 9:807/1, or just plain ol' 1-201-935-1485.
Phil Buonomo
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-09 Page 4 27 Feb 1989
MSGHOLD - Holds your user's Group/EchoMail for them!
Phoenix RCS BBS SysOps can now keep Group- and EchoMail
messages addressed to their users. MsgHold V1.02
prevents message-base maintenance utilities, such as
LRH's DOM (Delete Old Messages), from deleting messages
addressed to users of that BBS. MsgHold keeps the message on
the system for 4 weeks, or until the addressee has seen the
message. It then releases it to be processed by the system.
Registration of the shareware package allows SysOps to set
the number of days to hold the message.
This is believed to be the first utility of its kind! On
systems that import large volumes of Echo/Group Mail, the
problem arose that the message bases were becoming intolerably
large. While message-base packing utilities took care of the
size of the message areas, users of the BBS had to be sure to
log in each and every day to check for replies to their
messages, new information, etc. This is just an unreasonable
task. Hence, the birth of MSGHOLD.
This package is FREQ'able from 7:520/557 1:107/557
9:807/2 (The County Jail II BBS - 300-9600 HST/PCP) by the
magic filename MSGHOLD, to be sure you always get the latest
version.
Other versions of MsgHold will soon be available for
QBBS and TBBS systems. Look for their announcement here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-09 Page 5 27 Feb 1989
What's Happening at SEA?
SEAdog 4.00 was the first network mailer to provide a script
capability for establishing a mail session over an alternate
carrier. That original script driver was rather primitive,
because at that time we did not yet know how many people (if any
at all!) would be interested in such a thing.
Well, now we know -- a LOT of people are interested!
When we were designing version 4.50 one of our priorities was to
develop a script language that could negotiate complex foreign
networks, as well as provide a platform for netmail sessions with
"foreign" systems. Since most of the present users of scripts
use them to navigate Telenet's PC Pursuit service, we used that
as our primary test case.
The result in SEAdog 4.50 is a flexible and powerful script
language that can handle the worst that an alternate carrier can
dish out. A SEAdog script can handle not only the ordinary and
expected cases, but can also respond intelligently to error
conditions as they arise.
We've developed a script for our own use that can take advantage
of PC Pursuit, and can handle all of the occasional vagarities
that arise -- everything from an offline dialout to a modem left
in Racal-Vadic mode.
The full script is too large to post here with an explanation, so
we've gone through it and added copious comments. We added a
route file to show how the script ties into the routing
schedules. We've compiled an exchange list database for use by
the script. And lastly, we've packaged it all in an archive and
made it available for download or file request.
If you're using SEAdog with PC Pursuit, get a copy of our sample
script and make YOUR system PC Pursuit smart!
Files mentioned this week:
SCRIPTS.ARC A SEAdog script for PC Pursuit
SCRIPTS.ARC may be downloaded from our technical support bulletin
board at (201) 473-1991, or may be file-requested from either
520/1015@AlterNet or 1:107/1015@FidoNet.
Next week: Kitten 2.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-09 Page 6 27 Feb 1989
Claude F. Witherspoon
Fido 1:288/525
ONCE UPON A TIME MAYBE IN AMERICA
Once upon a time there was a nation founded upon the priciples of
reason and moral responsibility. Blessed with an industrious
people and abounding in natural resources, it became one of the
most prosperous and self-sufficient nations on this great earth.
Then one day it grew accustomed to ease and plenty, to many of
its people grew self-indulgent (anyone you know?). Foreigners
were quick to exploit this weakness. The way they did this, was
to provide something that the great nation had little of, illicit
DRUGS!...
Drug smugglers established their headquarters in a southern city.
In a matter of years, their poison had seeped into virtually
every town and village via a weblike distribution system that
flourished under the noses of judges, politicians and police
(sometimes even with their assistance), for drugs can corrupt
anyone.
Now, to show "all was not lost", some INTELLECTUALS initially
extolled the psychic and medicinal benefits of drugs and
minimized their harm. Ironically, these intellectuals, along with
the RICH and PRIVILAGED, were the first to succumb. The Army was
next. The last, most tragic victims were the poor.
In the final stages of the plague, addicts whom drugs did not
kill outright became susceptable to infectious diseases, which
they unwittingly spread to loved ones.
And in time, this once great and noble nation was so withered
that it fell victim to countries a fraction of its size.
Now, if you think this story is about 20th-century America, your
wrong. This is a capsule acoount of what actually happened to
China in the 19th century.
