Volume 4, Number 35 14 September 1987 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings 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. Copyright 1987 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. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 What's IFNA Done for Me? ................................. 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 A Call for Volunteers .................................... 3 FCC EchoMail Conference .................................. 4 MegaList: A Sysop's Answer To Finding Utilities .......... 5 Research in Shareware -- A Questionnaire ................. 6 3. COLUMNS .................................................. 20 The Regular Irregular Column ............................. 20 Origin: Angevin Empire ................................... 24 4. NOTICES .................................................. 25 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 25 Latest Software Versions ................................. 25 IFNA Order Form .......................................... 26 IFNA Membership Application .............................. 27 FidoNews 4-35 Page 1 14 Sep 1987 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= What's IFNA Done for Me? IFNA (the International FidoNet Association) has been in existance for over a year now. In that time, what has it accomplished that's worth anything? Offhand it doesn't look like much has happened. Oh, there's been lots of talk about what IFNA could do someday, or what it might do if we want, but what has it actually done so far? Not much, by all appearances. But there's more than meets the eye. Here are few things that IFNA does for us right now: 1) Non-profit status. This was the main impetus for forming IFNA in the first place. People sent in money to help with the expenses, but it showed up on Ken Kaplan's income tax return as extra income, and the expenses were not deductible. Yes, I know that our tax-exempt status has not been approved yet, but in the meanwhile we have a sort of "provisional" tax exempt status, until the IRS makes up its mind. (This could actually work against Ken if the IRS turns us down. The IRS has a nasty habit of deciding that it never was exempt after all, and then demanding back taxes with penalties and interest.) 2) Limited liability on nodelist compilation. This is more important than it sounds. Suppose someone sends in a node list update that has someone's voice number in it? Before, the guy who publishes the list (first Tom Jennings, later Ken Kaplan, and now Ben Baker) could have been held personally liable for damages. Now it's IFNA that bears the brunt. IFNA could possibly be destroyed by such a lawsuit, but at least Ben won't loose his house. 3) Limited liability on FidoNews. This one is near and dear to my heart. I don't always have time to look over the articles before they are published, so it's not that unlikely for something legally actionable to slip through. Twice that I know of someone sent in an article that contained copyrighted material. One I caught in time, the other slipped through. Then there's always the possibility that a submitted article could result in a lawsuit for libel. I like publishing FidoNews, but if you don't mind I'd really rather not put my own neck on a chopping block. 4) Accountability. This is probably the single most important thing that IFNA does for sysops. Prior to IFNA becoming a membership organization, there was no accountability. The people at the top could do whatever they wanted, and nobody had anything to say about it. But now IFNA provides a structure where the people at the very top are directly FidoNews 4-35 Page 2 14 Sep 1987 accountable to the sysops. 5) Orderly changes in management. This especially is something that is not readily apparent, but is quite important. There never used to be any mechanism for the people at the top to be replaced in an orderly fashion. Now there is, and it's even happened. Ken Kaplan used to be the International Coordinator and the President of IFNA. One of the first things the new board did was to replace him in those positions, making Ben Baker the International Coordinator and Don Daniels the President of IFNA. So what has IFNA done for me lately? A few things. Nothing flashy, nothing broad and obvious, just a few things that really needed to be done. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 3 14 Sep 1987 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Need Volunteers For Membership Services Committee ------------------------------------------------- Phil Ardussi 1:157/1 IFNA By Laws state, "The Membership Services Committee performs studies and makes recommendations to the Board, and acts as advisor to the President, with regard to services provided to individual members, other than publications and including, but not limited to the ANNUAL MEETING." We will need several sub committees. One of them is to make recommendations to the Board of Directors no later than 12/31/87 on the site(s) for the next FidoCon. Another subcommittee, already established, will be responsible for keeping the membership roster. This important job will be done by Norm Henke, 157/200. Moreover, I believe we should also be responsible and accountable for the distribution of software sold in connection with IFNA membership. Other areas will probably include membership development, membership communications, and other jobs which might come to your mind as you read this and think about our responsibility. I need to hear from you no later than 9/9/87 if you wish to serve. If your response is positive, please at the same time set up an EchoMail conference for your board only called MEMSER. We will use that for communicating