IV.  Joining The OneNet
Some specific ways to get started.

Any FirstClass BBS operator can join the OneNet Member network.  There are three levels that a FirstClass BBS can operate within.  The first level is easy to obtain (simply ask any OneNet Member BBS for a feed from their system).  The second level requires more commitment and the third level requires  

 Four levels of membership
1.  First Level (One)
Implementation by the end of 1992

Any other FirstClass system, public or private, that is interested in hooking up to the OneNet Member network can do so.  A small subset of conferences with information of interest and common to all FirstClass systems will be made available to all FC administrators and their systems at no cost other than arrangements they might work out among themselves regarding potential long distance costs. 

The feeds for  several of these conferences are linked back to SoftArc, developers of FirstClass.  To obtain feeds from these conferences, the only thing they need to do is ask any other OneNet Member BBS to give them the feeds.  

The only obligations at level one are:
• to provide the feed to any other OneNet Member BBS operator asking for it.

• to register with the OneNet Member primary hub (located on the OneNet Los Altos BBS system). A gateway moderator will be working to track the various hubs and connections as they form within the system.  

Registering allows the match up of potential OneNet Members with the closest existing OneNet Member system in an area.  This procedure allows spreading of the network and keeping costs at a minimum.

The Base Conferences available at Level One:

(1)  FirstClass News
This conference will carry news about FirstClass software from SoftArc Inc..  Only SoftArc will post to this conference as its primary purpose will be to broadcast news about FirstClass to the user base.  Open to the general user base (per admin preference).

(2)  FirstClass Support 
This conference will be gatewayed back to SoftArc, where various support questions will be answered directly by SoftArc, and then replicated back through the various FirstClass systems.  This arrangement allows SoftArc to answer commonly asked questions only once and then to redistribute the knowledge back out onto the network for everyone to access.  Open to the general user base (per admin preference).

(3)  FirstClass Systems 
This is where all the settings files for the various public and semi-public BBS systems will be posted.  Also, news about the various public FC systems will be posted here.  Only FC administrators will post to this conference.  Open to the general user base (per admin preference).

(4)  FirstClass Admins
This will be a private conference for use by FirstClass administrators only.  Questions about running a FC system, tips, tricks, utilities, etc. will be posted within this conference.

(5)  Modems
This conference will discuss various modem problems and act as a place for information about how to get your modem to work properly with FirstClass.  Posted and miscellaneous information about modems will be made available to users.  Open to the general user base (per admin preference).

(6)  FirstClass Suggestions
This conference will be for users and administrators to give feedback on the FirstClass software to SoftArc.  Future versions of the software are heavily influenced by input provided by users.  This conference will be one of the primary places that SoftArc collects and prioritizes these requests.

(7)  OneNet Member
This conference will be used as a place for OneNet Member systems to exchange information, and  ideas and as a place to announce new members of the OneNet Member system.

(8)  Ask Apple
This conference will be for users to ask questions about Apple products.  Since several Apple employees from around the world frequent several of the larger FirstClass based systems, particularly MAGIC of Canada and OneNet Los Altos in California (both run by Apple Employees as outside hobbies), there’s a reasonable chance that users will be able to get (unofficial) answers directly from Apple employees.

2.  Second Level (Two) 
Implementation by early 1993

This level is much like the first level, except that the information being gatewayed will be much broader than the base conferences available at level one.  Some minor cosmetic additions to the OneNet Member network systems’ startup screens (in the form of a small logo indicating they are part of the network) will be made available.  This logo will in no way usurp the administrators’ look or feel regarding how they set up their system.  It is simply a logo indicating they are part of a larger whole and that by accessing the system, users will be getting a much broader view of information than would be available from that single local system.

The conferences to be gatewayed are still being determined.  Currently, there are 75-100 conferences for a level two OneNet Member system to choose from.  Some of these conferences will be:

Conferences Available

(1)  Ask Apple
A conference that is frequented by Apple people from Cupertino, CA, Canada and other Apple locations.

(2)  Medicine
This conference focuses on medicine and health.  Different kinds of medicine as well as information on preventative health care can be found here.  It originates with Pat Plummer, an MD and FirstClass administrator.

