Knowledge (XXG)

FidoNet

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741:—the individual private messages between people using bulletin boards—including the protocols and standards with which to support it. A netmail message would contain the name of the person sending, the name of the intended recipient, and the respective FidoNet addresses of each. The FidoNet system was responsible for routing the message from one system to the other (details below), with the bulletin board software on each end being responsible for ensuring that only the intended recipient could read it. Due to the hobbyist nature of the network, any privacy between the sender and recipient was only the result of politeness from the owners of the FidoNet systems involved in the mail's transfer. It was common, however, for system operators to reserve the right to review the content of mail that passed through their system. 406:
in turn. In the United States, local calls were normally free, and in most other countries were charged at a low rate. Additionally, the initial call setup, generally the first minute of the call, was normally billed at a higher rate than continuing an existing connection. Therefore, it would be less expensive to deliver all the messages from all the users in San Francisco to all of the users in St. Louis in a single call. Packets were generally small enough to be delivered within a minute or two, so delivering all the messages in a single call could greatly reduce costs by avoiding multiple first-minute charges. Once delivered, the packet would be broken out into separate packets for local systems, and delivered using multiple local free calls.
553:. This reversed the flow of information, instead of being driven by the sending systems, these were driven by the calling system. This meant it was the receiver, the user trying to get the file, that paid for the connection. Additionally, requests were directly routed using one-time point-to-point connections instead of the traditional routing, so they did not cause the file to be copied multiple times. Two such standards became common, "WaZOO" and "Bark", which saw varying support among different mailers. Both worked similarly, with the mailer calling the remote system and sending a new handshake packet to request the files. 1264:
answered the phone and a human caller was detected rather than other mailer software, the mailer would exit, and pass control to the BBS software, which would then initialise for interaction with the user. When outgoing mail was waiting on the local system, the mailer software would attempt to send it from time to time by dialing and connecting to other systems who would accept and route the mail further. Due to the costs of toll calls which often varied between peak and off-peak times, mailer software would usually allow its operator to configure the optimal times in which to attempt to send mail to other systems.
393:. From then on, joining FidoNet required one to set up their system and use it to deliver a netmail message to a special system, Node 51. The message contained various required contact information. If this message was transmitted successfully, it ensured that at least some of the system was working properly. The nodelist team would then reply with another netmail message back to the system in question, containing the assigned node number. If delivery succeeded, the system was considered to be working properly, and it was added to the nodelist. The first new nodelist was published on 21 September 1984. 229: 676:
internet mail and so on, for the same cost as accessing a local BBS system. Many BBS sysops became Internet Service Providers. Their Internet gateways also made FidoNet less expensive to implement, because inter-net transfers could be delivered over the Internet as well, at little or no marginal cost. But this seriously diluted the entire purpose of the store-and-forward model, which had been built up specifically to address a long-distance problem that no longer existed.
525:. Zones represented major geographical areas roughly corresponding to continents. There were six zones in total, North America, South America, Europe, Oceania, Asia, and Africa. Points represented non-public nodes, which were created privately on a host BBS system. Point mail was delivered to a selected host as if it was addressed to a user on that machine, but then re-packaged into a packet for the point to pick up on-demand. The complete addressing format was now 474:. The tosser produced a file that was similar (or identical) to the output from the normal netmail scan, but these files were then compressed and attached to a normal netmail message as an attachment. This message was then sent to a special address on the remote system. After receiving netmail as normal, the scanner on the remote system looked for these messages, unpacked them, and put them into the same public forum on the original system. 1361: 1017:
network offered to make regular toll calls to a particular system elsewhere, other operators might arrange to forward all of their mail destined for the remote system, and those near it, to the local volunteer. Operators within individual networks would sometimes have cost-sharing arrangements, but it was also common for people to volunteer to pay for regular toll calls either out of generosity or to build their status in the community.
425:, someone who volunteered to pay for any long distance charges. That single site would collect up all the netmail from all of the systems in their network, then re-package it into single packets destined to each network. They would then call any required network admin sites and deliver the packet to them. That site would then process the mail as normal, although all of the messages in the packet would be guaranteed to be local calls. 3737: 1160:, as it was named, varies depending on the geographic location of the node, and was designated to occur during the early morning. The exact hour varies depending on the time zone, and any node with only one telephone line is required to reject human callers. In practice, particularly in later times, most FidoNet systems tend to accept mail at any time of day when the phone line is not busy, usually during night. 584: 1174: 615: 50: 3747: 3726: 874:; groupings of nodes that use Fido-compatible software to carry their own independent message areas without being in any way controlled by FidoNet's political structure. Using un-used zone numbers would ensure that each network would have a unique set of addresses, avoiding potential routing conflicts and ambiguities for systems that belonged to more than one network. 3757: 597:
April 1993, the FidoNet nodelist contained over 20,000 systems. At that time it was estimated that each node had, on average, about 200 active users. Of these 4 million users in total, 2 million users commonly used echomail, the shared public forums, while about 200,000 used the private netmail system. At its peak, FidoNet listed approximately 39,000 systems.
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would then include a list of all the known systems in that area, with instructions to forward mail to each of those nodes through node 10. This process was later semi-automated by John Warren's NODELIST program. Over time, this information was folded into updated versions of the nodelist format, and the ROUTES file is no longer used.
576:. Late in the evolution of the FidoNet system, there was a proposal to allow mail (but not forum messages) from these systems to switch into the FidoNet structure. This was not adopted, and the rapid rise of the internet made this superfluous as these networks rapidly added internet exchange, which acted as a 978:
is in Net 2410 which is in Region 24. Zone 2 also relates the node number to the hub number if the network is large enough to contain any hubs. This effect may be seen in the nodelist by looking at the structure of Net 2410 where node 2:2410/330 is listed under Hub 300. This is not the case in other zones.