and I will serve as the center of the star topology. Suggestions, comments, anyone? Volunteers gratefully accepted. Phil Ardussi 1:157/1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 4 14 Sep 1987 Jim Cannell 128/13 FCC ECHOMAIL CONFERENCE The threat to FidoNet of additional access charges to value added carriers as proposed by the FCC in Docket No. 87-215 is real. A large number of us use such services as GTE's PC Pursuit. An additional $5.00 an hour charge there will price it out of the range of most FidoNet sysops. What can we do about this threat? There is the usual method of writing letters to the FCC Commissioners, as well as Senators and Representatives. A better solution exists. Let's use the tools of FidoNet itself to fight our battle. On the COSUG BBS system (128/13), we have established an FCC EchoMail conference to discuss how the actions of the FCC and other regulatory agencies affect the world of data communications. Any node may participate in the conference as long as the following ground rules are observed: 1. Keep the discussion topics on the subject of telecommunications regulation. 2. No flames or personal attacks will be tolerated. Discuss the issues, not the personalities. 3. All messages entered into this area will be forwarded to the FCC as well as Representatives and Senators involved in Telecommunications policy. If you ask that a particular message not be forwarded to the FCC or that your name be witheld, that request will be honored. 4. Any node forwarding this conference to other nodes may not alter the contents of any of the messages. You can do what you want with the area after you have forwarded it. We invite all of you to participate in the FCC Echo. Since FidoNet has telecommunications power distributed among all BBS sysops and users, we are a very real threat to the bureaucratic mind that wants to run everything from Washington. Let's keep the power of communication away from centralized authority, and use our combined effort to defeat the FCC. There are several nodes around the country already carrying the FCC EchoMail Conference, including some of the backbone nodes. If you are not able to get the conference from your regular EchoMail connection, send a message to me at 128/13 and we'll get you connected. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 5 14 Sep 1987 Gene Coppola The Big Gulp, 107/246 MegaList: A Sysop's Answer To Finding Utilities Chris was in one of his more creative moods the other day; he's finally written a system that I've wanted for quite some time now: MegaList. The "MegaList" is an alphabetized file listing that combines the files from ALL PARTICIPATING Fido/Opus systems. If you've ever needed a file, but didn't know where to find it, the MegaList is a good place to look; scan down the list for the file you need, and listed next to it are the BBSs that have it online. The MegaList is available for download or SEAdog file request from 135/68 or 107/246. The following files are online now: MEGALIST.ARC/TXT The National (unfiltered) MegaList MEGA-ARC.ARC/TXT The National ARChive MegaList ML-UPD.ARC MegaList Update Software (Latest) YOUR system can be added to the NATIONAL MegaList if you simply run the update program, ML-UPD. This program will create an update file based on YOUR system information and FILES.BBS contents. This data is then ARCed and Net-mailed to 135/68 for central collection. The NATIONAL MegaList is updated each day at 6:15AM and posted for download or file request. Placing your system in the MegaList will let the rest of the world know what's on your system without everyone having to call and look. The ML-UPD program is easy and only takes about 1-2 minutes to run. All you must do is send a MegaList update to Miami at least once every 45 days, and you will be in the daily MegaList update. This software is great for regions and nets as well. We here in net 107 have started our own Megalist called (FILES107.ARC from 107/246) which contains all the latest software for OPUS/Fido sysops. While this is primarily for Net 107 Sysops, we can incorporate our files into the national MegaList as well. In the case of Net 107, participating systems send 107/246 there updates who then uses the ML-COL software to prepare our own MegaList. I think this is a GREAT concept which should be put to use by every Net and or Region. Imagine if you, a complete list of all the software on every Fido/Opus system ! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 6 14 Sep 1987 Jay Mendell Fido 135/6 FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Boca Raton, Florida 33431 Dr. Jay S. Mendell, Professor of Public Administration Office (305) 393-3674, Rotates to Secretary on 5th Ring Home, YOUR BEST BET, (305) 755-8928, Okay to Try from 9 to 9, Seven Days FidoNet 135/6 Usenet jay@ankh.UUCP David Georgoff, Ph.D., Professor of Marketing September 5, 1987 We are trying to collect the facts about the shareware phenomenon, so we have written the attached questionnaire. We desperately need to hear from as many shareware authors and publishers as we can. IF YOU ARE A SHAREWARE AUTHOR OR PUBLISHER, YOU CAN HELP BY PRINTING THE ENCLOSED QUESTIONNAIRE TO PAPER AND ANSWERING ALL OUR QUESTIONS AND MAILING US THE RESULTS. WE WILL SEND THE TABULATED RESULTS TO ANY ADDRESS YOU REQUEST, AND WE WILL PAY THE POSTAGE. IF YOU ARE A SHAREWARE USER, YOU CAN HELP BY COPYING THIS FILE TO AS MANY BULLETIN BOARDS AS YOU CAN. IF YOU SEND US A STAMPED (2 OZ.), ADDRESSED ENVELOPE, WE WILL SEND YOU THE TABULATED RESULTS. MARK THE ENVELOPE "SHAREWARE." After we have received the answers to our questions, we will send the tabulated results to every shareware author or publisher we have heard from, and