F I D O N E W S -- | Vol. 10 No. 3 (18 January 1993) 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 Retry, Ignore, Abort, Fail, Quit, Give-up? .................... 1 2. ARTICLES ...................................................... 6 This week's nodelist .......................................... 6 Policy 4.1 now available for file request ..................... 6 Replacement needed for George Peace, Z1C ...................... 11 Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Be Phoolish .............. 11 The HYDRA Bidirectional File Transfer Protocol ................ 13 Lionnet ....................................................... 14 3. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .......................................... 16 FidoNews 10-03 Page 1 18 Jan 1993 ====================================================================== EDITORIAL ====================================================================== Retry, Ignore, Abort? by Tom Jennings (1:1/23) I don't know about you, but I tend to live around the margins of culture. Most of the world is too stupid to live in. Safety and security, those false gods of the TV generation. Tradition == habit. Respectability over integrity. Chance and change exchanged for comforting sameness. Mall fashions and MTV and coporate aesthetics called "culture". Bigotry and fear-of-the-unknown passed off as "traditional morality". Here in the world-net there's at least a tiny bit of relief, though I pine away for actual contact and something more than just (groan) email; so much of the e-world is just technophilia by people with too much money. Contact with other interesting people is needed, and greater bandwidth than this ANTIQUATED TELEGRAPHICAL ASCII TEXT CRAPOLA. It's worse than a miserable ordinary phone call; in ASCII no means no or it means NO or possibly *NO*; how many ways can you say no with your voice?... Maybe you stumbled upon MONDO 2000 magazine. Wow! A quick browse of the T of C brings rushes of delight! People who've noticed the changes the technology has made on us, and the observation that (generally) weirdos bring about social change, from below up! Then upon reading you notice it's rather self-congratulatory and self-referential. The burning of large piles of money generates a bright light, but it doesn't warm you up much. And outside that light, you kinda notice there's not much else around them. "Content-free" as a certain Randy might possibly say. Hell, they call themselves "trend surfers", I didn't say it. OK, so I'm a cynical post-apocalypse (yes post- some of you people out there screwed things up royally already) paranoid post-punk asshole, but at least I get off my butt and do things occasionally. In other words, it is a *vast* disappointment. Well. I just got a copy of WIRED magazine. OK, yawn, another neo-technophillic trendoid zine, favoring toy-value over responsibility, ethics, cultural impact, usefulness.... WRONG! It's really good. It's 112 brightly colored pages. It has an odd layout that's dense, and only slightly hard to follow. It reads like a cross between a digest and a magazine (I hope the content level stays this high in subsequent issues). FidoNews 10-03 Page 2 18 Jan 1993 A scan of the T of C: Bruce Sterling visits a Dep't of War (I mean Defense) VR lab; Camille Paglia (yay!) talks at Stewart Brand; John Markoff on hacked cellphones; John Browning (gunmaker kin? nahh...) on the role of public libraries in the e-age; Japanese computer nerds (just like you maybe...); public education obstructing "progress"; some insights into the INSLAW case (Meese and friends, Reagan's hostage-for-guns deal...) that I hadn't known about; and the expected hi-techy newsy items that make for good bathroom reading. Not that I don't have my criticisms, which I'm in the process of post-it-ing to send 'em, but hey they're in-context, minor -- it's good stuff! It's a curious cross between high-techery news, cultural criticism, and gosh-golly neophillia (watch that now). They know what BBSs are. They're on the Internet. They know who Marshall McLuhan is (gasp!) (One of them damn Canadians.) Word is they're not owned by one of the 25 or so publishing behemoths that quite literally own all the national rags, so they might actually be able to remain independent. Time will tell how they handle the tension between criticism of the spectacle vs. pissing off advertisers. I'm skeptical enough in general to say "we'll see..." but it sure looks well thought-out, well written, well targeted and well assembled. I send them a check on Monday. My periodical reading list is now: EE TIMES, MAXIMUMROCKNROLL, RADIO WORLD, HOME POWER, BOARDWATCH, AMERICAN RIFLEMAN, and WIRED! (Actually I'm dumping A.R. soon. Too dull, embarrasing