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was responsible for transferring files and messages between systems, as well as passing control to other applications, such as the BBS software, at appropriate times. The mailer would initially answer the phone and, if necessary, deal with incoming mail via FidoNet transfer protocols. If the mailer
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In real-world use, points are fairly difficult to set up. The FidoNet software typically consisted of a number of small utility programs run by manually edited scripts that required some level of technical ability. Reading and editing the mail required either a "sysop editor" program or a BBS program
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This ad-hoc system was particularly popular with networks that were built on top of FidoNet. Echomail, for instance, often involved relatively large file transfers due to its popularity. If official FidoNet distributors refused to transfer Echomail due to additional toll charges, other node operators
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of every other member system. Information on each node includes the name of the system or BBS, the name of the node operator, the geographic location, the telephone number, and software capabilities. The nodelist is updated weekly, to avoid unwanted calls to nodes that had shut down, with their phone
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led to a slow increase in internet-connected BBS and nodes. Telnet, rlogin, and SSH are being used between systems. This means the user can telnet to any BBS worldwide as cheaply as ones next door. Also, Usenet and internet mail has been added, along with long file names to many newer versions of BBS
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Echomail did not necessarily use the same distribution pathways as normal netmail, and the distribution routing was stored in a separate setup file not unlike the original ROUTES.BBS. At the originating site a header line was added to the message indicating the origin system's name and address. After
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A huge advantage of the new scheme was that node numbers were now unique only within their network, not globally. This meant the previous 250 node limit was gone, but for a variety of reasons this was initially limited to about 1,200. This change also devolved the maintenance of the nodelists down to
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The network address was placed in an unused field in the Fido message database, which formerly always held a zero. Systems running existing versions of the software already ignored the fields containing the new addressing, so they would continue to work as before; when noticing a message addressed to
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It was also realized that Fido systems were generally clustered – of the 15 systems running by the start of June 1984, 5 of them were in St. Louis. A user on Jennings's system in San Francisco that addressed emails to different systems in St. Louis would cause calls to be made to each of those BBSes
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UARTs, which were at the time an upgrade. As a Fidonet system was usually a BBS, it needed to quickly process any new mail events before returning to its 'waiting for call' state. In addition, the BBS itself usually necessitated lots of storage space. Finally, a FidoNet system usually had at least
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and Squish, would normally be invoked when a BBS user had entered a new FidoNet message that needed to be sent, or when a mailer had received new mail to be imported into the local messages bases. This application would be responsible for handling the packaging of incoming and outgoing mail, moving
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In other parts of the world, especially Europe, this was different. In Europe, even local calls are generally metered, so there was a strong incentive to keep the duration of the calls as short as possible. Point software employs standard compression (ZIP, ARJ, etc.) and so keeps the calls down to a
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Network coordinators are responsible for managing the individual nodes within their area, usually a city or similar sized area. Regional coordinators are responsible for managing the administration of the network coordinators within their region, typically the size of a state, or small country. Zone
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Throughout its lifetime, FidoNet was beset with management problems and infighting. Much of this can be traced to the fact that the inter-net delivery cost real money, and the traffic grew more rapidly than decreases caused by improving modem speeds and downward trending long-distance rates. As they
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FidoNet started in 1984 and listed 100 nodes by the end of that year. Steady growth continued through the 1980s, but a combination of factors led to rapid growth after 1988. These included faster and less expensive modems and rapidly declining costs of hard drives and computer systems in general. By
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soon followed, including GAYNET and CLANG. These spawned hundreds of new echos, and led to the creation of the Echomail Conference List (Echolist) by Thomas Kenny in January 1987. Echomail produced world-spanning shared forums, and its traffic volume quickly surpassed the original netmail system. By
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meeting in Dallas, the idea was raised that it would be nice if there was some way for the sysops to post messages that would be shared among the systems. In February 1986 Jeff Rush, one of the group members, introduced a new mailer that extracted messages from public forums that the sysop selected,
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was used to interact with human callers to the system. BBS software would allow dial-in users to use the system's message bases and write mail to others, locally or on other BBSes. Mail directed to other BBSes would later be routed and sent by the mailer, usually after the user had finished using
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In practice, the FidoNet structure allows for any node to connect directly to any other, and node operators would sometimes form their own toll-calling arrangements on an ad-hoc basis, allowing for a balance between collective cost saving and timely delivery. For instance, if one node operator in a
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Originally there was no specific relationship between network numbers and the regions they reside in. In some areas of FidoNet, most notably in Zone 2, the relationship between region number and network number are entwined. For example, 2:201/329 is in Net 201 which is in Region 20 while 2:2410/330
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As modems reached speeds of 28.8 kbit/s, dial-up Internet became increasingly common. By 1995, the bulletin board market was reeling as users abandoned local BBS systems in favour of a subscription to a local Internet Provider, which allowed access to worldwide internet services, such as HTTP,
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The evolution towards the net/node addressing scheme was also useful for reducing communications costs between continents, where time zone differences on either end of the connection might also come into play. For instance, the best time to forward mail in the US was at night, but that might not be
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were added to the system, allowing a file to be referenced from an email message. During the normal exchange between two instances of FIDONET, any files attached to the messages in the packets were delivered after the packet itself had been up or downloaded. It is not clear when this was added, but
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The rapid improvement in modem speeds during the early 1990s, combined with the rapid decrease in price of computer systems and storage, made BBSes increasingly popular. By the mid-1990s there were almost 40,000 FidoNet systems in operation, and it was possible to communicate with millions of users
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Many regions distribute a pointlist in parallel with the nodelist. The pointlist segments are maintained by Net- and Region Pointlist Keepers and the Zone Point List Keeper assembles them into the Zone pointlist. At the peak of FidoNet there were over 120,000 points listed in the Zone 2 pointlist.
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were interested in using FidoNet protocols as a way of delivering the large quantities of echomail to their local machines where it could be read offline. These users did not want their systems to appear in the nodelist - they did not (necessarily) run a bulletin board system and were not publicly
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By May, Jennings had early versions of the new software running. These early versions specified the routing manually through a new ROUTE.BBS file that listed network hosts for each node. For instance, an operator might want to forward all mail to St. Louis through a single node, node 10. ROUTE.BBS
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Jennings released the first version of the FidoNet software in June 1984. In early 1985 he wrote a document explaining the operations of the FidoNet, along with a short portion on the history of the system. In this version, FidoNet was developed as a way to exchange mail between the first two Fido
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software that encompassed all required functions in one package is available, such as D'Bridge. Such software eliminated the need for custom batch files and is tightly integrated in operation. The preference for deployment was that of the operator and there were both pros and cons of running in
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In Zone 1, things are much different. Zone 1 was the starting point and when Zones and Regions were formed, the existing nets were divided up regionally with no set formula. The only consideration taken was where they were located geographically with respect to the region's mapped outline. As net
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By June 1984, Version 7 of the system was being run in production, and nodes were rapidly being added to the network. By August there were almost 30 systems in the nodelist, 50 by September, and over 160 by January 1985. As the network grew, the maintenance of the nodelist became prohibitive, and
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Jennings responded by calling into Baker's system that night and uploading a new version of the software consisting of three files: FIDO_DECV6, a new version of the BBS program itself, FIDONET, a new program, and NODELIST.BBS, a text file. The new version of FIDO BBS had a timer that caused it to
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connections starting in the mid-1990s lessened the need for FidoNet's store-and-forward system, as any system in the world could be reached for equal cost. Direct dialing into local BBS systems rapidly declined. Although FidoNet has shrunk considerably since the late 1990s, it has remained in use
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To accomplish regular updates, coordinators of each network maintain the list of systems in their local areas. The lists are forwarded back to the International Coordinator via automated systems on a regular basis. The International Coordinator would then compile a new nodelist, and generate the
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as they all called each other during development, or called into each other's BBSes to leave email. During one such call "in May or early June", Baker and Jennings discussed how great it would be if the BBS systems could call each other automatically, exchanging mail and files between them. This
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FidoNet supported file attachments from even the earliest standards. File attachments followed the normal mail routing through multiple systems and could back up transfers all along the line as the files were copied. Additionally, users could send files to other users and rack up long distance
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and, if this succeeded, the calling system would upload its packet, download a return packet if there was one, and disconnect. FIDONET would then unpack the return packet, place the received messages into the local system's database, and move onto the next packet. When there were no remaining
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The FidoNet nodelist started shrinking, especially in areas with a widespread availability of internet connections. This downward trend continues but has levelled out at approximately 2,500 nodes. FidoNet remains popular in areas where Internet access is difficult to come by, or expensive.
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FidoNet is governed in a hierarchical structure according to FidoNet policy, with designated coordinators at each level to manage the administration of FidoNet nodes and resolve disputes between members. The rules of conduct are summed up into these two deliberately vague principles:
441:, a purely administrative level that was not part of the addressing scheme. Regional hosts would handle any stragglers in the network maps, remote systems that had no local network hosts. They then divided up the US into ten regions that they felt would have roughly equal populations. 148:
__ / \ /|oo \ (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (c) John Madill
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A new version of FIDO and FIDONET, 10C, was released containing all of these features. On 12 June 1985 the core group brought up 10C, and most Fido systems had upgraded within a few months. The process went much smoother than anyone imagined, and very few nodes had any problems.
946:. The hub, acting as a distribution point for mail, might then send the message to the Net Coordinator. From there it may be sent through a Regional Coordinator, or to some other system specifically set up for the function. Mail to other zones might be sent through a Zone Gate. 384:
In August 1984, Jennings handed off control of the nodelist to the group in St. Louis, mostly Ken Kaplan and Ben Baker. Kaplan had come across Fido as part of finding a BBS solution for his company, which worked with DEC computers and had been given a Rainbow computer and a
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The exact number can be determined by examining the official nodelist. However, the format is difficult to parse and many systems deliberately appear more than once, in different sections. The 2,500 node limit is an estimate made by the current maintainer as of 2013, Janis
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errors were common. In these cases, people would start receiving phone calls at 4 AM, from a caller that would say nothing and then hang up. In other cases the system would be listed before it was up and running, resulting in long-distance calls that accomplished nothing.
