Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
Netsurge <netsurge@scinet-ftn.org> wrote to All <=-
Re: Fidonet
By: Netsurge to All on Wed Aug 14 2019 13:04:51
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
I have an address and carry some echoes, but I do not participate. It
seems like an
extremely unwelcoming place. The tone of most conversation there is unpleasant. The
network seems like a sadomasochistic masturbatory exercise; it's a
forum that exists to
discuss its own existence, a place for constant disagreement as to how
it should be run,
a
place for people to attack each other over same or over ancient
grudges. I wouldn't even
*want* to post a message over there lest I become embroiled in some
petty bullshit.
I still participate in Fidonet, and carry 30 or so echos from it
on my board. You're right that there isn't all that much useful
traffic in it any more, generally speaking. There are a few echos
that I still find value in though. Overall I agree that something
like FsxNet (or SciNet!) has a better signal-to-noise ratio.
From: Netsurge <netsurge@scinet-ftn.org>
I recently was reminded as to why Fidonet was and for the most part
still is a cesspool of activity. People still foaming at the mouth
over
something that was said or done 30 years ago.
I do know that there are some solid people who still participate in Fidonet, people who thankfully, occupy administrative roles and do
their best to keep the original ftn alive. People like Nick and Avon
among others.
I shake my head at the notion that people believe that Fidonet is
still
some great and mighty network and that anyone who runs a bbs owes it something and should participate.
When I decided to come back to the hobby, Nick, who is the Zone 1 Coordinator and a friend said to me "You really should join something
like fsxNet, where people can have intelligent conversations and where
people help each other out" (I'm paraphrasing).
My question to people on SciNet is as follows:
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
or less demanded my he ad on a plate. One prominent member of the
fidonet community even sent several t hreats via netmail to me about me
Today, I do have a node number again in Fidonet but it's simply because some of my users asked me to get it. I do not participate in any Fidonet echos, nor will I ever do so. The stuff I read now and how Frank is treated by the same old ang ry men shows me that nothing, and I mean NOTHING, has changed in the six months that I was disconnected from Fidonet.
Where were you 48 hours ago when I decided to ask a technical question around dns distributed novelists and fidonet.org, lol.
We went from who has the most accurate nodelist, to peoples inability
to automate a nodelist processor to how Nick apparently didn't fix something quick enough.
Ohh, and the denial by a few that othernets like fsxNet and SciNet
don't actually have meaningful traffic and are just a few old sysops idling.
I skimmed your message and saw that it was an innocent question about (possibly
improving)
finer points of DNS as relates to fidonet and nodelists. I fully
expected it to spiral
out
into acrimonious debate within no more than two generations of replies.
Imagine my
surprise
at what happened next.
That the nodelist is a thing that exists in its current form(s) and
that one person's can
be
more accurate than another is a joke in itself. This is basically an argument about who
publishes the best phonebook, which is fucking ridiculous. I mean,
sure, the whole thing
is
an anachronism, but at least some things could be improved.
Well, they wouldn't know, and they wouldn't be interested unless said othernets fit their
specific notions of how an FTN should run. As far as I can tell, most
of the old farts
on
fidonet are there to play a game of gotcha, pointing at FTSC docs and defending their
interpretation of this or that paragraph. (The fact that such debate
is possible points
either to shitty technical documentation or shitty reading
comprehension; take your pick,
but I'm sure it's a mixture of both.)
Not to mention the notion that somehow othernet's echos should be distributed on Fidonet is laughable and delusional. The reason they are called othernets is, well, it's in the name for fuck sakes.
And the idea that they could just do it "the fidoweb way" as if that's somehow a better /
easier / more preferable option. I don't know enough about fidoweb to really en ter into the
fray on that point, but the last time I looked at the concept it seemed fraught with, if not
problems, massive ugliness and inefficiencies.
or less demanded my he ad on a plate. One prominent member of the
fidonet community even sent several t hreats via netmail to me about me
The last thing I was call Felton is a prominent member of Fidonet. He
is a
parasite, a cancer to the hobby.
Today, I do have a node number again in Fidonet but it's simply because
some of my users asked me to get it. I do not participate in any Fidonet
echos, nor will I ever do so. The stuff I read now and how Frank is
treated by the same old ang ry men shows me that nothing, and I mean
NOTHING, has changed in the six months that I was disconnected from
Fidonet.
