The F I D O N E W S Volume 28, Number 14 04 Apr 2011 +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | |The newsletter of the | | | | | FidoNet community. | | Netmail attach to (POTS): | | | | | Editor @ 2:2/2 (+46-31-960447) | | | ____________| | | | | / __ | Netmail attach to (BinkP): | | | / / \ | Editor @ 2:203/0 | | | WOOF! ( /|oo \ | | | \_______\(_| /_) | Email attach to: | | _ @/_ \ _ | bfelten @ telia dot com | | | | \ \\ | | | | (*) | \ ))| | | |__U__| / \// | Editor: Bj”rn Felten | | ______ _//|| _\ / | | | / Fido \ (_/(_|(____/ | Newspapers should have no friends. | | (________) (jm) | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ Table of Contents 1. FOOD FOR THOUGHT ......................................... 1 2. GENERAL ARTICLES ......................................... 2 SIMPL .................................................... 2 3. FIDONEWS'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ...................... 5 FidoNet Software References .............................. 5 4. SPECIAL INTEREST ......................................... 10 Nodelist Stats ........................................... 10 5. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 12 How to Submit an Article ................................. 12 Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability .................. 14 FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 1 4 Apr 2011 ================================================================= FOOD FOR THOUGHT ================================================================= Any country that has sexual censorship will eventually have political censorship. -- Kenneth Tynan, British author, 1927-1980 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 2 4 Apr 2011 ================================================================= GENERAL ARTICLES ================================================================= SIMPL By Michiel van der Vlist, 2:280/5555 Nine months ago I wrote about my experience with FON over the past four years. I was not very positive, but thanks to our fellow sysop Steven Leeman, it got the attention of FON. To my surprise they offered me a free sample of their latest wireless router, the Fonera SIMPL. Not for writing such positive articles about FON, but for being such a loyal and persistent contributor. My FON spot has been on-line for almost five years now and they appriciate that. So having the Fonera SIMPL for free, it is only fair that I write down what I think of it. The Fonera SIMPL arrived about a month ago and so I took down the Linksys that had been quitly humming in the attic for almost five years and replaced it with the Fonera SIMPL. The Linksys has been reflashed with a version of OpenWrt that supports IPv6 and it is now hanging in the meter closet, functioning as my main router. Both have been humming away quitly for almost a month now without any need for a reset. So let me give you a list of my findings of what I liked and what I did not like about the Fonera SIMPL: What I liked: o The name is appropriate. It is basically a somewhat stripped down version of the Fonera plus. It has a WAN and a LAN port. The radio section supports 802.11n. What is stripped down is the firmware. Only the basic function are present. o The antenna is removable. So connecting an external antenna - a 7dBi omni in my case - is no problem. o Power consumption is low. A simple small switched adapter suffices to power it and it stays cool. A vast improvement over some of its power hungry predecessors that suffered from overheating problems. Summer is yet to come, but I expect no overheating problems with the SIMPL. o It is stable. Contrary to some of its predecessors this Fonera is stable. I installed it a month ago and more or less forgot it. Every once in a while I check if it is still on air, but as it always is, the intervals get larger and my confidence that no resets are needed increase. What I did not like: (With suggestions for improvement) o There is no obvious may to screw it to a wall. It has rubber feet, FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 3 4 Apr 2011 so it makes no scratches on your desk, but I prefer routers and switches not to clog my desk, I want to screw then to a wall. So I made a very simple holder that I folded from sheet aluminium. A suggestion for FON might be to have such a holder made out of plastic. When mass produced, it should not have to cost more than a few cents, so adding it as a free extra would not make FON go broke. o No IPv6. I really think that, now that IANA has depleted its free pool of IPv4 addresses and