Editorial

WHAT'S NOT HAPPENING

there's always something which isn't happening. This column is dedicated to the lost causes which make Fido what it isn't today. Published semi-occasionally...

Policy 4 Abolished
Doug Myers

In a remarkable display of international harmony and cooperation earlier this week, sixty six of Fidonet's Regional Coordinators met in the super secret WW_REGCON echo to repeal Fidonet's decade old Policy 4.07. The unanimously adopted Policy 5.00 brings about sweeping changes to Fidonet, among them:

• elections at all coordinator levels, except where it conflicts with local tradition.
• equality for all individuals, except that sysops are more equal and elected or appointed individuals are even more equal than that.
• geographic organization is abandoned in recognition of the improved interconnection patterns brought about by the internet. The new basic unit of organization will be known as a "fiefdom."
• echomail is finally recognized as a matter of policy. Though it doesn't fall under the traditional coordinator structure, a multiple backbone structure is defined. Freedom of speech in all echoes is guaranteed except where it conflicts with moderator rulings.

Though informal polls indicate that the policy change is supported by all 66 regional coordinators, it isn't official yet due to an untimely failure of the WW_REGCON echo. Though it isn't widely known, this super secret echo was actually the creation of Doc Logger who, though he couldn't post on the echo, found it convenient to establish clandestine connections to it so he could monitor the elflords as they plotted to keep Fido under their thumb. Ironically, all of the elflords accepted Doc's clandestine connection through his old XT computer and never bothered to connect amount themselves. This set up a situation where all traffic through this echo flowed through the XT in Doc's basement (somehow given an administrative node number). Those of you who remember Doc Logger know that he departed Fidonet some time back, headed for his retirement home in the South Seas. Though he remembered to take his advanced system (the 286), he completely forgot about his XT in the cellar.

Fidonews has learned through discrete sources that the machine failed earlier this week because the local electric utility finally shout off electricity after two years of uncollected bills. Unfortunately, this failure occurred after the Policy Change Referendum had been posed, but before any votes were actually gathered. It is suspected that Doc's old place will ultimately be sold for back taxes and the machine is expected to gather votes when electric service is restored.

In the meantime, this is what's not happening on Fidonet.