Articles

• An Introduction to the Pan American Mail System
• Pan American Backbone F.A.Q.'s

An Introduction
to the
Pan American Mail System
From The Pan American Backbone

Last week in the Fidonews, the editor wrote:

"Zone1 has two echomail distributors. The Z1B (Zone 1 Backbone) and the NAB (North American Backbone)".

We thought it important to bring to the editor's attention that in fact, there are three "backbone" distributors in Zone 1. There are also other echomail distribution systems based in Zone 1, such as TFPDist, and Planet Connect.

This is especially something that should interest the editor of Fidonews, as he himself in part provided some of the impetus to create this third backbone distribution system. A while back Frank, you challenged the members of Fidonet to come up with a different mail distribution system. Some of us heard you, and acted on your challenge. The result is the Pan American Mail System.

Why another distro system? We were all independant hubs, not aligned with the NAB nor the Z1B, and we all shared the common view that the constant quarrels between the Z1B and the NAB were proving to be a detriment to mail moving in general in Fidonet. We felt that some of the hubs in those distribution systems were allowing politics and not the needs of their downlinks to decide on how they moved the mail.

There were things that all of us did not like about the Z1B as well as the NAB, and we felt that together we can find a better way to serve our downlinks, by removing ourselves from the political debate and doing things differently than the NAB and Z1B have traditionally done things. An example of this is our "*.NA" type files. We actually produce two of these; one bearing the tag names of all echos that have shown recent posting activity (BACKBONE.PA), and a second that bears the tag names of echos which have been inactive for quite some time, or have only had robot postings for quite some time (BACKBONE.PA0). We carry all echos in both lists, but feel that this provides an easy way for our downlinks to see which echos they can expect to still be active.

What follows is a FAQ file that is regularly posted in the PAN_AM_BACKBONE echo, a publically accessible echo provided for anyone participating in Fidonet to contact the Pan Am hubs for the purpose of discussing any Pan Am Backbone related issues. We welcome any suggestions, ideas for improvements and debates over the pros and cons of mail-moving practices past and present in that echo, provided such debates remain civil. We are open to new ideas, and do not wish to be bound in any way to the practices traditionally followed by the NAB and Z1B mail distribution systems.

Pan American Backbone F.A.Q.'s
From The Pan American Backbone

This document seeks to answer questions that Fidonet members may ask about the Pan American Backbone mail distribution system.

What is the Pan American Backbone?

The Pan American Backbone is a loose association of Fidonet mail hubs who share a common philosophy towards mail moving. A Pan American mail hub's main concern should be for the needs and wishes of their downlinks. Pan American mail hubs strive to move the mail in the most efficient manner possible, regardless of political or personal differences.

Who are the Pan American Backbone Hubs?

PAB associated hubs are listed in the BACKSTAT.PA file. By agreeing to allow their name and node numbers to be listed there, those hubs indicate their membership in the Pan American Backbone.

Does the PAB route Netmail?

PAB associated hubs agree to route netmail to the best of their abilities for their downlinks, per the wishes of those downlinks. A PAB hub may reserve the right to refuse to route netmail which the hub feels is of an illegal or unethical form, or is sent from an unidentified source.

Will the PAB honor moderator feed cuts?

PAB associated hubs will honor requests for feed cuts from the echo moderator of record, as listed in the Echolist at the time of the request, provided such a request is properly submitted to the PAB.

How do the PAB hubs decide on who they link with?

It is the opinion of PAB hubs that no one knows any hub's system better than the operators of the hubs themselves. To that end, any meshing, linking and routing arrangements are left solely to the discretion and judgements of the individual hubs themselves. Fidonet is a peer-to-peer network, and any two systems may link to each other in any way they wish, provided they agree to the linking, and such linking does not cause problems for others.

What echo areas does the Pan American Backbone carry?

The PAB regularly releases two files bearing the tag names of the echos that are carried. The BACKBONE.PA file lists all echos with recent posting activity; a second file called BACKBONE.PA0 lists echos that the PAB does carry, but that have had no activity for at least 30 days.

Fidonet echo areas carried by the PAB are based on the listings of echo areas in the Echolist, and upon echos listed in any Zone 1 BACKBONE.* file. The PAB uses these databases as guides to create it's own list of echos carried. Provided any echos in these lists are denoted in the Echolist as distributed by Fidonet, and are not listed as "restricted" by the moderator, the PAB will add them to distribution. Restricted or non-echolisted echos, or any echos listed in any other lists may also be moved by the PAB upon request of the moderator to the PAB.

How does the PAB decide what echos to drop from distribution?

Echo areas will be dropped when they are removed from the E-list by the moderator, or the moderator makes a request of the PAB to drop their echo(s) from PAB distribution, or if all downlinks of all PAB hubs choose to de-link the echo(s).