politics.) Wired issue 1.1 hits the stores 26 Jan?. The sub card inside says "19.95US/6 issues/1 year, 45US overseas", from WIRED, Box 191826, San Francisco CA 941119-1826. Voice 1-800-SO-WIRED. Internet wired.com. Tell 'em you read about it in FidoNews! * * * * * A few weeks ago I was called hypocritical for "promoting democracy" (sic) in FidoNet (when I was simply calling for throwing the bums out), while running FidoNews as a hereditary monarchy (which it is currently). That I should put it up for a vote or something, like it was some sort of administrative post, where you have some drone perform rote tasks and the best thing they can do for you is leave you the hell alone and not screw up too badly. If only it were that simple. Like it or not, editing is a "creative" job. When I started FidoNews in 1984 (I was it's first editor) I didn't have a clue. Zip, none. Luckily, it really didn't matter, because there weren't any readers! FidoNews 10-03 Page 3 18 Jan 1993 Six or seven years later, I find myself editor once again. In the mean time, I had actually gained some experience. I've contributed various articles for other pubs (mostly non-technical), helped edit a few others, written and self-published some small books (besides the numerous Fido/FidoNet program manuals), and in one case conceived, edited, published a magazine, HOMOCORE, with a small (2500) circulation in U.S., Canada and Europe. It was utterly non-technical, but in many ways similar to FidoNews, in that it was in some ways leading-edge social change. I had to deal with deadlines, writers, letters columns, illiteracy, off-the-pointism, bad artwork, printers, money, postage, repro services... About half of my editorial-like experience is in non-technical things, which I have found to be far more applicable to FidoNews than tech stuff. While most of FidoNet is quite a "techie" thing, it's content (sysops, users, conferences, etc) are not. Most tech rags are not much more than glorified advertisement. (And most "PC" type magazines are not even as good as the more traditional trade rags, which at least attempt a higher-level approach, and the business emphasis is at least more honest). FidoNews is NOT a technical publication, though it does of course contain many technical items. It is a SOCIAL publication, loosely. (very loosely!) This as it should be, I believe, as we've got tons of techy conferences in which to nerd out to our hearts desire. FidoNews should be ABOUT FidoNet, not OF FidoNet. It's a meta-FidoNet, in which to discuss our network. Anyways. To the point. Well, it's been fun, but it's time that FidoNews had another editor. Time for some changes in my life. It is time to start a new tradition, some coherent and auditable way to pick a new editor. I've got in mind a very simple process: starting now, I'm accepting resume's from would-be editors. A HELP WANTED ad appears below. Here's what I'd like to do: * Collect resume's starting NOW * Keep all (all!) resumes, correspondence, complaints, comments, etc in a public file on the FidoNews BBS * In a few weeks I'll pick some likely candidates from what I receive. Comments, praise and character assasination should commence at this point * Pick a new heir to the FidoNews fortune within a week or two after that FidoNews 10-03 Page 4 18 Jan 1993 * Turn whatever process comes out of this into a guideline for choosing a new editor in the future. The time line is highly variable. I want to do this "fast", but I also want to do it right. HELP WANTED Editor wanted for the illustrious FidoNews, published electronically, weekly. Circulation 5,000 -- 20,000 (anyone's guess). Experience required, preferably outside computer/technical circles. TECHNICAL AND/OR COMPUTER EXPERIENCE NOT REQUIRED beyond what's necessary to produce FidoNews (editing files, etc). (FidoNews readership is about 50% non-technical.) Subject matter covers any and all interests of the FidoNet at large; from cooking to politics to email protocol specs. You must consider yourself accountable to all FidoNet members; this is not an autonomous business-like newsletter. We're not trying to "pass", but to serve our membership, even or especially at the expense of "professional" imagery. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS * Have adequate computing resources -- modem, disk storage, etc. * Be available via FidoNet. * Accept submissions and correspondence via netmail and fileattach. * Provide dial-in and filerequest access for the most-recent-issue and related files, open to the public upon first connect at no charge, at 300 baud and up (grr, I hate sysops who want to lock out low-speed users). (Your own BBS or someone else's.) * Produce FidoNews every Sunday night and deliver it to the main distribution site. MY PERSONAL BIASES Here's pretty much what I'd personally like to see in a FidoNews editor. This is just bias, ie. tie-breaker, other things being equal. It's not a shopping list. I'd prefer a woman editor. I'd prefer someone with broad experience in strange places. Someone who can communicate, regardless of writing style. Someone who will take chances, won't let making mistakes get in the way of expirimentation. Thick-skinned, to take all the shit you get when you say something un-popular. Left, right, center, out in space, unimportant; the willingness to welcome subjects that will piss you off (and maybe readers). I've accomodated, encouraged, instructed, suggested hand-held and even helped write text for fanatical fundamentalist christians, anarcho-atheists, FidoNet-technology reporters, people helping the handicapped, "gun nuts" (I'm one, so shuddup), FidoNet politicians, democrats, autocrats, feudal-system proponents, law'n'order nuts, technological neophiles, staunch traditionalists, Canadians (some of my best friends are Canadians), FidoNews 10-03 Page 5 18 Jan 1993 nationalists, militarists, programmers, whiners, do-nothings and other assorted nuts with keyboards. As much as people have whined, I've worked hard at keeping the policy WIDE OPEN (and every one of the whiners SHUT UP when I told them, if you don't like something you see, WRITE WHAT YOU WANT TO READ!) I'd like to see this policy stay intact. WAIT! NO! Advance, mutate or whatever you see fit, but hopefully, not go the Usual Route. Respectability will buy you nothing but the fearful safety of the bureaucrat; dare to think for yourself! POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: Geography: FidoNews has been pretty much Norte Americano from the start. It is fact; is it desirable? This "one size fits all" solution doesn't wash anyways. I am thinking, maybe it should stay N.A. ie. Z1? I'm surprised other zones don't have zonal meta-nets. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 10-03 Page 6 18 Jan 1993 ====================================================================== ARTICLES ====================================================================== Statistics for: NODELIST.015 Sun Jan 17 16:49:58 1993 Total nodes listed: 21524 - Nodelist Comments - NOTICE -- NOTICE -- NOTICE -- NOTICE -- NOTICE -- NOTICE -- NOTICE -------------------------------------------- | | Replacement needed for George Peace, Z1C | Don Dawson 1:141/730 (aka 1:16/0) | | . If you want to be a candidate for Zone 1 coordinator (Z1C), send | netmail to: | Don Dawson 1:141/730 | | by 23:59 PST, Sunday, 1/31/93. See POLICY4 for the duties and | responsibilities of ZC. | | . Discussion will take place in the Z1_ELECTION echo. | | . Regional Coordinators will submit a ballot for each region. If | you have a point of view of any candidate, please send netmail | to your RC. | | . Netmail received from candidates will be posted in Z1_ELECTION. | The list of candidates will appear in FidoNews. | -------------------------------------------- You can request the most recent nodelist/nodediff from your Network or Region Coordinator. They are usually available with the "magic name" of NODELIST or NODEDIFF. Please check the END of the nodelist for additional technical information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POLICY 4.1 SUBMITTED by Glen Johnson 1:2605/269 Hello, FidoFolks! FidoNews 10-03 Page 7 18 Jan 1993 Last night, January 16, Policy 4.1c was formally submitted to the RCs for consideration. The guy that led the revision effort, Rich Wood (you remember him, he's the Z1C candidate), formally submitted the thing to all of the Zone 1 RCs, and sent it to all of the Zone Coordinators worldwide, and asked them to forward it to their RCs. I understand that there's only one ZC he hasn't been able to get in touch with so far, as the guy's system appears to be down or busy or something. I believe that's Zone 5. In any case, I'm not sure if Tom Jennings is going to print the text of the entire document in Fidonews; it is rather large, although quite a bit smaller than the current Policy 4 we know and love, but the document IS available for file request from several Zone 1 systems: 1:2605/269 1:278/3 1:2606/583 I've also asked Mr. Jennings to make it available for file request at 1/23 as well. /* ED NOTE: It's not available from 1:1/23; it's not FidoNews related. You should obtain it from the other sites listed. */ If it isn't feasible for you to call any of these systems, get in touch with your Zone Coordinator; they all have it (with the exception of one at the moment) . If you're in Zone 1, get in touch with your RC, and ask for a copy. The filename is: POL41C.ARC Now that its been submitted, let me take a few minutes to describe the