(3)  New Uploads!
The latest and greatest shareware software for the Macintosh and , potentially, other machines if enough interest is generated.  The OneNet Los Altos system in Silicon Valley often has a higher level of uploading activity in a given day than Compuserve or America On-line.  All of this software could be gatewayed directly to members and their users.

(4)  Vendor Support
Various vendors, such as Broderbund (the Vice President of Engineering will support this conference), Sony, Information Electronics, etc., will provide support for their products and services.

(5)  Approx. 100 others
These exist today on the OneNet Member system.  In the next few weeks a comprehensive list will be compiled and distributed by the OneNet Member system moderator. (please see chapter 2 for a complete listing of conferences on the OneNet)

(6)  Specialized conference publishing and subscribing
There is a simple blueprint that will allow any level two OneNet Member system to ‘publish’ a conference out into the OneNet network in a fashion that will give editorial ‘credit’ for being the host system and originator of that conference, and it will allow administrators of other systems subscribing to these specialized conferences to distribute them simply and easily to the right place within their local systems.

The OneNet Member system moderator will track these various conferences and periodically publish a newsletter with names and descriptions of which specialized conferences are available for level two OneNet Member systems to subscribe to.  This moderator will also coordinate linkages between level two OneNet Member systems to make it possible for the systems that are the closest together (creating the lowest gateway costs) to get feeds to each other carrying these specialized conferences.

This coordination service of the various specialized conferences (which we expect, eventually, to be in the hundreds and possibly the thousands, just like magazines) will be one of the benefits of joining the OneNet Member network.  Thus, members will have a rich base of information on a truly vast scale, and they will  know where it’s coming from, where it’s going, and how to get it there in the most cost effective route possible (i.e. shortest LATA/telephone exchange).

This system uses folders and aliases supported by the FirstClass 2.X client and server software.  The scheme is both simple and elegant.  More details will be available in a follow-up document distributed to level two OneNet Member systems that join the OneNet Member system.

3.  Third Level (Three) The Hub System
Implementation by mid  to late 1993

At this level, the FirstClass Administrator and the BBS becomes a more active player in the overall scheme of the OneNet Member network.  Although initially a highly distributed set of systems will gateway information with minimal guidance from the OneNet Member system moderator, eventually, a system of fairly large ‘hubs’ will reside in the major metropolitan areas of the world.

One of these Hub Systems will be designated for each ‘local calling area’ of a metropolitan area.  There can be as many level one and level two OneNet Member systems as people wish.  The primary purpose of the Hub System (a level three OneNet Member system) will be to act as a pass through from the level three OneNet Member system(s)  proximate to them.  They will be the primary ‘feed’ for the bulk of conference information flowing through a given local calling area.

For instance, in the Denver/Metro area there are approximately three million people serviced and covered by US West, the local RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company) with local phone service.  Making a call from South Denver to North Boulder (70 miles away) is a local call.  There would be one “OneNet Member System Hub” designated for this area.  The Colorado Springs area, on the other hand, is a separate local calling area.  It would have another OneNet Member System Hub designated for it.  

In another case—the San Francisco Bay Area—the local calling areas are much smaller.  In this situation a level three OneNet Member System Hub would be commissioned for the San Jose area, another for the East Bay, another for Berkeley, another for Santa Cruz, another for the peninsula area, etc.—one hub for each local calling area.  

These Hub Systems would then regularly connect with each other and exchange the bulk of the replicated conferences (the base conferences, the defined 100 Base Conferences and a subset of the specialized conferences that were requested for the area).

4.  Fourth Level (four) The Regional Hub System
Early to mid 1994

This, obviously, is the ‘if we could have it anyway we wanted it’ level.  It is not clear, at present, that this level is something attainable, or even desirable, but the potential for its need should be recognized and investigated.  If the first three levels succeed and the flow of information generated exceeds the capabilities of the network, bigger pipes will be needed to handle the flow.  This fourth level has been designed with that need in mind.

This level provides for partially or fully funded OneNet Regional Systems. These systems will serve as major information flow hubs for the OneNet Member network systems (levels one, two and three).  They will be linked by high speed, leased lines. They will operate at as low a cost level as possible, but they will most likely be supported by fees charged to level three systems for access, and/or by grants from government, education, foundations and individuals.