APNIC is expected to quasi deplete before the end of this month, any network equipment that is not at least IPv6 ready, deserves to end up as ramsh. Already two years ago I decided I would not buy any new network equipment that does not support IPv6. Well... I did not buy my Fonera SIMPL... o No bridge mode for the private signal. I wonder why FON is so hard headed about this. Users have been asking for this feature from the very first Fonera, but FON turns a deaf ear on them. The beauty of the Fonera SIMPL is in its simplicity. The flip side of that simplicity is that for many, it is not powerful enough to serve as their main router. So they put it behind a NAT and use it as a wireless access point only. No big problem for the public signal, but the private signal is next to useless in this mode. The machines on the private signal are isolated by a firewall from the machines on the main LAN and that is not what most users need. It does not bother me much, as I do not use the private signal anyway. When I need WiFi for myself, I use the signal from the old Linksys. It gives me full access to my LAN and it does so using IPv6 too! o The SSID of the public signal can not be changed. It is set to FON_FREE_INTERNET and that is it. I do not like it. First: it is misleading. It is NOT free. Yes, the services of some of FON's sponsors as Gmail and some others are free and you can get a 10 minute trial period by clicking on some advertisement, but to obtain full internet access, you either need to pay or be a Fonero that has his own FON spot up and running at home. Calling that "free internet" is misleading. Plus of course that I simply want to advertise my FON spot as something more than jus a FON spot. I want the SSID to reflect the fact that is is MY FON spot. A restaurant owner or any other bussines using a FON spot to attract customers, would want that even more. o No personalisation of the landing page. The older Foneras offered the options of doing some (minor IMHO) personalisation to the landing page. With the SIMPL this is totally absent. Pity. My provider blocks port 25 outgoing, except to access their own SMTP server. With previous setups I added a small text to the landing page telling my users what SMTP server to use if they wished to send e-mail via SMTP. With the Fonera SIMPL this is no longer possible. Standard landing page only. o The internal web interface is only accessible via the LAN port. Good for security, but a bit akward for those who have made no compromise on range, do not use the LAN port and who placed their Fonera in a less accessible place as an attic or a radio tower. Having the option of accessing the web interface via the WAN port FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 4 4 Apr 2011 would be nice. OTOH, there is not much to configure that needs frequent changing, so it is not a big deal. o No SSH or Telnet access. Not a big deal either. Summary: The Fonera SIMPL serves its purpose well for those who expect no more than the name suggests. For use as just a FON hot spot, it is almost all that one could want. It is stable, it is undemanding on energy, it is not saddled with unneeded whistles and bells. I have to admit, I like it more than I expected. It has a its shortcomings, but for what I use it for: just a FON access point, it is better suited than all the other Foneras that I had the pleasure to test. April 2011, Michiel van der Vlist ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 5 4 Apr 2011 ================================================================= FIDONEWS'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ================================================================= -=:{ FidoNet Software Reference }:=- Type: M=Mailer T=Tosser B=BBS D=Door C=Comm/Terminal P=Points E=Editor I=Internet U=Utility ?=Info .- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -. |Software: Author |Type |URL, Contact, Ver, Notes Help Node| `- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -' Argus |MI |http://www.ritlabs.com/argus/ 2:469/84 | | argus@ritlabs.com Tel: 373-2-246889 | | v3.210 on Mar 20th 2001 BinkleyTerm XE |M |http://btxe.sourceforge.net 1:1/102 | | v2.60XE/Gamma-6 on Nov 11th 1998 BinkD |MI |http://binkd.grumbler.org/ 2:463/69 | | v0.9.10 on Oct 2nd 2008 FIDO-Deluxe IP |MPUI |http://www.fido-deluxe.de.vu 2:2432/280 Michael Haase | | m.haase@gmx.net | | v2.4 on Sep 26th 2003 FrontDoor, FD/APX: |MTPC |http://www.defsol.se 2:201/330 Definite Solutions | | sales@defsol.se 1:1/101 | | v2.26SW & v2.33ml FD, v1.15 APX Husky Project |MTPUI|http://sf.net/projects/husky/ | | v1.4 RC5 on Apr 