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Page 1 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 1
TrapDoor
The Real Amiga Postoffice
Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1991
Maximilian Hantsch and Martin Laubach
All rights reserved
TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual
Monday 30-Sep-91 13:33:52
Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1991
Maximilian Hantsch and Martin Laubach
All rights reserved
Electronic distribution of this document is unlimited.
You may not charge anything for its distribution.
You may not include this document or parts of it
in printed publications without prior written
permission from the authors.
Page 2 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 2
1. FidoNet
Back in 1984, the sysop of a private bulletin board system in
the United States of America, Tom Jennings, had an idea: He
felt it would be nice if users of his system could send messages
not only to each other, but also to users of a friend's bbs.
With this in mind, he sat down and started programming... After
a short while, the first FidoNet mailer and bbs, "Fido", was
born. At night, "Fido" would pack all the messages destined for
other systems, call them and deliver the mail. There, another
"Fido" would happily accept the mail packets, unpack them and
pass the messages on to the individual users of that system.
The idea received massive feedback, and more and more sysops
wanted to take part in the big mail exchange. In just three
months about 50 other systems joined in, and in the beginning of
1985 there already were 150 "FidoNet nodes". FidoNet was born.
The initial software was not comfortable enough for a number
of programmers, and so countless utilities and tools arose, to
make mail transfer more efficient and thus, cheaper. Nowadays,
we find lots of different FidoNet programs for various computers
and operating systems, with sonorous names like BinkleyTerm,
FrontDoor, D'Bridge, Dutchie, TrapDoor, Opus, Confmail, QMail,
TosScan, Chameleon, GoldED, to mention a few.
In the beginning, it was easy to know who operated what
system, and what telephone number to call to reach a particular
node. As the number of systems in FidoNet grew, it was becoming
harder and harder to stay up-to-date. The routing of messages
was getting more complicated as well. A new numbering scheme was
developed, and therefore today's FidoNet addresses consist of
four parts: Zone, Net, Node and (optionally) Point.
The data for all FidoNet systems is kept in a single database,
the "nodelist". It lists all the details of every node, such as
the bbs name, the sysop's name, the telephone number, modem
flags, and more. And it lists the FidoNet address (the
node-number) for each node. Every week, the nodelist is updated;
closed systems are removed, new participants added, telephone
numbers get updated. All this is done with more tools and
utilities.
Today, FidoNet consists of almost 10000 nodes with an
uncountable number of users. There is private mail between users
(Netmail), and there are public conferences (Echomail areas),
some of which are distributed over the globe. There are
conferences about cooking, about politics, sports, and much
more. And about computers, of course, and programming and
telecommunications. There are local conferences in the language
of that particular region, and there are international areas
(mostly in English).
FidoNet
Page 3 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 3
Programs and other files are also distributed via FidoNet,
especially if they are Public Domain, Freeware or Shareware.
There are excellent distribution systems, where a programmer of
a utility just has to pack it into a compressed archive
(together with the documentation), send it to the next
coordinator, and the file will be moved around the world within
a few days. And what's more, the software that allows you to run
a FidoNet node is distributed via exactly this method -- it is
usually available for free.
There is another nice point about FidoNet, which allows normal
bbs users to save telephone charges: when reading or writing
messages, you usually have to stay online (connected to the
other modem) all the time, and during all this time, your
telephone company is happily cashing away... Because of that,
FidoNet offers the option of "Points". With a point system, you
can pick up all waiting mail in compressed form when calling
your "boss system". After that, you can read and write messages
offline, without your money ticking away. The ones you write are
later packed and sent to your "boss" at the next call. From
there, the mail travels out into the rest of FidoNet. As a
bonus, you will obtain your own FidoNet-address, which is the
node number of your boss, plus a dot (".") and your point-number
appended, i.e., Point 24 of node 2:310/3 becomes 2:310/3.24.
That's also the reason for the name "point" - because of the
separating dot.
