Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor
by Ron Bemis, 1:124/1113

ZF> Then there is the case of one sysop and hub operator who
ZF> insists that unless the *full* 87K of the Zone 1 EchoMail
ZF> Coordinator election results are not posted, some sort of
ZF> collusion is going on. So, to satisfy his quest for
ZF> information and his insistence, it is now here.

Perhaps our Fidonews editor needs to learn to "just say no". Same thing goes for other peoples' echomail. If I was interested in it, I'd turn on the conference. I'd rather see original text and articles in Fidonews, not a bunch of quoted arguments.

ZF> To those of you in the *OTHER* Zones, I apologize, but since
ZF> John has decided to personally direct editorial policy in
ZF> the FidoNews, feel free to assess his efforts in editorial
ZF> control to John Souvestre at 1:396/1 , or at his E-Mail
ZF> address of john@sstar.com.

Maybe we need a Fidonews editor with less of a political agenda, and without grudges against so many.

ZF> I'm having problems with some of the messages being sent to
ZF> me...are these for _me_, or for "The FidoNews Editor"?

Since ARTSPEC.DOC is pretty specific about what is required of a Fidonews article, it really shouldn't be a problem. If the article contains lines longer than 70 characters, or if it does not start with a line beginning with "*", then it's clearly not meant for Fidonews.

ZF> Also noted is that Net 163 has upped the ante on the pending
ZF> Policy Complaint by picking up nodes in several nations and
ZF> Zones, as well as one totally non-existant phone number for
ZF> a node. There doesn't seem to be an "867" area code or
ZF> country code...anyone know of one?

Area code 867 is in Canada - assigned to the Yukon and Northwest Terroritories. You wouldn't be expected to know that unless you actually believed the information in the nodelist. To assume something is wrong without knowledge and then complain about it without checking must be a sign of something, but I'm not sure what.

ZF> One point coming out of the FIDONEWS echo...there seems to
ZF> be a consensus developing over the inclusion of the "page
ZF> breaks" in the general publication of FidoNews...are these
ZF> being used by anyone out there? Or is there a predominance
ZF> to find a way to dump them? Your comments on this are
ZF> solicited.

Perhaps you should ask how many people actually print it out on paper each week. My guess is most people don't feel compelled to waste the paper. Consider inserting a form feed or some other delimiter between each article - that could be useful for turning it into echomail messages - the only way most people will ever look at it.

Oh, and while you're at it, dump the PGP key crap, or run it once every three months if you actually have one you're going to use. Then if the paranoids really want it, they can get it. Same goes for the "latest software versions". Once a month is more than enough.

-Ron Bemis
1:124/1113

>from Paul Cottrell 1:163/538

This is in responce to your comments in the last snooze. 867 is a valid area code and has been since last October. We have just had an area code change from 819. With all of the attention to our "special node", I am suprised that no one spotted my phone number. I have to wonder since I wasn't named in the complaint if Gary has a thing against our Maulvi. If you are wondering Nanisivik is at the northern tip of Baffin Island which puts me about 2700 miles north of Ottawa or 1000 miles from the north pole. I have had node 1:163/538 for quite a few years and have thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of net 163 and appreciate all the help I have received from them over the years.

Later

Paul Cottrell
The Furthest North BBS
1:163/538

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Title: Who Voted?
by John Souvestre, 1:396/1

Contrary to what a FidoNews Editor with a grudge would have you believe, it was the Z1EC Election Coordinator (Martin Belcke) who sent him the 87K file regarding the Z1EC election. All that I asked be published was the information necessary to verify the votes.

They failed to point out that the tally was not final and that there was a two week period to contest it. But, there was no list of the nodes who voted - hence making it impossible to verify the votes.

From the election rules:

> The posting of the results would consist of no less than two
> messages, one containing an alphabetic listing of keywords/
> passwords with associated vote and the other containing a
> numerical listing (by node number) of those who voted. The two

> lists would not be directly associated.

Also:

> ANNOUNCE TALLY  - Feb 22
> CONTESTING  - - - Feb 23 - Mar  8 (2 weeks)
> LAGTIME - - - - - Mar  9 - Mar 11 (3 days)
> ANNOUNCE RESULTS  Mar 12

The winner, just happens to be a close, personal friend of both the FidoNews Editor and the Election Coordinator. You would think that this would encourage them to make sure that they followed the rules.

Regards,

John

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