F I D O N E W S -- | Vol. 9 No. 48 (30 November 1992) A newsletter of the | FidoNet BBS community | Published by: _ | / \ | "FidoNews" BBS /|oo \ | +1-415-863-2739 (_| /_) | NEW!--> 1:1/23@FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ | editor@fidonews.fidonet.org | | \ \\ | | (*) | \ )) | Editors: |__U__| / \// | Tom Jennings _//|| _\ / | Tim Pozar (_/(_|(____/ | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | -- JOSEPH PULITZER ----------------------------+--------------------------------------- /********************************************************************* * IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address for FidoNews has been changed. * * The new address is: * * * * FidoNews = 1:1/23 * * * * Starting January 1993 email sent to the old address will not be * * forwarded! You were warned! * *********************************************************************/ For information, copyrights, article submissions, obtaining copies and other boring but important details, please refer to the end of this file. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ..................................................... 1 IMPORTANT NOTICE: CHANGE OF ADDRESS ........................... 1 Editorial: CHANGE OF ADDRESS .................................. 1 2. ARTICLES ...................................................... 2 The Great Fidonet Election Fraud .............................. 2 Ask not what you can do ....................................... 4 3% discount on Fidosnooze back-issues ......................... 4 YAP Yet another policy ........................................ 6 PreRapture International Message Exchange (PRIME) ............. 7 3. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .......................................... 9 FidoNews 9-48 Page 1 30 Nov 1992 ====================================================================== EDITORIAL ====================================================================== FidoNews has a new address within FidoNet: 1:1/23. Email addressed to the old address will be forwarded to the current, new address until January 1993. This change takes effect IMMEDIATELY. The reason is the incredible amount of email sent to 1:1/1 by poorly designed FidoNet mailers, sysops not paying attention, bad installations, and the occasional user error. Zone1-net1-node1 seems to be the "default address" for many programs when they get confused. It has sometimes taken weeks to get the responsible sysop to stop daily echotosses numbering in the hundreds of messages per week, improperly sent to the old FidoNews address. Starting January 1993, you'll see mailer, echo-toss and other FidoNet email related tools generating error messages (because the old "default" address won't exist in the nodelist!) rather than annoying the FidoNews Editor. Good riddance! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial: CHANGE OF ADDRESS by Tom Jennings (1:1/23) Please note that FidoNews has a new FidoNet network address, 1:1/23, zone 1, region 1, node 23 -- twenty-three. Mail to the old address will be forward through the end of the year, then it will be CUT OFF. Why may you ask go through this painful process? Because of all the bogus mail I get, incorrectly addressed to numerically unique "1:1/1" by LOUSY SOFTWARE and INATTENTIVE SYSOPS. Some weeks, I get multiple-hundreds of messages, usually echomail tosses, and destined for some interesting destination I'm sure, but are dropped in my machine by bad routing. Well soon I'll have my revenge, as starting 1 January 1993 there won't BE a "1:1/1" in the nodelist, and all those sysops will notice, and hopefully they'll complain to the (mumble) program authors. But in the mean time, please change all of your records to indicate the new address, effective IMMEDIATELY! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-48 Page 2 30 Nov 1992 ====================================================================== ARTICLES ====================================================================== by Phillip Dampier 1:2613/228 Since I joined Fidonet in 1988, I have been unable to understand the mortal fear that many in this network have about instituing democracy. I've heard all the excuses that many have offered to explain away the need for democracy in a network that now contains over 20,000 nodes. They've been as flimsy as the recent decision to annoint a new Zone Coordinator from among the "all-knowing." God forbid that Fidonet elections turn into "popularity contests," as we have heard time and time again as an excuse to keep voting to a minimum. This is an excuse used recently by Fidel Castro and the Glorious Leader Kim Il-Sung of North Korea; it should not be one to prevent free and fair elections in