An additional feature available to point systems (compared to
normal bbs users) is "file requests". With file requests, new
programs and files that are available at the boss system can be
"requested" and will be sent automatically during the next
call.
A last word on the organization of FidoNet: The sysops of
FidoNet nodes are usually individuals, who run their node just
for fun. It is their hobby, and they pay for their usually high
telephone bills out of their own pocket and partially from
donations from users and points. None of the FidoNet
coordinators receives a reward/payment for his work or his
expenses.
Still, FidoNet works, and it works well. Sure, once in a
while, the other node will quit working, just because a sysop
went for a holiday and his machine decided to crash as soon as
he closed the door, but overall, the network runs fine.
FidoNet
Page 4 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 4
1.1. The Structure of FidoNet
Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4,5,6,...
North America Europe Australia
1:1/0 2:2/0 3:3/0
|
/ \
/ \
/\ \
/ \ \
Region 29 Region 25
Region 30 Region 26
... Region 27
Region 28
Region 31
Austria
2:31/0
/ \____________
/ \ \
Net 313 Net 310 Net 316,...
Lower Austria Vienna
2:310/0
|
__/ \__
/ \
/ \
__/ \________________
/ \ \ \
/ \ \ \
Node 1 Node 2 Node 3 Node 6
Cuckoo's Nest The Mad House
2:310/3
/ | \
lots of Points
\
Point 14
The Infinite Improbability Zone
2:310/3.14
FidoNet The Structure of FidoNet
Page 5 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 5
2. Becoming a Point
2.1. Finding The Tools
So you want to set up a point on your Amiga?
First, you should look for a FidoNet node willing to accept
you as a point, your "boss". Once this problem is solved, you
will need some of the following tools to setup your system.
The names at the end of each item in this list indicate
typical representatives of the respective category -- the first
is the one tested and recommended by us, the others [in
brackets] are possible alternatives (alphabetically sorted) that
we haven't really tested extensively, but just know that they
exist.
For more details about how a point system is supposed to work,
see further below. For the more esoteric expressions, please
refer to the glossary.
* A mailer. The mailer is needed to transfer mail bundles
and/or normal files to and from your boss. It will use
your modem to call that system, and then use distinctive
protocols and guidelines to securely transmit the data.
TrapDoor [AmyBink, WelMat].
* An import/export tool, also called mail
scanner/tosser/packer. This program will bundle the mail
originating at your place, destined for your boss.
Likewise, it will stuff incoming messages into the proper
locations in your message base, ready to be read using a
message editor.
TrapToss [ConfMail, FastPoint, GCC, Juliet]
* A message editor, to comfortably read and write mail. It
allows to browse through the different message areas, and
easily reply to whatever topic or message interests you.
Chameleon [GCC, Juliet, RMB]
These programs can be found on many FidoNet bulletin boards.
Just use your terminal software to download them. Also, you will
probably need various compression/decompression utilities, such
as Arc, LHArc, or Zoo.
When you have downloaded the programs, decompress the archives
(see the documentation for Arc, LHArc and Zoo on how to do that)
and READ THE DOCUMENTATION that comes with each program.
Software authors often spend a lot of time struggling to explain
all the features, usage and installation of their programs in a
detailed manual. It is a wasted effort if you do not read it.
Becoming a Point Finding The Tools
Page 6 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 6
2.2. Deeper Understanding
This is how the mail you read and write is processed -- don't
be afraid of obscure terms, you will most certainly understand
them once you are through...
+ Your boss system bundles the mail for you. These bundles
are compressed (usually using ARC, a widely spread
archiving tool, available for many platforms -- unless
you arrange for something different, like LHArc or Zoo).
+ Similarly, your exporting tool - the mail packer - will
pack any mail not yet sent, and prepare it for transfer
to your boss' system. This will result in files in your
outbound directory being created.
+ Your front end mailer calls your boss system,
identifiying itself. It will then send any files destined
for your boss (for example the mail bundles prepared
above), and receive any files the remote system wants to
send you (including your mail).