substantive changes in it.... You'll be surprised to find that Policy 4.1 is almost exactly the same as Policy 4.07, the current policy in force. Our intention was not to gut the whole thing and propose a completely new way of life for everyone. The way to modify policy is a piece at a time. YES, there are still things in there that need to be changed in the future. So, please don't write us netmails and say things like "I can't BELIEVE you didn't do this to it or that to it". Sure, there were LOTS of things we'd have liked to do to it, and because we didn't, doesn't mean that we didn't think other things needed to be changed. But Rome wasn't built in a day, ya know. If ratified, Policy 4.1 will be the first major step toward substantive change in Fidonet. After 4.1, the possibilities are endless. Now, on to what we did.. The first thing we did was make the document reflect what's actually happening in Fidonet, rather than what USED to be happening. We took all of the references to the Fidonews address and changed them from 1/1 to 1/23. FidoNews 10-03 Page 8 18 Jan 1993 Current policy says that the nodelist is produced by the International Coordinator. It isn't; its produced by the Zone Coordinators. So 4.1 says that the nodelist is produced by the Zone Coordinators under the direction and supervision of the International Coordinator. Policy 4 says that points will make calls with a pointnet address. That isn't necessarily true. 4D addressing was invented after current policy was written, and 4.1 says that points MAY make calls with pointnet addresses. In reality, points tend to use 4D addresses like 1:205/123.3 (Zone,net,node,point) . The case studies at the end of Policy 4 have been removed. Rules, regulations, laws, whatever you want to call it, don't usually have examples attached to them. The case studies, although beneficial at times, really have nothing to do with Fidonet Policy, so we yanked them. Saved a lot of space too :) Elections: This is the major change. Policy 4.1 requires that net coordinators be elected by a majority of votes cast by sysops in the net. NCs serve a term of two years. Regional Coordinators are elected by a majority of votes cast by sysops in the Region. RCs serve a term of two years. Zone Coordinators are elected by a majority of votes cast by the sysops in the Zone. ZCs serve a term of two years. The International Coordinator is selected or removed by a 2/3 majority of the Zone Coordinators, and serves a term of two years. Sysops are allowed to run for any coordinator position. There's your democracy folks! Coordinators are directly accountable to the rank and file. Policy 4.1 gives you the right to seek a coordinator position, and it gives you the right to vote for your coordinators. Now before you start dancing on the tables, keep in mind that along with the right to vote, comes RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. If you elect a nutcase to be RC, you have noone to blame but YOURSELF. *CHOOSE YOUR CANDIDATES WISELY* The impeachment sections of Policy 4 have been removed because they no longer apply. Sysops themselves can call for the removal of a coordinator if they're not happy with the job he or she is doing. The replacement election procedure takes care of that. By petition of 20% of the people one level down, a replacement election can be called to replace a coordinator. For example, I believe Region 13 has 35 nets (if it doesn't, I'm sorry, this is just a forinstance) . If 20% of the net coordinators are not happy with the RCs performance, they can cause a replacement election to take place. In our example here, it would take 7 net coordinators to make the election happen. FidoNews 10-03 Page 9 18 Jan 1993 SYSOPS, not NCs, vote in replacement elections. In our example, all that those 20% of NCs can do, is make a replacement election HAPPEN. The sysops do the voting in the replacement election. If the replacement election results in a new coordinator taking over, the replacement coordinator serves out the remainder of the term. He is NOT in for two years. If there was a year left on the term of the coordinator he replaced, then he serves for one year. It is IMPORTANT to note that replacement coordinators are NOT subject to replacement elections! If you dump your NC mid-term, and replace him with a new one, you will have to live with the new guy until the end of the term. Why did we do this? Ok, I'll explain the intent behind it... We CANNOT bog down Fidonet with elections every five minutes. If you want constant elections and referendums and votes, go join Eggnet :) Coordinators have JOBS to do. We will NOT have effective coordinators if they have to defend themselves in replacement elections all the time. They should not have to be