Volume 8, Number 7 18 February 1991 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | FidoNet (r) | | \ \\ | | International BBS Network | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Copyright 1991, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software. FidoNews is published weekly by and for the Members of the FidoNet (r) International Amateur Electronic Mail System. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. 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 a Continuous Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software. Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every responsible submission received. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 And on This Anniversary .................................. 1 Editorial: Support Your Favorite Online Service? ......... 3 Compression method flag? ................................. 6 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 7 InterChange, Getting it there ............................ 7 3. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 9 Latest Software Versions ................................. 9 4. NOTICES .................................................. 14 Sincerest apology, FidoNet ............................... 14 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 14 FidoNews 8-07 Page 1 18 Feb 1991 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Aaron Goldblatt 1:130/20.1102 FidoNet 20:491/223.0 MailNet 45:200/52.0 RATnet And on This Anniversary . . . After seeing my article in FidoNews 806 I decided to do it again. Please forgive me but it's an ego thing. :-) This week I'd like to talk about echomail. Yes, that's right, the method by which we communicate about all sorts of topics from cooking to politics to C++ to idle chatter. If you're like most people you're reading this on Monday evening after a day at work, and today is February 18, 1991. The date is important in this one instance, for last Saturday, as noted in the Interrupt Stack for quite a while, was the fifth anniversary of the introduction of echomail by a man named Jeff Rush. I think it proper that we all take a moment to reflect on what the past five years have brought us as a result of Mr. Rush's scheme of mail transfer. The average user can talk to people as far away as China and Sweden free of charge by just reading and entering a message. The average sysop can do likewise, and also discuss BBS and mailer software, mail processors, doorware, and a host of other things. Echomail is primarily a form of communication. That is what it was intended for, I think - for people to be able to talk to one another using a simple yet powerful medium (those of you still trying to get your mail processors to pack your mail correctly may differ on the simple part, but I think you must admit it is a powerful method of communication). The average message on an international echo could travel around the globe in less that two days, and a reply could be on its way in less than three. Wow - netmail can't do that by its very nature. So just stop and think a moment. Echomail is not a tool by which you may control people ("Do it my way or your feed is history!"), and it is not a vehicle for individual betterment. It is a way to talk - to communicate - to exchange ideas and information. And it seems to have become the very basis of FidoNet. FidoNews 8-07 Page 2 18 Feb 1991 Just stop and think a moment what echomail has done for you. That's all I ask. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-07 Page 3 18 Feb 1991 Jack Decker 1:154/8 SUPPORT YOUR FAVORITE ONLINE SERVICE? [My apologies in advance to those readers located outside of the United States of America, because the following editorial probably won't be of much interest to you, but there is no "Zone 1" or "U.S.A. only" edition of Fidonews.] The following item recently appeared in Communications Week, a telecommunications trade publication: "COALITION PETITIONS FCC - A broad coalition of users and providers of enhanced services last week petitioned the FCC to declare that regulating enhanced-service providers as if they are public utilities is contrary to the public interest. Noting that the District of Columbia Public Service Commission has tentatively concluded that it has the authority to impose tariff requirements and market-entry and -exit rules on enhanced-service providers, the 16 petitioners urged the FCC to pre-empt any such state regulatory action. The District proceeding is prompting some enhanced-service providers to consider restructuring their services 'and possibly restricting offerings in the District,' the petitioners said. Among the petitioners were BT Tymnet Inc., the California Bankers Clearing House Association, CompuServe Inc., Digital