Like I said earlier, I'm just glad there are a few of us in
administrative
positions. Positions that can somewhat keep things in check, at least technically. But to have a douche bag like Felton build up some sort
of
courage behind a computer screen in laughable. Let he ferment in his
anger.
I'm going to go walk the dog.
Re: Re: Fidonet
By: Netsurge to All on Wed Aug 14 2019 14:34:13
Not to mention the notion that somehow othernet's echos should be
distributed on Fidonet is laughable and delusional. The reason they are
called othernets is, well, it's in the name for fuck sakes.
And the idea that they could just do it "the fidoweb way" as if that's somehow a better /
easier / more preferable option. I don't know enough about fidoweb to really enter into the
fray on that point, but the last time I looked at the concept it
seemed fraught with, if not
problems, massive ugliness and inefficiencies.
Well, I was trying to be diplomatic.. one never knows what may show up
in ones netmail.
Feltén has been harping about this "fidoweb" thing for years now and I still don 't have a fucking clue what he's on about. Is it web access?
Is it that Fidonet should be available everywhere? Who knows.
All I know is that the "editor" of "Fidonews" is using the echo for said "Fidone ws" to harass and damn near torment others as he see fit, while breaking all the rules for said echo. It's a sad affair.
Feltén has been harping about this "fidoweb" thing for years now and I still don't have a fucking clue what he's on about. Is it web access? Is it that Fidonet should be available everywhere? Who knows.
All I know is that the "editor" of "Fidonews" is using the echo for said "Fidonews" to harass and damn near torment others as he see fit, while breaking all the rules for said echo. It's a sad affair.
From: Netsurge <netsurge@scinet-ftn.org>
On 2019-08-14 19:15:01 +0000, Joacim Melin said:
Well, I was trying to be diplomatic.. one never knows what may show up >> in ones netmail.
True, but I have been threatened by better men than him, lol.
Feltén has been harping about this "fidoweb" thing for years now and I
still don 't have a fucking clue what he's on about. Is it web access?
Is it that Fidonet should be available everywhere? Who knows.
It is a poor attempt at a backbone amongst mail hubs, kinda of a hub
and
spoke system where mail would still flow if one of the hubs fell off.
The
problem with it is is causes massive dupes and you have egomaniacs
running
it. They tried to force it on people when in fact, people can get
echomail
from whomever the fuck they want.
In today's day and age it is irrelevant. Here on SciNet for example.
you can
get mail via FTN, QWK and shortly NNTP. The more option for people to choose
from the better IMO. This stupid centralized attempt at forcing people
to use
a backbone is stupid and controlling.
All I know is that the "editor" of "Fidonews" is using the echo for said
"Fidone ws" to harass and damn near torment others as he see fit, while
breaking all the rules for said echo. It's a sad affair.
Fidonews is useless and irrelevant. The best thing people can do is
just drop
the echo and let him yell into an empty chamber.
Re: Re: Fidonet
By: Joacim Melin to echicken on Wed Aug 14 2019 21:19:29
Felt?n has been harping about this "fidoweb" thing for years now and I
still don't have a fucking clue what he's on about. Is it web access? Is
it that Fidonet should be available everywhere? Who knows.
My understanding is that it's a routing/distribution technique. Maybe
some kind of
peer-to-peer thing where nodes just connect to each other and maybe
don't use a hub? Echoes
that don't have to be in hubs, uh, lists or something? I dunno.
I'm at least fairly certain it has nothing to do with web access.
Beyond that I haven't
seen a coherent description of what "fidoweb" means, let alone documentation of how it's set
up or how it works.
I did get the sense that it involved lots of nodes barfing loads of
dupe messages at each
other for no good reason.
All I know is that the "editor" of "Fidonews" is using the echo for said
"Fidonews" to harass and damn near torment others as he see fit, while
breaking all the rules for said echo. It's a sad affair.
I haven't tried to sort through the mess of what Fidonews is, or how /
if it is different
from ... Fidogazette? Not sure who the editor is.
In any event, it seems like enough of a mess that I don't want to participate in that
network in any meaningful way. Let the others wallow in their
cesspool.