looking over their shoulders constantly. Remember what I said about accountability and responsibility? You have to take responsibility for your vote. Make SURE you are confident that the person you're voting for is the person you want for the job. The replacement election is NOT something that should be done regularly or frivolously. By requiring a 20% consensus one level down introduces some REPRESENTATIVE structure, and it also makes the process sufficiently difficult to invoke but not impossible. We have to give people a way of getting rid of coordinators that aren't doing their jobs, but by the same token, coordinators are people too, and they shouldn't be subject to getting tossed because 3 guys with big mouths don't like the color of his or her underwear. The replacement election process is not something to be taken lightly. Next topic ... Current policy indicates that the International Coordinator must be a sitting zone coordinator. It defines the position as a "first among equals ZC" . Policy 4.1 removes that restriction. The IC can be anyone. He or she need not be a current coordinator. This gives the Zone Coordinators the freedom to choose the person they best feel will do the job. No reason ZCs shouldn't have the same rights we're giving to the rest of the sysops. As a matter of fact, our current IC, Matt Whelan, ISN'T a sitting ZC. I don't know how that happened, but if 4.1 is ratified, it won't matter. Speaking of the IC, policy 4.1 gives him an additional responsibility. The IC will issue the rules for elections. He will be the person who formulates the mechanics of vote collection, tabulation, and announcement of the results. That doesn't mean that he is the guy that will DO it, it means that the IC puts those procedures in place. He cannot FidoNews 10-03 Page 10 18 Jan 1993 decide who is eligible for what; that's spelled out in the policy itself, nor can he change the "value" of votes, that too is spelled out in the policy (remember? Coordinators are elected by a majority of votes cast by ... etc. etc.) . The responsibility given to the IC as described in section 1.2.9, gives him the authority to develop the METHODS for carrying out the elections defined in the document. Part of that includes determining when elections will be held. We OBVIOUSLY can't have all coordinator terms in Fidonet expire at the same time! We'd be in total chaos during the transition. Don Dawson, RC18, suggested a BRILLIANT method for staggering elections, based on the last digit of your net number or region number or Zone number, etc. For example, the Net 107 NCs term would expire in July, the Region 13 RCs term would expire in March, etc. I would STRONGLY urge the IC to adopt Don's plan for that; its quite good. A few people complained that we didn't put the exact election procedures in policy. Well, that was intentional. If we did that, and for some reason, it had to be tweeked later on, we'd have to come up with a whole new policy document and go through this ratification process again. Again, the intent of this policy proposal was to give sysops the right to vote and the right to run for coordinator positions. It is NOT intended to bog down Fidonet or handcuff coordinators to rigid, inflexible regulations. We have to let coordinators COORDINATE, we MUST let them make decisions, so that's why we put the election procedures in the hands of the IC. Redundancies: We further shortened the document by removing redundant statements. You only need to say that the IC is selected by the ZCs once, for example. And finally, future revisions to policy ... Right now, only Regional Coordinators can cause a referendum on policy revisions (like the one we submitted) to happen. Policy 4.1 moves that down a notch to the NCs. A policy referendum can be tripped if 5% of the net coordinators want to consider one. The revision history: At the top of POL41C.ASC, the revision history says that a policy referendum can be tripped by 5% of the sysops. That's a typo; its 5% of the net coordinators. The revision history isn't part of the policy, it was just a brief summation intended for the RCs to give them an overview of it . The actual text of the policy document follows the revision history, and the policy document *IS* 100% correct. We didn't correct it and issue another version because the typo isn't in the policy document itself. FidoNews 10-03 Page 11 18 Jan 1993 Sorry if that confused anyone; we didn't spot it until after it went out. So there you have it folks, Policy 4.1 . I encourage everyone to file request it, read it, and ask your RC to support it. Now, if you have any questions about it, netmail me at 1:2605/269 . I will answer your questions and post significant questions and answers in Fidonews. Or you can