doug@isishq.UUCP (Doug Thompson) (04/14/88)
I'm looking for feedback from the readers of this newsgroup.
As many of you know, software has been developed which allows news to be
shared between FidoNet and Usenet. From the Usenet side, the exchange is
nearly invisible, and the only ways you can tell that a message has
originated from a Fido system are the "Organization:" line and the .sig.
FidoNet uses a very different method of preventing dupes and controlling
topology in news dissemination. The software produces several lines, at
the end of a news posting, that look something like this:
------------------ (cut here) --------------
-- Confmail v. 3.2
* Origin: Such and So BBS Anywhere Planet Earth (Opus 2:999/999)
SEENBY 999/400 300 200 240/348 632
----------------- (cut here) ---------------
Some people in Usenet have expressed annoyance at this "non-standard"
message tail. Others have pointed out that its size is considerably less
than that of most .sigs and that there is actually useful information
contained in it.
This message will not have the "Opus" sig, even though it is being
writeen on an Opus BBS because of some modficiations I've made to the
software. However, it is not currently possible to offer two-way links
to other FidoNet BBS systems without adding the "SEENBY" lines. I would
like to offer this two way link, so I am posting this msg to do a straw
poll. What do you think? Does the FidoNet message tail represent a
sufficient annoyance to you that you feel messages containing it should
be prevented from entering Usenet, or do you feel that it does not
present a problem?
Of course this sample is "non-scientific", but I'm trying to get a feel
for the general opinion in the net to start with. The opinion of any
system administrators who happen on this message would be especially
valued.
Background:
~~~~~~~~~~~
For those interested in technicalities, "Confmail" is shareware news
processing software, "Opus" is simply one of many FidoNet compatible
BBS/mailer software packages in the public domain, and the SEENBY lines
reveal the systems with which the Originating system shares this
particular newsgroup. The purpose of the seen-by line is to prevent
messages getting to the same system twice. Preserving it through Usenet
might be of potential use to FidoNet in preventing the generation of
dupes. Right now the gateways are few enough, and far enough apart, that
overlapping feeds are not much of a problem. That may not last.
Finally, FidoNet is a rapidly growing network quite similar to Usenet in
overal function. In December it had 2,000 nodes, today it has over
3,000. It is based on IBM PC/XT/AT compatibles, most of which run public
BBSs as well as mailers. Public Domain software is available to set up a
FidoNet BBS and mailer on any IBM or compatible with a Hayes-compatible
modem and a hard disk. Like Usenet, it has several hundred newsgroups
which are shared by many systems on six continents.
For several years various groups have been working on ways to get uucp
mail and Usenet news running on IBM microcomputers. Recently, in
FidoNet, the software has been brought to the stage where integration
between the two networks is technically easy; an operator of a
FidoNet BBS can (if s/he can get a feed) make a selection of newsgroups
and uucp/Internet mail easily available to users and other BBSs linked
to the network.
This introduces a number of potential problems, and the "SEENBY" issue
may not be the most significant. However, it is the most visible, so
it's the one I'm pursuing right now.
Please reply by net-mail. I will post a summary of responses in a couple
of weeks. The internet address is most likely to work:
doug@isishq.math.waterloo.edu
thanks
Doug Thompson
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Fido 1:221/162 -- 1:221/0 280 Phillip St.,
UUCP: !watmath!isishq!doug Unit B-3-11
Waterloo, Ontario
Bitnet: fido@water Canada N2L 3X1
Internet: doug@isishq.math.waterloo.edu (519) 746-5022
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