every shareware user who sends us a stamped (assume 2 oz.), addressed envelope. We will also offer the results in the FidoNet newsletter, and we will encourage circulation on bulletin boards. If we have received at least 200 questionnaires by December 15, 1987, we will use our vacation to tabulate the results and start mailing them out. But it will never be too late to write us. As soon as we have collected these facts Jay Mendell will tabulate the results and send you or anyone you designate a summary copy Later, Dave Georgoff will add material on the theory of marketing channels and send our article to a scholarly journal in the marketing field. So, if you answer our questionnaire, you will very quickly receive the direct benefit of comparing yourself with our other respondents (this should help you make better business decisions), and you will help marketing professors understand FidoNews 4-35 Page 7 14 Sep 1987 what shareware means to their field. A project like this depends on our hearing from as many authors and publishers of shareware as possible. We really do need your answers. Remember, you will soon be reading the tabulated answers others have given to these questions. Following the ethics of university researchers, We will treat the information you give us as strictly confidential. We will never identify you by name or violate your confidences by writing about you in a way that might permit others to identify you. In fact, we wil never actually be sure who you are, since we are not asking for your own name, just the name and address of someone we can mail the tabulated results to. Although the questionnaire is long, many of the questions can be answered with a checkmark. If you want to communicate with us electronically, direct a message to JAY MENDELL at FidoNet node 135/6 or jay@ankh.UUCP on usenet. Jay checks his net mail daily. PART ONE: PLEASE TELL US HOW YOU SPEND YOUR TIME AND MAKE A LIVING. 1. We want to know if you are involved fulltime or part- time in authoring or publishing shareware. Please tell us how you (the principal author or publisher) divide your time between the development of shareware and other income producing activities. Outside employment _________________ hr/wk in someone else's employ Self-employment in shareware _________________ hr/wk Self-employment other than in shareware _________________ hr/wk Activities that support all the above but cannot be allocated __________________ hr/wk 2. During the last year, what percentage of your income came from each of the items below? These figures should add up to 100%. They refer to the situation of the principal author or publisher. FidoNews 4-35 Page 8 14 Sep 1987 Working with computers for someone else _______________ % Working for someone else, not with computers _______________ % Self-employment, not in computers _______________ % Self-employment in shareware ________________ % Self-employment, in computers, outside shareware ________________ % Other income (Investment, etc. Use your own words) _________________ % __________________________________________________ 3. Is the principal author or publisher involved with coauthors in the development of shareware? _________ Yes. Extensively involved _________ Yes. Involved to a degree. _________ No. 4. Does the principal author or publisher currently employ others to assist in the administration of shareware activities? ____________ Yes (GO TO QUESTION 5) ____________ No (GO TO QUESTION 6) 5. If you answered yes to question 4 directly above: (a) How many individuals are employed by the principal in the administration of the shareware activities? Allocate their time (e.g., one half-time employee engaged full-time in shareware plus one full-time employee engaged half-time on shareware equal one full-time equivalent employee). ___________ Number of full-time equivalent employees FidoNews 4-35 Page 9 14 Sep 1987 (Okay to use decimals and fractions.) (b) What is the current weekly total of salaries and commissions allocated to your shareware activities? Do not include money drawn by the principal. $__________ Total weekly salaries and commissions you allocate to shareware. PART TWO: PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS AND PRICES. 6. Please list here the various shareware products you have authored or published. Include discontinued programs. Tell us the price or donation requested from an individual user for each product. (This would be the price for the fullest support you provide, such as manual, AND update service, AND phone queries, and so forth.) TYPE NUMBER OF PRODUCTS AVERAGE PRICE OF THIS TYPE Word Processing_____ _________________ $______________ Spreadsheet_________ _________________ $______________ Database____________ _________________ $______________ Communications______ _________________ $______________ Graphics____________ _________________ $______________ Finance/Real Estate_ _________________ $______________ Accounting__________ _________________ $______________ Statistical_________ _________________ $______________ Utilities and Others (Describe)__________ _________________ $_______________ ____________________ _________________ $______________ ____________________ _________________ $______________ You may add a sheet to the end of this questionnaire, if we haven't provided sufficient room, or if our categories don't fit your product. 