We Get Email

! Original In : netmail
! Original To : FidoNews Editor, 1:205/1701
! Original From: Per Edman, 2:206/145.42@fidonet.org
! Original Date: Jun 16 02:34

zone 2, net 206, June 16

Dear fellow fidonuts,

Some people say, I note when I read my FidoNews, that politics this or politics that is what is scaring people away from our net, or what will keep them. I hold another opinion, as I think many others do too.

Politics or playing them is not what makes the net fun (well, not for more than a minority, anyway), but it may well be what keeps it working. Even though politics and even net politics can seem to be on the brink of collapsing the entire system, it often seems almost designed to survive a whole lot of banging. People may argue with each other, and do things they should not, but it will not break down the net.

Instead, what we find netters afraid of, is that the net itself will die out, and I hear that this evolution is much worse over in zone 1. People seldom leave because of politics (it does happen, though, and it makes me sad every time), they leave because they no longer find the net as much fun as it used to be. This can be because something else is more fun, or because the net itself is becoming less fun.

Now, read me right, I do not mean that everyone should tell a joke every now and then, because the opinion of what fun _is_ can vary greatly. What I do mean is that some people go around sulking so much that they forget to get themselves into discussions they find interesting.

Over here there are a few projects on the move to get more points into the net, but none to keep the nodes we have. What we need is an overall better attitude towards .. well .. the fall. We may lose a few, and it gets us down, but if we keep a smile on our faces, and keep on writing those flames and flowers and questions into the echo areas, the net will go on.

And if someone ever asks you "Where could I go to find interesting discussions", never hesitate to give them the appropriate software; instead do what many Swedish fidousers would have done -- give them a disk and the information they need to get an uplink.

I hear there are even easier ways to get on to fido nowadays. Strange inventions over there in the first zone -- spam-safe gateways into news and into mailinglists and other such things. I am impressed.

As long as the spirit lives on, fidonet will not die, and even in the worst case scenario, we will be here for many years yet. You knew that, but perhaps it is good to hear, sometimes?

So our nodelists are dwindling, but what about our pointlists? Are not yours just a little on the rise, like ours?

With fewer nodes and more points, distribution gets tricky. _That_ is where we'll need those politics. Not in what politicians usually do: hassling each other over nothings. This is not big, but it is something we all should be personally interested in, being hobby networkers, doing what we consider to be a hobby.

(..and scr*w commercial interests..)

Sincerely,

Per Edman <2:206/145.42>