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that were independent of BBS software were also developed. Often the System Operator of a particular BBS would use a devoted message reader, rather than the BBS software itself, to read and write FidoNet and related messages. One of the most popular editors in 2008 was
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another node they would look it up and call that system. Newer systems would recognize the network number and instead deliver that message to the network host. To ensure backward compatibility, existing systems retained their original node numbers through this period.
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Growth continued to accelerate, and by the spring of 1985, the system was already reaching its limit of 250 nodes. In addition to the limits on the growth of what was clearly a popular system, nodelist maintenance continued to grow more and more time-consuming.
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for the machine to which the message should be delivered to. When FIDONET ran, it would search through the email database for any messages with a number in this field. FIDONET collected all of the messages for a particular node number into a file known as a
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There are several modern Windows based FidoNet Mailers available today with source code, including Argus, Radius, and Taurus. MainDoor is another Windows based Fidonet mailer, which also can be run using either a modem or directly over TCP/IP. Two popular
1307:. In some cases, FidoNet nodes, or more often FidoNet points, had no public bulletin board attached and existed only for the transfer of mail for the benefit of the node's operator. Most nodes in 2009 had no BBS access, but only points, if anything. 1153:
for transferring mail as were used for dial-in human users of the BBS, FidoNet policy dictates that at least one designated line of each FidoNet node must be available for accepting mail from other FidoNet nodes during a particular hour of each day.
1257:, which was a small device driver which provided a standard way for the Fido software to talk to the modem. This driver needed to be loaded before any Fido software would work. An efficient FOSSIL driver meant faster, more reliable connections. 356:. After all the packets were generated, one for each node, the FIDONET program would look up the destination node's phone number in NODELIST.BBS, and call the remote system. Provided that FIDONET was running on that system, the two systems would 1062:
To do this, the FidoNet addressing scheme was extended with the addition of a final address segment, the point number. For instance, a user on the example system above might be given point number 10, and thus could be sent mail at the address
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Most FidoNet deployments were designed in a modular fashion. A typical deployment would involve several applications that would communicate through shared files and directories, and switch between each other through carefully designed
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it between the local system's message bases and the mailer's inbound and outbound directories. The scanner/tosser application would generally be responsible for basic routing information, determining which systems to forward mail to.
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Some of FidoNet's echomail conferences are available via gateways with the Usenet news hierarchy using software like UFGate. There are also mail gates for exchanging messages between Internet and FidoNet. Widespread net abuse and
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that, each system that the message traveled through added itself to a growing PATH header, as well as a SEENBY header. SEENBY prevented the message from looping around the network in the case of misconfigured routing information.
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Listing points is on a voluntary basis and not every point is listed, so how many points there really were is anybody's guess. As of June 2006, there are still some 50,000 listed points. Most of them are in Russia and Ukraine.
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was used for administrative purposes, and was only part of the address if the node was listed directly underneath the Regional Coordinator, rather than one of the networks that were used to divide the region further.
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the network hosts, who then sent updated lists back to Node 51 to be collected into the master list. The St. Louis group now had to only maintain their own local network, and do basic work to compile the global list.
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protocols that built additional features onto FidoNet by passing information back and forth as file attachments. These included the automated distribution of files and transmission of data for inter-BBS games.
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In North America (Zone 1), where local calls are generally free, the benefits of the system were offset by its complexity. Points were used only briefly, and even then only to a limited degree. Dedicated
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The Fido software required changes to the serial drivers to work properly on the Rainbow. A porting effort started, involving Jennings, Madill and Baker. This caused all involved to rack up considerable
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At a meeting held in Kaplan's living room in St. Louis on 11 April 1985 the various parties hammered out all of the details of the new concept. As part of this meeting, they also added the concept of a
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coordinators are responsible for managing the administration of all of the regions within their zone. The world is divided into six zones, the coordinators of which elect one of themselves to be the
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increased, various methods of recouping the costs were attempted, all of which caused friction in the groups. The problems were so bad that Jennings came to refer to the system as the "fight-o-net".
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Echomail was not the only system to use the file attachment feature of netmail to implement store-and-forward capabilities. Similar concepts were used by online games and other systems as well.
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started work on a new bulletin board system that would emerge as Fido BBS. It was called "Fido" because the assorted hardware together was "a real mongrel". Jennings set up the system in
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exit at a specified time, normally at night. As it exited it would run the separate FIDONET program. NODELIST was the list of Fido BBS systems, which Jennings had already been compiling.
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would allow them to compose mail on their local machines, and then deliver it quickly, as opposed to calling in and typing the message in while on a long-distance telephone connection.
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is universally supported); one toll call could then be made during off-peak hours to exchange entire message-filled archives with an out-of-town uplink for further redistribution.
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were introduced to address this, allowing technically-savvy users to receive the already compressed and batched Echomail (and Netmail) and read it locally on their own machines.
898:. The FidoNet structure also allows for semantic designation of region, host, and hub status for particular nodes, but this status is not directly indicated by the main address. 421:
would now consist of the network and node number pair, which would be written with a slash between them. All mail travelling between networks would first be sent to their local
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With sadness I have removed the last entry for Zone6 as of this writing. All remaining members have been transitioned to Zone3 as previously determined by Z6 members at large.
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software, and some other FidoNet-supporting software from the 1980s, is no longer functional on modern systems. This is for several reasons, including problems related to the
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it was already a feature of the basic system when the 8 February 1985 version of the FidoNet standards document was released, so this was added very early in Fido's history.
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Zone 6 was Asia, Israel and the Asian parts of Russia, (which are listed in Zone 2). On 26 July 2007 zone 6 was removed, and all remaining nodes were moved to zone 3.
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charges on a host systems. For these reasons, file transfers were normally turned off for most users, and only available to the system operators and tosser/scanners.
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one dedicated phone line. Consequently, operating a Fidonet system often required significant financial investment, a cost usually met by the owner of the system.
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Part of the objective behind the formation of local nets was to implement cost reduction plans by which all messages would be sent to one or more hubs or hosts in
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FidoNet is politically organized into a tree structure, with different parts of the tree electing their respective coordinators. The FidoNet hierarchy consists of
260:. Fido started spreading to new systems, and Jennings eventually started keeping an informal list of their phone numbers, with Jennings becoming #1 and Madill #2. 2465: 264:
BBS systems, Jennings' and Madill's, to "see if it could be done, merely for the fun of it". This was first supported in Fido V7, "sometime in June 84 or so".
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systems filled this role with systems that were much easier to use. Points remain in use to this day but are less popular than when they were introduced.
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the system. Many BBSes also allowed users to exchange files, play games, and interact with other users in a variety of ways (i.e.: node to node chat).
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As the number of messages in Echomail grew over time, it became very difficult for users to keep up with the volume while logged into their local BBS.
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with an assigned node number is 918, located in Zone 1 (North America), Region 19, and Network 170. The full FidoNet address for this system would be
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system to exchange private (email) and public (forum) messages between the BBSes in the network, as well as other files and protocols in some cases.
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to support other BBS software. FidoNet was one of the few networks that was supported by almost all BBS software, as well as a number of non-BBS
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While the use of FidoNet has dropped dramatically compared with its use up to the mid-1990s, it is still used in many countries and especially
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newsgroups in nature. Echomail was supported by a variety of software that collected up new messages from the local BBSes' public forums (the
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In order to lower long-distance charges, the mail exchanges were timed to run late at night, normally 4 AM. This would later be known as
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the best time for European hosts to exchange. Efforts towards introducing a continental level to the addressing system started in 1986.
