16 Dec 15 19:56, you wrote to me:

 WV>   about: "Added - MBSEBBS":

 VC>>> We don't.  It really should be killed off.

 ml>> why? it is just an entry in the echolist...

 WV> Are you serious? It confuses the hell out of people that use the echolist
 WV> to find areas...

quite serious... the echolist only lists echotags and some info for that
tag... seeing an echotag listed would then lead one to look in their feeds'
listings of available echos... the echolist carries information that cannot
be placed in a (eg) backbone.na file... this is why the various backbones
have always had their NA files... if the echotag is listed in the NA then
the area is available from that backbone... if you are connected directly
to a backbone system, you should be able to areafix the area with no
problem... if you are a hop or more off the backbone, then the systems
between you and the backbone need to forward the requests for unknown areas
upstream unless they already have the area... either way, the area should
be turned on and sent downstream...

it isn't the cleanest system in the world but it works for the most part...
it is rather sad that others didn't fully pick up on it in the past... then
things like fidoweb broke it completely because there's no central set of
systems that can generate a list of all the areas the fidoweb carries...
that puts folks back into the dark ages trying to hunt around and find a
system that might carry the area...


FWIW: IIRC and truth be told, the NA extension originally started out to
signify the North American backbone's listing... one for europe might have
been backbone.eu... australia's might have been backbone.au... the NO file
came about to hold echotags that were no longer carried on the NA
backbone... the lists didn't have to be called anything specific, though...
other distribution systems had their own but most followed the NA/NO
extension... then some bbs authors came up with the idea to allow operators
to fully populate their bbs' message area configs by importing the NA
files... sometime around then is also when operators started simply sending
areafixes for "+*" or "+all" to turn on all areas at
their feed regardless if they or their users were interested in them...

)\/(ark

"So let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours.
When you've killed all the bad guys, and when it's all perfect, and just
and fair, and when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it,
what are you going to do with the people like you? The trouble makers. How
are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?"
- The twelfth Doctor

... Marriage is a long tedious meal with dessert at the beginning.
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