pozar@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Pozar) (09/26/88)
Volume 5, Number 39 26 September 1988
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| / \ |
| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (jm) |
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Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Contributing Editors: Al Arango
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 1988 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. IFNA may also be contacted
at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
are used with permission.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
FidoCon 89 -- Where's It Gonna Be? ....................... 1
How I got into the Net ................................... 4
Universal Mayhem SYSOP.EXE ............................... 6
Universal Mayhem Report .................................. 7
Shareware! Freeware! Get that good feeling ............. 15
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 20
Let's YACK about Those Weird Programmers ................. 20
3. NOTICES .................................................. 22
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 22
Medical *FILE* Exchange Echo (MEDFILES) .................. 22
Latest Software Versions ................................. 23
FidoNews 5-39 Page 1 26 Sep 1988
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
FIDOCON 89 -- WHERE'S IT GONNA BE?
The Membership Services Committee, under the chairmanship of
Neal Curtin, has been charged with recommending a site to hold
FidoCon in 1989.
Would you like to host the next FidoCon in your city? Here is
your chance. Send a proposal to the FidoCon Site Selection
subcommittee to be considered for the honor of hosting FidoCon
89.
What do you need to do to host FidoCon in your city? Planning
an international conference requires a great deal of work on the
part of the hosts. A site must be selected with adequate
meeting space, accessibility, reasonable price and 1001 other
details. To give you an idea of what needs to be done and to
give the Site Selection Subcommittee some information about your
city, we need to have the following questionnaire filled out:
LOCATION:
1. What is the mileage from the airport to the host hotel?
2. Is shuttle service furnished by the hotel available to
and from the hotel and airport? If not, what is the
cost?
3. Are there direct (no connections) flights from the top
ten largest metropolitan areas to your airport? Is
the airport served by International carriers?
HOTEL FACILITIES:
1. Is there a large (150 person) conference room which
will be available throughout the conference?
2. Are there at least three smaller conference rooms which
will be available for meetings during the conference?
(75, 50 plus board type rooms.)
3. Will there be display space for vendors?
4. Will there be a small private conference room available
for the host and other committees?
5. Will the hotel guarantee room rate, not to exceed $80
for double occupancy?
FidoNews 5-39 Page 2 26 Sep 1988
6. Will the host committee prepare a list including price
ranges and bill of fare for all hotel restaurants in
advance of the conference?
7. Will the hotel provide early committment on prices of
banquets, receptions, coffee break service, and any
other food and beverage service to the conference
sessions?
8. Will the host committee be able to obtain corporate
sponsors to help defray conference expenses? Who are
they?
9. Does the hotel have handicap facilities?
10. Is the hotel or convention center willing to provide
help in the planning of the conference?
11. Will the hotel allow for special telephone
connections? (For modems)
LOCAL SUPPORT:
1. There must be an active committee consisting of at
least five members in the host city at least nine
months before the conference. Members of this
committee should be prepared to spend at least two
hours per week in the early planning stages and at
least 8-10 hours per week just before the conference.
The local chair should work closely with the FidoCon
subcommittee chair by Net Mail, Snail, and voice.
Please furnish the name of the host committee and the
name and address of the host chairperson.
2. Sponsorship of the conference by a local user group
would be a plus. Please furnish the name of the
sponsoring group, if any.
3. Will a list of nearby restaurants (all price ranges --
including fast food) and local entertainment be
prepared by the local committee?
4. Will maps of the area would be provided to attendees?
5. What activities for family members should will be
planned by the local committee?
6. Will there be a software swap area set up with
computers for people to trade disks? Will any of them
be equipped with a printer and/or modem? Will disk
sales (at cost) be included?
7. Will there be conference souvenirs, including but not
limited to T-shirts and hats, available throughout the
conference?
FidoNews 5-39 Page 3 26 Sep 1988
8. Will a special rate on car rentals be available to
FidoCon attendees?
OTHER:
1. What other events would you suggest for attendees?
2. What are the features of your city that make it
particularly desirable for hosting FidoCon?
GENERAL COMMENTS: (To be filled in by the prospective hosts)
Please give a lot of thought to the amount of time and money that
will be involved in hosting FidoCon. Then, write up your
proposal and send it to us. We will evaluate all proposals and
make recommendations to the IFNA Board of Directors.
Proposals can be sent by NetMail to 343/1, or by Snail to:
Neal Curtin
8116 5th NE
Seattle WA 98115
Cities outside the US are eligable, and are encouraged to apply.
If you want to include any printed promotional materials from the
hotel or other facility, forward five copies to the above
address.