+ Once the mailer has completed the call, you should find a
lot of strange looking files in your inbound directory.
You will want to run the importing tool (the mail tosser)
to unpack the archives, and to place the incoming
messages in the correct areas in your message base.
+ With the editor, you now can read those freshly arrived
messages. You can reply to them, or you can compose new
ones, and these will all be sent to your boss at the next
call (don't forget to call the exporting tool first!).
Becoming a Point Deeper Understanding
Page 7 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 7
2.3. A Little Diagram
Here is an outline of the mail flow between the various
programs. At the very bottom, you sit in front of your message
editor and read and write messages. On the left side, messages
are created, entered in your message base, exported to the
outbound directory, and sent to your boss. On the right side,
mail from your boss is received into the inbound directory, then
imported by the mail tosser, and finally read by you.
FidoNet
|
+----------------+
| Your boss |
+----------------+
| |
(file transfer)
| |
+----------------+
| Mailer |
+----------------+
| |
(outbound)(inbound)
| |
+----------------+
| Scanner/Tosser |
+----------------+
| |
(export) (import)
| |
(message base)
| |
+----------------+
| Message Editor |
+----------------+
| |
(type) (read)
| |
+----------------+
| You |
+----------------+
Becoming a Point A Little Diagram
Page 8 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 8
2.4. Installing The Mess
If you are not sincerely confused by now, you are cheating!
The complexity of a FidoNet point has bewildered every single
newcomer to FidoNet so far! (So either you're cheating and have
already heard about FidoNet before, or this manual is really
good at explaining things.)
You have obtained all the programs needed, unpacked them, and
read all the documentation and manuals. Although you were
already tempted to give up by uncomprehensible terms like
"Netmail", "Mail directory" and "moderated Echomail areas", you
were clever enough to check the Glossary in this manual for an
explanation. Great.
We cannot (and don't really want to) take the "here's your
setup" approach -- you will still have to read and understand
the documentation of the different tools necessary. This is of
great help if you run into any problems -- you will know what
the software does and how it does it, so you can try to find the
source of the error yourself. Often only a single line of text
in a configuration file is wrong, and can foul up the complete
point system.
As for TrapDoor, there's not really much you need. First of
all, you should configure TrapDoor to reflect your proper node
name and address. This is described (including an example
setup) in TrapDoor's Fabulous Manual (TrapDoor.Man).
Then, you will need to create two directories -- one for
incoming files that remote systems send you (called the inbound
directory), and one for outgoing files (called the outbound
directory).
Should you feel the need of using a nodelist, we believe you
should add another directory, to hold the nodelist and the index
files necessary.
We'd suggest the following directory tree.
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| MAIL: |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| | | | | | | |
+---------+ +----------+ +----------+ +---------------+
| Inbound | | Outbound | | Nodelist | | message areas |
+---------+ +----------+ +----------+ +---------------+
Becoming a Point Installing The Mess
Page 9 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 9
3. Glossary
The intention of this Glossary is to give you a short
explanation for any FidoNet-specific expressions you might not
understand. If you stumble across an unfamiliar term while
installing your point, check if you can find it here. If you
feel something is missing from this Glossary, please note the
phrase you did not understand and, once you get your point
working, send Netmail to "Maximilian Hantsch" at FidoNet node
2:310/6.
Area
»Echomail is grouped into separate areas (or conferences). Each
area has a name (an areatag) and the messages in it deal with a
certain topic. For example, there are areas for sports, music,
movies, computers etc. Some areas are moderated, some are not.
[»Moderator].
AKA
Short for "Also Known As". Some »nodes have loads of different
addresses, usually because they are »gateways to other nets, or
because they fulfill administrative roles. (»primary address)
Baud
The speed with which data travels out of or into the serial
port is measured in baud. Baud is mostly the same as bits per
second. During normal serial transmission (RS-232 compatible),
each data byte (character) is "framed" with one start-bit and
one stop-bit, thus occupying 10 bits. At a rate of 2400 baud,
you can therefore transmit 2400/10 = 240 characters per second
(»cps).