Equipment Corp., IBM, the Information Industry Association, MasterCard International Inc., McGraw Hill Inc., Prodigy Services Co. and Visa U.S.A. Inc." [End of quote.] Now, many of us use, or have in the past used enhanced-service providers (we sometimes call them "Packet Switching Networks" or "Online Services"). And, our first inclination might be that we don't really want each of the 50 states setting different regulations and requirements for the various providers. But, there are those of us who remember not so long ago when the enhanced-service providers were asking everyone to lobby the FCC on their behalf, so that they wouldn't have to pay the same types of access charges that voice long distance carriers have to pay to local telephone companies. Telenet (now SprintNet) in particular asked all their users, including users of their PC Pursuit service, to write the FCC on their behalf. The FCC was swamped with letters of protest (as were several congressmen), and plans to levy the access charge were dropped. And how did the enhanced-service providers reward those who had written on their behalf? Well, in Telenet's case, they changed the pricing structure on PC Pursuit so that instead of paying a flat rate for monthly service, you paid a higher rate for a service with a 30 hour cap... and very few of their promises to upgrade equipment in various cities and add new access points were kept (we were promised an indial in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan over two years ago. We're still waiting). To say that a lot of PC Pursuit users felt like they had been shafted FidoNews 8-07 Page 4 18 Feb 1991 is probably more than just a bit of an understatement! Well, there's a pretty good chance that the enhanced-service providers may come around asking for your support again. May I offer a suggestion? Go ahead and write the FCC and urge that the enhanced-service providers be subject to Federal regulation only in all states in which they offer universal access... that is, full access to all their services at the price of a local call, from any point within the state, so that those living in suburban and rural areas are not disadvantaged. In those states where access is not universal, however, the states should have regulatory jurisdiction. What's the rationale behind this? Well, apparently the FCC and the Federal government aren't too interested in seeing that the enhanced-service providers don't "cherry pick" - that is, offer services only in the more lucrative major metropolitan areas and medium-size cities, while ignoring the smaller cities and rural areas. However, the state governments would presumably be somewhat more responsive to the needs of all their residents, including those that live in the outlying areas. The concept of "universal service" has been applied to the telephone industry for quite some time. In many areas, even if you can't reach an alternate long distance carrier by using "dial 1" access, you can get to their switch by using a "950-xxxx" access number, which is generally a free call from anywhere in a LATA (even if you have to dial a "1" or "0" first to make the call go through an older switch). If the long distance carriers can achieve "universal service" (or something very close to it) through use of the "950-" numbers, I wonder why the enhanced-service providers can't put some of their access ports on "950-" numbers, so as to make them available in areas outside of the major cities. The city that I live in has a population of over fifteen thousand, a state university, the headquarters of TWO electric power utilities, the headquarters of two banks plus branch offices of several other financial institutions, and several state and federal offices, all within the local calling area. We are also THE major shopping area for folks living within a 50-mile radius. If none of the enhanced-service providers are interested in providing service here, I can just imagine how long the wait will be for those small towns that have only a couple of gas stations, a small supermarket, and a dry goods store. If the telephone companies offered service the way the packet networks do, I might have to drive 150 miles to make or receive a long distance call! Those of you who are concerned with the environment (specifically, air pollution caused by thousands of automobiles stuck in traffic jams), and who have advocated "telecommuting" (working at home using a computer and modem) as one possible solution should be especially concerned about this. No one is going to pay several dollars an hour in long distance charges to work from their home! So because access to the FidoNews 8-07 Page 5 18 Feb 1991 packet-switching networks is not often available from the "far suburbs" of a city, the workers that