If there is anyone who has experience in convention planning
that is not connected with one of the prospective host cities
who wants to help with planning, you are welcome to join the
Membership Services Site Selection Subcommittee. Send a NetMail
note to Neal Curtin at 343/1.
PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED BY OCTOBER 31.
======================================
Jim Cannell
FidoCon Site Selection Subcommittee Chairperson
(In Transit)
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FidoNews 5-39 Page 4 26 Sep 1988
How I got into the Net
Brian J. Murrey
1:231/0
The first time I logged into a Fido was about three years
ago. I had heard some people at the local Model 4 user
group meeting discussing this new BBS that had just started
here in Indy that had the ability to send mesages all over
the country. The very idea had intrigued me so, that when I
got home I gave this "new" BBS a call. I have long forgotten
the node number but it was a real live Fido that was being
operated by Jeff Keyes. Though I didn't have any netmail
credit, I was able to at least read some of the mail. In
comparison to what I was used to, I had to admit that it was
fascinating to say the least.
A year later I found myself with a DOS machine and about a year
after that the BBS bug bit me. I had been a co-sysop on the
local TBBS run by Chuck Ober for a number of years and was
looking for some kind of BBS software to run. I started it up
with PCBoard vers 10 at first, I had never been wild about any
BBS that was written in BASIC and soon found myself unhappy and
very limited in what I could do with the BBS. Just when I
was about to give BBSing up, Adam Hudson released QuickBBS so
I downloaded it and decided to give it a try. In reading the
docs I noticed the mention of this software being FidoNet
compatible. I didn't even know that the net was still around
but after reading the docs I decided I simply had to join.
After getting QuickBBS up and running, I convinced a couple of
the other local sysops to run QuickBBS and join in on the fun.
Chuck Ober ordered SEAdog for his TBBS and we began the battle
of getting mailers and echo handlers working. Chuck managed to
pull it off first so he became the NC at that time. In my quest
for a node number I decided to use 11/000 as my node number to
request a permanent one from Bill Allbritten, I soon learned
that this was NOT a good idea. I didn't know that Binkley or
something was shortening that number to 11/0. Well anyway, I
finally convinced Bill (actually Chuck did) that I wasn't trying
to cause any trouble, it was just my dumb luck. Within about a
week we finally had three nodes and were assigned the net number
of 231.
In comparing Fido of today to Fido of three years ago, I would
have to say that it seems to be a lot more regimented and a even
a little better run. I have been in the net now for almost six
months. We have helped another new net to be formed from other
systems that had joined through us, and now I find myself NC
since Chuck has decided to move.
More on the trials and tribulations of being an NC later.
What I would love to see in the Fido Net over the next few
years would basically be more of the same. Even with all of
the in-fighting of recent years and all of the new networks
sprouting up, Fido Net has managed to stay with it. I would
FidoNews 5-39 Page 5 26 Sep 1988
like to offer a big thanks to those that have made this media
possible and all of you that have kept it running over the
years. I hope to be involved with Fido Net for a long time
to come.
Brian Murrey 231/0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-39 Page 6 26 Sep 1988
Universal Mayhem SYSOP.EXE
Fredric Rice
(103/503.3)
How could I have been so STUPID?! I left out a file on some of
the MAYHEM.ARC files I mailed around the United States! What a
bummer! Check your archive and see if you have SYSOP.EXE. If
not, let me know and I will mail it into your system.
This file allows the maintenence of the players ship files so
that they may be removed or edited by the system operator. You
can live without it; in fact, you may not really care if it's
missing or not. The C version will be out soon enough:
The hard disk drive was reformatted after loosing the file
allocation table, (and the backup FAT 2), and some how I lost
this file in the archive.
The error message you get when you request the SYSOP command:
CM error on line 4XXX - something
Too much diet coke and reds in too short a time...
Fredric Rice
674 East Bridwell
Glendora, Ca.
91740
(103/503.3)
(714) 662-2294 Astro-Net
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-39 Page 7 26 Sep 1988
Universal Mayhem Report
Fredric L. Rice
(103/503.3)
Universal Mayhem, the BASIC version, has been mailed to quite a
few systems. Near the end of this notice, a list of those systems
who, (I hope received the program), follows.
If you are on the list and have NOT received the program, let me
know and I will mail it again. Include your systems PHONE NUMBER
so that I may upload directly.
If you requested Universal Mayhem and are not on the list,
"woops". Let me know and I will crash it into your system. There
has been a lot of mail coming in receintly because of Universal
Mayhems initial release and I don't think I missed anyone but its
always possible.
There have been some problems reported installing the thing.
