lowey@f43.n140.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Kevin Lowey) (02/04/90)
Hi,
As you all know, the Fidonet <==> Usenet gateway has been up and
running now for about a week. I thought it would be useful for me to
mention some of the problems which have been discovered, and some of the
solutions to these problems.
Problems noticed by BOTH networks:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The main problem that people on both networks mention is the "off topic"
messages and the messages which are specific to one network but not the
other. For example, there have been a few private conversations in the
Fidonet side that should really be carried on by netmail. Also, some of
the fidonet people mentioned the discussion of the "comp.binaries.os2"
messages which are specific to Usenet.
There is a mechanism within Usenet for tagging the "distribution" on a
message so that messages only of interest to a particular network will
not be forwarded on to other networks. Unfortunately, the UFgate
software we are using has no support for this. If anyone knows of any
gateway software that runs on PCs and DOES support this, please let me
know.
In the meantime, all I can do is ask that people try to stick to OS/2
topics in the OS/2 message area, and not stray into private or off-topic
conversations. This will reduce much of the problem. I have been
sending private mail to the originators of off topic and private
messages pointing out the problem, so rest assured the messages are
being addressed and are not being ignored.
Another question is how can I get program "X" that I saw mentioned in
{fidonet/usenet}?
I make most of the binaries which come across Usenet available on my BBS
for Fidonet users (address given at the end of this message). I also
archive a lot of the best software mentioned in Fidonet on my bulletin
board. In fact, I've just received a set of 15 1.2M disks from Emmitt
Dove, sysop of the Fernwood BBS. I'll be adding these to my collection
soon. These are all available for first time callers to download, and
as file requests from Fidonet bulletin boards and point systems.
As for Usenet users, I do not have FTP access, but I will post the
better programs in the COMP.BINARIES.OS2 newsgroup when it is available.
I'll also try to send programs to Simtel20 using a round-about way on
Bitnet.
Usenet Specific Concerns:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It appears that some of the fidonet message editors use "soft returns"
in their messages. On the Usenet side, this means that each paragraph
is one long unreadable line. I've written a filter that converts the
soft returns into hard returns, so the problem should be fixed soon. In
the mean time, if the Fidonet users could press <return> at the end of
each line instead of letting the editor automatically wrap the lines it
may help matters.
Fidonet Specific Concerns:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The main Fidonet concern is the header information at the beginning of
each Usenet message. Again, this is built into the UFGate software, and
cannot be easily changed. I might be able to write a filter to strip
out some of the information when the message hits Fidonet, but I'm still
undecided as to whether this is a good idea or not. Most of the
information is required to help track messages, (just like the SEEN-BY
and PATH lines in Fidonet messages).
A similar concern is the long signature lines used by some people on
Usenet. The main problem with these lines is that Fidonet wraps long
lines around in about column 70, so a "pretty" signature line that is
inside a box and is only 5 lines long on Usenet could end up ten lines
long in Fidonet and almost unreadable. Reducing the signature lines to
the bare minimum is good for BOTH Usenet AND Fidonet, because it costs
money to send the extra signature information on every message.
One final note, in some previous messages I made a few goofs.
1) The name of the network is Usenet, not UUCP.
2) I said that Usenet uses leased lines. I said this because that's how
it works at our university. However, people have pointed out that most
Usenet systems are connected by regular long distance telephone lines,
just like in Fidonet.
If you have any comments on the operation of the gateway, please send me
mail directly to:
- Fido: Kevin Lowey @ 1:140/43 (306) 966-4857
- Internet: LOWEY@SASK.USask.CA
- UUCP: Lowey@dvinci.UUCP
- Bitnet: LOWEY@SASK.BITNET
Please DO NOT discuss these in the message area as the gateway is really
not an "OS/2" topic and I don't want to clutter the OS/2 message area
any more than is necessary.
-- Kevin "Gatekeeper" Lowey
--
Kevin Lowey - via Benden Weyr - FidoNet Node 1:140/22
use UUCP: alberta!dvinci!lowey
Internet: lowey@sask.usask.ca
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