Donna Lewis wrote in a message to All:
MAW > I guess because I'm a sysop it's easy.. in fact easier for me to
MAW > send it
MAW > by netmail than email.. email I have to log on.. You shouldn't feel
MAW > obligated to pay for netmail.  It doesn't cost the sysop a dime unless
MAW > he sends it direct.
 DL> I'll agree with the statement that it doesn't cost the sysop,
 DL> unless he sends netmail direct, but it does/can cost the sysop to
 DL> get the mail and have it on his machine for us to get.  Remember
 DL> also, that he is probably paying to transmit any netmail that we
 DL> have sent.  It goes out when he picks up, so if he calls
 DL> long-distance to pick-up, he's also sending our mail that we have
 DL> written to each other by a long-distance call.
This is definitely true folks.  When I first moved to Chattanooga I 
had to call Nashville, TN to get my mail for the first 3 months.
 DL> There are a lot of folks that also go long-distance to be able to
 DL> pick up from their sysop. I'm in Albany, GA and son is in
 DL> Sanford/Goldston, NC, and I know that he has others calling in
 DL> long-distance - from VA, TX and the NC coast, there may be others.
Until recently I still had users in Kentucky.  I have had people from 
all over ask about getting a feed from me.
 DL> When a sysop says that he/she can't carry an echo for only one
 DL> person, it is probably because he doesn't want to pay for the
 DL> additional charge to his phone bill, depending on how active the
 DL> echo is, even a minute a day adds up to 30 additional minutes a
 DL> month on the phone bill.
 DL> If an echo is listed on the FIDO BACKBONE it can be picked up by
 DL> any and all sysops, contrary to what they might tell us.  They just
 DL> have to go and get it. As far as I know, I'm the only one getting 5
 DL> crafting echoes.  He doesn't archive those msgs, they just pass
 DL> right through to me.
I think that I get 8 of them Donna!  So there!!  :)
 DL> I know that some sysops do charge a monthly fee, but remember that
 DL> they do have phone bills to pay and equipment to upgrade and
 DL> maintain so that we can stay in touch.
And others don't charge.  It can be an expensive thing to keep up 
though.
 DL> This is probably more than any of you wanted to know, so I will
 DL> step off my soap-box, and duck as the wet noodle comes my way.
 DL> Sorry Pat, but I felt like this had to be said.  Please don't swing
 DL> too hard. 
I am a sysop too Donna.  You said what needed to be said.  Thanks!
Later!,
           Pat 
--- timEd/386 1.10+
---------------