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To: gatech.EDU!rec-music-gaffa
Path: warlord!gisatl!f110.n133.z1.FIDONET.ORG!bollar
From: bollar@f110.n133.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Richard Bollar)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gaffa
Subject: Fidonet/usenet stuff
Message-ID: <26.290BABA9@gisatl.fidonet.org>
Date: 27 Oct 91 14:39:01 GMT
Sender: ufgate@gisatl.fidonet.org (newsout1.26)
Organization: FidoNet node 1:133/110 - Swizzle Stick, Atlanta GA
Lines: 46


Jorn Barger & Greg Bossert sent me mail asking me to describe what Fidonet is.  Unfortunately the problems with .gaffa over the past few days mean that most of my stuff was lost.  This is a reposting, so apologies if some of you have happened to have alreay seen this.

Several weeks ago, we were talking about ways to access rec.music.gaffa, and I said that .gaffa (and most other usenet newsgroups) could be received via Fidonet.  Fidonet is a message communication protocol which allows public Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes to exchange messages with other BBSes in automated, unattended sessions.  Right now, there are over 9,000 BBSes that participate in Fidonet, and they are located on six continents.  Most major cities have many Fidonet compatible BBSes (for example, Atlant has 80, London has 60, Chicago has 120, Boston has 110), and these systems exchange newsgroups ("Echoes" in Fidonet parlance) on topics of like interest. I know of about 500 different Echoes, but I suspect that there are more.

Anyway, Fidonet has a Kate Bush conference (which I moderate), but it is small, and is only received by about 10 BBSes world-wide (with Sweden and Australia being the non US locations).  Much of the limitation on distribution is cost, as most BBS operatorsare simply running out of money, and don't really like to make the long distance telephone calls necessary to pick up small Echoes like KATEBUSH (the fact that with high-speed modems the cost would be less than eleven cents to transmit a week's worth of gafa notwithstanding).  They get their Echoes through some benefactor who uses a high-speed modem to bring the conferences into a local calling area for all systems in that area.

Over the past few years, gateway software has been created which allows Fidonet & usenet conferences to be gated between the networks.  Many Fidonet nodes have access to a local usenet source, and can request a gateway into conferences like rec.music.gaffa  I have such a gateway, and that is how messages from my system get into this newsgroup. Although it has been a few months since I've had an opportunity to call Big Sky BBS, I suspect that their arrangement is similar.

There are disadvantages to access through the gateway, though...  I usually get my love-hounds fix three or four times a week, but it seems that many of you are into real-time transmission.  I'm definitely a few days behind most of you in reading this stuf.

Because most of the people who read the Kate Bush Echo don't have access to rec.music.gaffa, I post a digest of love-hounds messages in the Echo on a periodic basis.  On occasion, if there's anything particularly interesting on the Echo, I will forward it nto .gaffa.  I spoke to IED about this last year at the Kon, and he seemed fairly enthusiastic about the link between the two conferences, but as of yet, the Echo hasn't been able to contribute a whole lot to your collective span of knowlege & Trivia. (Youmay recall that I knew the answers to exactly two of the questions at the trivia contest at the Kon.)

I could go on at length about Fidonet as I'm quite excited about the potential that it offers for grass-roots communication without the interference of corporation or university funding, but I've probably stretched the attention span for most of you.  So, ow about this... If you have a modem, please feel free to call my BBS.  Without registration, you will have access to both Kate Bush conferences, and can see what it's all about.  Here's the information on connecting:

Swizzle Stick BBS - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
(Open 24 hours except for 0900-1000 UTC for required Fidonet Mail
Availability)
1 404 351 2975
Parity,Bits,Stopbit N,8,1
U.S. Robotics HST/Dual Standard Modem

Speeds Supported:
300bps          Bell 103 & CCITT v.21
1200bps         Bell 212A, CCITT v.22 & CCITT v.23
2400bps         v.22bis
9600bps         v.32 & USRobotics HST
14400bps        v.32bis & USRobotics HST

Error Correction Protocols Supported:
CCITT v.42, MNP levels 1-4 (1200bps and higher only)

Data Compression Protocols Supported:
CCITT v.42bis (1200bps and higher only)

Please feel free to E-Mail me if you have any questions...

Cheers!


--  
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Richard Bollar - via FidoNet node 1:133/411
UUCP: gatech!warlord!gisatl!110!bollar
INTERNET: bollar@f110.n133.z1.FIDONET.ORG
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