In the early 1800s, China was amoung the wealthiest, most self
sufficient nations on earth. Its rulers had governed for
centuries under ancient system ethics set down by the followers
of Confucius. China's very name for itself, Zhongguo, the "Middle
Kingdom," understood its glorious position between heaven and
earth. Nothing could bring it down. Except itself.
Western nations ran up huge trade deficits with China to pay for
porcelain, silk and tea. But China remained wary of outsiders and
had little interest in purchasing foreign goods. Thus little
could be done to redress the imballance of trade...until Britian
discovered China's secret taste for opium and began shipping it
into the country from British fields in India.
The pernicious drug had been severely restricted by law in 1729,
but as imports rose, some scholar-officials argued that opium
FidoNews 6-09 Page 7 27 Feb 1989
should be "decriminalized" and its distribution regulated by
the government. Others declaired that is was beneficial to a
weary psyche and cured stomach ailments.
Opium was disparingly called heitu, "black dirt," for the tarry
substance placed in long bamboo pipes. Addicts smoked it while
stretched on benches in "dens" not too unlike today's "crack
houses." In the early stages, opium induced euphoria. But
habitual use left victims burnt-out husks of their former selves.
In the final stages of addiction, it caused dementia and death.
And victims more and more included nonaddicts. As opium smokers
gathered, coughing and spitting, they unknowingly became infected
with, and then spread to others, diseases as deadly in those days
as AIDS is now, tuberculosis and influenza.
At a time when such pressures as overpopulation, political
infighting and declining revenues were also taking their toll,
addiction raged through China's army and invaded the civil
service. The effect was a rapid decline in provincial
administration. Canals collapsed out of neglect, disrupting
China's vital system of transportation. Pushing beyond endurance,
the Chinese government closed its doors to all foreign goods and
destroyed crates of opium stored in British warehouses in Canton.
England declared war and its navy brutally defeated an inadequate
Chinese fleet. As part of the treaty settling the "Opium War" of
1839-42, a shocked and demoralized China ceded the southern
island of Hong Kong to Britain. This city, much like Miami,
became the hub of the drug trade, from which criminal societies,
like Mafia today, joined forces with foreign smugglers to
disperse the drug everywhere.
Peasant discontent erupted into a massive civil war, called the
Taiping Rebellion, which cost as many as 30 million lives. Taking
advantage of chaos, England, France, Germany and Russia carved up
China like a ripe melon. By the end of the 19th century, five
percent of China's population was addicted, over 22 million
people. So much bullion flowed out of the country that the
economy teetered on the verge of collapse. In 1912, the last
emperor, Puyi, was forced from the throne.
China floundered in the bloody strife of civil war and foreign
invasion for almost four decades. Then Mao Zedong's Communists
crushed all opposition, taking another 30 million lives and
forcing millions out of their villages and into communes. Mao did
away with opium, by eliminating the smokers.
Only recently has China begun to stem its nearly two-century
decline, which begun with the first self-indulgent puff on an
opium pipe.
HISTORY RECORDS a sad cycle: the great civilizations; Greek,
Roman, Spanish and Chinese; fell by their own inner weakness
before their military forces were vanquished.
FidoNews 6-09 Page 8 27 Feb 1989
And if the United States ever does succumb, here too it will have
been by our own hand.
NOTE: Reprinted from readers Digest. Also, our address has
changed here at KidsNews headquarters. Please note the
1:288/525 address for correspondence with the folks at KidsNews.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-09 Page 9 27 Feb 1989
THE UNITEX ECHO IS NOW AVAIlABLE ON THE FIDONET BACKBONE
The UNITEX CONFERENCE is now nationally distributed via the
'backbone' links in Fidonet. It is also available on uucp
networks in the form of a Usenet mailing list. The
conference originates from the UNITEX Network (1:107/701).
UNITEX operates at 9600(PEP), 2400 and 1200 baud. Our data
phone is (201) 795-0733.
A large portion of the information provided by UNITEX is
generated from information obtained from the interrogation
of both mainframe United Nations databases and Dialcom
database services. We have recently acquired access
privileges to the UNICEF mainframe database in New York and
to the UN databse in Geneva, Switzerland. We designed an
automated procedure that scans several database index files
and then selectively downloads key information areas into
ascii text files. These files are then 'cleaned-up',
edited and parsed for subject headers and TO: fields and
are processed into FTSC compatible echo mail messages.
These in turn are bundled into network packets and then
routed via the network.
In addition to the Echo Mail, we create a weekly file that
consists of all the 'raw' source material that goes into the
UNITEX Echo as 'official' news source material. Since we
create these files every Friday, the naming convention is
analogous to that used in Fidonet for weekly nodediffs and
has the same file extension used for NODEDIFF.A??, etc.
