Guest Editorial

Ripples in the Stillness of Fido
Douglas Myers, 1:270/720
doug@mdtnbbs.com

Andrea Santos cast a small stone into the waters of one of the Zone 1 echoes last week. Her projectile was a small information-piece concerning the recent shooting in the United States of fifteen high school students. The small ripples from her post immediately drew a tidal wave, protesting the waste of bandwidth on this topic.

Andrea apologized for the post, stating that it was posted to the wrong area... but pointing out that the bandwidth in question was not particularly overused at the moment. Argument ensued, ranging from observations that Fido should not be burdened with an event already given saturation coverage by the national press... to observations that the debate on bandwidth had already exceeded the bandwidth originally wasted.

In perspective, this episode will be one of the smaller skirmishes on Fido. It will soon be forgotten as we argue over down nodes which have been listed too long, or worry that Alec Grynspan is going to merge one of Jim McLaughlin's echoes with an internet newsgroup.

What should be remembered, though, is that many of us on Fidonet seem more willing to devote our bandwidth to what cannot be done, than to dedicate our efforts to what CAN be done.