7. Have you discontinued marketing any of the above software? If you have, please tell us why. Do not bother to explain versions replaced by improvements. TYPE OF PRODUCT DISCONTINUED REASON ____________________ ______________________________________ ____________________ ______________________________________ ____________________ ______________________________________ ____________________ ______________________________________ ____________________ ______________________________________ FidoNews 4-35 Page 10 14 Sep 1987 ____________________ ______________________________________ ____________________ ______________________________________ 8. Considering the value to the users, do you feel most shareware (not just your own) is currently priced: _______ Very high _______ High _______ Somewhat high _______ About right _______ Somewhat low _______ Low _______ Very low 9. Considering the financial condition of the users, do you feel most shareware (not just your own) is currently priced: _______ Very high _______ High _______ Somewhat high _______ About right _______ Somewhat low _______ Low _______ Very low 10. Considering the effort, creativity, and investment of the authors, do you feel most shareware (not just your own) is currently priced: _______ Very high _______ High _______ Somewhat high _______ About right _______ Somewhat low _______ Low _______ Very low 11. Have you ever had to raise or lower the price of a product? _____ Yes, priced too high or low for value to users. _____ Yes, priced too high or low for finances of users. _____ Yes, priced too high or low in terms of my input of effort, creativity, and financial investment. _____ Yes, priced to high or low for other reasons. FidoNews 4-35 Page 11 14 Sep 1987 Explain: ___________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ _____ No, have never raised or lowered our prices. PART THREE. TELL US ABOUT GETTING STARTED IN SHAREWARE. 12. Which of the following statements best describes your goal for the shareware you have authored or published. Select only the best answer. _______ Developed it solely to make a profit on its sale. _______ Developed it for other than profit, but expected to make a profit on its sale. _______ Developed it for other than profit, but hoped to make a profit on its sale. _______ Did not expect to make a profit on its sale. _______ Other objective (in your words) ____________________ _____________________________________________________ 13. How much did you (the principal and any investors) initially invest to launch your shareware authoring and publishing venture, based on dollars invested over and above your other computer activities? DO NOT INCLUDE hardware or software purchases unless they were specifically required to support your shareware venture. DO NOT INCLUDE salary or commissions or other income you gave up or passed up in order to launch this venture. $ ______________________ 14. How would you rate your ability to calculate the above figure using sound accounting principles? ________ I based answers on very careful accounting ________ Some accounting principles were understood and taken into consideration ________ A rough estimate probably resulted in a roughly accurate answer ________ A very approximate calculation was made. FidoNews 4-35 Page 12 14 Sep 1987 15. How pleased are you with the return you have so far received on your shareware venture? In this question, DO take into account salaries, commissions, and other opportunities that were foregone to launch the shareware venture. _______ Very pleased with my return _______ Somewhat pleased with my return _______ Somewhat displeased with my return _______ Very displeased with my return 16. Do you intend to continue to author and publish software? Check all the answers that apply. __________ I plan to continue in shareware by disseminating fully functioning programs and hoping for donations. ---------- I plan to disseminate demonstration programs and require a contribution to furnish full featured versions. ---------- I plan to "graduate" to fully commercial distribution, with no samples, demos, or shareware. __________ Other: ____________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ PART FOUR. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDES, VALUES, AND BELIEFS Let us know how strongly you agree or disagree with each statement, by circling the appropriate answers. 17. I enjoy working for a large organization, or I think I would. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 18. Commercial advertis- ing,marketing, and product promotion are, by and large, misleading and FidoNews 4-35 Page 13 14 Sep 1987 are intended to confuse people. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 19. I would consider myself more of a "technical" than a "business" person. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 20. I can accept close super- vision of my work. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 21. I consider myself very creative. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 22. I enjoy taking risks and I admire risktakers. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 23. Most entrepreneurs are imprudent risktakers. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 24. If you commit yourself to the interests of an organization, the organization will take advantage of you. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 25. Most organizations recognize and reward merit. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 26. Commercial advertising, marketing, and product promotion are, generally, ineffective. FidoNews 4-35 Page 14 14 Sep 1987 Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 27. A really good product doesn't need advertising and marketing to succeed. Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree Agree Disagree Disagree Disagree 28. What percentage of people do you think pay for shareware that they use? ___________ % 29. What percentage of people do you think pay for the commercially distributed software that they use? __________ % 30. Has your authoring and publishing changed your sentiment toward people? _________ I am more cynical about people _________ I feel about the same toward people _________ I am less cynical about people 31. Do you pay for shareware that you use regularly? _________ Always _________ Sometimes _________ Seldom ________ Never PART FIVE. PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT MARKETING AND WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IN MARKETING Have you had education and experience in marketing? None Some Considerable ____________________________________ 32. Marketing Education ____ _____ ____ FidoNews 4-35 Page 15 14 Sep 1987 33. Marketing Experience ____ _____ ____ 34. Do you collect any of the following information on commercially distributed products that compete with your own? _________ Collect and study sales figures, market share ________ Study product reviews _________ Obtain the product and test it 35. Do you collect any of the following information on shareware products that compete with your own? _________ Collect and study sales figures, market share ________ Study product reviews _________ Obtain the product and test it 36. Before developing a new product, have you ever conducted a systematic survey of what users might need? Check all the applicable answers _____________ Conduct systematic surveys of prospective users. _____________ Conduct an informal survey of prospective users. _____________ Extensively discuss product availabilities and/or user needs with other people in computers. _____________ Collect information on sales and market trends and developments. _____________ Systematically evaluate new hardware. ______________ Do little or none of the above, but depend on intuition and "gut feel" for the business. 37. What is needed most in shareware? Check UP TO THREE ITEMS. ____________ Daring new approaches ____________ Extensions or refinements of existing commercial products. FidoNews 4-35 Page 16 14 Sep 1987 ____________ Integration or combination of existing commercial products. ____________ Inexpensive versions of successful commercial products. ____________ Simplified versions of successful commercial products. ____________ Other. Please describe: _____________________________ ______________________________________________ ____________ Shareware is in a class by itself and should not imitate commercial products. 38. And how would you describe your products? _________ Daring new approaches _________ Extensions or refinements of existing commercial products. _________ Integration or combination of existing commercial products. ________ Inexpensive versions of successful commercial products. ________ Simplified versions of successful commercial products. _________ Other. Please describe: _________________________ _________________________________________ _________ Shareware is in a class by itself and should not imitate commercial products. PART SIX; PLEASE TELL US HOW YOU LAUNCH AND SUPPORT YOUR PRODUCTS 39. How do you launch your products? Please check all applicable answers. Don't tell us where you hope your shareware will end up. Tell us where you put it yourself. _____________ Post them on my own bulletin board FidoNews 4-35 Page 17 14 Sep 1987 _____________ Post them on local bulletin boards _____________ Post them on bulletin boards nationally _____________ Post them on CompuServe, The Source, etc. Please list here the national services __________________________ __________________________ ____________ Distribute them to users groups ____________ Give copies to friends ____________ Advertise ____________ Other 40. Do you maintain your own bulletin board? ____________ (Y or N) 41. How do you support your product? Check all applicable answers ________ Dedicated bulletin board ________ Telephone voice calls during business hours ________ Telephone voice calls evenings and/or weekends ________ Electronic messages via bulletin boards ________ Electronic messages via Compuserve, etc. 41. Would you say your products require of the user more or less computer expertise than commercial products? ______________ Require more computer expertise ______________ Require same expertise ______________ Require less expertise PART FIVE. THE $64,000 QUESTION 42. How do you think you stand in gross volume, compared with others in shareware? ________ Top 10%. Doing better than 90% of competition. FidoNews 4-35 Page 18 14 Sep 1987 ________ Top 25%. Doing better than 75% of competition. ________ Top 50%. Doing better than 50% of competition. ________ Bottom 50% PART SIX. A FEW MORE IMPERTINENT QUESTIONS, FOR THE STATISTICIANS 43. Your age in years _______________ 44. Your sex ________________________ (Male or female) 45. Extent of formal education _______ Did not complete high school _______ Completed high school _______ Some college, no degree. _______ Graduated junior college. Major ___________ _______ Graduate four-year program. Major _________ _______ Masters degree. Major ______________ _______ Ph.D., Ed.D., J.D., etc. Major __________ 46. How many years of work experience and/or supporting self? __________ years. 47. In what industry are you currently employed? _________ 48. What is your current position in that industry? ______ 49. Where did you encounter this questionnaire (name of bulletin board, areacode, phone, city and state.) __________________________________________________________ On what date did you encounter it? ______________________ My U. S. Mail address is Dr. Jay S. Mendell College of Business and Public Administration FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Boca Raton, Florida 33431 My FidoNet address is Jay Mendell, Node 135/6 Usenet jay@ankh.UUCP I answer my net-mail daily. FidoNews 4-35 Page 19 14 Sep 1987 May we please have the name and address to which you want the tabulated results sent? We will not assume that they are YOUR name and address. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Thanks for your help. Integration or combination of existing commercial products. ____________ Inexpensive versions of successful commercial products. ____________ Simplified versions of successful commercial products. ____________ Other. Please describe: _____________________________ ______________________________________________ ____________ Shareware is in a class by itself and should not imitate commercial products. 38. And how would you describe your products? _________ Daring new approaches _________ Extensions or refinem ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 20 14 Sep 1987 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= -- The Regular Irregular Column -- Dale Lovell 157/504 I'm going to use this first paragraph to bring my initial FidoCon report to a close. Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy catching up at work for the two days I missed while I was at the convention. But, even if it had taken a month to get things back to "normal" it would have been worth it! For those of you who were unable to attend, I know I missed meeting you. While in some ways this electronic medium is superior to meetings and get togethers, being able to associate a face with a name makes everything seem a little bit more real. The electronic medium is also missing much that is present in face-to-face conversations. Differences and problems seem to quickly fade once you physically meet and talk to someone. For those of you I missed at FidoCon and those who couldn't make it, I hope to have a chance to meet you at next year's FidoCon. Enough with that for now, and on with the column. -- Fast Forward (Mark Williams Co., List $69.95) -- In a past issue someone else examined several of the disk cache programs available today. After reading the article, I decided to start looking at a few and see for myself how well they worked. I'm starting off with Fast Forward because on my weekly trip to my local dealer, I came across it (he had just gotten his first shipment in a few days earlier). While this is not the most scientific of methods, it was the most convenient. For those of you who missed the article on caches I'll briefly describe how they work. Normally every time you read information off a drive; the program tells the computer to go get this information, the computer proceeds to turn on the drive and move the heads to the proper position and read the information off the disk. If a little while later you go and get the same data, the computer follows the identical procedure. In many cases the computer has to get several pieces of information, most programs and data files use more than one section of the disk and the computer then has to move the heads around as it finds all the individual parts of a program or file. Many FidoNet sysops have discovered that a directory is treated as a file and at 800 plus messages being normal in some of the echomail conferences (with each message being a separate file), the directory can become a "little" fragmented. Before the computer can read a message it has to search through the directory and find out where the file starts (with the computer taking several tries just to find out where the file starts). The end result with the larger echomail conferences is that the disk drive starts to sound like a drowning cat. A cache is a memory resident program that can help remove this problem. A cache keeps the most recent disk data in RAM (in FidoNews 4-35 Page 21 14 Sep 1987 my case a little over the last 100K of data). When the program tells the computer to get this data, a cache checks and sees if it already has the data in RAM. If it does, there is no delay. The computer never deals with the physically slow drive. Instead it merely retrieves the data out of the cache memory. Most cache programs allow you to control how much memory is used for the cache and you can "customize" it for your particular purposes. For instance whether you want the floppy drives to be cached, do you want the program to use expanded memory, and of course how much RAM to use. Fast Forward has done very well in the performance department. I know it's cut at least 20% off my echomail processing time (I echo over 25 different conferences to half of my local net). My only disappointment has been that it can't use my AT extended memory, only Lotus/Intel/Microsoft expanded memory. It installed in minutes just by copying the files and running an install program to tell it about my higher logical drives (E:). I also didn't want it caching the floppy drives and wanted to use Alt-F as the hot key for the on-line menu. Fast Forward also gave me three different options on what to do with data being written to the hard drive. The first option is the safest and it always writes the data to the hard drive (as well as saving it in the cache). Option two was to store everything in the cache until the cache filled up and than dump to the disk. I wasn't quite ready to trust this option because if there's a power failure or a system crash, you literally lose all the information that was in the cache. The last option is a comprise between the two, it will dump the cache to disk every couple of minutes and you control length of time. I was willing to try this out and it did work very well. My problem is that I'm not willing to trust everything to a cache that wasn't a write through cache (option 1). I'm not sure what would happen if something went wrong before it had a chance to update a FAT table or a new