Fidonet. Just as these unpopular leaders know that they stand little chance of winning back their posts in a free and open election, many of the "good ole boys" in Fidonet realize they don't have a prayer of winning re-election after the kind of "leadership" they have offered. So, in lieu of elections, we have excuses. "It would be too complicated to hold elections for every position in Fidonet, from HC to IC." Administering a network with over 15,000 people in it is no problem, but allowing many of those nodes to cast ballots for those that represent them is apparently too much to fathom by some. Maybe those people see it as too much work for no personal gain. Well folks, that dog don't hunt. For years, we've heard the lip service from our own "Glorious Leaders" telling us that democracy is on the way, just wait a LITTLE longer. With the recent decision to annoint a new ZC for Zone 1 from within the family, we'll be waiting longer for democracy in Fidonet than the French wait for fine wine. Make no mistake. The biggest insult of all is to post a want-ad for the position in the nodelist segment in the first place. After all, 99% of those that receive that file have no chance to run for the position, much less vote on it. FidoNews 9-48 Page 3 30 Nov 1992 What we are waiting for, fellow nodes, is for a new Fidonet Pope to be chosen. One that our "Glorious Leaders" have handpicked for their known cowtowin... I mean, SERVICE... yeah, SERVICE to the guiding, "time-honored" principles of Fidonet. Why? Because we all know and trust our "Glorious Leaders" to decide what is best for us. These people have connections...err... to the heartbeat of Fidonet. All humor aside, elections of the kind now being prepared by our "Glorious Leaders" can still be found in Cuba, North Korea, Laos, Zaire, and other countries which offer up candidates that belong to hack organizations or are groomed for the post by a group of kingmakers. In this country, we used to use "means tests" to keep classes of people from casting ballots in elections. Today, we recognize those practices as patently undemocratic and unfair, except in Fidonet where we call it "efficiency." The only hidden blessing in all of this is the newly set precedent that Policy can be ignored when it suits your own purposes. If you want to implement something not in Policy, just "add" it long enough to make the changes you want in the network. We, as individual nodes, can begin demanding some additions of our own, starting with free and open elections for the Zone Coordinator among all the nodes that are served by that person. How do you go about doing this? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Find out who your friends are. Start by finding out your Region Coordinator's position on democracy. Is he/she willing to stand for elections? Is he/she willing to offer up their own amendments to Policy 4 which insist on free and open elections? If the answer is no, or if you get still more lip service, you've just identified part of the problem. Next, inform the masses by sending in your replies to Fidonews. Let's ALL know who the real friends of Fidonet are. Then, we can begin identifying those who are being groomed for future positions of power in this network, and work hard to break the chain of the Good Ole Boy network. Since individual nodes can't have their own THROW THE BUMS OUT movement because they can't vote, they can at least put the pressure on these people by bombarding them with netmail insisting on change, until they get so sick and tired of hearing about it, they relent. Fidonet is about people, in LOCAL COMMUNITIES, working together to make Fidonet something worthwhile. It's not about bureaucrats who live hundreds of miles away telling us what is best. Let's put the power back in the hands of individual nodes. FidoNews 9-48 Page 4 30 Nov 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bwebster@pages.com (Bruce F. Webster) AP news item in today's San Diego Union: Headline: "CIA chief hints change needed in ban on probing Americans" Excerpts: WASHINGTON--CIA Director Robert Gates says changes might be needed in the U.S. law that forbids the agency from collecting information about Americans or U.S. companies. Such changes might enable the CIA to better support the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies, he said in an interview with the Associated Press. The idea grew out of a recent storm of accusations by Democrats in Congress, Justice Department officials and a federal judge that the CIA withheld information in the case of $5.5 billion lending scheme to Iraq by an Atlanta bank. ... Under current law, the CIA is strictly forbidden to collect information on Americans or American companies. "At some point it seems to me, very early on, we and Justice...and the Congress are going to have to...have some sort of serious discussion about whether there are changes in the law that are needed that will clarify some of the ambiguities and what we can and cannot do in support to law enforcement," Gates said. He did not elaborate. ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- By Joe Jared of 1:125/1212 Due to the fact that yet another better AND faster file compressor is now available, Requests for newsletter issues now have a different extention. The file that created the '.SQZ' files is requestable by a magic name of "SQZ" to anyone interested. For this year's issues all issues are available in Squeeze-It format only. FidoNews 9-48 Page 5 30 Nov 1992 The signature for Sqz files is as follows for dos platforms: Offset 0000h 48h 4Ch 53h 51h 5Ah Here is a comparison between Previous issues of fidonews compressed with ARJ, and then with Squeeze-it. There are no file comments in any files. FNEWS_84.ARJ 51633 FNEWS_85.ARJ 622575 FNEWS_86.ARJ 973142 FNEWS_87.ARJ 1013194 FNEWS_88.ARJ 1011393 FNEWS_89.ARJ 1196853 FNEWS_90.ARJ 963937 FNEWS_91.ARJ 1142017 8 file(s) 6974744 bytes FNEWS_84.SQZ 46438 FNEWS_85.SQZ 612574 FNEWS_90.SQZ 945676 FNEWS_86.SQZ 945864 FNEWS_88.SQZ 986408 FNEWS_87.SQZ 991644 FNEWS_91.SQZ 1091178 FNEWS_89.SQZ 1168686 8 file(s) 6788468 bytes Squeeze-It is a bit on the primate side, but the issues in selecting an appropriate compression method are $$$ and $$$. Personally, I find that Squeeze-It is much less annoying than any other compressor, and all of my filebase is now in that format. The new format will cut 3% off of your requests for these issues, and although it isn't much, it's still a savings somewhere. In comparison to other software, I find the author to be about the least annoying. I define annoying by how much the author hassles for registrations. No 'time bomb', all features that exist work, and next payday he'll be getting his $30.00US dollars for registration. Strengths: Speed and compression. (As compared to.ARJ and LHA) Weaknesses: Not enough features. Recursive directory compression exists, but there is no provision for moving files. This new compressor is an unknown, which means most of your archive recognition utilities wont work. However, There is at least one configurable utility that will work, and it's pd software. PolyXarc, by Jeffrey Nonken. FidoNews 9-48 Page 6 30 Nov 1992 One final note: The owners of the copywrite of Spaz recently gave me permission to release a new version that supports Squeeze-it format. It should be available from your local SDS site soonly, and it has a couple more features. [-L] to list the contents of the archive, and one less bug. Spaz is available by file request as SPAZ, and freqing spaz will always get you the latest version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Roland Gautschi 2:30/0, 2:301/501 After all this 'policy' proposals I'd created the following. Now I ask you: why not use this as our FidoNet guideline? Maybe this could replace our outdated policy 4 document.... ----------------------------------- cut ---------------------------- FidoNet Organization Rules 1. Definition of FidoNet FidoNet is a worldwide computer network, allowing humans to communicate with others. All members of FidoNet are listed in the FidoNet nodelist. 2. Technical requirements The technical requirements are defined in documents called FTS-xxxx.ext (xxxx is a number from 0001 to 9999). 3. Organization of FidoNet A nodenumber has 4 main parts: Zone:Net/Node.Point - Zones are cut into Regions - Regions are cut into Nets - Nets can use HUB's to serve Nodes - Nodes are systems in a Net - Points are connected to Nodes FidoNet has one International Coordinator (IC) Each Zone has a Zone Coordinator (ZC). Each Region has a Region Coordinator (RC). Each Net has a Net Coordinator (NC). A sysop is a systemoperator of one or more nodes. The task of a *C is to compile the nodelist-segment of his area, FidoNews 9-48 Page 7 30 Nov 1992 and to count votes if elections are held. 4. Elections - A *C is elected by a simple majority of the received votes of the sysops below his area. - Each sysop has one vote (even if he operates more than one node). - *C's are sysops and have no votes. They only count votes. - Each *C sum up the votes of the *C below, except the NC who counts the votes of the sysop. - Elections are held by a sysop which is not a candidates. IC election: Elected is, who receives the most votes of FidoNet. ZC election: Elected is, who receives the most votes of the zone. RC election: Elected is, who receives the most votes of the region. NC election: Elected is, who receives the most votes of the net. Each *C will be reelected at least every two years. If a *C fails his duties for more than 4 weeks he'll be replaced. 