This facilitates file maintenance for those that maintain a
weekly files area. The arced weekly files are called
UNITEX.A?? and are, at present, file requestable from
107/701 between the hours of 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. The file
size ranges from 50K to 150K. If there are many requests for
these files on a weekly basis, other distribution methods
will be arranged.
NOTE:
An important issue that has come up from time-to-time
is whether UNITEX is a read-only conference. The
answer is NO. UNITEX encourages user response and
inquires to the issuses raised. Please see below,
Section C: Conferenece Rules & Guidelines for more
details.
A description and overview of UNITEX will follow.
James Waldron, Ph.D is the Conference Moderator and Senior
Director of UNITEX Network.
Dorothy Nicklus is the Associate Conference Moderator and
Co-director of the UNITEX Network.
UNITEX: Data phone (201) 795-0733
Voice phone (201) 653-2806
FidoNews 6-09 Page 10 27 Feb 1989
A. CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
UNITEX supplies and disseminates information that we obtain
from United Nations mainframe databases and related sources.
We have been a major advocate for the distribution of 'raw',
uncensored and un-edited material obtained from official UN
sources and are palying a key role in the acquistion and
distribution of this information. It consists of UN press
Releases, UN Radio News, International Press News, UNICEF
Press Releases, Electronic Publishing (DIPA) and related
UNICEF documents and Wordwide Disaster News and Relief Plans
from UNDRONET. The conference was establised 18 months ago
and had a limited distribution in the United States, Canada
and Australia. I maintained approximately 12 to 16 direct
links at any given time. Due to the interest generated in
general and to the timely internatioanl news coverage in
specific, vis a vis Soviet-US current affairs,
Nobel Peace Prize Award to UN, renewed interest in US space
efforts, etc., there has been a mushrooming effect resulting
in many requests to receive the UNITEX Echo via the national
'backbone' distribution.
B. CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION
The issues that UNITEX presents are many and are dependent
on current political topics of interest and timely
international news. The key areas that we focus on are the
following:
Human Rights, Disarmament, Amnesty International (Action
Alerts), African News, news from and about 3rd World and
Developing Countries, World Peace Issues, Space News/NASA
and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Worlwide Disaster News &
Relief Programs, Technology Transfer and Information
Exchange, International Ecological and Environmental Issues,
World Health Organization Reports (International health
issues, vaccines, etc), Reports from the General Assembly
and World Bank (International finance, multi-national and
inter-governmental joint ventures, etc)
C. CONFERENCE GUIDELINES and RULES
Currently, the readers of UNITEX are concerned scientists,
educators, teachers and students, as well as governemnt
officials, UN delegates and news journalists. Through the
vehicle of this conference, UNITEX provides information and
promotes information and data exchange on a two-way basis.
One should exercise a certain level of 'diplomacy' when
addressing issues or people in this conference. There is
much to be gained by good-will, patience and understanding
and nothing by rash, insensitive and mindless chatter.
Think before you write and try to make intelligent thought
provoking commentary and stay focused on the issues
presented.
FidoNews 6-09 Page 11 27 Feb 1989
UNITEX welcomes reader replies and user feedback. It is not
a Read-Only conference *but* due to the sensitive nature of
many of the international issues that are addressed and the
scope and breadth of the distribution, it is strongly
*advised* that the UNITEX Area allow only *private* replies
to UNITEX (107/701) via netmail to allow for appropriate
conference moderation. Individual inquires of a specific
nature can be sent via netmail to UNITEX. Systems running
Confmail or MGM as an echomail processor can allow echomail
with private netmail replies. Simply define the UNITEX echo
area as a local private area then Export using Confmail
with UNITEX defined as an echo area in areas.bbs If the
inquires are useful and of a general interest, then we will
publish it in the UNITEX echo. This facilitates conference
moderation since absolute moderation on the backbone is not
possible.
D. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND and PERSPECTIVE
The United Nations plays a key role in several areas, such
as, population and agricultural studies, world health and
medical issues (imunization, new vaccines, treatment
programs, etc), international peace agreements, treaties and
security, international laws, peaceful uses of outer space,
equal rights, human rights and the disemmination of
information and international news. UNITEX is an advocate
for these issuses and is also strongly commited to modern
computer applications in the areas of software design and
network development. Apart from our main goals as
technology and information providers, UNITEX helps to make
the goals and efforts of the United Nations more widely
know, add to international understanding and reduce or
eliminate misunderstanding.
International news and new technological developments
occuring in both the industrialized nations and in the
developing nations is transmitted by UNITEX to all direct
private links as well as to the Fidonet backbone
distribution system.