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forum was one created by the Dallas area sysops to discuss business, known as SYSOP. Another called TECH soon followed. Several public
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Each zone is broken down into regions, which are broken down into nets, which consist of individual nodes. Zones 7-4095 are used for
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phone number. There are similar solutions for Linux such as MODEMU (modem emulator) which has limited success when combined with
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Baker provides details of the club and the SIG at about the 8- to 10-minute mark during BBS interviews by Jason Scott Sadofsky,
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accessible. A mechanism allowing netmail delivery to these systems without the overhead of nodelist maintenance was desirable.
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Region 19, for instance, contains nets 380-399 and 3800-3999 in addition to those that were in Region 19 when it was formed.
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Handshaking - the protocols used by mailer software to identify each other and exchange meta-information about the session.
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the early 1990s, echo mail was carrying over 8 MB of compressed message traffic a day, many times that when uncompressed.
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This article is about the BBS computer network. For the industry association standardizing authentication methods, see
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Message format - the standard format for FidoNet messages during the time which they were exchanged between systems.
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few minutes a day at most. In contrast to North America, pointing saw rapid and fairly widespread uptake in Europe.
319:, with the BBS running on the latter. When the machine arrived, they learned that the Z80 side had no access to the 86: 3599: 3521: 3460: 3167: 1357:(DOS emulator). Mail Tossers such as FastEcho and FMail are still used today under both Windows and Linux/DOSEMU. 1203: 1188: 644: 629: 60: 3371: 3332: 3177: 3077: 3006: 2939: 2766: 2527: 1103:
FidoNet contained several technical specifications for compatibility between systems. The most basic of all is
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would sometimes volunteer. In such cases, Echomail messages would be routed to the volunteers' systems instead.
347:. The FIDO BBS software was modified to use a previously unused numeric field in the message headers to store a 3730: 2972: 2907: 2860: 2746: 2587: 2282: 2059: 1195: 636: 556:
Although FidoNet was, by far, the best known BBS-based network, it was by no means the only one. From 1988 on,
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side, Fido systems were usually well-equipped machines, for their day, with quick CPUs, high-speed modems and
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computer on indefinite loan, so he made plans to move the CBBS onto this machine. The Rainbow contained two
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sometime in early 1984. Another early user was John Madill, who was trying to set up a similar system in
232:
Hand-compiled list of Fido BBS systems, June 1984. This document formed the basis of the first nodelists.
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The message from the 2 zone coordinator Ward Dossche to 50 region coordinator about 6 zone dropping —
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Details of the sequence of events leading to the new routing scheme differ slightly between accounts.
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and former republics of the USSR. Some BBSes, including those that are now available for users with
1107:, with which all FidoNet systems are required to comply as a minimum requirement. FTS-0001 defined: 82: 3317: 3257: 3016: 2978: 2835: 2776: 2761: 2605: 1976: 1076: 272:
In early 1984, Ben Baker was planning on starting a BBS for the newly forming computer club at the
175:
The FidoNet system was based on several small interacting programs, only one of which needed to be
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protocol) and qico (supports modem communication as well as the IP protocol of ifcico and binkp).
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There are two major accounts of the development of the FidoNet, differing only in small details.
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came close in terms of breadth or numbers; FidoNet's user base far surpassed other networks like
477:
In this fashion, Rush's system implemented a store and forward public message system similar to
470:
similar to the way the original mailer handled private messages. The new program was known as a
1137:), file compression, nodelist format, transfer over reliable connections such as the Internet ( 3584: 3506: 3420: 3403: 3366: 3252: 3212: 3042: 3011: 2877: 2771: 2620: 2600: 2595: 2497: 2299: 2127: 1598: 1550: 1084: 773: 769: 273: 169: 1544: 1287: 565: 3781: 3589: 3549: 3529: 3496: 3425: 3383: 3297: 3152: 3137: 3112: 3087: 3047: 2897: 2756: 2751: 2741: 2642: 2414: 2325: 2315: 1794: 1754: 1742: 1032: 1002: 990:
Then when some regions started running out of network numbers, the following was also used.
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access between bulletin board systems, and much of its policy and structure reflected this.
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numbers possibly having been reassigned for voice use by the respective telephone company.
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system, and went looking for a machine to run it on. The club's president told Baker that
2815: 1861: 1809: 1682: 3415: 3287: 3262: 3222: 3192: 3067: 2902: 2788: 2555: 2424: 1441: 1150: 689: 534: 180: 3775: 3564: 3337: 3327: 3242: 3132: 3127: 3117: 3102: 2924: 2783: 2663: 2625: 2610: 2391: 1938: 1327: 934:(nodediff) to be distributed for node operators to apply to their existing nodelist. 906: 850: 827: 577: 249: 107: 31: 1894:"An Enhanced FidoNet Technical Standard Extending FTS-0001 to include Bark requests" 3442: 3282: 3227: 3157: 3122: 3057: 2956: 2946: 2798: 2434: 2429: 2272: 1833: 1236: 837: 569: 245: 37:"Netmail" redirects here. For the Novell/Messaging Architects server software, see 2450: 2147: 1345:
driver, and by using a Virtual Modem such as NetSerial. This allows the mailer to
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In October 1986 the last major change to the FidoNet network was released, adding
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Arguably the most important piece of software on a DOS-based Fido system was the
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service was inexpensive and long-distance calls (or intercity data transfer via
854: 844: 614: 296: 257: 49: 1893: 1881: 1781: 697:, resulting in increasing use. Nodelists are no longer declining in all cases. 3647: 3354: 3052: 2961: 2917: 2887: 2865: 2855: 2830: 2565: 2378: 2004: 1393: 1240: 510: 386: 304: 38: 1602: 3632: 3097: 2912: 2577: 2560: 2267: 2131: 1374: 1334: 1323: 1025: 583: 414: 308: 277: 253: 1304: 973:. From there, it was distributed 'down stream' to the destination node(s). 183:. This modular construction also allowed FidoNet to easily upgrade to new 3627: 3617: 3534: 3359: 3182: 2637: 2356: 2262: 2199: 1462: 1425:
on the Internet side has caused some gateways (such as the former 1:1/31
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In a theoretical situation, a node would normally forward messages to a
3607: 2361: 2126:(DVD, Episode 4: "Fidonet"). Boston, MA, USA: Bovine Ignition Systems. 1457: 1338: 1315: 1044: 557: 176: 17: 1364:
File queue in qcc, the ncurses UI for qico. The addresses are made-up.
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fidonet.org gateway) to become unusable or cease operation entirely.
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The FidoNet system was best adapted to an environment in which local
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Kaplan provides details 14 to 16-minute mark during this interview,
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John Madill; Bart Mullins (5 August 1996). Christopher Baker (ed.).
791:
the FidoNet. Private person-to-person Netmail was relatively rare.
215:
even today despite internet connectivity becoming more widespread.
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an IP address or hostname via Telnet, rather than dialing a real
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The highest level is the zone, which is largely continent-based:
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Rapid rise, 1996 peak, and slower decline in number of Fidonodes
316: 288: 281: 200: 2683: 2454: 2203: 1983:, vol. 24, no. 31 (published 30 July 2007), p. 2 756:
By far the most commonly used of these piggyback protocols was
737:
The FidoNet system officially referred only to the transfer of
2825: 1167: 780:, the reverse process was used to extract the messages, and a 608: 287:
within the club. He intended to use the seminal, CP/M-hosted,
43: 1543:
Agutter, Claire; Botha, Johann; Hove, Suzanne D. Van (2018).
921:
FidoNet policy requires that each FidoNet system maintain a
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of a single file to every message. This led to a series of
361:
packets, FIDONET would exit, and run the FIDO BBS program.