5. How to get a nodenumber Each human gets a nodenumber, if is he is able to operate a system which meets the technical requirements above. 6. Responsibilities of a node A node must follow this rules: 1) Thou shalt not excessively annoy others. 2) Thou shalt not be too easily annoyed. 3) Thou shalt not violate the law in your country. 7. Removing a node A node will be removed from the nodelist, if more than 50% of the sysops in his net decides to exclude him. ----------------------------------- cut ---------------------------- Sorry for the native English, but we here in Switzerland normally don't use this language. Any corrections are welcome! Roland ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Winter 98:98/1 Please spread this info around. Thanks!! FidoNews 9-48 Page 8 30 Nov 1992 'The sun never sets on the PRIME network' -={ PreRapture(tm) International Message Exchange }=- USA, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, BELGIUM, RUSSIA, BULGARIA, PORTUGAL, CANADA, GERMANY, AFRICA and growing. * Both Religious (Christian) and non-religious conferences. * A wholesome, family oriented network with a strict policy against profanity, lewdness, obscenity etc.. Features echos on educational and technical topics. * Home of HOLY_BIBLE, the only Christian echo on the FidoNet backbone * * Elaborate Bible Discussion and Debate * False Preachers Exposed * 919-286-3962 * 919-286-3606 * 919-286-3266 * 919-286-4617 Using USRobotics Dual Standard Modems HST 16800 / V.32bis 14400 * FREQ PRIME.ZIP from 98:98/1 or 1:227/150@FidoNet for network kit * This should work as a private nodelist (PreRapture BBS was illegally dropped from the FidoNet nodelist by corrupt FidoNet officials) : Zone,98,PRIME_IC,USA,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3962,9600,CM,HST,V32b,UIC ,1,PreRapture_BBS,Durham,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3962,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,2,PreRapture_BBS_2,Durham,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3606,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,3,PreRapture_BBS_3,Durham,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3266,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,4,PreRapture_BBS_4,Durham,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-4617,9600,CM,HST,V32b ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-48 Page 9 30 Nov 1992 ====================================================================== FIDONEWS INFORMATION ====================================================================== ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ---------------- Editors: Tom Jennings, Tim Pozar Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address of the FidoNews BBS has been changed!!! Please make a note of this. "FidoNews" BBS FidoNet 1:1/23 <---- NEW ADDRESS!!!! Internet fidonews@fidosw.fidonet.org BBS +1-415-863-2739, 300/1200/2400/16800/V.32bis/Zyxel (Postal Service mailing address) (have extreme patience) FidoNews c/o World Power Systems <---- don't forget this Box 77731 San Francisco CA 94107 USA Published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international amateur electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews. Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is copyright 1992 Tom Jennings. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or FidoNews (we're easy). OBTAINING COPIES: The-most-recent-issue-ONLY of FidoNews in electronic form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet. PRINTED COPIES may be obtained from Fido Software for $10.00US each PostPaid First Class within North America, or $13.00US elsewhere, mailed Air Mail. (US funds drawn upon a US bank only.) BACK ISSUES: Available from FidoNet nodes 1:102/138, 1:216/21, 1:125/1212, 1:107/519.1 (and probably others), via filerequest or download (consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers). INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.ieee.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. If you have questions regarding FidoNet, please direct them to deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org, not the FidoNews BBS. (Be kind and patient; David Deitch is generously volunteering to handle FidoNet/Internet questions.) FidoNews 9-48 Page 10 30 Nov 1992 SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it. "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered trademarks of Tom Jennings, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Asked what he thought of Western civilization, M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea". -- END ----------------------------------------------------------------------