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1995-05-08
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27KB
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502 lines
┌┐┌┐┌┐┌┐┌┐┌┐┌────┐┌┐ ┌┐┌─┐ ┌┐┌────┐┌┐┌┐┌┐┌────┐
╔═════════════││││││││││││└─┐┌─┘││ │││ └┐│││┌───┘│││││││┌───┘═════════════╗
║ Volume 6 ││││││││││││ ││ └┼┐┌┼┘│ └┘││└───┐│││││││└───┐ May-June ║
║ Issue 1 ││││││││││││ ││ ││││ │┌┐ ││┌───┘││││││└───┐│ 1995 ║
╚═════════════│└┘└┘││└┘└┘│┌─┘└─┐ └┼┼┘ ││└┐ ││└───┐│└┘└┘│┌───┘│═════════════╝
│ └────┘└────┘└────┘ └┘ └┘ └─┘└────┘└────┘└────┘ │
│ Serving WWIV Sysops & Users Across All WWIV Networks │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─────────────────────┐
│This Issue's Features│
┌────────────────────────┴─────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
│ Random Factors.......................................Wayne Bell (1@1) │
│ │
│ Soft Servings: News from WWIV Software Services.....Sam (1@4051) │
│ │
│ The GC's Corner: Notes from the Group Coordinators..A Compilation │
│ │
│ Tips For Running WWIV Under OS/2 Warp................Sam (1@4051) │
│ │
│ Type 0 Forum.........................................Edited by │
│ Sam (1@4051) │
│ │
│ Filo's Mod of the Month..............................Filo (1@4000) │
│ │
│ FTP Sites............................................Jalapeno (2@14355) │
│ │
│ Dear Abby............................................Abby │
│ │
│ Demographics! Who are you?..........................Sam (1@4051) │
│ │
│ Closing Thoughts.....................................Sam (1@4051) │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
│ Random Factors │
│ Creative Commentary by Wayne Bell (1@1) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Probably the biggest question on everyone's mind around now (if not for the
past few months) is, "Well, when is v4.24 going to be out?" I can say it'll
be ... soon. We have (I hope) the last beta version out in test, and are now
working on all the pre-release trivia we need to do before a release.
When a release date is formally set, I will send out a mail-to-all-sysops to
let everyone know the date, plus a list of new features, and an updated list
of SDS sites (where registered WWIV sysops may download the source code). I
hope to send that email out 1-3 weeks after this WWIVNews release.
net35: If you log onto my BBS, you'll notice it says I'm running net35. That's
only because things got recompiled after the net34 release, not because I
changed anything significant.
There has recently been some confusion about the latest de1.exe file. The
latest one _IS_ dated July 10, 1994. If you run "de1 ?", then you should
see: "DE1.EXE for WWIVnet (NC) [Jul 10 1994]"
My BBS is now running on a Pentium/90 under OS/2 Warp with two modem lines.
Under OS/2 2.1, I was having a lot of problems with the OS crashing, but after
installing OS/2 Warp, that stopped completely, and the system responsiveness
has gone up significantly. I'm still having some difficulties with HS/Link
under Warp, but I haven't had the time to look into that yet.
───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
│ Soft Servings │
│ News from WWIV Software Services │
│ By Sam (WWIVnet 1@4051) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
As many of you have may have heard, WWIV Software Services has acquired the
rights to many third-party software programs. Among the more popular programs
are Transfer Area Manager, Uedit, and WWIVEdit. There has been some concern
on the various sysop subs about continued support for these products, and
questions about how the registrations will be dealt with (where applicable).
WSS will continue to develop and provide support for any/all of the products
we acquire. Registrations paid to the original author of the programs will
be honored.
* - *
We are gearing up for the release of 4.24, which is right around the corner
(barring any new problems). I know the beta testing period has been
exceptionally long this time. There are some very good reasons for that. In
addition to the usual bugs, quirks, and problems that had to be worked out,
4.24 grew dramatically from it's original scope. In the beginning, it was to
be nothing more than a "bug fix" for 4.23 with a couple of new features added
to it. As time passed, more and more new features were added. With each new
feature came a few problems, all which took time to work out. While it has
been a frustrating wait for many of you, I think when you get the final
product you will be in for a pleasant surprise.
Here is a list of most of the new features for 4.24:
1) Swapping spawn implemented. (Code courtesy of TurboPower Software,
distributed in .OBJ/.LIB format, with permission.)
