-=> Quoting Eric Oulashin to Nancy Backus on 01-22-11  15:18 <=-

 EO> That's true..  And back in the 90s, I seem to remember there being
 EO> more Fido echos, or at least different echos back then.  I also like

With the mass exodus to the internet, a lot of the more specialized
echos went empty, or practically so.  So there was some consolidation
back into the original echos, and, in some cases, a broadening of the
scope of the echos that were still viable to emcompass some of the
strays from defunct echos.

 EO> that there is less spam in FidoNet..  It makes reading & posting on
 EO> Fido more enjoyable.  I don't  bother with much of Usenet anymore
 EO> because many newsgroups now just have spam messages.

There's always been practically no spam in FidoNet... and generally
flaming is kept under control (in the echos that aren't essentially
flame echos anyway, that is) as well, especially in the civil ones like
this one and the others I hang out in...  :)  (Yeah, yeah, I remember
that this one hasn't ALWAYS been this civil... but it's been pretty good
for a while now... )

 > Fortunately, one doesn't have to choose between Fidonet OR the internet,
 > one can do both, and enjoy them both...  :)  They have their different
 > pluses... :)

 EO> That's true..  :)  although FidoNet still seems a lot more prevalant
 EO> on BBSs than on the internet in general, and I'm not sure there are

Well, Fidonet (and similar networks of bbses) and BBSes are practically
synonymous... any links to the internet are more peripheral...

 EO> many people who know about BBSs these days.  I remember seeing some
 EO> FidoNet echos available on Usenet once a long time ago, but I'm not
 EO> sure if they are still available on Usetnet now.

There had been gating back and forth, not always with permission... It
was a not-really-so-good an idea, since mostly what it did was mess with
the safeguards that Fidonet had... There was at least one genealogy echo
that tried to be both Fido and moderated Usenet, in the early days of
the exodus to internet... I don't think that it survived very long as a
hybrid either...

What I was trying to get at is that the internet offers other things,
that appeal to some people, that one can't get on bbses, and vice
versa...  One doesn't have to pick and choose between the two (although
one can if one wishes, as I've mostly chosen bbses and Fido), one can
take what one wants from both...  :)

ttyl       neb

... Practice mirth control. Use a conundrum!

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