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Shenkenberger, Carol (26 July 2007), Felten, Björn (ed.),
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Since computer bulletin boards historically used the same
1129:
Other specifications that were commonly used provided for
2169: 1572:"The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems" 560:
systems were able to host similar functionality known as
2180:
FidoNews, the weekly newsletter of the FidoNet community
1417:, also retain their FidoNet netmail and echomail feeds. 2174: 1717:"FidoNet, Sidekick, Apple, Get Organized!, and Handle" 1133:, different transfer protocols and handshake methods ( 949:
For example, a FidoNet message might follow the path:
787:
Echomail was so popular that for many users, Echomail
1500:
In the interviews, Baker says this took place in May.
1318:. In some cases, the original authors have left the 730:
FidoNet was historically designed to use modem-based
343:
The FIDONET program was what later became known as a
191:-based communications over telephone links with high 1444:
of the FidoNet community. Affectionately nicknamed
3661: 3598: 3520: 3484: 3441: 3382: 3316: 3025: 2717: 2651: 2586: 2526: 2407: 2370: 2344: 2308: 2255: 982:numbers got added, the following formula was used. 74:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 1043:, where tolls on local calls and competition with 1333:Several DOS-based legacy FidoNet Mailers such as 1035:) costly. Therefore, it fared somewhat poorly in 409:The team settled on the concept of adding a new 2175:FidoNet Technical Standards Committee Home Page 1326:community, and the software, much of which was 1782:"FidoNet: Technology, Use, Tools, and History" 1039:, where even local lines are expensive, or in 2695: 2466: 2215: 1715:Markoff, John; Shapiro, Ezra (October 1984). 187:systems, which was important in an era using 8: 784:put them back into the new system's forums. 3710:Global telecommunications regulation bodies 2005:http://alex-rex.livejournal.com/282920.html 1832:. Bbscorner.com. 2010-02-10. Archived from 1202:. Unsourced material may be challenged and 1047:or other data networks limited its growth. 643:. Unsourced material may be challenged and 3746: 2702: 2688: 2680: 2473: 2459: 2451: 2222: 2208: 2200: 882:FidoNet addresses explicitly consist of a 1949: 1947: 1222:Learn how and when to remove this message 819:broken down more-or-less geographically. 663:Learn how and when to remove this message 509:At the same time, it was noted that some 134:Learn how and when to remove this message 2084: 2072: 2034: 2022: 1776: 1774: 1772: 1770: 1768: 1766: 1764: 1762: 1648: 1646: 1644: 901:For example, consider a node located in 710:Thou shalt not excessively annoy others. 564:, while other popular networks included 147: 1955:"FidoNet Policy Document: Version 4.07" 1804: 1802: 1642: 1640: 1638: 1636: 1634: 1632: 1630: 1628: 1626: 1624: 1535: 1484: 457:Sometime during the evolution of Fido, 323:, so CBBS could not communicate with a 164:that is used for communication between 3787:Computer-related introductions in 1984 2247:List of bulletin board system software 549:A solution was offered in the form of 2056:FidoNet Technical Standards Committee 1677: 1675: 1673: 1671: 1669: 1609:from the original on 20 December 2021 894:number. They are written in the form 713:Thou shalt not be too easily annoyed. 7: 3756: 1200:adding citations to reliable sources 641:adding citations to reliable sources 72:adding citations to reliable sources 2101:Schuyler, Michael (November 1992). 1381:(cross-platform, IP-only, uses the 210:The broad availability of low-cost 3797:Pre–World Wide Web online services 2103:"The Big Dummy's Guide to FidoNet" 25: 1927:"A Proposal for NetMail AreaTags" 1570:Edwards, Benj (4 November 2016). 890:number (or region number), and a 3755: 3745: 3736: 3735: 3724: 3345:Free-space optical communication 2185:International Echolist Home Page 2062:from the original on 2008-05-30. 1705:", FIDONET Episode, 21 May 2005. 1546:VeriSM ™ - unwrapped and applied 1172: 760:, public discussions similar to 701:FidoNet organizational structure 613: 48: 3792:Computer-mediated communication 2482:Computer-mediated communication 1683:"FidoNet History and Operation" 59:needs additional citations for 2242:List of bulletin board systems 2170:Alternate US FidoNet Home Page 1941:, Jargon File, 4 November 1996 27:International computer network 1: 1753:Baker at the 35 minute mark, 1597:. Vol. 13, no. 32. 1371:free and open source software 529:, so a real example might be 3731:Telecommunication portal 3512:Telecommunications equipment 2518:Virtual learning environment 1135:e.g.: Yoohoo/Yoohoo2u2, EMSI 1009:was nominally standard, but 3248:Alexander Stepanovich Popov 2631:Voice chat in online gaming 1509:The Jargon File puts it at 152:FidoNet logo by John Madill 3818: 2952:Telecommunications history 2047:Bush, Randy (1995-09-30). 1882:"FidoNet History Timeline" 1330:, is no longer supported. 311:, allowing it to run both 36: 29: 3719: 3560:Public Switched Telephone 3372:telecommunication circuit 3333:Fiber-optic communication 3078:Francis Blake (telephone) 2873:Optical telecommunication 2528:Asynchronous conferencing 2488: 2237: 1854:Wynn Wagner (July 1985), 1830:"The Fidonet BBS Network" 836:Zone 2 is Europe, Former 720:International Coordinator 413:patterned on the idea of 3471:Orbital angular-momentum 2908:Satellite communications 2747:Communications satellite 2588:Synchronous conferencing 2195:Fidonet Showcase Project 2010:January 5, 2012, at the 1099:Technical specifications 744:Netmail allowed for the 280:. Baker was part of the 3350:Molecular communication 3173:Gardiner Greene Hubbard 3002:Undersea telegraph line 2737:Cable protection system 2541:Electronic mailing list 2331:Remote Imaging Protocol 2118:Scott, Jason (director) 1957:. FidoNet. June 9, 1989 1914:"YOOHOO and YOOHOO/2U2" 1701:Jason Scott Sadofsky, " 1087:offline mail standard. 