2) Sound Definition Files supported. (Uses local PC speaker to read/play
alterable tunes.
3) QWK Mail Packet Builder.
4) RIP Graphics.
5) Various bug fixes as usual.
6) Conferencing improved (confedit).
7) N-Scanning dirs is now done automatically (if set in xfer defaults) only
after the first n-scan - no more redundant file n-scans after msgbase
n-scan.
8) WWIV.INI file support added. See docs for available settings and details.
9) The internal editor will now allow you to backspace to the previous line.
10) You can now have up to 16,000 posts on a sub (net34+ required for netted
subs).
11) Max files per dir can be 999 now, vs 499 previously.
12) [ and ] will scroll through dirs/subs/chains while editing them.
13) The instance number now shows in the sysoplog.
14) Newuser user number assignment much more robust.
15) 115200 baud rate supported everywhere.
16) 'F' at the scan prompt will search for text in a post (or title).
17) 'M' from the mail read prompt will send email to someone else,
but allow you to quote from the current email.
18) Not-yet-seen email is marked with '*' in the email one-line listing.
19) Users can disable inter-instance messages in the defaults section.
20) The /V main-menu command will allow you to quickly validate all
not-yet-validated net posts on your system.
21) You can set CD-ROM xfer directories, or conferences, to be unavailable
to users. (The sysop will still have access to them.) This would be
useful if you have a single CD-ROM drive, but sometimes put different
CD-ROMs into it.
22) With CHAIN_REG enabled, you can set a minimum and maximum age for chains.
23) User is prompted before dropping carrier on "Hangup After Download?" and
has 10 seconds to abort the hangup.
24) Online caller is notified when he receives email.
25) //PACK will compress (optimize) message base, removing "dead space"
from it and returning the space to your system.
26) The ability to store the System Password in RAM (and not in CONFIG.DAT)
rendering it impossible to obtain.
As of this writing, a release date has not been set. Wayne will be sending
Source-Verified Email to all sysops when the date is determined. You can
obtain the source code from any one of the Official Source Distribution Sites
(SDS) provided you have an account there. Here is a current list of the dif-
ferent WWIVNet BBS's where the source code may be obtained. Please note that
you can have accounts on more than one SDS. In fact, it is highly advisable
that you do, as it may be difficult to get through to them right after the re-
lease of 4.24:
The authorized source distribution systems are:
Node # Name Phone # Modem type State
1 Amber 310-798-9993 28.8+HST CA
310-798-8283 14.4+HST
4 Caesar's Palace 805-494-3003 14.4+HST CA
1250 The Clone Builder BBS 619-728-0541 28.8+HST (2 lines) CA
2100 The M&M Factory 314-861-1820 28.8+HST MO
2610 FarPoint Station 618-235-9303 28.8+HST IL
2720 Ko Ro Ba 813-237-0152 14.4+HST FL
4000 The Dragon's Den 210-631-5841 28.8+HST TX
4020 The Dragon's Den II 210-631-9417 28.8+HST TX
4051 Sam's BBS 409-729-1319 28.8 TX
409-729-1418 28.8(V.fc)
4340 The Resource Center 812-877-4342 28.8+HST IN
5150 Murphy's Law 910-649-7004 28.8 NC
6000 The Funny Farm (East) 704-553-8090 28.8+HST NC
6050 The Sandbox ][ 704-480-0456 28.8+HST NC
8412 Colossus 703-532-1438 14.4 VA
11000 Maxie's Toy 209-526-5899 14.4 CA
11314 Erana's Peace 303-755-1884 28.8+HST CO
12170 Paragon 716-592-5910 28.8+HST NY
14100 The Garage 509-483-0042 14.4 WA
20358 Permanent Vacation 514-487-7467 28.8 QC-CAN
20750 Purgatory BBS 306-665-0274 28.8 SAS-CAN
And in Japan (011-81):
4411 Blazing Inferno 611-733-1165 28.8+HST Okinawa
611-733-4807 28.8
───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
│ The GC's Corner │
│ Notes from the Group Coordinators │
│ A Compilation │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
(Editor's Note: The Group Coordinators (GC's) are a critical component of
the WWIV Network. To become a GC shows that one has not only demonstrated
a great degree of responsibility and willingness to help others, but also a
sincere desire to see WWIVNet succeed. Here is a brief, paraphrased excerpt
from the WWIV Network Policy Guide pertaining to the people who fill these
positions:
" The person serving as GC was either (a) nominated by Wayne Bell or
someone else such as an AC or (b) self nominated due to the connections
maintained. The individual has been accepted by Wayne, by the AC's with whom
he/she must relate, and possibly by a vote of the sysops in the area as well.