24th 2006 Radius |MI |http://radius.pp.ru 2:5012/38 (based on Argus) | | fido5012@zaural.net Tel: 7-3522-469463 | | Last Release: v4.010 on Jan 3nd 2005 Taurus |MI |http://taurus.rinet.ru (Russian) 2:461/70 | |http://www.fidotel.com/taurus (English) (based on Radius) | | E-mail: taurus@rinet.ru | | v5.000 alpha on Oct 11th 2004 Tmail |MI |http://www.tmail.spb.ru v2608 | | Website is in Russian only WildCat! Interactive |MTBEI|http://www.santronics.com Net Server, Platinum| | sales@santronics.com Xpress: Santronics | | Tel: (305) 248-3204 Software, Inc. | | AUP 451.1 on April 26th 2004 +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ Fidogate |TUI |http://www.fidogate.org | | Martin_Junius@m-j-s.net v4.4.10 FMail |T |http://fmail.nl.eu.org FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 6 4 Apr 2011 | | support@fmail.nl.eu.org v1.60 JetMail: JetSys |TU |http://www.jetsys.de js@jetsys.de (ATARI ST only) | | v1.01 on Jan 1st 2000 Squish |T |http://maximus.sourceforge.net/ | | Lanuis site redirects to above | | Squish is part of Maximus. +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ BBBS |BI |http://www.bbbs.net b@bbbs.net | | v4.00MP on Oct 25th 1999 2:22/222 ELEBBS: The Elevator |B |http://www.elebbs.com Software Production | | elebbs@elebbs.com | | v0.10.RC1 on Jun 9th 2002 Ezycom BBS |BT |http://www.ezycom-bbs.com | | ezycom@amnet.net.au or | | ezycom_hq@ezycom-bbs.com 3:690/682 | | v2.15g2 on 16 Nov 2009 Hermes II Project |B |http://www.hermesii.org | | info@HermesII.org v3.5.9 Beta Final Maximus BBS |B |http://maximus.sourceforge.net/ | | v3.03 | |Archives back online at: | |http://maximus.outpostbbs.net/ MBSE BBS: |BI |http://mbse.sourceforge.net 2:280/2802 Michiel Broek | | mbroek@users.sourceforge.net | | v0.60.0 on June 5th 2004 Mystic BBS |B |http://www.mysticbbs.com | | v1.07.3 on May 13th 2001 Nexus BBS |B |http://www.nexusbbs.net | | groberts@nexusbbs.net | | v0.99.41-Beta on Oct 16th 2002 | | [Note: No Longer under active | | development.] Proboard BBS |B |http://www.proboard.be | | v2.17 on Jun 9th 2002 RemoteAccess BBS: |B |http://www.rapro.com 1:1/120 Bruce Morse | | bfmorse@rapro.com | | v2.62.2SW Spitfire BBS: Buffalo|B |http://www.angelfire.com/ia/buffalo/ Creek Software | | MDWoltz@aol.com 1:1/150 | | v3.6 on Aug 20th 1999 Synchronet BBS |BT |http://www.synchro.net FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 7 4 Apr 2011 | | sysop(at)vert(dot)synchro(dot)net | | v3.10L Beta Telegard BBS |B |http://www.telegard.net | | support@telegard.net | | v3.09g2 SP4 +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ Atlantis Software |D |http://www.jimmyrose.com/atlantis/ | | Last Update: August 2004 Cheepware |DU |http://outpostbbs.net Sean Dennis | | sean@outpostbbs.net 1:18/200 DDS (Doorware |D |http://www.doorgames.org 1:2404/201 Distribution System)| | ruth@doorgames.org Ruth Argust | | DoorMUD |D |http://doormud.com | | v0.98 Jun 1st 2002 | | Website is down after | | past the splash page. Jibben Software |D |http://www.jibbensoftware.com | | scott@jibben.com | | 1995-99 Release dates John Dailey Software |D |http://www.johndaileysoftware.com | | support@johndaileysoftware.com Shining Star |D |http://www.shiningstar.net/bbsdoors/ | | nannette@shiningstar.net Sunrise Doors: |D |http://www.sunrisedoors.com Al Lawrence | | al@sunrisedoors.com | | Tel: (404) 256-9518 The Brainex System |D |http://www.brainex.com/brainex_system/ | | stanley@brainex.com 1994-99 Releases Trade Wars |D |http://www.eisonline.com/tradewars/ | | jpritch@eisonline.com | | v3.09 (DOS-32) in 2002 Vagabond Software: |D |http://www.vbsoft.org 1:124/7013 Bryan Turner | | vagabond@vbsoft.org | | last update: Jul 17th 2002 +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ APoint |PI |http://www.apoint-mail.de 2:2426/1210.13 | |http://www.apoint-mail.de/indexe.htm | | (English Version) | | dirk.pokorny@apoint-mail.de | | v1.25 FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 8 4 Apr 2011 CrossPoint (XP) |P |http://www.crosspoint.de (German Only) | | pm@crosspoint.de v3.12d Dec 22nd 1999 FreeXP |P |http://www.freexp.de 2:2433/460 | | support@freexp.de | | v3.40 RC3 Aug 31st 2003 (Snapshot) OpenXP/32 |PI |http://www.openxp.com 2:248/2004 | | (Site is in German Only) | | mk@openxp.de v3.8.15 Beta Feb 10th 2004 | | Download Page comes back 404 not found. +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ GoldEd+ |E |http://golded-plus.sourceforge.net/ | | 2:5080/102 | | stas_degteff@users.sourceforge.net | | v1.1.5 Snapshot on Feb 28th 2003 SqEd32 |E |http://www.sqed.de | | v1.15 on Dec 15th 1999 TimEd |E |http://blizzard.dnsalias.org/fidonet | | mail@ozzmosis.com /timed | | v1.11.a5 in March 2003 3:633/267 +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ FidoIP |MTPEIU|http://sourceforge.net/projects/fidoip | | Maxim Sokolsky 2:5020/828.777 | | v.0.5_1 on Jan 11 2010 GiGo |UI |http://www.gigo.com | | v0109 on Jan 9th 1997 Ifmail |UI |http://ifmail.sourceforge.net | | crosser@average.org 2:5020/230 | | Ifmail is a FTN <-> E-Mail/News Gateway | | Program. Internet Rex: |UI |http://members.shaw.ca/InternetRex/ Charles Cruden | | telnet://xanadubbs.ca 1:342/806 (Khan Software) | | v2.29 on Oct 21st 2001 MakeNL |U | http://hub2000.darktech.org/makenl | | fidonet.hub2000 [at] gmail [dot] com | | Fido: 1:229/2000 | | FidoNet Nodelist Processor Meltdown-BBS |UI |http://meltdown-bbs.sourceforge.net/ | | meltdown-bbs.project.petkan | | @spamgourmet.com | | Fido: 2:350/5 | | Meltdown-BBS is an FTN <-> | | Web/PHP/MySQL BBS forum system. FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 9 4 Apr 2011 RNtrack |U |http://sourceforge.net/projects/ftrack-as | |2:5080/102 | |stas_degteff@users.sourceforge.net | | v1.1.4 Snapshot on Oct 09 2009 TransNet |UI |http://www.ressl.com.ar/transnet/ | | transnet@ressl.com.ar | | v2.11 on Jul 18th 1998 TransX: Multiboard |UI |http://www.start.ca/software/multiboard Communications, Inc.| | Unsure about support now but Free Keys | | are now available. Donations accepted. | | v3.5 (Note: KeyGen is a Windows Program) Turquoise SuperStat |U |http://www.softwolves.pp.se/sw/ | | software/turquoise | | peter@softwolves.pp.se | | Version: 3.0 on 2008-01-21 +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ National BBS List |? | http://www.usbbs.org Hispanic FIDO/BBS's |? | http://www.conecta2.org/pucela_bbs/ (in Spanish only) | | (Extensive software & BBS Listings) +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+ File Archives: http://archives.thebbs.org http://www.filegate.net http://sysopscorner.thebbs.org http://www.juge.com http://www.dmine.com/bbscorner/ http://garbo.uwasa.fi http://www.simtel.net http://wuarchive.wustl.edu http://www.bbsfiles.com http://hobbes.nmsu.edu Note: most also provide FTP access (use ftp:// instead of http:// above) *=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=* Please send corrections & additions to: Fidonews Editor Emeritus: Robert Couture, Ben Ritchey, Todd Cochrane, Frank Vest, Peter Popovich ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 10 4 Apr 2011 ================================================================= SPECIAL INTEREST ================================================================= Nodelist Stats Input nodelist nodelist.091 size 389.1kb date 2011-04-01 The nodelist has 2858 nodes in it and a total of 4094 non-comment entries including 5 zones 37 regions 250 hosts 232 hubs admin overhead 524 ( 18.33 %) and 350 private nodes 194 nodes down 168 nodes on hold off line overhead 712 ( 24.91 %) Speed summary: >9600 = 248 ( 8.68 %) 9600 = 1876 ( 65.64 %) (HST = 28 or 1.49 %) (CSP = 0 or 0.00 %) (PEP = 1 or 0.05 %) (MAX = 0 or 0.00 %) (HAY = 1 or 0.05 %) (V32 = 904 or 48.19 %) (V32B = 77 or 4.10 %) (V34 = 1284 or 68.44 %) (V42 = 1073 or 57.20 %) (V42B = 81 or 4.32 %) 2400 = 15 ( 0.52 %) 1200 = 2 ( 0.07 %) 300 = 717 ( 25.09 %) ISDN = 234 ( 8.19 %) ---------------------------------------------------------- File Req Flag Applicable software Number of systems ---------------------------------------------------------- XA Frontdoor <1.99b 874 Frontdoor 2.02+ Dutchie 2.90c Binkleyterm >2.1 D'Bridge <1.3 TIMS Xenia -------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 11 4 Apr 2011 XB Binkleyterm 2.0 3 Dutchie 2.90b -------------------------------------- XC Opus 1.1 1 -------------------------------------- XP Seadog 0 -------------------------------------- XR Opus 1.03 16 -------------------------------------- XW Fido >12M 91 Tabby KittenMail -------------------------------------- XX D'Bridge 1.30 912 Frontdoor 1.99b Intermail 2.01 T-Mail -------------------------------------- None QMM 961 -------------------------------------- CrashMail capable = 1385 ( 48.46 %) MailOnly nodes = 1440 ( 50.38 %) Listed-only nodes = 224 ( 7.84 %) Other = -191 ( -6.68 %) [Report produced by NETSTATS - A PD pgm] [ Revised by B Felten, 2:203/208] ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 12 4 Apr 2011 ================================================================= FIDONEWS INFORMATION ================================================================= How to Submit an Article If you wish to submit an article for inclusion in the Fidonews, here are some guidelines, if you send