Guest Editorial

Hello All,

Due to health considerations, Warren Bonner has asked me to take over the production of the Fidonews. Warren asks that I write a "short or L O N G" acceptance speech.

The Short Version:

I accept. :)

The L O N G Version:

When Warren Bonner took over the Fidonews publication, I was writing in the Fidonews on a "sometimes" basis. Warren asked if I would do a regular column. Why not! :)

Shortly after that, Warren started on me to take the Editorship of the Fidonews if/when he left. I backed up, dodged and moved around that thought. "I'm not the one to do this." was my thought.

Sometime in all of this, I got curious as to how the Fidonews was produced. What software was used, and how did it all happen was my question. The production of the Fidonews has always been a mystery to me. The software has been protected and out of reach of me and many. So, I asked Warren if he would send me a copy of the software to play with. To my surprise, he did and was bubbling about my interest in it. I'm sure he was thinking that he had me hooked. :)

Now, as I looked at the program, batch file and other files in the archive I received, I had to ask Warren how the heck all this worked. He sent me a "blow by blow" of how to produce the Fidonews. WHEW!! Talk about complex.... "Run this batch file and then read this file to find the problems then use a text editor to fix the problems and then run this batch file again to see if there are other problems and then and then and then."... Too much for me! I'm a K.I.S.S person (Keep It Simple Stupid). :-)

So, armed with my curiosity and the Makenews archive, I just had to try to make my own setup. After a couple of weeks, I had a fairly workable batch file. I sent this to Warren and he tested it for me. A few weeks later, I had a fairly finished batch file done and, in my opinion, it made production a lot easier (no disrespect to the previous batch author).

Anyway, With all this behind me, how could I say "NO" when asked to take the Fidonews Editor position. After all, I should see how the production of the Fidonews is done on a "first hand" basis and test my batch file in "real life", right?? :-))

In closing:

I hope to be a good Editor for the Fidonews. I'll not be perfect, but I'll accept the position and try to do the best I can. I ask only for support from all of you and your help and understanding.

Hang tight as we move forward in Fidonet.

With kind regards,

Frank Vest