However, the process of becoming a GC is NOT necessarily a democratic one.
That is, being a Group Coordinator is not the result of a popularity contest;
instead, it is the result of demonstrated maturity in the network,
willingness to serve, and having the confidence of the ACs and Wayne Bell.
Such an individual should be mature (not necessarily old), easy to get along
with, prompt in answering to the needs of others, and be willing to devote
time to insuring that the group is well represented.
They will listen to both sides of any disagreement and
promote communication between the parties involved in the
dispute. They will render an impartial recommendation based upon
the facts and inform Wayne Bell of the dispute and recommended
resolution in those instances where it appears that people may have
strong and/or hurt feelings. This role calls for some maturity and
judgement. Wayne should not be informed or bothered with the settlement of
a dispute regarding a trivial matter, but he should be informed about all
disputes which might have an unsettling effect upon the network.
Promptness, Accuracy, Honesty, and Communications
should be the qualities promoted by the Group Coordinator.
The workings of the group (actually a mini-network) depend upon the
Group Coordinator's being prompt in their responses, accurate in their
work, honest in their dealings with others, and demonstrative of a
willingness to communicate in an open and frank manner but with
tact where it is called for.
The role of Group Coordinator may evolve in the future to take on
additional responsibilities and there may be additional requirements. A GC
may be removed from his position by the NC. Such removal would normally be
because he was failing in his duties and responsibilities or has lost the
confidence of the majority of ACs in his group."
As you can see, the position of GC is not one to be taken lightly. I hope to
have as a regular feature in WWIVNews, "The GC's Corner", immediately
following Wayne's comments, for GC's to express their views on the current
happenings in the WWIV world.)
Because of the short suspense of this first issue with myself as editor, not
all of the GC's had time to respond to my request for input, though nearly
every one of them expressed interest in the column. Ford Perfect
(GC, Group 12) and Filo (GC, Group 4) were both able to "beat the deadline"
for this issue.
Your thoughts and opinions are welcomed.....
───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
│ Ford Perfect │
│ Group 12 GC │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
My opinion of the net's current situation, in a nutshell:
The net retains its "kiddie net" reputation, and insists that it's not
deserved. Judging from my mailbox and the sub traffic I see, we may not be a
network of hackers and pirates, but we are a network of immature, illiterate
brats who think that running a system means they can step on the rights of
others. This overall opinion is, IMO, the impetus for the existence of most
of the myriad "mini-nets" that have sprung up. Pursuit of power and all that,
when there's no power involved in network administration, at least not from
what I've seen.
I also feel there's far too much political activity going on. Not
discussion of politics, but politicking. Again, people seem to be under the
impression that administration of a net carries with it some kind of god-like
power. Let me tell you, it doesn't <g>. And having been in WWIVnet for a long
time, I've seen (and been a victim of) some pretty nasty political situations.
I see no reason for this, but it happens anyway.
The overall idea here is that we're members of a network, a community. But
very few members of that community see it that way anymore. I don't know why
people run bbses these days, but when I started, I wanted to communicate with
others. I still do, but I find that task becoming much harder than it used to
be. People seem to have lost any feeling that cooperation is good. I believe
this is true not just in the net, but also in our society as a whole--so it's
not much of a surprise.
Since this is a gripe list (I didn't mean it to be, and I'll try to get
over it eventually), there is one other thing I've noticed that troubles me.
The growing wave of apathy that will soon reach tsunamic proportions. Sysops
don't care, sub hosts don't care, ACs don't care, GCs don't care, and Wayne
doesn't care. The attitude Wayne's taken toward the development of WWIV and
WWIVnet indicates to me that he's tired of it, that it was just a project in
high school and wasn't ever supposed to do what it has. Filo has all but
dropped from sight, and he's always been a very visible figure, being "second
banana" in WWIVnet and being a pretty good liaison between sysops and Wayne,
in most cases. But we've seen the development problems, and more importantly
the inability of WWIV to keep up with competing bbs programs in features or
new releases. If Wayne doesn't want to deal with the project anymore, he
should turn it over to someone else, rather than let his apathy paint a
picture for others to follow.
