Bj”rn Felten wrote:

 RC>> I don't smoke.

 BF>     So you're sniffing or injecting then?

No.  I don't do that either.

 BF>     You obviously have not been involved in any major IT-project. Just go
 BF> downtown and ask any of the people living in any of the apartment
 BF> buildings there, if they all use that coax that brings them cable TV or
 BF> internet. They all have the outlet on the wall, whether they use it or
 BF> not.

You're wrong on the first statement.

 RC>> Since there was no computers or electronic devices at the time the
 RC>> telephone was created, why was it created.

 BF>     You're obviously not a technician either. In the words of sir Edmund
 BF> Hillary, when asked why he climbed Mount Everest: "because it
is there".

You're obviously not thinking.  Everything is done for a reason.  Because it
is there is the reason the mountain was climbed.  If it was not there,
there would be no reason to climb it.

The reason the telephone was invented is because someone saw a need to
communicate over distances in real time.

 BF>     IOW, the answer to your question is: because it could be done. Just
 BF> imagine how surprised Mr Bell would have been, if the line was busy when
 BF> he tried to place the first call...

You're wrong.  It was done because he saw a need and a benefit to doing it.

 RC>> What the hell does the OSI layer have to do with _why_ FidoNet was
 RC>> invented.

 BF>     No one (but you) is talking about *why* it was created. We all know
 BF> why. What we are talking about is, what fidonet *is*. Is it a social
 BF> club or is it "only" a network? Well, the OSI model gives you the
 BF> answer, that's all I'm saying.

Yes and you choose to ignore _why_ it was invented in your attempt to make
FidoNet a purelyy technical entity.  I am telling you that FidoNet is NOT
and never has been a purely Technical entity.

 BF>     Yes indeed. Why is it so hard to fathom *for* *some* that fidonet is
 BF> nothing but Yet Another Network, in a purely technical sense.

If it is purely technical, then stop flapping your gums in it.  You
shouldn't be talking (typing) in this purely technical network.

 BF>     I guess it's because most of the original technicians in our network
 BF> have closed shop, and all that remains are users that has been raised to
 BF> the level of glorified points in our nodelist, and a bunch of
 BF> politicians that still haven't given up hope on gaining world wide
 BF> Khontrol.

Look who's talking.  You are doing exactly what you accuse others of doing.
You would rather see FidoNet die as an entity than work to make it work for
the most people possible.

ISDN node were "glorified points" in the beginning too.  Or is that okay?

 BF>     More than that are only those of us, that still struggle to maintain
 BF> the old, fidonet idea of connecting BBSs all over the world into one,
 BF> single, virtual BBS.

For social purposes.

There has always been more to FidoNet than the purely technical aspect.

The technical side expanded as the need grew to do more and more things with
it.

Robert.

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