Baudrate
See »baud.
BBS
"Bulletin Board System" -- a system where users can call with
a terminal program, log in, read and write messages, download
(or even upload) files etc.
Boss
The »node responsible for a »point. He usually is the only
connection to the outside world for a point system, and takes
the task of delivering mail to and from the point and the rest
of FidoNet.
Glossary Boss
Page 10 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 10
The Boss node can be easily identified by stripping the »point
number from the »four-dimensional address. For example, the boss
node of 2:310/3.14 is 2:310/3.
Bundle
See »mail bundle.
Conference
Echomail conference. See »area.
Cps
"cps" is an abbreviation for "Character Per Second". It is
used to measure transfer speeds (»baud).
DietIfna
A file transfer protocol similar to »FTS-1, but with a
»YooHoo/2U2 session level handshake run before it.
EchoMail
Echomail are messages that are sent to all systems
participating in a certain Echomail conference, or Echomail
»area. Before you post an Echomail message, be sure that you have
understood the rules for the particular area, which the
»moderator (if there is one) posts every now and then. It is
often advisable to read the area for a few days before posting
the first message yourself, so that you get a feeling what kind
of messages will be accepted in that conference.
Efficiency
The quality of the telephone line, the speed of your computer
and your modem, plus a number of other things influence the
speed with which data will be transmitted across a serial
connection. The throughput of the system is measured as the
amount of data transferred per unit time and often given in
»cps.
Another method to compare the speed and quality of serial
lines is to measure the "efficiency": This is the »cps rating
compared to an ideal system that transfers exactly »baudrate/10
characters per second. Thus, if your system transfers 240 cps at
a speed of 2400 baud, you get 100% efficiency.
With non-compressing modems, the usual efficiency is a bit
lower than this ideal rate, such as 95%-98%. Using compressing
modems that use protocols such as »MNP, the efficiency can be
higher than 100%.
Glossary Efficiency
Page 11 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 11
EMSI
A new method of session level handshake. Much more advanced
than »YooHoo/2U2 -- some advantages are support of »AKAs, 7-bit
transparency, transmission of additional information about the
remote machine, and the virtually infinite expandability of the
EMSI handshake. [»FTS-1, »YooHoo/2U2]
Export
Before you can send messages you have written over to your
boss' system, you need run the export tool. As the name
indicates, it will prepare those local mails for the mailer, by
bundling and compressing them.
Fakenet
Some mailers cannot properly handle »four dimensional
addresses, but are limited to »two dimensional addresses. As you
can see, the two dim approach has no possibility of representing
your point address -- therefore a fake net number is used that
identifies the point system.
Note that such a fake address is not unique in FidoNet
(another boss might just choose the same fake pointnet number
for his points), and thus is only valid for communicating with
your boss (and maybe some other local nodes that know about the
pointnet).
Fido
The name of the very first program available to transfer mail
-- which has given its name to the whole network.
Should you like to learn more about FidoNet's history, search
your favorite BBSs -- there are history files floating around
which tell you a lot about the behind story. Or read the first
chapter of this manual, if you have not already done so.
FidoNet
A world-wide network of many, many »BBSs and »nodes, which
communicate with each other by means of »mailers, sending
messages (»netmail and »echomail) forth and back between the
systems. FidoNet got its name from its first mailer program,
»Fido.
File request
Most FidoNet systems keep a large number of more or less
interesting programs, tools or documentation on their hard
drives. To allow other systems to obtain those files without
having to manually enter the BBS (which can be rather
expensive), file requests were invented. When a system initiates
Glossary File request
Page 12 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 12
a file request, it asks the other end to send one or more files.
Indeed, If the other system has the files, it will send them
back in the same session.
Flow control
Means of stopping and restarting a sending system. There are
two basic principles of flow control: hardware flow control and
software flow control.