But as I said, I didn't mean to gripe quite that much. My feelings about the
state of the net are that it needs some improvement, that people need to modify
their attitudes and go back to working together for everyone's benefit. But I
also believe that this is not only a possible, but a realistic goal. However,
it will take some leadership. Someone will have to set an example and follow
through, and some potentially painful changes might have to be made. And that
person, whoever he or she might be, will have to have the clout. As a long-time
GC, I appreciate your statement about our being respected, but I tend to doubt
it. The essays I mentioned meet with a couple of email responses in agreement,
and the sound of crickets chirping in an empty room. I don't know what it will
take to make 'em listen, but I guess what I'm doing isn't it.
───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
│ Filo │
│ Group 4 GC │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
WWIVnet, in my opinion, continues to be the premier WWIV-based network and I
believe that the level of maturity has increased significantly on the subs
that I read regularly. Other people may read other subs and perhaps those
subs reflect greater degrees of immaturity; however, the sysop subs and WWIV
support type subs that I tend to read seem to be characterized, for the most
part, by posts from people seeking assistance and by well-thought-out helpful
responses to their problems. I have not seen in recent months the flaming and
sysop-wars that used to constitute the main fare of some sysop related subs.
It may be that these wars and the immature people behind them have left
WWIVnet to form their own networks.
I think we can look to larger networks (FidoNet and the InterNet) to see that
big is not always better. While both of those larger networks have much to
offer, the quality of some of the discussions that take place on them is much
more juvenile than what is found on WWIVnet, and one must look through more
muck to find the pearls that are hidden therein. In that respect, I think
WWIVnet plays a good middle of the road, for we can exchange ideas and
viewpoints relatively well and can keep up with those subs that interest us.
However, I do not want anyone to think that I am proposing that large networks
should be ignored. I think it important that we forge our connections to
those networks so that e-mail can be sent between us all and so that even
newsgroups or echoes may be ported to/from WWIVnet on a local level. I want
to stress the local level part because I would hate to see WWIVnet increase
its overall costs to merely port things from other networks.
While some may think that Wayne and I play a rather low profile, I would like
to assure you that it does not reflect any lack of caring. We always post
when we have something important to say. We also post more when there is less
going on in terms of WWIV development. I know I have been busy working on the
documentation for v4.24 which will be available in both READER format and
ASCII format. Preparing two sets of docs has almost doubled the amount of
time that it took to prepare them and I can only hope that sysops will
appreciate the new docs and let me know of whatever faults and omissions that
they discover in them. In my own opinion, WWIV has gone from being one of the
least documented bbs software's to being one of the best documented during the
last decade.
I find most sysops on our network to be good people who do care about the
network and about each other. There are always exceptions to this, but I
believe that overall WWIVnet is alive, healthy, and ready to go through some
new growth stages. Opportunities may present themselves with the release of
4.24 that were never before available.
───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────
│ Tips For Running WWIV Under OS/2 Warp │
│ By Sam (1@4051) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
With the recent popularity of IBM's release of OS/2 called "Warp", I have
seen many people asking the same thing I did when I first got it... "How in
the world do I make this thing work with WWIV?"
Up until the release of Warp, I had never fiddled with OS/2 whatsoever. With
the help of Fred Flintstone (1@4058), JAFO, and Starship Trooper, and some
major experimentation, I've been able to get everything going in fine fashion.
I do not claim to be an expert on OS/2, but here are the settings that work
the best for me. You may have to adjust some of the settings, but if you use
these as a baseline, you should be very close to optimum. The setup I am
running here features three nodes on a 486 DX2/66 with 8 megs of RAM. (I use
the HPFS here, and *strongly* urge you to do the same once you are comfortable
with OS/2. I was amazed at the difference in performance the HPFS made!)
I will give you the setting for one node. You can duplicate it for the rest
of them with one exception. More on that later.
I am assuming you were able to install Warp on your computer. It is beyond
the scope of this text to go into each possible setup.
CONFIG.SYS:
The first thing I recommend doing is editing the monster config.sys file Warp
created when you installed it. It is in the root directory of whatever drive
you boot from. > BACK YOURS UP BEFORE YOU EDIT IT! <
Here is my config.sys file I use for OS/2 Warp and WWIV. I have made many
changes to it from the default config.sys that was created when I installed
Warp, and where I could remember, I have added in comments to indicate the
changes. I will not guarantee I marked them all, but I did as best as I could
remembering them all. It should become obvious to you which ones were changed
when you compare it to yours.
