Articles

End of an Era
The Death of "TEM"
By Frank Vest

No, no one has died, but, something has died.

I guess I should explain. :)

Net124 has had a computer that handled all of the Echomail for the Net since before I was a Node in Fidonet. We, in Net124, lovingly called this machine "The Echo Machine", or "TEM" for short. I might be a little off on my history since TEM was around way before I even became a Node in Net124, or Fidonet, but I believe that the computer we called "TEM" was bought by the Net. It was maintained by an "Echo Fund" via donations. One person in the Net, "The Keeper of TEM" kept the machine at their home and maintained it out of those funds. No, this wasn't a CRP. The donations were voluntary and even if you didn't donate, you still got the benefits of TEM. No, this wasn't just a Node number in the Nodelist. This was a machine that was passed from "Keeper" to "Keeper" through time. This was a physical transfer of hardware. The new "Keeper" picked up the computer from the former "Keeper" and took it to his/her home. It was set up and configured and a separate phone line connected to it. A lot more than a simple Nodelist change was involved here.

As of Nodelist.096, TEM, 1:124/1 is no more in Net124. :(

This might not sound like much and you might think "So what? What's this got to do with Fidonet as a whole??". Well, I'd like to think that our little Net124 "TEM" wasn't/isn't the only TEM that was/is around.

Back in the days when all mail was sent via direct modem connection, a Net benefited from a "TEM" greatly. Think of it. A Net with 100+ Nodes and each one had to have or make it's own connection to another Node or feed, sometimes by long distance telephone calls, to get Netmail and Echomail. An Echo Machine could connect to one feed for one LD cost and then feed the local Nodes via local calls. Cost to the Nodes was cut dramatically. "TEM" was a "God Send" and made a lot of Fidonet happen. Without these machines, can you imagine what Fidonet wouldn't have been?

So, what has this to do with the end of an era? Just this. As Fidonet has grown and declined, so has the technology grown and declined. Fido technology was the thing back when the Internet was little more than a file transfer system for those that could afford it or were part of some organization that had it. Fidonet had the graphics and the ability for the "common" person to use it. The person off the street could connect to a BBS and communicate with others from around the world. As we, Fidonet, decline, we are now using the technology that was once below us to keep Fidonet alive.

Maybe we should think on this and think of all the "little TEMs" that were, and might still be out there.... sitting in some person's home and churning out the mail that comes into it. Maintained by some person that does this just for the fun of it. Maybe we should thank these little machines and the persons who run them.

Yes, it's the end of an era in Net124, but not the end. Fidonet might not have these little machines for much longer, but Fidonet will go on. The end of one era is just the beginning of another. Keep the faith and keep Fidonet going. Use the technology of today just like the little TEMs of the past used the technology of their day. Keep it going and grow.

In final thought, I'd like to say a thanks to Paul Lentz, the last "Keeper of TEM" in Net124. Kudos to you and my thanks for your efforts. TEM may be gone, but I know you will still be there to feed those of us in Net124 that seldom thank you for the effort.

Thanks TEM!, and Thanks Paul!

Kind regards,

Frank

From: "Kay Shapero" <kay.shapero@salata.com>
To: <wdbonner@pacbell.net>
Date: Thursday, April 05, 2001 7:14 AM

Some Observations On How This Thing Works
Kay Shapero 1:102/524

Ok, this isn't an article about how FIDOnet is supposed to work. It's not an article about how FIDOnet ought to work either. What it is, is an article about how FIDOnet appears to work as observed by yours truly over the last ten or so years.

FIDOnet is an anarchy. Whatever the rules, in practice it is maintained by consensus, and if enough people don't agree, it falls apart like the proverbial shack where the termites held hands. A slime mold makes a good analogy. The slime mold organism is an amoeba which lives in the leaf mold of a forest. Once a year, these amoebae are drawn together by pheromones and form a sheet from which grow in turn sporulating bodies which release spores which become more amoebae. Then they all split up and go their separate ways. Now all amoebae in the group are still independent organisms, so if you take a stick and scatter the slime mold sheet, all that happens is that the individuals split up, then go reform someplace else.

OK, what does this have to do with FIDOnet? For starters, every sysop in the net has or should have a copy of the nodelist of the entirety of FIDOnet. With the exception of a relatively few systems which don't have listed phone numbers, any sysop can theoretically call any other system limited only by the cost of making the phone call, and perhaps some technical problems between their equipment. This is still as true as it ever was, back before Policy 4 or its predecessors. All those nodes, capable of independent communications, held together only by agreement as to how to do so.

But what about Policy 4, you ask? Isn't that a set of laws? And doesn't the *C structure count as a "government"?

No, not quite. It's sort of like the old joke, "This is a non- profit company. We didn't intend it that way, but..." I don't care what the drafters of Policy 4 intended, the fact is it's a description of a structure, enforcement power flimsy at best. Witness the fact that much of it can be superceded these days (internet feeds, out of area feeds) without harm to the structure. Indeed the structure contains things like echo moderators who aren't even mentioned in P4, but who have recognized duties and actions all the same. (Yes "ECROC" forms a policy document of sorts, but note that it's completely voluntary and not universally heeded.) The various *C levels are routing positions. In such a position you can make yourself useful by ensuring the flow of traffic, or make a pain of yourself by blocking it, but other than that there's far less real power in such positions than many a would be holder has imagined. At ANY level - witness recently when the IC tried to pull a node number, and a lot of other sysops offered a replacement to the sysop in question, from another zone no less. Or events in region 10 a few years back. You don't exercise power by fiat in here, because everybody else has the power to ignore you, and if you annoy them enough, they'll do it. The slime mold splits up and reforms elsewhere without the irritant.

The way to exercise power in an anarchy (yes, there is one), is not to try and grab for a position that is not what you think it is. It's done by making people like you, by being helpful, by offering practical advice and all the other things that are what really keep FIDOnet going.

`Nizze' article, Kay! Thanks, --Ed