Hardware flow control means that electric signals on the
serial connector are used to indicate such start and stop
conditions. On the RS-232 serial connector, the lines CTS and
RTS are used for this purpose, and so the term "RTS/CTS
handshake" is also used instead of "hardware flow control".
Software flow control means that additional data bytes are
inserted in the data stream to indicate the start and stop
conditions. Usually, the »ASCII characters XON and XOFF are used
for this purpose. Unfortunately, these two characters can then
no longer be sent as normal data, which is why (a) protocols
such as »ZModem are designed to work around this problem and (b)
hardware flow control should be used whenever possible. The
»YooHoo/2U2 handshake and the »DietIfna and »FTS-1 protocols do not
work with software flow control enabled.
Four-dimensional addressing
The full address of a node, containing all four parts (ie.
»zone, »net, »node and »point) in the form "Zone:Net/Node.Point" is
called a four dimensional address, for example "2:310/6.7".
[»Two-dimensional addressing]
FTS-1
A session and file transfer protocol that all FidoNet »mailers
have to support in order to be granted access to FidoNet. It is
the least common denominator, so to speak -- since everybody is
required to support FTS-1, any node should be able to
communicate with any other node.
Unfortunately, the documentation for FTS-1 is rather obscure,
and the protocol itself not really well thought out --
therefore, there are many implementations of FTS-1 that differ
slightly. It is no surprise that FTS-1 often does not really do
its job and is therefore very seldom used and better avoided.
[»EMSI, »YooHoo/2U2, »DietIfna, »ZedZap]
FTSC
FidoNet Technical Standards Commitee. This authority documents
the protocols and data formats used in FidoNet. The FTSC
publishes two kinds of documents: FSC and FTS files. FSCs are
proposals and drafts, posted for commentary purposes, and they
Glossary FTSC
Page 13 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 13
may never be implemented in FidoNet at all. FTS files describe
approved standards and document the way that FidoNet works; they
must be followed.
Gateway
Some networks cannot directly be accessed through FidoNet
because of different mailer technologies, topology or policy
differences. Some nodes offer a gateway service -- they take
mail from one side (FidoNet), and move it over to the other net
(UseNet, Bitnet, or whatever) and back.
Most gateways operate on a voluntary basis (for free), so
don't abuse the good will of those people running gateways.
Handshake
"Handshake" is a word describing a fully controlled
step-by-step interaction between two systems. Within data
communications, it is used in the following meanings:
- RS-232 handshake, CTS/RTS handshake, hardware handshake.
These terms refer to an electrical signal handshake used on
the serial line. The two systems (for example: modem &
computer, terminal & computer, computer & computer) have
separate signal lines to allow or disallow the other end to
send data (»flow control).
- Session handshake.
This term refers to the begin of a FidoNet session, where
two mailers try to greet each other (thus the term
"handshake"). During the handshake, each mailer determines
who the other end is, what protocols the other system can
do, and which should be used for mail transfer. This
handshake phase is a very critical point of a FidoNet
session and often fails with mailers with slight errors in
their handshake routines.
Host
Every »net in FidoNet has a network host. This host system can
be used as an inbound gate for routing mail to the individual
nodes in the net. It will accept mail for all nodes in the
network and deliver (or hold) the mail to (or for) them.
The network host always has a nodenumber of zero, i.e. the
host of network 310 in zone 2 is 2:310/0.
Hub
Large networks (»net) can be separated in subsections. Each
subsection has a hub system as the inbound gate, in other words,
a hub is mostly like a »host, only at a lower level.
Glossary Hub
Page 14 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 14
IFNA
The International Fido Net Association. A now defunct and no
longer existing formal representative body of all FidoNet
sysops.
Import
As opposed to »export, the process of preparing the messages
coming from a remote system, to be read locally. This means that
the »mail bundles are unpacked, taken apart and the individual
messages put where they belong (hopefully).
Magic filename
To facilitate »file requests, many systems support so-called
magics. That is, you can request some file under a global name,
and are sent the most recent version, without having to worry
about the name of the archive, the current version etc.