938:Routing of FidoNet mail 768:), compressed it using 368:, and, later still, as 295:would be giving them a 276:automotive division in 267: 244:Around Christmas 1983, 199:around the world. Only 3492:Communication protocol 3278:Charles Sumner Tainter 3093:Walter Houser Brattain 3038:Edwin Howard Armstrong 2846:Information revolution 2513:Social network service 2508:Collaborative software 2503:Communication software 2231:Bulletin board systems 1365: 1141:), and other aspects. 996: 988: 795:Geographical structure 588: 531:Bob Smith@1:250/250.10 285:special interest group 239: 233: 166:bulletin board systems 3466:Polarization-division 3198:Narinder Singh Kapany 3163:Erna Schneider Hoover 3083:Jagadish Chandra Bose 3063:Alexander Graham Bell 2794:online video platform 2573:Bulletin board system 2190:IFDC FileGate Project 1363: 1278:application, such as 992: 984: 840:countries, and Israel 693:software, some being 586: 333:long distance charges 240:Tom Jennings' account 231: 193:long-distance calling 3308:Vladimir K. Zworykin 3268:Almon Brown Strowger 3238:Charles Grafton Page 2893:Prepaid mobile phone 2821:Electrical telegraph 2398:BBS: The Documentary 2123:BBS: The Documentary 1810:"FidoNet History #2" 1703:BBS: The Documentary 1401:FidoNet availability 1373:FidoNet mailers for 1196:improve this section 994:Region number × 200 967:(region coordinator) 637:improve this section 68:improve this article 3258:Johann Philipp Reis 3017:Wireless revolution 2979:The Telephone Cases 2836:Hydraulic telegraph 2606:Internet Relay Chat 1977:"Removal of Zone 6" 1857:History of Echomail 1164:FidoNet deployments 1077:offline mail reader 1071:to be run locally. 986:Region number × 20 726:Technical structure 527:zone:net/node.point 268:Ben Baker's account 168:(BBSes). It uses a 3456:Frequency-division 3433:Telephone exchange 3303:Charles Wheatstone 3233:Jun-ichi Nishizawa 3208:Innocenzo Manzetti 3143:Reginald Fessenden 2878:Optical telegraphy 2711:Telecommunications 1916:, 30 November 1991 1899:2013-05-20 at the 1815:2014-08-21 at the 1688:2014-08-21 at the 1659:2018-03-14 at the 1366: 1114:Transfer protocol 971:(zone coordinator) 589: 366:national mail hour 234: 3769: 3768: 3507:Store and forward 3502:Data transmission 3416:Network switching 3367:Transmission line 3213:Guglielmo Marconi 3178:Internet pioneers 3043:Mohamed M. Atalla 3012:Whistled language 2677: 2676: 2621:Videoconferencing 2601:Instant messaging 2596:Data conferencing 2498:Online discussion 2448: 2447: 2300:Virtual community 1929:, 3 December 1993 1912:Vince Perriello, 1903:, 15 October 1990 1654:"Fidonet History" 1591:"FidoNet History" 1232: 1231: 1224: 1079:programs such as 963:(net coordinator) 896:Zone:Network/Node 878:FidoNet addresses 673: 672: 665: 274:McDonnell Douglas 170:store-and-forward 144: 143: 136: 118: 16:(Redirected from 3809: 3759: 3758: 3749: 3748: 3739: 3738: 3729: 3728: 3727: 3600:Notable networks 3590:Wireless network 3530:Cellular network 3522:Types of network 3497:Computer network 3384:Network topology 3298:Thomas A. Watson 3153:Oliver Heaviside 3138:Philo Farnsworth 3113:Daniel Davis Jr. 3088:Charles Bourseul 3048:John Logie Baird 2757:Data compression 2752:Computer network 2704: 2697: 2690: 2681: 2643:Web conferencing 2578:Online guestbook 2475: 2468: 2461: 2452: 2415:Ward Christensen 2386:Computer Shopper 2326:Internet outdial 2316:ANSI escape code 2224: 2217: 2210: 2201: 2166: 2165: 2163:Official website 2146: 2144: 2143: 2134:. Archived from 2113: 2111: 2110: 2088: 2082: 2076: 2070: 2064: 2063: 2053: 2044: 2038: 2032: 2026: 2020: 2014: 2001: 1995: 1994: 1989: 1988: 1972: 1966: 1965: 1963: 1962: 1951: 1942: 1936: 1930: 1923: 1917: 1910: 1904: 1890: 1884: 1878: 1872: 1871: 1870: 1869: 1860:, archived from 1851: 1845: 1844: 1842: 1841: 1826: 1820: 1819:, 20 August 1985 1806: 1797: 1791: 1785: 1778: 1757: 1751: 1745: 1739: 1733: 1732: 1730: 1728: 1712: 1706: 1699: 1693: 1679: 1664: 1650: 1619: 1618: 1616: 1614: 1586: 1580: 1579: 1567: 1561: 1560: 1540: 1524: 1520: 1514: 1507: 1501: 1498: 1492: 1489: 1413:connections via 1377:systems are the 1294:In later times, 1248:either fashion. 1227: 1220: 1216: 1213: 1207: 1176: 1168: 1066: 912: 897: 690:a retro movement 668: 661: 657: 654: 648: 617: 609: 541:Other extensions 532: 528: 501:Zones and points 459:file attachments 185:data compression 162:computer network 139: 132: 128: 125: 119: 117: 76: 52: 44: 21: 3817: 3816: 3812: 3811: 3810: 3808: 3807: 3806: 3772: 3771: 3770: 3765: 3725: 3723: 3715: 3657: 3594: 3516: 3480: 3437: 3386: 3378: 3319: 3312: 3218:Robert Metcalfe 3073:Tim Berners-Lee 3021: 2841:Information Age 2713: 2708: 2678: 2673: 2647: 2582: 2522: 2484: 2479: 2449: 2444: 2403: 2366: 2340: 2304: 2251: 2233: 2228: 2161: 2160: 2157: 2152: 2141: 2139: 2116: 2108: 2106: 2100: 2096: 2094:Further reading 2091: 2087:, Section 10.0. 2083: 2079: 2071: 2067: 2051: 2046: 2045: 2041: 2033: 2029: 2021: 2017: 2012:Wayback Machine 2002: 1998: 1986: 1984: 1974: 1973: 1969: 1960: 1958: 1953: 1952: 1945: 1937: 1933: 1924: 1920: 1911: 1907: 1901:Wayback Machine 1891: 1887: 1880:Frank Robbins, 1879: 1875: 1867: 1865: 1853: 1852: 1848: 1839: 1837: 1828: 1827: 1823: 1817:Wayback Machine 1807: 1800: 1792: 1788: 1779: 1760: 1752: 1748: 1740: 1736: 1726: 1724: 1714: 1713: 1709: 1700: 1696: 1692:, February 1985 1690:Wayback Machine 1680: 1667: 1661:Wayback Machine 1651: 1622: 1612: 1610: 1588: 1587: 1583: 1569: 1568: 1564: 1557: 1542: 1541: 1537: 1528: 1527: 1521: 1517: 1508: 1504: 1499: 1495: 1490: 1486: 1476: 1454: 1435: 1403: 1296:message readers 1261:Mailer software 1228: 1217: 1211: 1208: 1193: 1177: 1166: 1151:telephone lines 1147: 1101: 1064: 1053: 1030:packet-switched 1003:compressed form 940: 932:list of changes 910: 903:Tulsa, Oklahoma 895: 880: 797: 728: 703: 686: 669: 658: 652: 649: 634: 618: 607: 594: 543: 530: 526: 503: 455: 419:network address 399: 378: 270: 242: 226: 221: 181:online services 160:is a worldwide 155: 154: 153: 150: 140: 129: 123: 120: 77: 75: 65: 53: 42: 35: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 