The following is an extract of the editorial written by Christopher Baker
 of 1:18/14{at}fidonet which was published in this
week's FidoNews.

Regards
Andrew

-- randy{at}zws.com

---------- extract begins ----------

When FidoNet began under the sole aegis of the Fido mailer program invented
by Tom Jennings, things were primitive and simple.  So, too, were the
issues [or lack thereof] concerning daily FidoNet ops or FidoNet structure
and modus.

Fido, the program, came to a dead end when Tom Jennings stopped working on
it.  By then, there was Opus and SEAdog and BinkleyTerm and FrontDoor and
D'Bridge, to name a few, to make what was once just simple, unattended file
transfers into the Hydra of today's FidoNet environment.  Fido is still
operated by a few hardy souls out there but it dead-ended,
development-wise, for lack of interest in making it more complicated. 
Opus, SEAdog, and D'Bridge all dead-ended but are still in use because of
our FidoNet standards.

Now, we have routing systems and Echomail structures and CRPs and BBS
interfaces and Internet links that make everything seem more complicated. 
But is it really more complicated or are a lot of folks just confused about
what FidoNet is and does at the basic level?

FidoNet is defined by a few published standards and its weekly Nodelist. 
Its glue is this weekly document.  None of these things are inherently
complicated when boiled down for their oil. FidoNet exists:  1. at the will
of its inventor and trademark holder, Tom Jennings; 2. for the express
purpose of providing a lowest common denominator means of telecommunicating
with a minimum of hardware and software; 3. as an amateur hobby between
consenting practitioners.

The standards are maintained by an internal group known as the FidoNet
Technical Standards Committee [FTSC].  This group operates under direct
license from the trademark holder, Tom Jennings.  Only Tom Jennings can
cause the FTSC to change structure or responsibility.

The FTSC does NOT create standards nor does it impose standards. The FTSC
documents existing standards as they become de facto operational practices
for the majority of FidoNet participants and/or software developers.  This
is something many folks don't understand or never knew.  The FTSC collects,
documents, and publishes standards and proposals.  It is up the Coordinator
structure to enforce those standards.  It is up to the developers to get
their proposals into wide acceptance and usage before they become
standards.  Proposals [also known as FSCs] ARE NOT standards.  Their
implementation is strictly voluntary.  They become standards only when they
become indispensable to FidoNet ops.

There is discussion in several Echos and in these pages about whether the
FTSC as currently configured is a dead-end.  Is FidoNet going anywhere from
here?  Does it need to go somewhere from here?  What does it take to go
somewhere else?  Who will be driving this bus to somewhere else?

I invite all the principals to take this discussion to future Issues of
FidoNews so all of us can better understand the dynamics and the
expectations of getting FidoNet where it needs to be.

--- Msged/2 4.00