directory entry, and I don't want to find out. Any sysops out there would be well advised to find a good cache program. As echomail traffic increases you'll have more and more message files in every conference. A good cache program can save your hard drive a lot of wear and tear. The small investment could help keep an expensive piece of equipment working, and I know what it feels like to lose a hard drive (suffice to say it wasn't a pretty sight). Fast Forward was more than up to the tasks I tried it on (echomail processing, indexing databases, etc.) and I'm very satisfied with it. My only complaints are that it doesn't use AT extended RAM and won't work with RLL controllers. Both of these drawbacks are going to be corrected in an upcoming version. -- The Norton On-Line Programmer's Guides (prices vary) -- Peter Norton Computing has brought us another great utility. This time it's aimed primarily at programmers, although it could be used for a variety of purposes. They're online guides for languages and such. They're currently available for BASIC, Pascal, C, and Assembler. I purchased a twin pack of the C and FidoNews 4-35 Page 22 14 Sep 1987 Assembler guides and got four disks. One disk was the Norton Instant Access program, you'll find this disk in all of the packages and can even buy it separately from Norton Computing. My other disks included one disk with the Assembler database and two more disks with C databases, one for Microsoft C and another for Turbo C. The individual databases are available for $50 (the same price as the Instant Access program). Dealer's are being shipped packages which contain the retrieval program and one database and there are two twin packs like I purchased (C and Assembler, and Pascal and Assembler). The guides I've got are very complete. The manuals on my shelf are finally being given a rest. The assembler guide is more complete in some ways than the appendices in "Advanced MS-DOS" by Ray Duncan for Bios and DOS function calls. In short I'm very impressed with Norton's On-Line Guides. There are several options available to you in the Guides. Among them a choice between a half-screen and full screen mode. In the half screen mode the guide will pop-up on the section the cursor isn't, or if the cursor's near the top then the guides will pop up near the bottom. This helps to assure that you can work around the guide. Hot key selection is another choice that I'm glad to see in Norton's Guides. Too many of today's Terminate and Stay Resident programs don't allow you to select their hot key and as a result you're forced to choose between two useful utilities. You're also able to select the database you wish to use, so you can keep several on-line at any point in time. The database itself is stored on your hard drive with only the retrieval program being resident in memory. You also have the capability of creating your own databases (I'm working on a reference for SEAdog so I can finally leave the manual on my shelf). There's also a search capability for the database, so if you know what something does you should be able to get all the information on it. The C reference has been useful since I usually remember the function, but not the calling procedures. In addition to a full description of each function, you also get a small sample piece of code. While most of the descriptions aren't as complete as the original C manuals, it's been a lot easier to keep the Norton Guides on-line rather than having manuals stacked all over my desk. The assembler guides are also very nice. While they only cover the 8088 instruction set, I haven't even mastered 8088 assembly language yet so it should be some time before I need the instruction sets for the 80286 and 80386. In addition to the databases supplied, you can create your own databases. Norton Computing makes it relatively easy to do by including the same utilities they used to create the databases. Let me know how you feel about that SEAdog reference and I'll let everyone know when it's done. Overall I am very impressed with Norton's On-Line Guides and heartily recommend it to anyone who programs (just make sure to get the databases for the languages you use). -- Winding down... -- I came across a good book this past week that actually fits in well with the rest of this column. It's "Supercharging C with FidoNews 4-35 Page 23 14 Sep 1987 Assembly Language" by Harry R. Chesley and Mitchell Waite (The Waite Group/Addison-Wesley, list $22.95). This book can help many of you bridge the gap between being a passable C programmer and a professional quality C/Assembler programmer. C and Assembly language really do fit together very well and Supercharging C helps explain how to optimize your C programs using assembly language. Chesley and Waite go over how to access all of the peripherals we so depend on from both the ROM BIOS and direct hardware manipulation of the devices. They even "develop" a histogram program to help find out where the bottlenecks are in a program. Even if you've never learned about assembly language, but are programming in C for MS-DOS machines, read this book. After trying some of the problems and exercises in the book, I can realize how much I was limiting (and slowing down) my programs by using some generic functions instead of creating a few well written, specific assembly functions. For those C programmer's out there who are just a little curious about assembly language, there's an appendix in the back titled "Appendix A C Programmers' Assembly Language Introduction." Just what some of my friends are going to need, won't they be happy and surprised at me! Sorry for my little vacation here. It feels strange in a way, I finally lived up to the Irregular part of the title! As always I welcome your comments and suggestions. Below you'll find several different addresses for me. For those of you sending FidoNet Netmail, all my inbound mail has to be routed through 157/1 (157/0) as I'm a private node in the nodelist. Next week's column should start catching up on the great stuff I brought back from FidoCon as well as a new game. Dale Lovell 3266 Vezber Drive Seven Hills, OH 44131 FidoNet 1:157/504.1 uucp: decvax\ >!cwruecmp!hal\ cbosgd/ \ >!ncoast!lovell ames\ / talcott \ / >!necntc/ harvard / sri-nic/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 24 14 Sep 1987 O r i g i n : A n g e v i n E m p i r e Issue #2: Users? What Users? Aaron Priven (1:161/1154) Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the movie TRON. Remember that? 