have to travel the furthest (and use the most gasoline) are forced by economics to drive to work even when that work could be done from home. So, if you are asked to write to the FCC, please consider making your support conditional upon the enhanced-service providers showing some "corporate responsibility" and not thumbing their collective noses at the smaller cities. It is high time that the enhanced-service providers realized that there is life outside the big cities, and that those folks deserve access, too. As it is, folks in some foreign countries can access U.S. online services and packet networks for less than what it costs folks in some of our own rural areas (in many countries you can access the packet network as a local call from any telephone exchange in the country!). One final note - those of you who only call BBS's and who don't subscribe to any of the online services may wonder why you should even care about this. Well, just keep in mind that some of those great programs that you've downloaded from your favorite BBS (or that your users have uploaded to you, if you're a SysOp) may have originally reached your area through a packet-switching network or online service. The more folks that can economically access such services, the faster new software travels around the world. Besides, someday YOU may have a need to access an online service from somewhere out in the boonies! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-07 Page 6 18 Feb 1991 Kristian (Kris) Stark 1:260/400 1:260/420 As Bruce Gingery noted in his article in FidoNews 806 (Feb 11, 1991), there is still a general problem with file compression. As it is now, there are several different formats being used for compressed files within the net that cannot use the standard compressed file extensions. (ie. ZIP, PAK, ARC etc) This holds true for nodelists/diffs as well as our beloved friends, the mail packets that come. Bruce mentioned the usage in an alternate network of a single character change to make life easier for sysops and others looking for files and how to decompress it. Well, that is all well and good, but something is still lacking. Today, most nodes support compressed mail packets. This is easily determined by looking at the latest nodelist, which will give an indication of what nodes do support ArcMail, and which do not. However, time has passed, and ARC is definately not the best archiving metheod available for use anymore. Many sysops with considerable echo traffic have realized this and have switched to other compression methods for echomail. All well and good for sending mail between known systems, but what about others? Even netmail is starting to move in compressed files, with the all too vague extensions. What decompressor should I use for mail from node x? How about y? What should I use to compress mail for node z? Suggestion? Well, it would seem like the most logical way to take care of this situation would be to add a flag to the nodelist. Yes, it means adding to the size of that already huge file, but I think it would be worth it. Instead of the MN flag (no compression supported), a separate flag could be implemented that would define the preferred compression format for that node. This flag could then be automatically used by programs such as echomail tossers, mailers, and by human users as well. So, my question is -- what to do? This is one suggestion, more are welcome... ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-07 Page 7 18 Feb 1991 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Bruce Gingery FidoNet 1:310/5.1 YAPPPI (Yet another packet proposal - part 1) Our computer telecommunications has been growing by leaps and bounds. FidoNet is officially part of InterNet, with regular gates to everywhere. I believe I even saw an Origin line from Antarctica, as a point from a Zone-3 node not too long ago. The growth is not merely geographical, however. In addition, there are STILL greater varieties of the types and forms of com- munication. While true action video mail remains a twinkle in the eye of some, the NeXT pastes a "lips" icon to a message for far more than the old "sealed with a kiss". Click the lips, and you LISTEN to the digitized accompanying voice mail recording, music or whatever digitized sound has been mailed, in CD quality. Fax machines, and fax boards get faster and finer. More and more detail is included in high resolution graphics images and digitized video, in resolution, in depth of color or graytone, desired transparency, as well as overall height and width. And more and more, the computer is THE hub of it all. With each new development, from the original swapping of a message base, to today's 4-d addressing of all continents, FidoNet is the "compatibility" standard