William Wilson wrote in a message to Bill Shaughnessy:
 BS>         The more telling fact is that my PCBoard internal 15.22 mailer, 
 BS>         which is not FidoNet compatible (fails FTS-0001), will pass 
 BS>         mail to 2 of the barefoot OPUS systems in my local net, but 
 BS>         *will not* pass mail with the other 10 barefoot OPUS systems in 
 BS>         the local net. 
 BS>         At this point in time, it's hard to determine the source of the 
 BS>         various copies.  I'm not sure whether Willie Wilson (1:129/89) 
 BS>         and Stu Turk (1:129/26) have 1.73a up for FREQ'ing, but if they 
 BS>         do, I think you'll find these versions to be different.
Willie:
        Let me rephrase the above paragraphs in terms specific enough for you 
to understand.
        In December, 1995, I did conduct some tests of the barefoot OPUS 
systems in Net 129.  You personally just happen to be the reason that I 
conducted those tests.  Don Breda and I were in a heavy discussion in this 
echo concerning a PCBoard/OPUS problem.  You, in a very cooperative spirit, 
attempted to post Netmail on my board.  You were unsuccessful. This raised a 
number of questions which needed to be answered.  In the process of answering 
these questions, you and I made roughly a half dozen attempts to connect to 
each other and pass mail.  We were unable to do so.  Ultimately, in a 
Net-wide test, my mailer - PCB Ver 15.22 - was found to be non-FidoNet 
compatible.  During this test period, you were running barefoot OPUS 1.73a.
        When I was testing PCBoard (with the internal PCB mailer) prior to 
putting it on line, I was in basically twice or thrice daily mail passing 
sessions with Stu Turk for two solid months, and then intermittant mail 
passing for the next month.  I was using the PCB Ver 15.22 mailer, and Stu 
was in the final stages of using the OPUS 1.73a Internal mailer.
WW> Bill,
WW> I thought at first you were joking, but you really are
WW> serious, aren't you?
        Yes, Willie.  I am dead serious.  I am also responding to Michele 
Marie Dalene's question as to whether or not there might be two versions of 
OPUS 1.73a in existence.  I also replied on the basis of my experience as a 
sysop, and not on the basis of your experience as a sysop.  Yes, you have 
been a sysop many more years than I.
WW> No Bill, any trouble you're having connecting to vanilla
WW> Opus systems in good old net 129 isn't caused by various
WW> versions of OPUS 173A floating around, this I can assure
WW> you!
        Then how do you explain the fact that, with my PCB Ver 15.22 mailer 
active (assuming that I reinstall it), I can connect and pass mail to Stu 
(assuming that he reinstalls OPUS), and in no way, shape or form can I pass 
mail to you?  Don't use the modem excuse Willie.  You, Stu and I are all 
using current day USR's, and I have yet to hear of a USR modem that has 
problems connecting to another USR modem.  A second point is that Stu and I 
have well over a thousand consecutive connections at 28,800 bps, and transfer 
rates in excess of 3000 cps. Aside from problems with the non-FidoNet 
compliant PCB Ver 15.22 mailer in mail mode, I have had no problems 
whatsoever in connection to your board with either of my USR modems.
        Again, Willie, using a non-compliant mailer, why can I consistently 
pass mail to Stu, and just as consistantly, not pass mail to you, and 
especially when you and Stu presumably have identical OPUS 1.73a packages?
WW> In fact, I am sure that at least 2 of the vanilla Opus
WW> sysops in Pittsburgh got their copies from me, Stu, although
WW> he isn't running it any
WW> longer, got his from the same source as I got mine, and
WW> assuming your connection problems are caused by anything
WW> other than a modem conflict is avoiding the obvious and
WW> going after the old needle in the haystack!
        Are you sure, Willie?  You didn't have a disk crash at some point in 
time and have to rebuild your files from donations by other sysops?  I know 
that in my case, I got my original copy of OPUS from Stu, but I really don't 
remember if the original copy was the one on line when I discontinued OPUS.  
I do have memories of reinstalling OPUS from scratch several times, and I 
also have memories of downloading OPUS from Paul, Geoff, and Chuck at 
different points in time.  Were they all identical?  They should have been, 
but I really don't know.
WW> Yep, my Opus 173A is the same one that was originally
WW> distributed via the FDN when it first came out, the same one
WW> that's on our coordinator's system, and I am willing to bet
WW> the same one every one of us in net 129 is running if not in
WW> all of FidoLand!  All evidence is to me that the PC-Board
WW> mailer is now FTS0001
WW> compatible, so if you're still having trouble connecting
WW> with some of us and not others, you got some more
WW> investigating to do, trust me!
        Willie, you still don't understand.  I'm running PCBoard Ver 15.22, 
including the internal mailer which very definitely is not FidoNet compliant. 
 You and Stu are running identical copies of barefoot OPUS.  In normal 
operating mode, you and I can connect with each other, but we cannot pass 
mail.  On the other hand, Stu and I can connect to each other, and we can 
pass mail.  In this sequence, nothing  has changed on my system - the only 
change has been from you to Stu. Granted this outlines a problem.  Since 
there is no change in my PCBoard setup, the problem has to be in OPUS - there 
is no other place it could be.
        Contrary to your assertion above, and despite the fact that my Ver 
15.22 PCB mailer is not FidoNet compliant, I personally have no problem in 
meeting the requirements of FTS-0001.  You see, since December 24, 1995, I've 
been using BinkleyTerm 2.59C as my mailer.  If this mailet is not FTS-0001 
compliant, then I don't know what is.
        You should also be honest enough to point out that I was the source 
of your statement to the effect that the PCB mailer is now FTS-0001 
compatible.  The version of the PCB mailer that now appears to be fully 
FTS-0001 compliant is a Beta version.  The Release copy of the FTS-0001 
compliant mailer will be version 15.23 or 15.3.  Ver 15.22 of the PCB mailer, 
which I and several thousand other FidoNet sysops currently have, and may or 
may not be using, is definitely FTS-0001 non-compliant.
        In summary Willie, Michele asked a question concerning the possible 
existence of two different versions of OPUS 1.73a.  She has been a steady 
contributor to this echo, in fact the major contributor for some time.  She 
obviously knows OPUS quite well, and if she asks the question she did, there 
has to be a reason for it.  I responded to her question because, based on my 
own experience, I have fact based reasons to suspect the existence of two 
versions of OPUS 1.73a.  Do you have a factual basis on which to dispute 
is?
        BTW, did Leroy get his green Hoagie on last St. Patrick's Day?
                   Bill
--- timEd 1.01
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