write to Rich Wood, he'll do the same. Remember, file request POL41C.ARC from 1:2605/269, 1:278/3, 1:2606/583, or ask your RC or ZC for a copy of it. "Rich Wood for Z1C" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Replacement needed for George Peace, Z1C Don Dawson 1:141/730 (aka 1:16/0) . If you want to be a candidate for Zone 1 coordinator (Z1C), send netmail to: Don Dawson 1:141/730 by 23:59 PST, Sunday, 1/31/93. See POLICY4 for the duties and responsibilities of ZC. . Discussion will take place in the Z1_ELECTION echo. . Regional Coordinators will submit a ballot for each region. If you have a point of view of any candidate, please send netmail to your RC. . Netmail received from candidates will be posted in Z1_ELECTION. The list of candidates will appear in FidoNews. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Rick Moen, Phido Phool (1:125/27) The Phool File II _That_ time has come around again. Hide the silverware. . . . That's right, FidoNews's court jester is back in town. I see Tom persists in his sinister habit of writing editorials, thus trampling on the natural right of establishment figures to go uncriticised. The nerve of this guy! At least it's gratifying to see that defenders of the status quo have nonetheless recovered enough, from this affront to their very souls, to write more articles. I was worried, there. FidoNews 10-03 Page 12 18 Jan 1993 We've had more impassioned pleas for enfranchisement of point-system operators and BBS callers (including one from a writer possibly too embarrassed to include his name) in FidoNet elections. Why stop at such half measures, though? If 93% of the people on BBSs aren't sysops, then it's equally true that 93% of those _affected_ by BBSs aren't callers OR sysops. How, then, can we justify denying the vote to BBS users' families and friends? Surely, when Mom sees young Mordred staying up till 3AM each night engaging in echomail combat, this gives her a personal stake in FidoNet Policy. And what about Mordred's history teacher, Mr. Snitters, who has to endure the young punk telling him that the Magna Carta was ratified through a region-wide referendum? How can we possibly shut these interested parties out of network decisions? It Just Isn't Fair! More people (for example, Steve Mulligan) are telling us that "Rich Wood would be a great Z1C". On closer examination, it seems the evidence adduced for this assertion is that _others_ have also said it. Remember Graham Greene's spoof spy-story, "The Man Who Was Thursday"? A suspects B of being a spy, because of B's suspicious deeds in relation to C. C has similar doubts about D, and so on, until we reach G, . . . who is busy keeping a wary eye on A. So, here we have people alleging in Snooze that "R.W.w.b.a g.Z1C", pointing at _one another's_ opinions as evidence -- possibly the first truly self-booting process. The other leading reason cited why "R.W.w.b.a g.Z1C" is that the writer is Mad As Heck And Isn't Going to Take It Any More. Gosh, he's just finally read Policy4 and desperately needs to let us all know the depth of emotion thus triggered. This _also_ leads inescapably to the "R.W...." conclusion. Quod Erat Demonstrandum. No one else could possibly do! (This working-out in public shouldn't surprise me, though: Jay Stidolph says "we're like the world's biggest dysfunctional family." I should have known: FidoNet is a "personal growth experience". The Eighties never truly died, alas: We neglected to put a stake through their heart.) Steve closes by telling us that the "Z1C election sucks CA-CA!" Steve, we here in CA are quite particular on the matter of being sucked. . . and someone living in ON should be more careful about the glass dwelling he casts acronymic stones from. ;-> Mike Mast tells us that "all sysops joining FidoNet must agree with Policy4". Funny, I don't recall any loyalty oath, myself, and Phoolishly assumed Policy was just a statement of how things would work, short of amendments or replacements. If we are required to _agree_ with it, what are all the "referenda" sections for? Conceptual art, I assume? FidoNews 10-03 Page 13 18 Jan 1993 Mike goes on to make some boringly responsible and mature appeals to fair play, courtesy, and constructive behaviour. Hmmph! No material there. You're no fun, Mike! Glen Johnson goes out of his way to thank Shawn Quinn for the favour of verbally abusing him. I'd be glad to help make Glen's day, too -- except that I'm a sadist, so I'm going to be nice to him. ;-> Gotta go. I'm putting the final touches on my new twelve-step organisation: Adult Children of Normal Parents. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The HYDRA Bidirectional File Transfer Protocol Released 11 Jan 1993 Designed by Arjen G. Lentz and Joaquim H. Homrighausen HydraCom by Arjen G. Lentz (LENTZ SOFTWARE-DEVELPMENT) - Bidirectional file transfer protocol with chat facility - Full specifications (+ state tables!) and sources freely available - BBS and terminal program authors: integrate Hydra in your application! - Can be implemented by FidoNet Mailers for YooHoo and EMSI sessions - HydraCom can be called from almost any BBS and terminal software - Cost? Saying thanks is allowed! HYDRA001.* ( 50k) HYDRA protocol specs, rev 001 (01 Dec 1992) HCOM_100.* (109k) HydraCom 1.00 MS-DOS EXE, setup util, docs HSRC_100.* ( 83k) HydraCom 1.00 C sources, docs HYDRAKIT.* (240k) The above three archives together The wildcard extension can be LZH, ZIP, ARJ, etc. Systems may provide differently compressed files, depending on their platform and public. Magic request 'HYDRA' will get you all three archives or HYDRAKIT.* A copy has been sent directly to the FTSC and some others. Unfortunately, we can't afford sending it to every mailer developer and author BBS or terminal software.... All files have already been widely distributed across the world in cyberspace, so it is not unlikely that you will be able to get them from somewhere near you. In any case the files may be requested from the authors' own systems, listed below. An echomail conference HYDRADEV has been set up to talk about the protocol itself and to help people implementing Hydra into their software, but of course also for users of the HydraCom driver. Ask your local *EC to get your net linked in! Arjen Lentz Joaquim Homrighausen LENTZ SOFTWARE-DEVELOPMENT 389, route d'Arlon Langegracht 7B L-8011 Strassen 3811 BT Amersfoort Luxembourg The Netherlands FidoNet 2:283/512, AINEX-BBS +31-33-633916 FidoNet 2:270/17 FidoNews 10-03 Page 14 18 Jan 1993 arjen_lentz@f512.n283.z2.fidonet.org joho@ae.lu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LionNet by Glenda Beaty Due to the large size of FidoNet these days it has become next to immpossible to obtain address's for new Nets. This being the case, I have taken it upon myself to start using the Zone 200 for the LionNet. I am writing this article to go out in FidoNew to try and find out by the only means left to me if there is anyone else using that Zone address. I do not wish to step on someone else's toes, but at this point I am left with no other choice. If at the end of two weeks I have not recieve any mail to the effect that you are using this Zone address it shall become LionNet forevermore. LionNet is devoted to the adults who use their computer's as a source of relaxation.. There are a lot of people in this country who just sign on to have fun. Many people just like to role play and live in small areas where this is not possible. This Net will give them a place to do it, in a safe and fun manner. We will be carrying several on-line RPG games, wargames (both board type and RPG). The only limitation we will put on the RPG section is the limit of one's imagination. This Net is not just a Net for RPGer's. We also welcome people who just want to talk to other people about whatever. If you are having a bad day.. check out the HUMOR echo and laugh a little.. Are you having problems with your relationships? Check out the ADVICE or the SEX echo where advice is always freely given. There will also be echo's for those who are looking for a little something to add to their relationship's such as the MEETING PLACE which is designed for people who are looking to find another person\couple to spice life up with. LionNet is an adult Net. We are not looking to pick up bbs's that are not responsible about who reads what, but if you have a system where adults have a private area I am sure that this could only add to their enjoyment. We will also welcome the use of "handles" as a regular part of the echos. The people at LionNet feel that some people posting in certain places would not like their real names to be know. To pick up LionNet contact the following person: Glenda Beaty Fido Address 1:3600/12 LionNet Address 200:1/0 The above address is subject to change, but will be used until future notice is recieve that it is already be used. FidoNews 10-03 Page 15 18 Jan 1993 The Lionness.......... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 10-03 Page 16 18 Jan 1993 ====================================================================== 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). A very nice index to the Tables of Contents to all FidoNews volumes can be filerequested from 1:396/1 or 1:216/21. The name(s) to request are FNEWSxTC.ZIP, where 'x' is the volume number; 1=1984, 2=1985... through 8=1991. FidoNews 10-03 Page 17 18 Jan 1993 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.) 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------