because the people whose heart is in it, do it best. And FidoNet has established a fairness tradition of accepting the new without dropping those who are not yet mechanically able to embrace the new. Because of this also, however, we have MANY proposed standards, and probably should. Though we can extend our hands together to Tom Jennings, no single person could have brought even the readership of this FidoNews together, let alone the uncounted users who actually participate in the Networks to which we are connected by these keyboards and screens. The fast growth has started, and many of the kludges will have to fall behind, just as patches on an outfit are lost when that portion of the clothing is replaced. Yet, in the tradition of FTS-0001, we can not justly abandon anyone who can now partici- pate. In the next several weeks, I will attempt to illustrate how packets, messages, tick-files, compressed mail and these other advances can be smoothly integrated, while leaving the connect- ion OPEN for those who cannot quickly move into these advances. Already, the sheer bulk of the full NodeList makes it nearly impossible for some to "FULLY" participate, but the tree hier- archy makes allowances for that, allowing the use of partial nodelists by those who cannot support the entire list, and even FidoNews 8-07 Page 8 18 Feb 1991 more, POINTing as the rest of the network can reasonably presume Boss routing for unlisted point systems. This proposal IS for two new packet headers, but with a powerful difference. These are equally applicable to packets and the single message, and to the free flow of files of all types without choking the network on unprocessable problems. It also allows for streamlining of processing, at origin, in transit and at the ultimate leaf destination. There has been a tremendous growth of POINT activity, in all zones, but, as I have been told, especially in zone two. In recognition of this, these type-4 and type-5 headers allow for full 4-d addressing. With 4-d addressing, the POINT is, of course, the ultimate "leaf" in the FidoNet tree structure. Full implementation of 4-d addressing allows para-FidoNet direct point-to-point communications, as well as Boss Node pass-through in Leaf-to-Leaf communications. The type-5 header addresses the needed bulk of seen-by and path information, so important in shared ECHO and Group mail. The two headers are as compatible as possible, both with the type-2 FTS- 0001 header, as well as with the FTS-0001 .MSG format, and with nod to the FSC-0007 type-3 proposal. The kludges have grown to fill in what would not fit in the header and may amount in quite a few cases, to more kludge than message. Yet, hobbiest dollars have a far greater affinity to improvements and new items than the moving of information which actually IS useless -- which in the final analysis does NOT contribute either to direct information, nor smooth flow. Many places now, a text word or entire line takes the place of a bit or two, or perhaps 8 bytes. Next week, I'll introduce the proposed flagset, and after that, the headers which it helps to identify. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-07 Page 9 18 Feb 1991 ================================================================= LATEST VERSIONS ================================================================= Latest Software Versions MS-DOS Systems -------------- Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version DMG 2.93 Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5g Fido 12s+ QuickBBS 2.66 TBBS 2.1 GSBBS 3.02 RBBS 17.3B TComm/TCommNet 3.4 Lynx 1.30 RBBSmail 17.3B Telegard 2.5 Kitten 2.16 RemoteAccess 0.04a TPBoard 6.1 Maximus 1.02 SLBBS 1.77A Wildcat! 2.55 Opus 1.14+ Socrates 1.10 WWIV 4.12 PCBoard 14.5 XBBS 1.15 Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version BinkleyTerm 2.40 EditNL 4.00 ARC 7.0 D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.31 ARCAsim 2.30 Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ARCmail 2.07 FrontDoor 1.99c Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00 PRENM 1.47 SysNL 3.14 Crossnet v1.5 SEAdog 4.51b XlatList 2.90 DOMAIN 1.42 TIMS 1.0(Mod8) XlaxDiff 2.35 EMM 2.02 XlaxNode 2.35 4Dog/4DMatrix 1.18 Gmail 2.05 GROUP 2.16 GUS 1.30 HeadEdit 1.15 InterPCB 1.31 LHARC 1.13 MSG 4.1 MSGED 2.06 MSGTOSS 1.3 Oliver 1.0a PK[UN]ZIP 1.10 QM 1.0 QSORT 4.03 Sirius 1.0x SLMAIL 1.36 StarLink 1.01 TagMail 2.41 TCOMMail 2.2 Telemail 1.27 FidoNews 8-07 Page 10 18 Feb 1991 TMail 1.15 TPBNetEd 3.2 TosScan 1.00 UFGATE 1.03 XRS 4.00* XST 2.2 ZmailH 1.14 OS/2 Systems ------------ Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Maximus-CBCS 1.02 BinkleyTerm 2.40 Parselst 1.32 ConfMail 4.00 EchoStat 6.0 oMMM 1.52 Omail 3.1 MsgEd 2.06 MsgLink 1.0C MsgNum 4.14 LH2 0.50 PK[UN]ZIP 