09 Dec 06 09:31, Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Roy Witt:

 MvdV> Hello Roy!

 MvdV>>> To the detriment of the network indeed. It started with ION
 MvdV>>> nodes. Then we got ION hosts and hubs and now we have ION RCs.
 MvdV>>> The latter still limited to Z1 and Z6. Yet...

 RW>> ION nodes wasn't so bad,

 MvdV> As long as they were listed as "-Unpublished-" with the
"Pvt"
 MvdV> keyword and the IP contact info in the system name field, it is no
 MvdV> real problem indeed. The trouble started when some selfish sysops
 MvdV> with oversized egos insisted that they must be listed with
 MvdV> something that looked like a telephone number but isn't, in field
 MvdV> six and without the "Pvt" keyword. That opened the door to ION
 MvdV> hosts and that is where the trouble started.

Those are/were the 'static' IPs of those who didn't have a clue as to how
to set up a DNS that could have fit in several places.

 RW>> but ION hosts shouldn't be allowed without an alternative, such as a
 RW>> POTS node taking the place of the host's duties.

 MvdV> That is where the NEC flag comes in handy. Delegate the duty of
 MvdV> receiving incoming mail for the net to someone who is POTS capable
 MvdV> and list that system as net/0 and have the real NC listed with the
 MvdV> NC flag.

Why not just make the POTS listed node the real NC. The fake NC doesn't
seem to want to be capable.

 MvdV>>> The majority of the nodes in FidoNet still depends on POTS for
 MvdV>>> their connectivity. Therefore ION *Cs should be strongly
 MvdV>>> discouraged. I have difficulty accepting that regions 10, 13,
 MvdV>>> 15, 18 and 19 can not come up with a suitable candidate that
 MvdV>>> can provide POTS connectivity. They are not one man regions....

 RW>> Finding someone to replace them is probably not on any *C's mind.

 MvdV> Yes, that has always been a big problems in FidoNet. People hanging
 MvdV> on to *C positions because of their oversized egos.

Sometimes it's probably hard to find someone who wants to take on the job,
but I agree with you there too.

 RW>>>> Even that is not a given. R10C was never online while I lived in
 RW>>>> that region

 MvdV>>> I *did* send her some mail a couple of years ago through her
 MvdV>>> binkp server....

 RW>> Oh, haven't you heard? Right after I moved to Texas, Brenda Donovan,
 RW>> RC10 moved to a different region and is now RC15.

 MvdV> Oh? No, I missed that.

 MvdV> How odd. I thought RC's were *elected* in your part of FidoNet.

Unless there's no one there to elect them.

 MvdV> So how come she is now RC15?

I have no idea. You'll have to ask the ZC1 about that. There was a very
nice guy in Phoenix, AZ that was the RC15, but I don't see him listed
anymore. Brenda has also taken over his net (1:114/0) as NC.

 MvdV> That would be as odd as Arnold the Governator deciding he had
 MvdV> enough of California and moving to Texas. To become governor of
 MvdV> Texas upon arrival....

Arnold wouldn't stand a chance of that happening. He wouldn't even be
allowed to visit the governor's mansion if most Texans had their way.

 RW>> She left a legacy behind her by giving the job to Al Robres.

 MvdV> ... I thought RCs were elected....

Only in certain regions. R12 and R13 still hold RC elections I think. The
rest are appointed dictators.

 RW>> He used to be the REC10, but never did his job.

 MvdV> What *is* the job of a REC in Z1?

His title is now RC and REC, which the latter means Regional Echomail
Coordinator. Shades of Bob Kohl, who manipulated the REC so much that only
he was 'good enough' for the position. BTW, they, or at least Al Robres
does absolutely nothing to coordinate echomail.

 MvdV>>> Then how did you get your mail? I recall you mentoning netmail
 MvdV>>> to you could be routed through her?

 RW>> All ION RINs had to check in with the queen on a weekly basis via
 RW>> Binkp.

 MvdV> You claimed she was never on-line while you lived in that region...

No, she was always available unless her system was down. It wasn't down
very often. But contrary to P4, she never checked on my system unless I
didn't report in once a week.

 RW>> But you now know that there's a new and less competent RC in
 RW>> that region.

 MvdV> 

 MvdV>>> One can not expect newbies to find their way into the network
 MvdV>>> under those conditions.

 RW>> In fact, they would give up after the first attempt.

 MvdV> Most likely.

 MvdV>>> ION RCs are a no-no, but titally unreachable RCs like we see in
 MvdV>>> Z6 are worse. How can anyone possibly perfrom his duties RCs if
 MvdV>>> he is incommunicado?

 RW>> He can't and as xxcarol has pointed out, he's absent most of the
 RW>> time.

 MvdV> So why are the two of us the only ones who have the guts to say
 MvdV> that out loud?

No *C wants to make waves because they're in the same situation?

 MvdV>>>>> The most optimistic count of zone 6 tells us
there are eight
 MvdV>>>>> sysops left. A more realistic count says two or three. How
 MvdV>>>>> hard can it be to relocate them to another zone?

 RW>>>> xxcarol claimed that there's a lot of work involved.

 MvdV>>> It can't be more work than merging R28 and R29. That was done
 MvdV>>> two years ago and once it was decided, it took a week.

 RW>> Then it shouldn't take more than a half hour in Z6.

 MvdV> That's what I thought too.

 RW>>>> Move those who respond to netmail to a new zone and let the
 RW>>>> others know about the move when they get in touch.

 MvdV>>> And if they do not get in touch within a reasonable time frame,
 MvdV>>> just drop them.

 RW>> Absolutely.

 MvdV> Something that should have been done years ago.

Yeah, but we have to keep the zone alive, no matter.

 MvdV>>> It is my understanding that the other 6 do *not* get their mail
 MvdV>>> from Carol. So where do they get it from? (If they get it at
 MvdV>>> all) Presumably from Bob S, or Janis. Demonstrating once more
 MvdV>>> that they totally depend on Z1 for their mail.

 RW>> Since they're really ION nodes without contact info in the nodelist,
 RW>> they can get thier mail from many of the telnet nodes. Todd Cochrane

 MvdV> Of course. They can get echomail anywhere they want, but if they
 MvdV> have no listed contact information, they are really operating as
 MvdV> points and therefore should be listed as such. I.E. not in the
 MvdV> nodelist.

And apparently they're too stupid to find a free email address to put in
the nodelist to make them contactable. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, all of them
must be full up...

 RW>> BTW, I enjoyed your recent snooze article. I also agree with it,

 MvdV> Good. You are the only one so far expressing agreement.

 RW>> but don't get a big head over it. :o)

 MvdV> Don't worry. I am not sure applause coming from you is a
 MvdV> compliment.

You never know.

               R\%/itt




--- Twit(t) Filter v2.1 (C) 2000