Because of this, I describe the installation and configuration
information for the OPUS package in this notice.
If you aquire errors running this program; errors that are
offered by Universal Mayhem that don't crash your box, you will
notice a file created called "SHIP.ERR". This file contains a log
of all the errors that may be encountered. Mayhem will attempt a
resumption of program execution in the event of an error except
for "Universe file corrupted" in which case the execution resumes
with the BBS software. It's important to note that if this
"corruption" message is ever seen, it will NOT get logged because
running the program again will get around the problem. This bug
is only encountered when a "find" is performed by a ship that is
within sensor scan of the edge of the universe. The sensors
attempt to scan beyond the edge and they find nothing, (which is
as it should be in 'real' life so perhaps it's not really a bug).
Simply ignore this one.
- - - Some installation information in an OPUS environment - - -
In the first beta test site for Universal Mayhem, I used the main
menu option "A)nswer Questionair" to hook into Mayhem. The file
MAINPRIV.BBS was edited to show an option "A) Trade Wars and
Other Programs". A debugger was used to edit this file.
In the OPUS.CTL file, then, OPUS was told that when going
outside, use file EDTORIL.BBS for the menu. This file looked like
this:
T) Transists Now
N) Natal Calculations
W) Tradewars! You need ANSI to Play
U) Universal Mayhem! KILL!
FidoNews 5-39 Page 8 26 Sep 1988
Q) Quit to MAIN MENU
Your selection: Rwtnqu
UtCc: \opus\trans
UnCc: \opus\natal
UwCc: \opus\runtw
UuCc: \opus\ship
UqQ
T
The file contains imbeded control codes (Control O and Control
U), and you should read your OPUS manual to determine how this
file should be built. When in doubt, you should always contact
the OPUS manufacturer.
The \opus\ship is the name of the following batch file:
(SHIP.BAT):
echo off
watchcd com1 on
cd\ship
mayhem < gate1 > gate1
cd\opus
renum -r 3
watched com1 off
As you can see, the batch file invokes the watching of the
carrier incase the player drops out of the game abnormally. This
will reset the system when carrier is lost and will hopefully
invoke your autoexec batch file to reload the BBS software.
Mayhem is invoked using GATEWAY for its console redirection. An
old version, though a tested version, of GATEWAY was enclosed in
Universal Mayhem. You should find the receint version of GATEWAY
and use it. I have found that GATEWAY works as well as it is
perported to and can find no fault with it. The only problem is
the nonexistance of a type-ahead buffer. This is, in fact,
Universal Mayhems fault as it should queue up these keys rather
than expecting GATEWAY to do it for me.
When Universal Mayhem is exited, message area 3, the Universal
Mayhem Echo Mail area, is renumbered. After that, carrier watch
is removed, allowing OPUS to have control and its way with the
system.
- - -
Here is a list of the systems that have received Universal
Mayhem; or at least, those whom I hope have received it.
Mailed to Address
-----------------------------------
Dave Wurz 102/450
Scott Miller 128/12
FidoNews 5-39 Page 9 26 Sep 1988
Mike Reardon 280/6
Terry S. 107/540
Keith Hasson 264/555
Greg Martin 262/10
Glenn Phillips 104/508
Michael Malone 114/7
Gary Funk 391/3
Ronald Hill 390/3
Andy Jones 378/8
Brad Thurber 11/214
Steve Britton 148/158
Bob Marietta 100/503
Shawn Stoddard 362/101
Phil Jachem 321/301
Denis Marchand 322/230
Mike Phillips 231/80
Aaron Lau 125/200
Andy Roberts 138/53
Adam Smith 150/630
Need to Mail Address
-----------------------------------
John Haymam 226/130 <-- Can't get into it!
Harry Dijkstra 508/9 <-- Need your mailing address!
Fabian Gordon 107/369 <-- No answer
Derek Mathers 148/176 <-- Number not in service?
- - -
As always, if you would like me to mail Universal Mayhem the
BASIC version to your system, let me know. I will also mail
floppies to you if you offer your mailing address. Don't forget
that the BASIC source code is being sold for ten bucks and is not
file requestable.
- - -
Some notes on the C version:
There has been a big problem with the development of Universal
Mayhem, the C version. Several, as a matter of fact. The
development systems keyboard RETURN key never worked so control-M
was always used. This has caused some unusual programming
practices in that in real life, I now continue to use control-M
out of habit. The C, T, and Y keys bounced like you would not
believe; del didn't work and backspace would work sometimes. The
keyboard was finally replaced with a brand new $24.00 keyboard
and that's a major problem solved.