1.02 ARC2 6.00 PolyXARC 2.00 Qsort 2.1 Raid 1.0 Remapper 1.2 Tick 2.0 VPurge 2.07 Xenix/Unix ---------- BBS Software Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version BinkleyTerm 2.30b Unzip 3.10 ARC 5.21 ParseLst 1.30b ConfMail 3.31b Ommm 1.40b Msged 1.99b Zoo 2.01 C-Lharc 1.00 Omail 1.00b FidoNews 8-07 Page 11 18 Feb 1991 Apple CP/M ---------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Daisy v2j Daisy Mailer 0.38 Nodecomp 0.37 MsgUtil 2.5 PackUser v4 Filer v2-D UNARC.COM 1.20 Macintosh --------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Red Ryder Host 2.1 Tabby 2.2 MacArc 0.04 Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0 ArcMac 1.3 WWIV (Mac) 3.0 LHArc 0.33 Hermes 1.01 StuffIt Classic 1.6 FBBS 0.91 Compactor 1.21 TImport 1.92 TExport 1.92 Timestamp 1.6 Tset 1.3 Import 3.2 Export 3.21 Sundial 3.2 PreStamp 3.2 OriginatorII 2.0 AreaFix 1.6 Mantissa 3.21 Zenith 1.5 Eventmeister 1.0 TSort 1.0 Mehitable 2.0 UNZIP 1.02c Amiga ----- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Paragon 2.082+ BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23 TransAmiga 1.05 TrapDoor 1.50 AReceipt 1.5 FidoNews 8-07 Page 12 18 Feb 1991 WelMat 0.42 booz 1.01 ConfMail 1.10 ChameleonEdit 0.10 ElectricHerald1.66 Lharc 1.30 MessageFilter 1.52 oMMM 1.49b ParseLst 1.30 PkAX 1.00 PK[UN]ZIP 1.01 PolyxAmy 2.02 RMB 1.30 RoboWriter 1.02 Skyparse 2.30 TrapList 1.12 Yuck! 1.61 Zippy (Unzip) 1.25 Zoo 2.01 Atari ST -------- Bulletin Board Network Node List Software Version Mailer Version Utilities Version FIDOdoor/ST 2.11* BinkleyTerm 2.40jt ParseList 1.30 QuickBBS/ST 1.02 The BOX 1.20 Xlist 1.12 Pandora BBS 2.41c EchoFix 1.20 GS Point 0.61 LED ST 1.00 MSGED 1.96S Archiver Msg Format Other Utilities Version Converters Version Utilities Version LHARC 0.60 TB2BINK 1.00 ConfMail 4.03* ARC 6.02 BINK2TB 1.00 ComScan 1.02 PKUNZIP 1.10 FiFo 2.12* Import 1.14 OMMM 1.40 Pack 1.00 FastPack 1.20 FDsysgen 2.16* FDrenum 2.10 Trenum 0.10 Archimedes ---------- FidoNews 8-07 Page 13 18 Feb 1991 BBS Software Mailers Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version ARCbbs 1.44 BinkleyTerm 2.03 Unzip 2.1TH ARC 1.03 !Spark 2.00d ParseLst 1.30 BatchPacker 1.00 + Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software) * 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 8-07 Page 14 18 Feb 1991 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= Fredric Rice 1:102/901 Well, prior to my article of FidoNews 806 concerning my perceived degradation of the quality of FidoNews, I had several conversations with JonesNose at 321/202 and he suggested that I shouldn't air my concerns in such a negative manor; that they would be counter productive and would serve to foment hate; in deed that I should take my homophobic attitude with me to hell and rot for awhile. He told me that my attitude was hateful. He convinced me he was right. He did, in fact, let me know in no uncertain terms what kind of person he though I was. He was right again. I had asked that the submission be removed because he convinced me that I should be more tolerant of gays and not promote hate. It wasn't removed, it got printed, I get to live with it -- that's not a big problem for me to live with, I'll just send an apology to everyone who sends me a return on my hate mail because they'll be right too. Listen up, FidoNet: I am sorry. I'll never happen again. Vince, your comments were eye-opening too. Rest assured I'll not clutter your news letter with hate again. If anyone wants a personal voice apology, call me from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and I'll apologize. 1-818-963-8640 Fredric Rice. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Interrupt Stack 30 Mar 1991 Jim Grubs (W8GRT) was issued his first ham radio license forty years ago today. His first station was made from an ARC-5 "Command Set" removed from a B-17 bomber. 12 May 1991 FidoNews 8-07 Page 15 18 Feb 1991 Fourth anniversary of FidoNet operations in Latin America and second anniversary of the creation of Zone-4. 15 Aug 1991 5th annual Z1 Fido Convention - FidoCon '91 "A New Beginning" Sheraton Denver West August 15 through August 18 1991. 8 Sep 1991 25th anniversary of first airing of Star Trek on NBC! 7 Oct 1991 Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland, Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay Islands will retain area code 415. 1 Feb 1992 Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport, West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and Montebello) will retain area code 213. 1 Dec 1993 Tenth anniversary of Fido Version 1 release. 5 Jun 1997 David Dodell's 40th Birthday If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. -----------------------------------------------------------------