3815: 3813: 3805: 3804: 3799: 3794: 3789: 3784: 3774: 3773: 3767: 3766: 3764: 3763: 3753: 3743: 3733: 3720: 3717: 3716: 3714: 3713: 3706: 3701: 3696: 3691: 3686: 3685: 3684: 3679: 3671: 3665: 3663: 3659: 3658: 3656: 3655: 3650: 3645: 3640: 3635: 3630: 3625: 3620: 3615: 3610: 3604: 3602: 3596: 3595: 3593: 3592: 3587: 3582: 3577: 3572: 3567: 3562: 3557: 3552: 3547: 3542: 3537: 3532: 3526: 3524: 3518: 3517: 3515: 3514: 3509: 3504: 3499: 3494: 3488: 3486: 3482: 3481: 3479: 3478: 3473: 3468: 3463: 3458: 3453: 3451:Space-division 3447: 3445: 3439: 3438: 3436: 3435: 3430: 3429: 3428: 3423: 3413: 3412: 3411: 3401: 3396: 3390: 3388: 3380: 3379: 3377: 3376: 3375: 3374: 3364: 3363: 3362: 3352: 3347: 3342: 3341: 3340: 3330: 3324: 3322: 3314: 3313: 3311: 3310: 3305: 3300: 3295: 3290: 3288:Camille Tissot 3285: 3280: 3275: 3270: 3265: 3263:Claude Shannon 3260: 3255: 3253:Tivadar Puskás 3250: 3245: 3240: 3235: 3230: 3225: 3223:Antonio Meucci 3220: 3215: 3210: 3205: 3200: 3195: 3193:Charles K. Kao 3190: 3185: 3180: 3175: 3170: 3168:Harold Hopkins 3165: 3160: 3155: 3150: 3145: 3140: 3135: 3130: 3125: 3120: 3115: 3110: 3105: 3100: 3095: 3090: 3085: 3080: 3075: 3070: 3068:Emile Berliner 3065: 3060: 3055: 3050: 3045: 3040: 3035: 3029: 3027: 3023: 3022: 3020: 3019: 3014: 3009: 3007:Videotelephony 3004: 2999: 2998: 2997: 2992: 2982: 2975: 2970: 2964: 2959: 2954: 2949: 2944: 2943: 2942: 2937: 2932: 2922: 2921: 2920: 2910: 2905: 2903:Radiotelephone 2900: 2895: 2890: 2885: 2880: 2875: 2870: 2869: 2868: 2858: 2853: 2848: 2843: 2838: 2833: 2828: 2823: 2818: 2813: 2808: 2807: 2806: 2801: 2796: 2791: 2789:Internet video 2781: 2780: 2779: 2774: 2769: 2764: 2754: 2749: 2744: 2739: 2734: 2729: 2723: 2721: 2715: 2714: 2709: 2707: 2706: 2699: 2692: 2684: 2675: 2674: 2672: 2671: 2666: 2661: 2655: 2653: 2649: 2648: 2646: 2645: 2640: 2635: 2634: 2633: 2623: 2618: 2613: 2608: 2603: 2598: 2592: 2590: 2584: 2583: 2581: 2580: 2575: 2570: 2569: 2568: 2563: 2556:Internet forum 2553: 2548: 2543: 2538: 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3254: 3251: 3249: 3246: 3244: 3243:Radia Perlman 3241: 3239: 3236: 3234: 3231: 3229: 3226: 3224: 3221: 3219: 3216: 3214: 3211: 3209: 3206: 3204: 3201: 3199: 3196: 3194: 3191: 3189: 3186: 3184: 3181: 3179: 3176: 3174: 3171: 3169: 3166: 3164: 3161: 3159: 3156: 3154: 3151: 3149: 3146: 3144: 3141: 3139: 3136: 3134: 3133:Lee de Forest 3131: 3129: 3128:Thomas Edison 3126: 3124: 3121: 3119: 3118:Donald Davies 3116: 3114: 3111: 3109: 3106: 3104: 3103:Claude Chappe 3101: 3099: 3096: 3094: 3091: 3089: 3086: 3084: 3081: 3079: 3076: 3074: 3071: 3069: 3066: 3064: 3061: 3059: 3056: 3054: 3051: 3049: 3046: 3044: 3041: 3039: 3036: 3034: 3031: 3030: 3028: 3024: 3018: 3015: 3013: 3010: 3008: 3005: 3003: 3000: 2996: 2993: 2991: 2988: 2987: 2986: 2983: 2981: 2980: 2976: 2974: 2971: 2968: 2965: 2963: 2960: 2958: 2955: 2953: 2950: 2948: 2947:Smoke signals 2945: 2941: 2938: 2936: 2933: 2931: 2928: 2927: 2926: 2925:Semiconductor 2923: 2919: 2916: 2915: 2914: 2911: 2909: 2906: 2904: 2901: 2899: 2896: 2894: 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Van Haren. 1548: 1547: 1539: 1536: 1530: 1529: 1519: 1516: 1512: 1506: 1503: 1497: 1494: 1488: 1485: 1478: 1477: 1473: 1469: 1466: 1464: 1461: 1459: 1456: 1455: 1451: 1449: 1447: 1443: 1439: 1432: 1430: 1428: 1424: 1418: 1416: 1412: 1408: 1400: 1398: 1395: 1391: 1386: 1384: 1380: 1376: 1372: 1362: 1358: 1356: 1352: 1348: 1344: 1340: 1336: 1331: 1329: 1328:closed source 1325: 1321: 1317: 1313: 1310:The original 1308: 1306: 1301: 1297: 1292: 1289: 1285: 1281: 1277: 1272: 1269: 1265: 1262: 1258: 1256: 1255: 1254:FOSSIL driver 1249: 1246: 1242: 1238: 1226: 1223: 1215: 1212:November 2017 1205: 1201: 1197: 1191: 1190: 1186: 1181:This section 1179: 1175: 1170: 1169: 1163: 1161: 1159: 1155: 1152: 1144: 1142: 1140: 1136: 1132: 1124: 1121: 1119: 1113: 1110: 1109: 1108: 1106: 1098: 1096: 1092: 1088: 1086: 1082: 1078: 1072: 1068: 1060: 1058: 1050: 1048: 1046: 1042: 1038: 1034: 1031: 1027: 1022: 1018: 1014: 1012: 1008: 1004: 999: 995: 991: 987: 983: 979: 972: 968: 964: 960: 957:to 1:170/900 956: 952: 951: 950: 947: 945: 937: 935: 933: 927: 924: 919: 916: 908: 907:United States 904: 899: 893: 889: 885: 877: 875: 873: 865: 863: 859: 856: 852: 851:Latin America 848: 846: 842: 839: 835: 833: 829: 828:United States 825: 824: 823: 820: 818: 814: 810: 806: 802: 794: 792: 790: 785: 783: 779: 775: 771: 767: 763: 759: 754: 751: 747: 742: 740: 735: 733: 725: 723: 721: 712: 709: 708: 707: 700: 698: 696: 691: 688:Around 2014, 683: 681: 677: 667: 664: 656: 653:February 2018 646: 642: 638: 632: 631: 627: 622:This section 620: 616: 611: 610: 604: 602: 598: 591: 585: 581: 579: 578:lingua franca 575: 571: 567: 563: 559: 554: 552: 551:file requests 547: 540: 538: 536: 524: 520: 515: 512: 507: 500: 498: 495: 491: 488: 484: 480: 475: 473: 468: 463: 460: 452: 450: 446: 442: 440: 434: 430: 426: 424: 420: 417:. A complete 416: 412: 407: 403: 396: 394: 392: 388: 382: 375: 373: 371: 367: 362: 359: 355: 350: 346: 341: 337: 334: 328: 326: 322: 318: 314: 310: 306: 302: 298: 294: 290: 286: 283: 279: 275: 265: 261: 259: 255: 251: 250:San Francisco 247: 237: 230: 223: 218: 216: 213: 208: 206: 202: 196: 194: 190: 186: 182: 178: 173: 171: 167: 163: 159: 138: 135: 127: 124:February 2017 116: 113: 109: 106: 102: 99: 95: 92: 88: 85: –  84: 80: 79:Find sources: 73: 69: 63: 62: 57:This article 55: 51: 46: 45: 40: 33: 32:FIDO Alliance 19: 3802:BBS networks 3622: 3443:Multiplexing 3318:Transmission 3283:Nikola Tesla 3273:Henry Sutton 3228:Samuel Morse 3158:Robert Hooke 3123:Amos Dolbear 3058:John Bardeen 2977: 2957:Telautograph 2861:Mobile phone 2816:Edholm's law 2799:social media 2732:Broadcasting 2545: 2435:Steve Punter 2430:Tom Jennings 2396: 2384: 2377: 2351: 2309:Technologies 2273:File sharing 2140:. Retrieved 2136:the original 2122: 2107:. Retrieved 2080: 2068: 2055: 2042: 2037:, Section 5. 