I think Fidogazette was a competing effort to actually bring out something interesting and sensible. I may be wrong but that's the impression I got of it.
I think it's dead now.
I did get the sense that it involved lots of nodes barfing loads of
dupe messages at each
other for no good reason.
I haven't tried to sort through the mess of what Fidonews is, or how /
if it is different
from ... Fidogazette? Not sure who the editor is.
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
From: Netsurge <netsurge@scinet-ftn.org>
On 2019-08-14 19:15:01 +0000, Joacim Melin said:
netmail.Well, I was trying to be diplomatic.. one never knows what may show up >>> >> in ones
True, but I have been threatened by better men than him, lol.
:) Then again you don't live ~5hrs from him... and I think he has guns...
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
Aside from the Synchronet, Mystic and Commodore echo, there isn't
anything worth following. Everything else seems to be a bunch of lonely people who only have courage at their keyboards ready to pounce on
anyone who might ask a question or offer a suggestion. Any initiative
really gets nipped in the butt real quick. Two page messages around
what flag should go where and who should come first.
FWIW, the Cooking and Memories echoes are pretty active and were not like that
the last time I checked into them.
If you avoid the sysop and politics echoes, you will be just fine.
IMHO, if you avoid those two it is a lot like any other network these days.
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
I don't remember much of fidonet from back in the day, I wasn't on it
for very long then before shutting down. I guess my thoughts of fidonet
are if people there are being disgusting, at least they're not here (or fsxnet). So I guess it's useful in that regard.
On Thursday August 15, 2019, Apam said to Netsurge...
I don't remember much of fidonet from back in the day, I wasn't on it
for very long then before shutting down. I guess my thoughts of fidonet
are if people there are being disgusting, at least they're not here (or
fsxnet). So I guess it's useful in that regard.
Here-Here. I recently had one of the Fidonet-lusters apply to SciNet. Knowing his history all to well I denied the appliation. Last thing we
need
is anything like that here or on any other othernet. This is a dying
hobby
as it is, I don't want anyone to drive the nails any deeper into the
coffin
than they already are.
Good call. They created their own pit of poo, now they can sit in it.
Good call. They created their own pit of poo, now they can sit in it.
I think they are some 50 feet below the shit. They have a far way to
go just
be able to sit in it.
Janis is the editor of Fidogazette, it was created because of the
cesspool that Felton made Fidonews. Don't get me wrong, they are both
useless but it just goes to show you how shallow people can be.
Here-Here. I recently had one of the Fidonet-lusters apply to SciNet.
BTW, in a roundabout way this brings up a question I have. Is this net called "SciNet" as the same way one would pronounce "Science," or is the C
a "hard-C," making it pronounced like SKY-net?
Just curious if some of those automated response deals you have set up are really a bunch of cyborgs waiting to take over cyberspace. :D
SciNet as Science or PsyNet for those hooked on phonics.
Although now that you mention it, maybe it's time to change it to
SkyNet and see if I can get automated response robots to become
sentient.
Oh, dear, don't make me sorry I asked. LOL!
Oh, dear, don't make me sorry I asked. LOL!
Are we not suppose to innovate in this hobby? Lol
Are we not suppose to innovate in this hobby? Lol
That depends on who you ask... (check subject line...) ;)
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
If you avoid the sysop and politics echoes, you will be just fine. IMHO, if you avoid those two it is a lot like any other network these days.
---
* SLMR 2.1a * DEL *.* How DARE you erase my tribbles!
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (77:1/115)
Do you participate in Fidonet? If so how active are you and what are
your thoughts on the state of good old fight-o-net?
For me personally, Fidonet could die tomorrow and I could not care less.
/Joacim
My BBS is in Fidonet and sometimes I write in the international echos, but my main activity is centered in the Spanish echos. We are an small collective there, we dont want Fido to dissapear, but is more an emotional than a rational act xD
My BBS is in Fidonet and sometimes I write in the international echos,
but my main activity is centered in the Spanish echos. We are an small collective there, we dont want Fido to dissapear, but is more an
emotional than a rational act xD
The major problems are in Zone 1. The guys over in Zone 2 (with the exception of a few idiots) are pretty good. I know a few guys in R50 and
..and those Zone 3 guys - well, don't get me started on them :)
..and those Zone 3 guys - well, don't get me started on them :)
All 11 of them, lol.
