Hi Sergey,

     About "News reader & server" of February 17:

 IS> After 2 years away from FidoNet I recently returned and found out
 IS> that only Russsian echos still have big traffic.
SDO> Nobody wants to use Fidonet because we've got Internet.  But still
SDO> there are such enthusiasts as me and my friends who still try to
SDO> keep Fidonet in Zone 1 alive.

     You can count me as one of the few enthusiast BBSers who just won't
agree that `FidoNet' died.  The situation is much worst, actually:  it's
as if our messaging NetWork had been taken over by grumpy old timers who
are determined to object and obstruct to no end until it really dies and
they can pretend they were the last ones to care...  Last year i offered
to help SysOps who were curious about installing and evaluating `Kermit'
as one alternative to ~TelNet~/`ZMoDem'...  It turns out i hit a wall of
indifference, ignorance, misconceptions, denial and then hostility.  The
attacks prevented `Kermit' from ever being discussed and it lasted until
the moderator got tired of the politics and declared `Kermit' off-topic.

                                  %-o

     From my point of view, it's as if we only got a few SysOps left and
the `FidoNet' messaging NetWork never existed for anybody else but them:
they expect the ordinary BBSers to get a High-Speed INet feed and all...

                                   :(

     It feels good to hope the SysOps originating from foreing countries
may have some more noble agendas.  Please, repeat this to your comrades:
i'm offering to assist SysOps with the installation of `MS-Kermit' as an
external file transfer protocol.  I already have some material ready but
i repeatedly failed to locate one single North-American SysOp who didn't
need me to figure out his part of the problem before we could focus on a
comparative evaluation of `ZmoDem' vs `Kermit' ~TelNet~ transfers.  I am
seeking contact with a SysOp who's able to manage with the ~TelNettable~
BBS part while i handle `Kermit's configuration but i'll confess i begin
to wonder:  did those ever existed at all in the "industrialized" world?

     For years now i've been able to verify that `MS-Kermit' will remain
functional/reliable wherever `ZMoDem' fails over ~TelNet~.  Typically, a
LEGACY BBSer with a 8088 4.77 Mhz PC and no Hard-Disk just doesn't dream
of transfering .QWK/.REP mail with ~PPP~ DialUp INet access and no SysOp
will tell him how because it sounds like this protocol is pure blasphemy
even after decades of work on multi-platform `Kermit' implementations...

     I'll install no BBS SoftWare as i'm not a SysOp but i stand by this
offer:  it's sincere and is meant as my way to promote UNIVERSAL BBSing.

     So, if people from other parts of the world already use an external
file transfer protocol driver for `ZMoDem' and they're interrested about
having `Kermit' added as an alternative, euh...  Let them know i'll make
a deal:  we get it to work then i'll publish the results for all to see!

                                   :)

SDO> If you are interested in reading Fidonet echoes while being online
SDO> then visit http://www.fido-online.com
 IS> Spent some time yesterday to find it, but failed.
 
     If reading `FidoNet' On-Line is all that's required there's a site:

          http://fido.prolidi.cz/?co=cti

     This is refered to as a "FidoNet Reader" and has been waiting there
for long.  It appears Michal Novotny succeeded where others simply quit!

                                  ;-)

                                         Salutations,

                                         Michel Samson
                                         a/s Bicephale
                                         http://www.iquebec.com/dos-inet
                                         (to be accessed by humans only)


P.S.:  I'm a French-Canadian bilingual only (can't read Celtic language)


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