it as an attached file; the preferred method if you want reasonable control over how the published article will appear in the Fidonews: a) Plain ASCII text. If you could type it on your keyboard, it's probably quite OK. No line may be longer than 70 characters. b) Put a title to the article. Put the title in two times. The first time, on the first line, with an * before it. The second time, on the second line, without the * and centered. This will help in the format since the title with the * is removed and used in the index, the second line will become the headline. On the third line, put your name and FidoNet address, present or former. If former, you may want to add some other address where you can be reached for personal comments. c) Deadline for article submission is Sunday, 22:00 UTC. Help the Editor by following the above guides. Below are some subjects and the file extension for the article as set in the configuration file for the making of the Fidonews. Please help by putting the file extension of the correct subject on the file name if known. Ideas for Subject areas: Subject File | Subject File ----------------------------------|---------------------------------- From the *C's *.css | Rebuttals to articles *.reb Fidonet Regional News *.reg | Fidonet Net News *.net Retractions *.rtx | General Fidonet Articles *.art Guest Editorial *.gue | Fidonet Current Events *.cur Fidonet Interviews *.inv | Fidonet Software Reviews *.rev Fidonet Web Page Reviews *.web | Fidonet Notices *.not Getting Fidonet Technical *.ftc | Question Of The Week *.que Humor in a Fido Vein *.hfv | Comix in ASCII *.cmx Fidonet's Int. Kitchen *.rec | Poet's Corner *.poe Clean Humor & Jokes *.jok | Other Stuff *.oth Fidonet Classified Ads *.ads | Corrections *.cor Best of Fidonet *.bof | Letters to the Editor *.let If you don't know or are not sure, send the article anyway. Put a .TXT on it and I'll try to figure out where it should be in the Fidonews. If you follow these simple guidelines, there should be little problem in getting your article published. If your submission is too far out of specs for the Fidonews, it will be returned to you and/or a message sent informing you of the problem. This DOES NOT mean that your article is not accepted. It means that there is something in it that I can not fix and I need your help on it. FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 13 4 Apr 2011 Send articles via e-mail or netmail, file attach or message to: Bj”rn Felten Fidonet 2:2/2 or 2:203/0 E-Mail bfelten @ telia dot com Skype file bfelten IMPORTANT! If you send the article via e-mail, make sure you put the word "fidonews" somewhere in the subject line! That way it will always pass the spam filter, ending up in the proper folder. Please include a message, telling me that you have sent an article. That way I will know to look for it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 28-14 Page 14 4 Apr 2011 Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | | | Editor: Bj”rn Felten, 2:2/2 | | Columnists: Frank Vest - Frank's Column | | | + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - EDITORS EMERITI - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + | | | Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince | | Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, | | Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg, Henk Wolsink, | | Doug Meyers, Warren D. Bonner, Frank L. Vest | | | + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of Fidonet. There is no copyright attached to Fidonews, though authors retain rights to their contributed articles. Opinions expressed by the authors is strictly their own. Noncommercial duplication and distribution within Fidonet is encouraged. Authors are encouraged to send their articles in ASCII text to the Editor at one of the addresses above. The weekly edition of Fidonews is distributed through the file area FIDONEWS, and is published as echomail in the echo FIDONEWS. These sources are normally available through your Network Coordinator. The current and past issues are also available from the following sources: + -- -- -- -- -- -- - FIDONEWS AVAILABILITY - -- -- -- -- -- -- + | | | File request from 2:2/2 or 2:203/0: | | current issue FIDONEWS | | back issue, volume v, issue ii FNEWSvii.ZIP | | | | On the web: | | http://felten.yi.org/fidonews | | http://www.fidonews.net | | | | The Snooze *and* the FIDONEWS echo in your newsreader: | | news://felten.yi.org/FIDONEWS | | | + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- + -----------------------------------------------------------------