(I boot from C: I do use the High Performance File System on both drives, and
*highly* recommend it to everyone. The increase in performance was dramatic.)
IFS=C:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:1024 /CRECL:32 /AUTOCHECK:CD
; Above, change 256 to either 512 or 1024 (play with it) and 4 to 32
; Note that if you do not use HPFS, this line is ignored.
PROTSHELL=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS,LAUNCHPAD
SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
LIBPATH=.;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;C:\MMOS2\DLL;
SET PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
(from previous 'set path' line) D:\WINDOWS;C:\MMOS2;
SET DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\BITMAP;C:\OS2\MDOS;
(from previous path line) C:\OS2\APPS;D:\WINDOWS;C:\MMOS2;C:\MMOS2\INSTALL;
SET PROMPT=$i[$p]
SET HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;C:\MMOS2\HELP;
SET GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO ; changed from YES
FILES=100 ; changed from 20 (play with this setting)
BASEDEV=IBMKBD.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\TESTCFG.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\DOS.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\PMDD.SYS
BUFFERS=90 ; this may have been default. Play with it some.
IOPL=YES
DISKCACHE=2048,LW ; you may have to set this lower depending on memory
; Note that it has NO effect on HPFS machines. You
; can rem it out if you use HPFS
MAXWAIT=1 ; changed from 3
MEMMAN=SWAP,PROTECT
SWAPPATH=C:\OS2\SYSTEM 2048 16000 ; This gave me the best performance. You
; can play around with these.
; This will create a 16 meg swapdrive, so
; if you do not have that much room on your
; drive, reduce the 16000 down to what you
; want.
BREAK=OFF
THREADS=100 ; changed from 256
PRINTMONBUFSIZE=134,134,134
COUNTRY=001,C:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
SET KEYS=ON
SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK;C:\MMOS2;
SET SOMIR=C:\OS2\ETC\SOM.IR;C:\OS2\ETC\WPSH.IR;C:\OS2\ETC\WPDSERV.IR
SET SOMDDIR=C:\OS2\ETC\DSOM
REM SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;D:\DELETE,512; ; NOTE if you want to be able to
; undelete files, you will need to
; un-rem this line.
BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
rem BASEDEV=IBM2FLPY.ADD ; Take this line out
BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD
BASEDEV=XDFLOPPY.FLT
BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD
SET EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS;
PROTECTONLY=NO
SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM C:\OS2\MDOS
FCBS=16,8
RMSIZE=639 ; changed from 640
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS
DOS=LOW,NOUMB
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VW32S.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\ANSI.SYS ; added to turn on ansi
DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\OS2CDROM.DMD /Q
IFS=C:\OS2\BOOT\CDFS.IFS /Q
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS
BASEDEV=OS2SCSI.DMD
BASEDEV=FD8XX.ADD /et ; See NOTE #1 after config.sys
rem DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS ; remove mouse driver See NOTE #2
rem DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\POINTDD.SYS ; remove mouse driver
rem DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\MOUSE.SYS SERIAL=COM2 ; remove mouse driver
rem DEVICE=C:\OS2\BOOT\COM.SYS ; remove stock com driver
rem DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS ; see NOTE #3
device=d:\sio\sio.sys ; added sio com driver (see NOTE #3)
device=d:\sio\vsio.sys ; added sio com driver
CODEPAGE=437,850
DEVINFO=KBD,US,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,C:\OS2\BOOT\VIOTBL.DCP
SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_SVGA
SET VIO_SVGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
DEVICE=C:\MMOS2\SB16D2.SYS 1 1 5 7 220 4 330 /N:SBAUD1$ /Q
DEVICE=C:\MMOS2\AUDIOVDD.SYS SBAUD1$
SET MMBASE=C:\MMOS2;
SET DSPPATH=C:\MMOS2\DSP;
SET NCDEBUG=4000
DEVICE=C:\MMOS2\SSMDD.SYS
DEVICE=C:\MMOS2\R0STUB.SYS
NOTE #1: I have two Pioneer 6-disk CD Rom changers online. In order for OS/2
to see all of the drives/disks, you MUST add the /ET to the end of the line
where your scsi card is defined. The FD8XX is my Future Domain SCSI card
driver that OS/2 installed in the initial setup. I have not tried this with
other SCSI or IDE cards, but would assume you would have to add it. If you
have CD towers and Warp is only "seeing" the first disk, add the /et at the
end of the adapter card call in config.sys