All 11 of them, lol.
But they're the ones you need to watch... ;)
Are those Spanish echoes Zone 2 echos? There is/was a Latino Chat echo
in Zone 1 but I have not seen traffic in it in a long, long time.
The major problems are in Zone 1. The guys over in Zone 2 (with the exception of a few idiots) are pretty good. I know a few guys in R50 and the run that region like a fine oiled machine.
On a side note, are you a football fan? I'm a big watcher of La Liga.
All 11 of them, lol.But they're the ones you need to watch... ;)
The major problems are in Zone 1.
Nope I don't like football, but ... I work for LaLiga (One my best
clients, I spend more time there than in my office) xDDDD
If you come to Madrid, let me know and I can prepare a tour ;)
The major problems are in Zone 1.
Or between Z1 and Z2. :)
Don't get me wrong, Zone 2 has it's fair share of idiots, some are extreme morons, but we have a larger group of them. Some took
leadership roles for years and caused the major rift between the zones.
The issue as I see it is we're all suckered into talking about Zone this and Zone that... it's really just all about people, people who behave in a way that does not sit well with other people... and when you can somehow start to pin that behavior on geography I think it's a quick slide down misleading hill... :)
Regardless of where we all live there are some good folks about and some real bag eggs also. The joys! :)
Yep, all the echos are from the Zone 2, the most active one was the
MSX's echo.
Yeah, we cover a 1/3 of the globe - imaging what we could do with 22
more? ...
Yeah, we cover a 1/3 of the globe - imaging what we could do with 22
more? ...ëîåã
Yep, all the echos are from the Zone 2, the most active one was the MSX's echo.
Wait, as in the Microsoft computer from the 80s?
Yes, here is a huge base of MSX users xD
[+] NetMail DevNull @ [2:341/203] [46:2/103] [57:245/13] [9:92/8] [21:4/118]
[+] PGP KeyID 0x1352338D
On Friday August 23, 2019, Devnull said to Dumas Walker...
Yep, all the echos are from the Zone 2, the most active one was the
MSX's echo.
Wait, as in the Microsoft computer from the 80s?
For me personally, Fidonet could die tomorrow and I could not care less.
/Joacim
Wow ... after reading your post I'm starting to feel really scared
about the
'people' in Fidonet o_O
I know that there was mad people, but your experience has cross the
red line,
sorry to ear that ...
It wasn't a 'Microsoft' computer. Microsoft did the architecture
together with S anyo and there was a ton of companies who manufactured
it (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Casio, etc).
Thanks. I guess if the people in power in Fidonet do everything to
scare people away they actually do want the network to die... they just don't understand it. . yet.
I shake my head at the notion that people believe that Fidonet is still some great and mighty network and that anyone who runs a bbs owes it something and should participate.
I have to admit that I like Fidonet despite it's obvious faults.
To me it's like an old pair of jeans that just ... fit and are comfortable. Or maybe how you can't resist rubber-necking at a
car accident or something on the highway when you go by. It
certainly has "fallen from grace" compared to it's state of 25
years ago, but it's not dead yet. :-)
Personally, I'm a big Real Madrid fan, Doing work for La Liga would be
a dream job for me.
Regardless of where we all live there are some good folks about and some bag eggs also. The joys! :)
Alas, you are correct. The Zone wars never really ended.
Thanks. I guess if the people in power in Fidonet do everything to scare people away they actually do want the network to die... they just don't understand it.. yet.
It wasn't a 'Microsoft' computer. Microsoft did the architecture together with S anyo and there was a ton of companies who manufacture it (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Casio, etc).
I always thought it was their machine, errr, well, they came up with the idea, partially.
I have FidoNet on my BBS, but I don't read FidoNet much. It seems like it's not much of what it once was, at least in terms of activity. There are only a coup le echos I'm interested in right now, and there isn't
much activity in the ones I'm interested in.
When I ran my original BBS in the 90s, I often felt like FidoNet was something I always wanted to join, and when I did, I felt like I had
done something signifi cant. It felt pretty cool that my BBS was then part of a global network. I joi ned FidoNet fairly late in running my
BBS though, only 2 years before I eventual ly took my original BBS down for good. I have since re-joined FidoNet with my c urrent BBS though.
