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Ärende: FIDONEWS Vol. 28 NO. 49 The Fidonet Technical Standards Committee
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     The Fidonet Technical Standards Committee: what it is and isn't
     By Richard Webb, 1:116/901

     Although many of us don't pay a lot of attention, there are some
     newcomers to our nodelist these days. Those newcomers, and many old
     hands seem to misunderstand what the Fidonet Technical Standards
     committee is about. There has been a bit of a misconception in the
     minds of many regarding the work of the committee over the years.

     It has been explained numerous times in Fidonews, and in the echoes
     over the years that the duties of the FTSC are to document
     standards in use throughout Fidonet. This means that not just do
     the committee members need a good technical knowledge base, but
     they need to communicate this knowledge to all sorts of folks.
     Their mission, in other words is to document those standards.

     The FTSC oversees the production of documents detailing everything
     from the format of the tic file which controls the movement of
     files in file echoes, the structure of that last mail bundle your
     processor unpacked; transfer protocols used in a mail session;
     message base structure in use,  etc.

     Anyone wishing to write a program to interact with Fidonet, be it
     a conversion tool between message base formats; a mailer; a mail
     bundle handler of some type can refer to this documentation and
     learn about the data structures that must be dealt with, etc.

     Fidonet's future viability in part rests with these fine folks.
     Documenting new techniques as well as updating older ones is
     important to our continued survival as a network.

     If you take a look at these libraries which are available in the
     files bases of many long time Fidonet systems you'll find files
     with the following nomenclature:

     File names preceded with frl:  These are provided for reference
     only, maybe the structure didn't become widely used in Fidonet.
     Provided just for that, for reference only, hence the FRL
     designator.

     Files preceded with fsp:  These are proposals to be made standards.
     They're considered "standards" when widely accepted an implemented
     by programmers writing software for use in Fidonet, and Fidonet
     technology networks.

     Files preceded with fts:  These are considered actual standards,
     accepted and implemented throughout Fidonet and other Fidonet
     technology networks.

     Files preceded with fta:  These contain information regarding
     the FTSC itself.

     Some older FTSC documents may carry a file name preceded
     with FSC.  Some, but not all of these may have been
     converted to FRL files.

     Most current FTSC members and many long time Fidonet sysops will
     have these documents available for download or file request.  They
     are also available from ftp and web sources.  If you're not finding
     them, ask in the ftsc_public echomail conference and you will be
     pointed to current information regarding a url or ftp site.

     It should be obvious that the members of the FTSC must be
     technically competent, but also need good communication skills,
     because being able to communicate effectively is part of their
     mission. After all, the job of the ftsc is to document existing
     standards in use throughout the network. The documentation they
     produce must be understandable to folks with varying levels of
     technical mastery. This has been the job of the FTSC since it was
     revived after the days of IFNA. Many have misunderstood that role
     over the years, instead believing that the FTSC dictates standards.


     FIDONEWS Vol 28 No 49              Page 4          December 5th 2011




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