'Programs' in the system were told that there weren't really any users, that there was never really anything like a user, and not to worry about them. That reminds me of FidoNet. Now, I'm not saying that nobody cares about the users. But at no level in the structure are the users consulted. There's no place for us to get our views heard, except through our sysop(s). We're not allowed on the INFA echomail, or the sysop echomail, or the private Net echomails. Now I realize there ought to be some private sysopy things ("How to Kill a System" comes to mind) but *surely* there is no reason why the majority of these conferences should be hidden from the ordinary users (unless you're trying to conceal the fact that sysops have tempers!). I myself have had access to many of these areas (thanks to a temporary condition, and very nice sysops) and have not once found anything that had to remain secret. It was never once considered that any user might have an interesting idea or a better way to do things. Maybe they won't -- but you could ask, you know? And node-to-node mail -- talk about sysop-only. I have never heard yet of a sysop who actually made an honest attempt to figure the costs of mail and attempted to deal with the completely unused 'credit' and 'debit' parts of Fido/Opus. Many boards won't even let a user *try* to enter a message -- even to send to a local (no-cost) board! (Reasoning for us doing so: lost passwords, "why are you down".) And file requests and file attaches? Don't even think about it! Enough to make a novice weep. Users are accorded no place in the scheme of things. There's not a user-accessible Netinfo Echomail; there's not an IFNA body; not a drop of mention in POLICY3.DOC (except that it's none of the FidoNet's business what the sysops do locally, which is not relevant here), nothing. There's no room for the rest of us. We don't even belong to Fidonet -- we're just the users! I really don't know what to do about it, since in a material sense the network really *does* belong to the sysops. And even in other senses, too: many of the participants in the echomails are sysops, of course (the Old Frog comes to mind). But not all are. I'm not (yet), for one, although my participation is not all that important (except to me). I don't think any of the professional sf writers on SF and SFFAN conferences are sysops. Most of the professional programmers in ECPROG and the other programming echomails are not sysops. There's a lot of users out there! Don't lock us out! (Another column on a similar subject follows next week.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 25 14 Sep 1987 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.51 EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21 Fido 12* MakeNL 1.10* ARCmail 1.0 Opus 1.03a Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.10* SEAdog 4.10* XlatList 2.84* EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.0 * 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 4-35 Page 26 14 Sep 1987 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each publication, but we can make no written guarantees. IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____ IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____ IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____ Special offers for IFNA members ONLY: System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____ ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member. Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $65.00 _____ ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member. As of November 1, 1987 price will increase to $100. Orders including checks for $65 will be returned after October 31, 1987. SUBTOTAL _____ Missouri Residents add 5.725 % Sales tax _____ International orders include $5.00 for surface shipping or $15.00 for air shipping _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: IFNA P.O. Box 41143 St. Louis, Missouri 63141 USA Name________________________________ Net/Node____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-35 Page 27 14 Sep 1987 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications. ** Name _________________________________ Date ________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Country_______________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Board Name____________________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Baud Rate Supported___________________ Board Restrictions____________________ Special Interests_____________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Is there some area where you would be willing to help out in FidoNet?_______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to: International FidoNet Association P. O. 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 first elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input on this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------