The software problem which has kept the development at a
standstill for the last month has been solved. This problem was
the crashing of the system at program exit due to a nonrelease of
allocated memory. Though the C program did in fact release it's
memory, the pointers were being converted to signed far pointers
and negative memory addresses were being passed to Turbo C's
memory deallocation functions. Should have caught that one a LONG
FidoNews 5-39 Page 10 26 Sep 1988
time ago.
Oh, and I need to paint the house.
These things, taken together, have added to some two months or
more to have gone by, pushing the release date back even further.
It is hoped that at the end of September, the beta testing will
begin.
Some of the things that still need to be done:
o Bail-out on rpt loop (*** Already done ***)
The keyboard should be checked to see if there is an ESCape
waiting. If there is, execution should resume at the entry of a
new command.
o Signal trapping of control-C. The existing status of control-C
checking should be stored away in a variable. Then control-C
trapping should be removed when the program starts. At program
exit, the initial status of control-C checking should then be
restored.
o Again does not work with rpt command (*** already done ***)`
o Hitting a star or mine should cause the ship to be "blown" off
of the object for one sector along the direction of dewarp
travel.
o Logging to printer of player sign-ins of name, date, and time,
should be performed if the configuration file specifies 'yes'
for 'logging'. (*** already done ***)
o The ship that last attacked a ship should be stored in each
ships data structure. The total amount of phaser energy
expended on the ship since the last sign-in as well as the
number of torps impacting on the ship should be displayed at
sign-in. (*** already done ***)
o Navagational information on three planets should be stored in
the ships data structures. The positions of three planets along
with the cost factor should be stored. Information retrieval
should show the technology as well so that will need to be
stored for each of the three planets.
o Last ship the ship has attacked should be stored and displayed
with the 'stat'us command. The health if the ship last attacked
should be offered as 1) N units of 1-million power units of
energy available to the ship attacked, 2) If the ship was
destroyed by you, 3) If the ship was boarded and left to drift.
o The find-go command should break the warp values into managable
warp values according to existing warp drive capability. Rather
than just making a 50 warp jump, if the capability is only 10,
the command string should be parsed into 5 jumps of 10 sectors
each along the dimentional line. (*** already done ***)
FidoNews 5-39 Page 11 26 Sep 1988
o Messages not received, (marked as received in OPUS style
format), should be o ffered at the start of a sign-in
reguardless of wether or not the captain wants to read them.
The messages, after being read, should be marked as read by
updating the OPUS message file. (*** already done ***)
o Ship names should allow numerical digits 0-9 in them.
o Destruction of ship should cause the destruction of all ships
in the quadrent of space . Though the blast should be
proportunate to the strength of the ship by looking at the
available power . Depending , the ships in the area will be
destroyed or will be simply damaged. Distance from destroyed
ship and those around it should be taken into consideration.
Destruction ordered by a ship docked with another, (the others
shields are down), always causes the destruction of both ships.
Other permitations will need to be considered. (*** done ***)
o The MAYHEM menu should have an option which will perform a
'names' command, allowing people to use OPUS's execution of a
smaller program to see if their ship is still alive without
having to drop all the way to Universal Mayhem, signing-in, and
then signing-out.
o Self destructed ships should leave debris and hard radiation.
The universe file should contain the yposition of the
destroyed ship and the scan should show the debris. Because
only one yposition will be stored on each universe record, only
one ships remains will be stored for each scan line of the
quadrent. If another ship were to self destruct on the same
xposition , the new ship will take the place of the old ship.
The name of the ship destroyed might be stored . This would
increase the size of the universe file by 5 characters times
the xposition size less 1.
o Remotes should be magnetically attracted to ships under warp.
In this way, a ship may become attached simply by warping past
a remote set up as a barrier or warning device.
o The universe, planets, ships, and other files should have all
of the positional values changed from ' long's to 'short's.
After that, all of the same positional reports should have the
'%ld's changed to '%d's such that proper printf's will be
performed. (*** already done ***)
o The buying and selling of sled-fighters should be added.
Commands that deploy the fighters and recall them should be
created. Fighters will be used to guard areas of space or
attack ships. These fighters should be kept in groups with up
to five groups maintained. There may be any number of fighters
in a group. The ships data structure should contain the
positions of these five groups. On the scan, these ships show
up as ' . '; one space, a period, then two spaces. Torps into
this swarm of fighters may cause the destruction of one or
more sleds. The pack may move around and attack, cuasing monor
problems to the ship under attack. There might be a
FidoNews 5-39 Page 12 26 Sep 1988
possibility of the pack splitting up into two or four sub-
groups when engaged in battle. This would depend on the number
of fighters in the group. Fighters should be recalled every now
and then for refueling. The group as a whole should maintain
a fuel availablility value which will change as sleds are used,
get destroyed, and are added to the swarm. After recall and
re-deployment, the overall fuel availability to the swarm group
is 100%. If the fuel available drops too low, all fighter sleds
in the group are lost. (*** already done. Works great ***)
o Chat Mode. Allows player to call system operator from the game
without having to exit to BBS software. Operator can invoke the
chat mode as well. The chatability is controlled through an
entry in the configuration file and will be either on or off.