2030: 2018: 1999: 1991: 1985:, retrieved 1980: 1970: 1959:. Retrieved 1934: 1925:Steve Gove, 1921: 1908: 1888: 1876: 1866:, retrieved 1862:the original 1856: 1849: 1838:. Retrieved 1834:the original 1824: 1789: 1780:Randy Bush, 1749: 1737: 1725:. Retrieved 1720: 1710: 1697: 1663:, 2 May 1987 1611:. Retrieved 1594: 1584: 1576:The Atlantic 1575: 1565: 1545: 1538: 1518: 1513:at its peak. 1505: 1496: 1487: 1445: 1437: 1436: 1419: 1404: 1389: 1387: 1367: 1346: 1332: 1311: 1309: 1299: 1295: 1293: 1275: 1273: 1268:BBS software 1267: 1266: 1260: 1259: 1252: 1250: 1243:. However, 1233: 1218: 1209: 1194:Please help 1182: 1157: 1156: 1148: 1134: 1130: 1128: 1115: 1104: 1102: 1093: 1089: 1073: 1069: 1065:1:170/918.10 1061: 1056: 1054: 1023: 1019: 1015: 1000: 997: 993: 989: 985: 980: 976: 970: 966: 962: 958: 954: 948: 943: 941: 928: 922: 920: 914: 900: 891: 887: 883: 881: 871: 869: 838:Soviet Union 821: 816: 812: 808: 804: 800: 798: 788: 786: 781: 777: 765: 757: 755: 749: 745: 743: 738: 736: 729: 722:of FidoNet. 719: 716: 704: 687: 678: 674: 659: 650: 635:Please help 623: 599: 595: 570:Commodore 64 555: 550: 548: 544: 522: 518: 516: 508: 504: 496: 492: 486: 482: 476: 471: 464: 456: 447: 443: 438: 435: 431: 427: 423:network host 422: 410: 408: 404: 400: 383: 379: 369: 365: 363: 353: 348: 344: 342: 338: 329: 271: 262: 246:Tom Jennings 243: 235: 209: 197: 174: 157: 156: 130: 121: 111: 104: 97: 90: 78: 66:Please help 61:verification 58: 3643:NPL network 3355:Radio waves 3293:Alfred Vail 3203:Hedy Lamarr 3188:Dawon Kahng 3148:Elisha Gray 3108:Yogen Dalal 3033:Nasir Ahmed 2967:Teleprinter 2831:Heliographs 2493:Online chat 2440:Jason Scott 2420:Randy Suess 1652:Ben Baker, 1613:20 December 1423:e-mail spam 1241:batch files 961:to 1:170/0 860:Zone 5 was 855:Puerto Rico 845:Australasia 572:world, and 511:power users 349:node number 297:Rainbow 100 258:Rainbow 100 3776:Categories 3689:Antarctica 3648:Toasternet 3570:Television 3053:Paul Baran 2985:Television 2969:(teletype) 2962:Telegraphy 2940:transistor 2918:Phryctoria 2888:Photophone 2866:Smartphone 2856:Mass media 2652:Publishing 2566:Imageboard 2379:Boardwatch 2142:2010-08-01 2109:2010-09-30 2049:"FTS-0001" 1987:2010-10-08 1961:2024-07-04 1868:2021-12-04 1840:2014-01-28 1727:23 October 1474:References 1446:The Snooze 1442:newsletter 1245:monolithic 965:to 1:19/0 953:1:170/918 886:number, a 849:Zone 4 is 843:Zone 3 is 746:attachment 684:Resurgence 415:area codes 389:1200bit/s 387:USRobotics 305:Intel 8088 301:processors 94:newspapers 3673:Americas 3662:Locations 3633:Internet2 3394:Bandwidth 3098:Vint Cerf 2995:streaming 2973:Telephone 2913:Semaphore 2804:streaming 2561:Textboard 2278:Protocols 2268:Chat room 2105:. FidoNet 1603:1198-4589 1531:Citations 1375:Unix-like 1335:FrontDoor 1324:shareware 1183:does not 1081:Blue Wave 1026:telephone 969:to 1:1/0 911:1:170/918 872:othernets 750:piggyback 624:does not 568:from the 358:handshake 321:I/O ports 309:Zilog Z80 278:St. Louis 254:Baltimore 195:charges. 83:"FidoNet" 39:M+NetMail 3741:Category 3628:Internet 3618:CYCLADES 3535:Ethernet 3485:Concepts 3409:terminal 3360:wireless 3183:Bob Kahn 3026:Pioneers 2851:Internet 2742:Cable TV 2638:Web chat 2357:RelayNet 2345:Networks 2283:Timeline 2263:ANSI art 2132:61156153 2120:(2005). 2060:Archived 2008:Archived 1981:FidoNews 1897:Archived 1813:Archived 1686:Archived 1657:Archived 1607:Archived 1595:FidoNews 1463:RelayNet 1452:See also 1438:FidoNews 1433:FidoNews 1411:Internet 1390:hardware 1312:Fido BBS 1280:FastEcho 1131:echomail 1105:FTS-0001 1033:networks 923:nodelist 853:(except 809:networks 758:Echomail 695:freeware 574:AlterNet 562:RelayNet 483:echomail 453:Echomail 212:Internet 3782:FidoNet 3761:Commons 3751:Outline 3704:Oceania 3623:FidoNet 3608:ARPANET 3421:circuit 2990:digital 2719:History 2546:FidoNet 2362:WWIVnet 2352:FidoNet 2256:Culture 2148:Alt URL 1523:Kracht. 1458:PODSnet 1440:is the 1388:On the 1341:Telnet 1339:NetFoss 1316:Y2K bug 1305:GoldED+ 1300:editors 1288:TosScan 1237:scripts 1204:removed 1189:sources 1045:Minitel 913:. The 888:network 805:regions 766:scanner 739:Netmail 732:dial-up 645:removed 630:sources 605:Decline 566:RBBSNet 558:PCBoard 256:on his 224:Origins 219:History 201:UUCPNET 158:FidoNet 108:scholar 18:Netmail 3699:Europe 3669:Africa 3653:Usenet 3613:BITNET 3550:Mobile 3426:packet 2935:MOSFET 2930:device 2727:Beacon 2616:Talker 2551:Usenet 2408:People 2336:Skypix 2130:  1784:, 1992 1601:  1553:  1511:38,000 1415:telnet 1407:Russia 1355:DOSEMU 1343:FOSSIL 1118:XMODEM 1057:Points 1051:Points 1041:France 955:(node) 915:region 862:Africa 832:Canada 817:points 782:tosser 762:Usenet 523:points 479:Usenet 439:region 345:mailer 313:MS-DOS 307:and a 205:BITNET 177:ported 110:  103:  96:  89:  81:  3682:South 3677:North 3638:JANET 3575:Telex 3565:Radio 3404:Nodes 3399:Links 3320:media 2898:Radio 2883:Pager 2811:Drums 2777:video 2772:image 2762:audio 2536:Email 2295:Sysop 2052:(TXT) 1479:Notes 1394:16550 1383:binkp 1379:binkd 1284:FMail 1139:Binkp 1037:Japan 1011:PKZIP 959:(hub) 813:nodes 801:zones 519:zones 487:echos 467:sysop 465:At a 391:modem 325:modem 303:, an 189:modem 115:JSTOR 101:books 3694:Asia 3580:UUCP 3540:ISDN 2669:Wiki 2659:Blog 2321:Door 2128:OCLC 1729:2013 1721:BYTE 1615:2021 1599:ISSN 1551:ISBN 1468:UUCP 1427:IEEE 1351:POTS 1347:dial 1187:any 1185:cite 892:node 884:zone 830:and 815:and 778:user 628:any 626:cite 592:Peak 521:and 317:CP/M 315:and 289:CBBS 282:CP/M 87:news 3585:WAN 3555:NGN 3545:LAN 2826:Fax 2767:DCT 2290:MUD 1322:or 1320:BBS 1298:or 1239:or 1198:by 1085:QWK 1007:ARC 944:hub 789:was 774:ZIP 772:or 770:ARC 639:by 293:DEC 70:by 3778:: 2058:. 2054:. 1990:, 1979:, 1946:^ 1801:^ 1761:^ 1719:. 1668:^ 1623:^ 1605:. 1593:. 1574:. 1286:, 1282:, 1274:A 1067:. 905:, 811:, 807:, 803:, 580:. 372:. 207:. 3712:) 3708:( 2703:e 2696:t 2689:v 2474:e 2467:t 2460:v 2223:e 2216:t 2209:v 2145:. 2112:. 1964:. 1843:. 1731:. 1617:. 1578:. 1559:. 1225:) 1219:( 1214:) 1210:( 1206:. 1192:. 1120:) 1116:( 1005:( 857:) 666:) 660:( 655:) 651:( 647:. 633:. 137:) 131:( 126:) 122:( 112:· 105:· 98:· 91:· 64:. 41:. 34:. 20:)

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