I'm currently building the Research and Development dpt there. We are playing for example with AI for image recognition, cognitive chatbots, multicam player tracking and a mini supercomputing cluster ( 6 nodes,
with 2 Tesla V100 each one ). Hashcat runs really well there xD
"The Cold Zone War"... "Prepare your tosser, mailer and modem. The 87's summer will be full of blood" ...
Sounds like a eighties trailer ... xD
Not even close. There are less than 1000 nodes and I'd be willing to be that 400 or so of them are dead and just haven't been pruned. It's a far cry from the 30,000+ only 10 or 15 years ago.
I have FidoNet on my BBS, but I don't read FidoNet much. It seems
like it's not much of what it once was, at least in terms of
activity. There are only a coup le echos I'm interested in right
now, and there isn't much activity in the ones I'm interested in.
Not even close. There are less than 1000 nodes and I'd be willing to be that 400 or so of them are dead and just haven't been pruned. It's a far cry from the 30,000+ only 10 or 15 years ago.
The initial idea behind it was great. An amateur network that spanned the globe, allowing people to interact with others on the other side of the world. Alas, the internet came along and 97% of those participating jumped ship. You really can't blame them for doing so.
Not even close. There are less than 1000 nodes and I'd be willing to be that 400 or so of them are dead and just haven't been pruned. It's a far cry from the 30,000+ only 10 or 15 years ago.
Last time I checked, there was about 20 dead nodes just in region 15. Then, of course, you have the RC with over 20 listings just for
himself...
Yeah, I got into the internet right away. I was using chat programs
such as ICQ to talk to people around the world on the internet.
Then, of course, you have the RC with over 20 listings just for himself...
I never understood that one. RC and REC is all you need.
Is the REC still being used? I thought that was removed...
eIt wasn't a 'Microsoft' computer. Microsoft did the architecture
together with S anyo and there was a ton of companies who manufactur
it (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Casio, etc).
I always thought it was their machine, errr, well, they came up with the
idea, partially.
A lot of people thinks that MSX means MicroSoft eXtended.... But it
was first
named MNX (Matsushita, Nishi and X from unlimited power). But that
name was
registered, so they changed from Nishi to Sony (The first company who licensed the standar), and from there MSX.
Or this is the legend behind the name xD
I have FidoNet on my BBS, but I don't read FidoNet much. It seems like
it's not much of what it once was, at least in terms of activity. There
are only a coup le echos I'm interested in right now, and there isn't
much activity in the ones I'm interested in.
Not even close. There are less than 1000 nodes and I'd be willing to
be that
400 or so of them are dead and just haven't been pruned. It's a far
cry from
the 30,000+ only 10 or 15 years ago.
Re: Re: Fidonet
By: Netsurge to Nightfox on Tue Aug 27 2019 05:23 pm
Not even close. There are less than 1000 nodes and I'd be willing to be that 400 or so of them are dead and just haven't been pruned. It's a
far cry from the 30,000+ only 10 or 15 years ago.
And a good portion of the remaining 600 a probably there, because they joined to re-live their youth, discovered how unfriendly it is, joined "othernets" but never disconnected.
I dont think I've posted in a fido for a while now - and I really only posted a couple of messages when I joined, and I asked "whats NAB" -
and boy did that open a kettle of worms...
Now that I think about it, I should ask again... ;0
To this day I have no idea why all those dead nodes aren't removed from the node lists. It's like they live in a illusion that one day, ONE GLORIOUS DAY, all the se BBS:es will be ressurrected from the dead and will start polling again.
Not even close. There are less than 1000 nodes and I'd be willing to be that 400 or so of them are dead and just haven't been pruned. It's a
far cry from the 30,000+ only 10 or 15 years ago.
And a good portion of the remaining 600 a probably there, because they joined to re-live their youth, discovered how unfriendly it is, joined "othernets" but never disconnected.
Sysop: | altere |
---|---|
Location: | Houston, TX |
Users: | 69 |
Nodes: | 4 (0 / 4) |
Uptime: | 08:50:49 |
Calls: | 1,062 |
Calls today: | 2 |
Files: | 8,069 |
Messages: | 298,941 |