- - -
At this time I am asking for beta testers for the C version when
it is hopefully released at the end of September. Keep in mind
that if you do want to help beta test it, your system could crash
running a not-real-life tested program. Though I have tested the
project at all stages of development, who's to say that a real-
life environment can't cause problems?
The program at this time takes a little less than 130K of RAM. If
you would like to help beta test, let me know so I can mail the
beta test version out as soon as it's ready.
- - -
Some questions that are being asked:
Mark James from Maroubra, North South Whales, (712/302), asked
where the system picks up the "from node address" and the "to
node address". I don't know what this means but I believe that he
is asking about the echo mail interface? If so, then an echo mail
area needs to be created AREA:MAYHEM. When opus-style message
files get created, they are done so in the default directory,
(the new C version has a path in the configuration file that can
be changed). These message packets start at message number 100
and are usually tossed to the correct echo mail area and then
renumbered.
Mark also noticed that when you destroy an enemy ship, the base
will stay around. If your ship gets destroyed, your base will be
left behind. You can't fire phasers at an enemy base and torps
are always neutralized. This is a known bug. It was intended to
allow the destroyed ship back into the universe such that the
captain could go to the base and refuel and exact revenge. The
bug exists because when the captain of the destroyed ship signs
back in, it accidentally resets the base into nonexistance. This
is incorrect. It should not allow enemy ships to fire at the base
when a ship has been destroyed but it SHOULD allow the captain
back into his base. The only way to get around the
inaccessability of a destroyed ships base is to attack the base
first and then take off after the enemy ship.
FidoNews 5-39 Page 13 26 Sep 1988
Mario Dulisse, (222/10), has noticed that when using the SYSOP
command, he acquired CM error in line 4283 module SHIP. This was
because the Universal Mayhem program was attempting to chain to
the SYSOP.EXE program. This error will occure when the SYSOP.EXE
is not in the default directory on the disk. Universal Mayhem
does NOT search through the path for files, it simply chains and
expects to find it. This has been allieviated in the C version
in that Universal Mayhem the C version will search the path. It's
interesting to note that Mario file attached the SHIP.ERR file
for me and I was very quickly able to assertain the problem and
offer a solution.
Harry Dijkstra, (508/9), Holland, has asked for MAYHEM. I would
like to phone it in but... It would be cheaper for me to mail a
floppy to everyone who is outside of the United States. If you
would give me a mailing address, I will gladly mail a floppy free
of charge. I want to distribute UM BASIC _Widely_ so that when
the C version comes out, people will be ready to take a giant
step upwards and know what the game is about. I did this so that
SysOps and Users alike would know what to do when C version is
released; the syntax remains the same: many additional commands
and features have been added. The C version will be distributed
the same way. I already have many outstanding requests for it!
- -
Soap box mode:
I didn't like making such a LARGE fidonews submission... But I
feel I really must say something:
"Thanks a million for developing/writing a game like this. You,
(and guys like you), are making this lil' hobby of mine turn into
a REAL pleasure trip".
- Phil Gainey (383/10)
Everyone who has asked for Universal Mayhem or Downloaded it
directly has said "thank you". I have looked through the log of
the requests and I can't find one that doesn't express thanks. I
thought this courtisy was absent on FidoNet. It's really neat to
see that I was wrong. Phils' comment to me caused me to consider.
My initial aim when developing Universal Mayhem was to try to
help bring FidoNet people together by providing a forum in which
people may destroy themselves symbolically. Venting of aggression
through numerical means while having fun... If just one person
can group me in with people the likes of Tom Jennings, Henk
Weavers: the power houses behind FidoNet, I feel I have done my
job and met my priorities. Thanks.
I see this courtisy and have desided to take the project just a
little further and port it to Unix systems. Actually, it's not
that big an extension to the project, but I feel it will be worth
the extra work. In this version, file/record locking will be done
to allow more than one person to play at the same time, even see
people fire at them! Real-time!