Also the magic filename "FILES" is mostly used to request a
detailed listing of all the files available for file request on
a system. Other often used magic filenames are "ABOUT" and
"ECHOLIST".
Mail bundle
A file with a strange, but unique name (usually 23fe730a.MO1
or something similar). This contains (in a packed format) all
the »echomail (and often »netmail as well) to be sent around.
Mailer
The program per se that finally takes your »mail bundles and
delivers them to other FidoNet systems. It gets in touch with
your modem, dials out, hopefully reaches another FidoNet system,
handshakes, and transfers all the files and »mail bundles
belonging there. It also picks up files and mail bundles that
are waiting for you on the other end.
Matrix Mail
See »netmail.
MNP
Short for "Microcom Networking Protocol". This is a »protocol
usually built into modems, which protects the integrity of the
data transferred and also offers means to compress data that is
being sent, this even increasing throughput.
Glossary MNP
Page 15 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 15
Moderator
A number of »Echomail »areas are "moderated". That means,
certain rules have been established for that conference. Also,
there exists a "Moderator", who is trying to keep the contents
of the messages in that area according to these rules. If
someone posts a message that is off-topic, offensive, rude or
otherwise not in the spirit of the conference, the moderator
will inform him (via »netmail) of his infringement, and
hopefully, this person will learn not to do it again.
The moderator can also ban people from conferences, if they do
not abide by the rules at all, even after several indications by
the moderator. For this to become effective, the moderator
addresses a »netmail message to the »sysop of the system where the
offending person resides, and asks the sysop to prevent the
access to the area for that person.
Another job of the moderator is to regularly post the rules
for an area, so that newcomers can see what is allowed and what
is not. That is also a good reason why you should read an
echomail conference for a while before starting to write
messages yourself.
Net
To properly address a single »node, nodes are grouped in so
called nets, usually representing some kind of geographical or
physical relationship (in the same town, in the same area code
etc.).
The net number in a »four dimensional address is the part
between the colon and the slash -- 2:310/6.0 is situated in net
310.
Netmail
Netmail (sometimes called matrix mail) is private mail from
one single person to another single person. Though netmail is
private, and should not be read by anyone except the addressee,
»sysops of systems that a netmail message travels through can
read it.
Node
This term is often used as a shortcut for a »BBS that is
participating in »FidoNet, or more generally, for a FidoNet
system listed in the »Nodelist.
A node is an independent system, running a FidoNet technology
»mailer, and offering a number of services -- like files offered
for download, and »echomail areas.
Glossary Node
Page 16 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 16
In a FidoNet address, the node number is the part after the
slash. For example, 2:310/6 is node number 6 in net 310.
Nodelist
A table of all the nodes in FidoNet. It lists important
details such as the name of a system, the name of its »sysop, the
telephone number and more. The nodelist currently comprises
about 10000 nodes (and is roughly 800K in size). Note that in
order to operate a »point, you don't really need the nodelist --
you are usually only calling your one and only »boss system, of
which you know the phone number, and the huge nodelist file just
clobbers up your (hard)disk.
Point
The smallest distinguishable unit in FidoNet. A point per se
is a kind of "one man node", allowing the sysop to read and
write mail offline, as if he would run a full blown node. The
difference is that a point usually does not serve any users nor
other nodes than the so-called »boss node.
The point address is the part of the »four-dimensional address
behind the dot. Eg. 2:310/3.14 is point number 14 of 2:310/3,
the boss node.
Pointnet
See »Fake net.
Primary Address
The main or master address of a system. In addition to that,
it may also have other addresses, so-called »AKA addresses.
Protocol
An algorithm to transfer data in a predefined manner. The data
gets packed into separate blocks, each of which will be sent to
the other system together with a checksum. The other end can
then detect transmission errors, inform the sending system of
such errors, and the data will be resent.
A protocol often also handles »flow control. Good protocols,
such as »ZedZap or »ZModem also offer means to resend partial
files after a previous transfer has been aborted (due to »carrier
loss, disk full and other errors).
