SL>> If they were received via HTTP GET, then the sensibly reply method
 SL>> would be HTTP POST :)

 SL> addendum:

 SL> HTTP provides authentication, as well as firewall transparency and
 SL> encryption via SSL.  Using standard tools and libraries will allow your
 SL> fidosoft to gain IPv6 capabilities as and when they become available in
 SL> your OS.  Things like Binkp, AFAIK, are not IPv6 compatible, and the
 SL> skills required to update them may not be available when the time
 SL> comes.  Email, FTP, and HTTP are done for us for free.

Very true. The focus areas will be the user technology to access the
messages both online and offline and a technology to merge the messages from
system to system. Of course NNTP offers that as well.

The focus should be technology that will draw the most users to the messages
areas, thus making the BBSes popular. To keep things interesting it would
nice to do something no one else is doing, but yet move closer to more
widely used technologies.  SQL, XML and http, nntp, smtp... standard stuff
that we could attempt to add some interesting twists to. I look at the
current attempts to use the internet with fidonet and everything is behind
the times technology wise, nothing is cutting edge or even close.

In case no one has noticed message traffic in fidonet has started dropping
again at a faster rate than say a year ago. I realize part of it is
seasonal... and while the nodelist is not shrinking very fast, the nodelist
is not an accurate representation of the number of sysops we have in
fidonet. And the vast majority of the system left in fidonet have no idea
about running a system that supports points OR BBS users. Most of them have
probably never seen the setup of a BBS!

I just said a fidonet goodbye and removed the links for a long time fidonet
sysop in email a few minutes ago.  While I've added three points in the last
month; they are only interested in a few specific message areas. They didn't
care which technology it took to get the messages to/from them. And the
easiest thing out there right now is Fidolook.

Like you, I've seen the technology that is out there and I have no doubt
that things can be done better to make the user experience better.

With best regards, Dale

--- Fidolook Lite FTN stub