FidoNews 5-39 Page 14 26 Sep 1988
I would like to acquire suggestions for the game. In the BASIC
version, I never turned down a suggection and added it
reguardless of the amount of work it took. True, many were
removed because of a lack of memory, (the BASIC version would not
let me exceed the 64K boundry for code!). If you have an idea,
let me know and I will add it.
Fredric L. Rice (103/503.3)
(714) 662-2294 Astro-Net
674 East Bridwell
Glendora, California.
91740
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-39 Page 15 26 Sep 1988
Shareware! Freeware! Get that good feeling.
When we were all growing up we grumbled about not being given
responsibility, about our folks and teachers hanging over our
heads making sure we followed 'the rules'. Hell, we didn't
need rules. Just trust us to know and do what was right and we
would be okay. We all wanted 'The Honor System'.
Now that we are adults (or nearly so), we are all pretty much
unsupervised. Are we all making our folks and teachers proud
by our actions? Each individual will have to decide that on
their own the next time they peek deeper than the reflection
they see in the bathroom mirror.
I doubt there are any of us without at least a few sins. Every
now and then it is good to take inventory of what we do with
the social trusts that we all share, to see how we can better
'measure up'.
How we honor the licenses of the Shareware and Freeware
programs that we use can provide each of us with a small bit of
insight into ourselves.
Freeware licenses often come with the terms that it is not to
be distributed in an altered format; that the code is the
exclusive property of the author; that the docs, the
executables, license and other errata be passed around as a
'package' and that the software be used in a friendly manner.
Also, there is sometimes an encouragement to send the author a
friendly "THANKS! I LIKE YOUR WARES!" note. Maybe it says
to toss a few coins or dollars to a charity ...
Easy license terms to abide by? Most of us light up the nights
with our smiles so using the wares in a friendly manner is no
problem. Swapping archived programs makes distributing the
files intact an easy trick. Most of us don't write programs so
stealing code is never a temptation.
What about the note to the authors? Have you helped barrage
them with 'Thanks!' via their BBS systems, CIS, NetMail or U.S.
Mail? If you haven't blasted a quickie "DUH, THANKYA!" out to
your favorite freeware authors, DO IT! An actor who receives
no responses from his audiences will soon take up another
profession. If you want that programmer to keep cranking out
those gems you best let the dude (or dudette) know you
appreciate his/her time and effort!
How about the coins for charity? There is no shortage of
coin-cans at the checkout counters of your local stores. Folks
are always seeking funds for liver transplants, cancer
treatment or research, aid for the homeless, food for the
hungry, aid for AIDS victims, etc. When the cashier hands you
your change, do you shove it into your pocket or do you first
toss something into the can with the thought, "this one's for
Jennings, this one's for Thom, this one's for Ben, here's for
Wynn, these are for Bob and Vince ..."?
FidoNews 5-39 Page 16 26 Sep 1988
Shareware is the middle ground between Freeware and commercial
programs. The license terms are pretty much the same as
Freeware, but you are asked to send in either a donation of an
amount you choose or a fixed amount the author is asking. Look
over your disk directories and see what you use that has an
asking price. Have you sent the author his due?
There is no need to go bankrupt trying to send all of the
authors a check on the same day. One of the real beauties of
Shareware is that you can pay at your convenience. Make a list
of what you use then move down the list over a period of
months. If a program asking a donation only seems worth a buck
(or this is all you can afford), SEND THE DOLLAR!
Do you think your use of a utility only warrants 25-75% of an
asking price? Try sending a donation, instead of the
asking-price, with a note to the author explaining your
viewpoint. The author may not give you full program-support
for the fee, but you both have gained something. I doubt the
check would be returned with "SCUMBAG!! I GONNA KEEL YOU!!"
scrawled on it.
So far, most terms you have seen set for Shareware and Freeware
have not asked you to stand naked on the steps of the
Whitehouse and scream like a mink in heat. They have been as
fair and as reasonable (if not more so) than the terms of the
commercial software packages you own. Try and abide by these
terms. Help keep the spirit and intent of these social trusts
alive.
James Zachary
DPRP 445/2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-39 Page 17 26 Sep 1988
SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT
SECOND ANNUAL NEW ENGLAND SYSOPS CONFERENCE
Sponsored by
FidoNet Region 16
Pioneer Valley PC Users Group
Saturday, October 29, 1988 9:30 - 4:00 PM
Lederle Graduate Research Towers, 16th floor
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Meeting Coordinator:
Mort Sternheim
Voice: evenings 413-253-2252
days 413-545-3697
BBS: 321/109 413-256-1037 HST CM
=========
REGISTRATION: required for all attendees;
preregistration is recommended.