Region
A »zone is divided in several regions. A region usually refers
to a geographical area, state or country. A region consists of
several »nets.
Glossary Region
Page 17 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 17
Sysop
"SYStem OPerator" -- the person that runs a FidoNet system or
»BBS.
Two-dimensional addressing
The form of representing a node in the form "Net/Node" is
called two dimensional addressing, for example "310/6". It is
missing the indication of »zone and »point. [»Four-dimensional
addressing]
YooHoo/2U2
Read: "Yoohoo/to you too". Session level handshake method,
used by »mailers to identify themselves, exchange passwords and
other necessary information before the file transfer itself can
begin. [»EMSI, »FTS-1]
ZedZap
A slightly modified »ZModem file-transfer »protocol offering
variable block sizes. Today, the most reliable and most widely
used protocol in FidoNet. [»DietIfna, »FTS-1]
ZModem
A very flexible and well thought-out file-transfer »protocol
originally invented by Chuck Forsberg. ZModem is public domain
and has been implemented in many »mailers, terminal programs and
bulletin board systems.
Zone
The biggest geographical conglomerate in FidoNet. A zone
usually comprises a whole continent, and it is denoted by the
number before the colon in a »four-dimensional address. Eg.
2:310/6.0 lies in zone 2, which is Europe.
Note that different other nets using FidoNet technology also
use different zone numbers to distinguish them from FidoNet
(like zone 7, AlterNet).
Zonegate
»Netmail between »zones is often routed through a Zonegate. The
purpose of the Zonegate is to transfer mail from one zone to
another. Zonegates carry special nodenumbers: The net part of
the number is the originating (from) zone and the node part of
the number is the destination (to) zone. For example, the
Zonegate that forwards mail from zone 2 to zone 3 is 2:2/3, and
the Zonegate for the opposite direction is 3:3/2.
Glossary Zonegate
Page 18 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 18
4. Road Map
1. FidoNet .......................................... 2
1.1. The Structure of FidoNet ....................... 4
2. Becoming a Point ................................... 5
2.1. Finding The Tools ............................. 5
2.2. Deeper Understanding ......................... 6
2.3. A Little Diagram .............................. 7
2.4. Installing The Mess ........................... 8
3. Glossary ......................................... 9
Area ............................................. 9
AKA .............................................. 9
Baud ............................................. 9
Baudrate ......................................... 9
BBS .............................................. 9
Boss ............................................. 9
Bundle ........................................... 10
Conference ....................................... 10
Cps .............................................. 10
DietIfna ......................................... 10
EchoMail ......................................... 10
Efficiency ....................................... 10
EMSI ............................................. 10
Export ........................................... 11
Fakenet .......................................... 11
Fido ............................................. 11
FidoNet .......................................... 11
File request ...................................... 11
Flow control ...................................... 12
Four-dimensional addressing ....................... 12
FTS-1 ............................................ 12
FTSC ............................................. 12
Gateway .......................................... 13
Handshake ........................................ 13
Host ............................................. 13
Hub .............................................. 13
IFNA ............................................. 13
Import ........................................... 14
Magic filename .................................... 14
Mail bundle ....................................... 14
Mailer ........................................... 14
Matrix Mail ....................................... 14
MNP .............................................. 14
Moderator ........................................ 14
Net .............................................. 15
Netmail .......................................... 15
Node ............................................. 15
Nodelist ......................................... 16
Point ............................................ 16
Pointnet ......................................... 16
Primary Address ................................... 16
Protocol ......................................... 16
Road Map
Page 19 TrapDoor's FidoNet Manual Page 19
Region ........................................... 16
Sysop ............................................ 16
Two-dimensional addressing ........................ 17
YooHoo/2U2 ....................................... 17
ZedZap ........................................... 17
ZModem ........................................... 17
Zone ............................................. 17
Zonegate ......................................... 17
4. Road Map .......................................... 18
When you haven't learned anything,
there's nothing to be forgotten.
Road Map