They first wave of servers will be located in a few of the major 
cities of the world:
• New York
• Los Angeles
• San Jose
• Dallas
• Denver
• Chicago
• Atlanta
• Miami
• Scarborough
• Paris
• Berlin
• London
• Tokyo
• Stockholm

A second wave of server will be installed within two years to reach the less technologically advanced areas of the world:
• Moscow
• Peking
• Seoul
• Rangoon
• Bangkok
• Warsaw
• Bogota
• Manaus
• Santiago
• Cape Town
• N/Djamena

Some will be owned and operated by the OneNet non-profit corporation (see below) and some will be owned by local entities such as user groups, schools, businesses or individuals interested in being a large regional Hub System (level four OneNet Member System Hub).

They will carry all potentially replicable conferences as well as information flows throughout the world (several hundred conferences at any given time—eventually thousands).

These System Hubs will also have InterNet NetNews access and will act as distribution points for InterNet news to the various OneNet Member network systems.

As multipoint E-mail becomes a reality within the OneNet Member software, these Hubs will serve as primary distribution points for private E-mail messages.

5.  Some Futures:
We hope to create a non-profit organization that can set up and maintain key Hub Systems through the US, Europe and Asia.  OneNet Member systems from all over the world will be able to pick up replicated conferences from these regional systems and will be able to access information gatewayed from the InterNet (NetNews) and other systems.

We are also interested in talking with groups/organizations that already have non-profit status and that might be interested in 'loaning' their status to us or making us part of their organization.

If you are interested in becoming a OneNet Member network  system, or if you would like to comment, please contact:

Scott Converse
Executive Director, OneNet Member™ network 
4546 El Camino Real #127
Los Altos, CA  94022

Voice mail and fax:  415-948-5086.
OneNet Los Altos BBS: 415-948-1349

These are the people that run OneNet Los Altos, and who serve as the leadership for the OneNet Member network we are developing:

John Skeehan- Assistant Administrator, Gateway Coordinator, OneNet Member board director.  John is one of your main contacts if you have questions about OneNet or if you'd like to gateway with this system.

Hank Mollenauer- Assistant Administrator, Gateway Coordinator, OneNet Member board director.  Like John, Hank helps to run the overall system and coordinates the gateways between OneNet Los Altos and OneNet Member systems.

Scott Converse- Administrator and host, Chairman-OneNet Board of Directors.  Scott's trying to turn over as much of the day to day operation of the system to John Skeehan, Hank Mollenauer, Steve Heckler, Nick Chinnand John Clelland as possible, and is mostly a useless figurehead who's paying for the phone lines. 

Stephen Heckler- Files Area Moderator, OneNet Member board director.  Steve is the man in charge of the files.  If you have a question, or a file, he's the person who will be taking care of it for the system.  Send all your uploads to New Uploads! initially and Steve will take it from there.

Nick Chinn- Conferences Moderator (overall), OneNet Member board director.  Nick cruizes the conferences and ensures that things are going smoothly and eveyone's happy.  If you have a question about a specific conference, or are interested in starting a new conference, he's the person to bounce the idea off first.  He'll then bring it to the OneNet Board for discussion and we'll all decide from there.

John Clelland- Marketing/Business development/PR, OneNet Member board director.  John's job is to think of the business side of things as well as to promote the system and communicate the OneNet Member network message out beyond our small world here.  He's the communicator.

Steve Costa- Outside/Objective advisor, OneNet Member board director.  Steve brings us incredible clout and prestige because of his awesome power as the exectutive director of BMUG.  He also is one of our most valued advisors and brings a clear and objective view of the world to our daily goings on.

Scot Brees- Backup Files Admin, backup OneNet Member board director.  Scot is our backup man.  He'll fill in for Steve Heckler for the first quarter of next year as files moderator (while Steve's off in Europe being a spy or ambassador); and he serves as our backup board director.

Each of these people works toward running the day to day OneNet Los Altos system, and serves on the OneNet Member network board of directors.  

The OneNet Member network originates at OneNet Los Altos, but is propogated through North America and Europe.  Currently, we have approx. 90 systems hooked up through primary and secondary gateways.  The total number of users is approx. 25,000-40,000 people. 

The OneNet Member Network, and all those connected to it, are currently a volunteer, non-profit organization without any formal ties to SoftArc Inc. of Canada or Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino.  It's approach is highly distributed and is funded through donations from users and out of the pockets of the people who run the systems.