Registration fee includes lunch, coffee breaks
Preregistration: total cost $20
(must be rec'd via land mail on or before October 24)
Regular rate (late land mail or at the door) $25
REGISTRATION FORM:
Name: ___________________________________
Postal Address: ___________________________________
___________________________________
Voice area code, phone #: _________________________
FidoNet Net/node for E-Mail _____________
Are you a sysop? (y/n) _____________
If so, please give BBS name _______________________
FidoNet Net/node ___________ Tel. # ________________
Send $20 check and registration form by land mail to
Pioneer Valley PC Users Group
PO Box H
N. Amherst, MA 01059
=========
GETTING TO THE MEETING:
FidoNews 5-39 Page 18 26 Sep 1988
Bus service:
Peter Pan Bus Lines goes directly to UMass from Boston,
New Haven, Hartford, etc.
By car:
Amherst is 2 hours from Boston, 1 hour from Hartford.
I91, from the south: Get off at exit 19, go east on
route 9. At route 116, turn left. Go right at first exit,
then left at third set of lights onto N. Pleasant St.
(Some or all of the lights will be set to blinking.)
The Lederle Graduate Research Center is a set of concrete
towers set back from the street on the left after the
pond and just before the next set of lights. Turn right
at the lights (Eastman Lane), look for a parking space.
I91, from north: Get off at the exit marked Amherst, go
south on 116 to Umass exit, left at end of exit ramp.
Then follow directions above to Lederle.
Mass Turnpike, from the west: Exit at I91, go north.
Follow I91 directions above.
Mass Turnpike, from the east: Exit at Palmer, go right to
route 20, right to 181, right onto 181. 181 goes into 202
in Belchertown. Turn left at lights onto route 9.
Proceed about 10 miles to first traffic lights (East St.)
Turn right, go thru next lights (Main St.), and make first
left (about 1/2 mile) onto Strong St. At the end of
Strong St., go right onto East Pleasant, then a left at
first crossroad (after about 1/2 mile) onto Eastman Lane.
Park in lot just before the first traffic lights at
North Pleasant St. Lederle is across North Pleasant, back
from the street a half block to the left (south.)
Mass. 2 and 202, from the east and north: Take 2 to 202
south. After approximately 15 miles, turn right at a
blinker light (toward Amherst). At first traffic light,
go right onto East St., left onto Strong St....
(see Mass Turnpike directions above.)
=========
ONCE ON CAMPUS ...
Parking is free. Park in any space not marked tow zone,
handicapped, etc. Parking restrictions, meters, etc.,
do not apply on Saturdays.
The Lederle Graduate Research Towers are located to the west of
North Pleasant Street just below the traffic light at
the north end of the campus. Take the elevator to the 16th
floor, turn right.
FidoNews 5-39 Page 19 26 Sep 1988
=========
HOTELS
Hotels and motels in and near Amherst are mostly sold out
already for the weekend of the conference. There are a few
rooms available at this time in the following hotels, all of
which are a half hour or less away via I91 and local roads:
Hotel/motel Miles to Tel.: Rates Remarks
Campus 413- S/D
UMass Campus Center 0 549-6000 50/60 Sat only
Day's Inn, Northampton 10 586-1500 65/70 Exit 18 I91
Motel Six, S. Deerfield 10 665-7161 27/33 Fri only
Holiday Inn, Holyoke 17 584-3100 72/82 Exit 15 I91
Howard Johnson's, Greenfield 20 800-654-2000 80 Exit 26 I91
Sheraton Tara, Springfield 25 781-1010 120 Elegant
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-39 Page 20 26 Sep 1988
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
YACK
Yet Another Complicated Komment
by Steven K. Hoskin
( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
Episode 11: Those Weird Programmers
Weekend before last I got a sunburn. "Oh, boy", you say, "Now
that's REALLY different". Yeah, well, I got it programming.
No, I didn't get it from that Turbo Pascal editor with the
intense yellow text color that burns out the retinas in the back
of your eyes. I had my computer and my reference books outside
and was sitting in shorts in the sun and working on EagleTech's
latest version of indexed file I/O routines. I was also setting
up some more customized BBS routines. I'm not sure if the
neighbors' looks were of amusement or worry.
I also live 28 miles from work and want to ride my bicycle there
every day. The people I work with think I'm crazy. They're nuts
- I just want to get back into shape, that's all.
A friend of mine rigged a tape recording to a button he added to
his terminal keyboard. The key said "Flush" and you can imagine
what the sound of the tape was. Yeah, it pissed me off, too.