E. PURPOSE
INFORMATION and THE CHALLENGE OF THE 90's
The following is a summary of several points that were
introduced by UNITEX to be discussed at the United Nations
Special Session on Information occurring on
June 13 - June 27, 1988:
Advances in communications technology has exacerbated the
gap between the developed and developing countries.
Information and communications in an interdependent world
effect the economy, trade, culture and the development of a
nation. Aside from this, confusion about the United Nations
FidoNews 6-09 Page 12 27 Feb 1989
is enormous.
The ever widening gulf that exists between the developed
industrialized nations and the undeveloped countries has
been referred to as the "North-South information
inequality". A pre-occupied concern of the developing
countries is freedom of information (article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and the information
inequality that currently exists. To address these specific
areas of concern, the UN has referred to the general topic
of international co-operation and communication as the "New
World Information and Communication Order" Co-operation
between the North-South will provide the developing
countries with up-to-date know-how and assist in the
dissemination of fair coverage of the news about developing
nations.
Hopefuflly, UNITEX and the asscoiated nodes that link into
this conference can help narrow this gap using effective,
low-cost communication technology and decentralized wide-
area networks that are a trademark of both the
microcomputer networks (FidoNet) and the uucp networks
(UseNet, etc).
F. ASSOCIATED FILES
Much of the original material that goes into the UNITEX Echo
is abstracted from our weekly source text files (created
from UN database sources) and are named UNITEX.A??. Since
we create these files every Friday, the naming convention
is analogous to that used in Fidonet for weekly nodelists
and has the same file extension used for NODEDIFF.A??, etc.
This will facilitate your file maintenance should you desire
to acquire these files. At the present time, they can be
file requested from 107/701 between the hours of midnight
and 3:00 AM. The file size ranges from 50K to 150K. If
there are many requests for these files on a weekly basis,
other distribution methods will be arranged.
If there are any questions on any of this material, please
direct them, via private netmail to:
James Waldron
Director, UNITEX
Fidonet 1:107/701
Alternet 7:520/701
uucp --> Fidonet rutgers!rubbs!107!701!James_Waldron
uucp --> UNITEX rutgers!rubbs!unitex
waldron@newport.rutgers.edu or
cucard!dasys1!jwaldron
TCN 4005
FidoNews 6-09 Page 13 27 Feb 1989
Thank you for your co-operation and support...........
----------------------------------------------------------------
UNITEX is including the following article by Kevin Axleson
to best describe the role of UNITEX as a host system
for Action Alerts produced by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL:
SUBJECT: ai announcement for fidonews
---------------------------------------------
An Invitation to Sponsor Amnesty International Activities on
your Fido BBS
AI is a worldwide nongovernmental organization working for
human rights. When AI learns of a person anywhere in the
world who is being tortured, executed, held incommunicado
("disappeared") by unidentified abductors, or detained for
non-violent political reasons, AI's millions of members
worldwide work together to pressure the responsible
government officials to cease the abuse.
The reality of human rights abuse around the world is that
many people suffer terrible fates in anonymity. AI counters
this by making real peoples' situations known and by coming
rapidly to their protection. AI members have this great
influence in the fate of others by virtue of specific and
timely alerts members receive from AI's headquarters in
London. These alerts tell who is suffering, what background
there is on the situation, what international principles and
protections can be requested on the victim's behalf, and
exactly which government officials to write to.
There are 400,000 members of AIUSA, 2,000 regularly meeting
groups, and a number of specialized activities for medical,
legal and other tasks related to defending prisoners. One
of these activities is the "Urgent Action Network", which we
invite you to consider hosting on your Fido BBS.
We at the Urgent Action Network office postal-mail alerts
about the most serious human rights concerns to a network of
12,000 persons in the USA. These alerts are telexed direct
to us from AI's HQ, and often tell of persons who may be
under torture or in other dire situations at the very moment
we mail the alert.
In addition to the US Postal network, we offer about 3
"Urgent Action Alerts" a week to computer users over a
growing network of hosting electronic communications
systems. We have delivered these alerts consistently now
for a year and a half since we started on PeaceNet. In
approaching the extensive world of PC BBSes, we have decided
not to place this information over traditional echoes, but
to offer it by file polling for systems who would be willing
to work with us to present our information effectively and
FidoNews 6-09 Page 14 27 Feb 1989
work with AI letterwriters on their systems.
If you run a BBS which has a community interested in social
issues, you may find our information to be a meaningful
service to your readers. We invite you to contact us if you
would like more information. We would like to have Fido BBS
hosts throughout the USA. You would only need to make one
file poll a week, receiving from 25 to 50kchar at up to 9600
baud, to participate effectively in the Online Urgent Action
Network.
