> Hola Janis  :)

Hello Felipe!  Good to speak with you :)

> Friday November 22 2002 23:13, Janis Kracht decía a Michael Grant:

>> Zycell modems to be listed as Pvt? Of course we didn't.. same with
>> internet nodes.. Anyone can connect to an internet node if they have an
>> internet account.

> Sorry that my limited knowledge of technical matters deprives me of
> understanding all the details of the discussion.

Well, I don't think anyone has all the answers, Felipe, but I'll try to
explain my feelings on this as best I can. :)

> Please allow me to ask a few questions:
> Can a Fidonet Node contact directly any other Fidonet Node?

We think it's direct.  In truth, it is going through the telephone company
where it could be intercepted, though normally it isn't.

>Does a Fidonet Node have to have a connection to another network to be able to
> contact directly another Node of this network?

No, but normally telephone nodes must connect through a series of telephone
connections.  For instance, when you make a long distance call, your call
is forwarded to your long distance company's switching station or some such
place, then forwarded to the destination's phone company of the call you
are making.

> The "directly" is in quotes because I consider, in my
ignorance, that a
> connection through IP technology is not direct since it can be
"tapped".

Your telephone connections can be tapped too, Felipe :(

It is possible, and has happened, that at those switching stations that
employees of the various phone locations can and do 'snoop' on some calls.
With a modem, we figure that these connections are safe because no 'voice'
is involved, but I don't believe that is necessarily true.  That's why
people use privacy techniques like PGP, and encrytion, etc.

We all like to think that our telephone line activity is private, but in
reality, it is not always.

Some would say that packets sent via an internet connection can be
'sniffed' and intercepted, and that's true.. but the same is true of
telephone technology.

> I think, just in case you wonder, that sending netmail through a host is a
> lesser evil which still does not fully satisfy me. That any Node can connect
>directly with any other Node is a freedom in Fido which I value highly.

I understand and agree here, it's just that I think a direct binkp
connection, or a direct ftp->ftp connection, or a direct
telnet->telnet connection is as "private" as anything else
these days :(

> If that
> is lost then this will still be Fido but this network will be less free than
> before.

Hmm.. Knowledge is what makes one free 

> No, email is not the same as netmail. Netmail is Fido and email is
> not.

I agree here these are two different technologies... but I also know that
just as the employees at one ISP where you originate an e-mail, and the ISP
that receives it, can read your e-mail, the same is true of a telephone
connection.

>IONs propugnants will have to find a solution to this other than forcing me an
>others to use an IP connection we do not want to use for Fidonet, if we happen
> to have it.

I know the change is hard to imagine being as 'safe' as telephone calls,
and in some cases it isn't (just like with the telephone), but if you are
using pgp type protocols in e-mail, and binkp type connectins that allow
direct system to system connections, I don't really see it being very
different than the telephone connections we use in Fidonet.

> And even if current IONs provided us with a free IP connection I
> would still be reluctant to accept that this network has to use another to
> function.

I think we should use both :)  That is why I still have a 24/7 POTS line
here, and a modem for regular bbs users and fido connections (though it's
hardly used anymore).  I also have a 24/7 internet connection so that
people can telnet to my bbs to use it, and so that other internet nodes can
pick up mail/files 


>>> the old prejudices and stubborn attitudes to not change the way ION's
>>> are treated

> There exist new prejudices and stubborn attitudes as well.

Yes, they do exist, and we must try to overcome these attitudes which I
believe are generated from the "unknown" and new situations we
find ourselves in with the Internet.

:)

Back to cooking :)  Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States.. :)

Take care,
Janis

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