I was working on a project at work the other day, and around 2:00
in the o'dark hundred I realized that if I went home, it would be
a 1 hour motorcycle ride home, a 2 hour nap, and a 1 hour ride
back - assuming I got up in time. I ain't 18 any more. So I
closed down what I was working on, curled my coat up for a pillow
and used my snowmobile suit for a blanket - and got up at 6:30
when the first hardware maintenance guy came in and turned on the
lights. The next day was my most productive day this year.
Somebody asked me how old I was recently. I had to calculate it.
I like Star Trek, but I don't watch it because I don't have a
television. I haven't quite mastered getting a window to open
up on the PC with television in it. The football season each
year almost makes me go out and buy one, but even the great
American pull of football doesn't quite win out -- though it gets
harder and harder to resist each year.
The Programmer's Dictionary (YACK 3; FidoNews 5-11) defines a
programmer as a red-eyed, mumbling mammal capable of conversing
with inanimate objects. Somewhere, deep in the heart of even the
fair-hairdest, wide-eyed normal-looking programmer is a strange
little bugger that is just aching to get out.
FidoNews 5-39 Page 21 26 Sep 1988
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-39 Page 22 26 Sep 1988
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
5 Oct 1989
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Kaplan
Medical Software Exchange
1:135/3 (1-305-325-8709)
New Echo: Medical *FILE* Exchange (MEDFILES)
I have started a medical file exchange echo which will operate
based upon FLEA.ARC by Ron Bemis of 124/113. The MEDFILES echo
will allow automated distribution of medically related program
and text files among FidoNet compatible systems.
To join the echo, file-request FLEA.ARC from 135/3 and set up
your FLEA.BBS with area name MEDFILES and a password for node
135/3 of password. Since any member of the echo will be
permitted to post files, place an asterisk by the node number.
Then send me a netmail message indicating your interest in the
echo and start polling daily. (Note: I am PC-PURSUITABLE via
FLMIA.)
As more nodes join, I will periodically compile a list of
participating nodes and post it to the echo. As the echo grows,
this list will become more important because it will become
difficult for me to support transfers of large files to multiple
systems. Therefore, I encourage participating nodes to organize
a distribution system which will make echo distribution efficient
but at the same time utilize discount carriers such as PC
Pursuit.
If a node links into your MEDFILES distribution, please advise me
either via netmail or through the echo so I can update my
distribution list.
Note: Please .ARC all files (text or program files) which would
be appropriate for posting on a medically related BBS. Files of
an administrative or personal nature (such as echo distribution
FidoNews 5-39 Page 23 26 Sep 1988
lists or questions about the echo) should be posted as .TXT
files. LARVA.COM, which is included in FLEA.ARC, should be used
for posting files to the echo.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON MENSA
PRESENTS
"A CONGRESS ON THE POTOMAC"
Speakers!
Carnelli!
Movies!
Games!
Contests!
Saturday Night Dance!
Mensa Members Only!
For those of you who've been putting off inquiring about Mensa
membership until there was an extra-special good reason, now you
need not put it off any longer. This Regional Gathering (RG)
promises to be a great deal of fun, as most of them are... a
party that lasts all weekend. Registration is $40. This RG will
be held in Northern Virginia from November 18th through the 20th.
Mensa accepts many standardized tests supervised by other
organizations, or you can get yourself scheduled for a locally
supervised testing session.
For more information, write to American Mensa, Ltd., 2626 E.
14th St., Bklyn., N.Y. 11235-3992.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Software Versions
BBS Systems Node List Other
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.90b* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.22*
Fido 12h MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1
Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00*
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86 EchoMail 1.31
TBBS 2.0M XlaxNode 2.10 MGM 1.1
BinkleyTerm 2.00* XlaxDiff 2.10
QuickBBS 2.01 ParseList 1.20*
* 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 5-39 Page 24 26 Sep 1988
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
Hal DuPrie 101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 102/732? Don Daniels 107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 11/301 Hal DuPrie 101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:54/61 Mark Grennan 147/1
13 Rick Siegel 107/27 Steve Bonine 115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 100/22 Ted Polczyinski 154/5
15 Larry Kayser 104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Vince Perriello 141/491 Robert Rudolph 261/628
17 Rob Barker 138/34 Steve Jordan 102/2871
18 Christopher Baker 135/14 Bob Swift 140/24
19 David Drexler 19/1 Larry Wall 15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 107/233
-----------------------------------------------------------------
--
...sun!hoptoad!\ Tim Pozar
>fidogate!pozar Fido: 1:125/406
...lll-winken!/ PaBell: (415) 788-3904
USNail: KKSF / 77 Maiden Lane / San Francisco CA 94108