You may examine our basic materials in file area 6 of the
UNITEX BBS 1:107/701 and 7:520/701, located in New Jersey,
phone 201-795-0733. We will be adding information to
deepen the experience for letter writers; what you will see
here is our simplest offering. Our information is also
posted on many large commercial systems, most accessible of
which might be CompuServe's "issuesforum", data library 15.
Please do not repost these materials, rather, contact us to
be tied in directly.
The coordinator of the "Online Urgent Action Network" for
AIUSA is Kevin Axelson, who may be reached at UNITEX:
107/701 kevin axelson, CompuServe: 76414,447, and uucp:
!rutgers!hombre!kaxelson. If you have difficulty with any
of these connections, you may also telephone to the UA
office at 303-440-0913, between 9AM and 5PM weekdays,
Mountain Standard Time.
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 15 27 Feb 1989
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
YACK
Yet Another Complicated Komment
by Steven K. Hoskin
( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
Episode 22: Why Anyone Would Run a BBS
Yes, this is a strange hobby we partake in. We spend a lot of
money to buy a computer. Then we spend more money getting a hard
disk for it. We spend more money getting a modem. Then we
discover bulletin boards and decide to run one. In some cases,
this warrants more hard drive and maybe a faster modem. More
money invested in this computer. We fight with unfriendly
software and poor documentation. We struggle with utilities to
make our boards run more the way we'd like them to, and we change
software when something new comes out that does something we'd
like. We spend hours setting up programs and control files. We
wait anxiously for certain events to happen which, due to
cost-effectiveness, must occur at wee hours of the o-dark
hundred. We babysit and lament our machines, and tinker
incessantly with the configurations. And we argue and complain
about the way things are or are not done. All this just to make
our computers able to be used by OTHER people.
Now wait a minute. Where's the logic?
Well, as most of the diehards will tell you, it's the sheer joy
of running a BBS. For some, helping other people (i.e., the
users) is where the joy is at. For some, it's the mastery of the
system and software. For others, it's the pure challenge of
technowizardry. And for some it's just a neat idea.
It's a hobby. No matter how you look at it, it is a hobby. Some
take it more seriously than others, but in all respects it can be
lived without. It's a way to fill up some spare time. Okay, ALL
of your spare time. But it's a time filler. That's all.
Everything else - the helping part, the mastery part, the
challenge part, the nostalgia - these things are extra benefits
obtained by running a BBS.
Unfortunately, as with most things in life, the benefits are
accompanied by some drawbacks: The late hours, the frustrating
configuration processes, the flames, the hardware investments,
the hackers trying to break in and the viruses that succeed. YOU
have to decide whether or not it's worth it for you. Do the
benefits outweigh the drawbacks in YOUR mind? If not, don't run
a BBS. Run a Point node or just be a user. But don't complain
to me because you made a bad choice. You made it.
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 16 27 Feb 1989
=================================================================
LATEST VERSIONS
=================================================================
Latest Software Versions
Bulletin Board Software
Name Version Name Version Name Version
Fido 12K* Opus 1.03b TBBS 2.1
QuickBBS 2.03 TPBoard 5.0 TComm/TCommNet 3.2
Lynx 1.22 Phoenix 1.3 RBBS 1.71D
Network Node List Other
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.90C* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32
SEAdog 4.50* MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 2.0*
BinkleyTerm 2.00 Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
D'Bridge 1.10 XlatList 2.90* TPB Editor 1.21
FrontDoor 2.0 XlaxNode 2.32* TCOMMail 2.0
PRENM 1.40 XlaxDiff 2.32* TMail 8901*
ParseList 1.30 UFGATE 1.02*
GROUP 2.04*
EMM 1.40
MSGED 1.96
* 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.
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 17 27 Feb 1989
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
8 May 1989
Digital Equipment Corporations User Society (DECUS) will be
holding its semi-annual symposium in Atlanta, GA. Runs
through May 12. As usual sysop's will get together and chat.
19 May 1989
Start of EuroCon III at Eindhoven, The Netherlands
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
24 Aug 1989
FidoCon '89 starts at the Holiday Inn in San Jose,
California. Trade show, seminars, etc. Contact 1/89
for info.
5 Oct 1989
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 18 27 Feb 1989
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
18 Andrew Adler 1:135/47 Bob Swift 1:140/24
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
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FidoNews 6-09 Page 19 27 Feb 1989
__
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
PO Box 41143
St Louis, Missouri 63141
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 second elected Board of Directors
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
input to this Conference.
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