Text 23499, 159 rader
Skriven 2011-12-13 21:15:17 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
Ärende: Inconvenient Truths
===========================
Hello Everybody,

"When I joined Fidonet I agreed to abide by P4.  When I did that
I entered into an agreement with all other sysops. ... In return I
expect[ed] all the other sysops to honour that agreement as well."
- Michiel van der Vlist, FN_SYSOP echo

Every sysop who joined Fidonet agreed to abide by P4.  Not just
Michiel.  And such an agreement is in fact an agreement with all
other sysops, as noted in P4 (in order to become a Fidonet sysop,
a sysop *must* agree to abide by P4).  However, that does not
mean that all sysops have honored their sworn commitment.

"But what I see is that Z1 does not honour agreements when it
is not convenient.  They use their own interpretation, twist it,
add unwritten rules, claim exceptions or just plain ignore it."
- Michiel van der Vlist, FN_SYSOP echo

Although Michiel paints with a very broad brush, his real meaning
applies only to a handful of sysops in Z1.  Those sysops, regardless
of zone, who do not abide by P4 are automatically excommunicated from
the Fidonet community, as noted by P4 itself.  However, the problem
is what to do with those who have excommunicated themselves, as they
continue to wreck havoc on the Fidonet community.

"The nodelist is not a list of users, it is a list of FTN capable
SYSTEMS."
- Michiel van der Vlist, FN_SYSOP echo

Michiel is quite correct, as a node is not a user/person.  An
individual can own a node, but a node is nothing more than a small
portion of a particular nodelist (list of nodes).

In the world of Fidonet, there is not one nodelist, but several.
And not all nodelists are equal or the same.  In fact, there is at
least one nodelist that is inaccurate as it has been corrupted by
the very person responsible for maintaining it.  And that person
has been automatically excommunictated from the Fidonet community.

"The Troika sysops have disqualified themselves as trusted parties."
- Michiel van der Vlist, FN_SYSOP echo

Michiel is referring to three individuals, all from Zone 1, who
refuse to act like responsible sysops.  We all know who those three
individuals are.  :)

In any event, as far as I am concerned, those three individuals
are not part of the Fidonet community.  As such, it really does not
bother me what they choose to do with themselves.  For all I care
they can fly to the North Pole and help Santa Claus fill his sleigh.
OTOH that might not be a good idea, as children all over the world
would be disappointed if all they got on Christmas morning is a lump
of coal...

"You (NAB) stole the echo and the magazine.  One does not `resolve
issues' with thieves.  Talking does not start until after the goods
are returned and the thieve serve time in jail."
- Michiel van der Vlist, FN_SYSOP echo

Automatic excommunication from the Fidonet community is all that
is necessary.  In order to return to our (the Fidonet community)
good graces, an apology along with restitution would suffice.

Along with an apology to Björn Felten (and to ALL),
what might be considered restitution?

Janis Kracht to cease publication of her local rag.
Ross Cassell to return the echotag to its proper owner - Björn Felten.
Bob Seaborn to shut down his web site hosting of Janis' local rag.

I seriously doubt that any of the three will apologize to anybody,
or even attempt to give restitution.  Their only interest seems to
be to make personal insults, most notably on Björn Felten.

"Fidonet was created to pass netmail.  Echomail came later, and
was created for discussion, not to create hatred, as it is being
done now."
- Joe Delahaye, FN_SYSOP echo

That statement is partially true, but is inaccurate.  Fidonet is
a network of like-minded individuals whose interest is in promoting
communication.  In other words, discussion.  Especially among those
like-minded individuals.  Echomail is, or has become, part of that
network we call Fidonet.  An expansion of the original Fidonet, in
a sense.  But still a part of Fidonet.  Same as amendments to a
constitution would be part of that constitution.

The purpose of Fidonet has always been discussion and the promotion
of discussion.   A means to help facilitate discussion, not hinder it.

What is being done today, most notably by a handful of individuals
known as the "Troika", is "to create hatred", as duly noted by Joe.

However, nobody seems to know what to do about the sitution.  Or
rather - nobody seems to want to do anything about the sitution.

Fidonet is a community.  A community of like-minded individuals
whose wish is to promote free and open discussion around the world
through the use of computers and networking.

It is this Fidonet community that started the "Arab Spring" and other
revolutions around the world.  It is sad to say a certain "Troika" from
the USA and Canada who pride themselves so much in promoting "freedom
of speech" is destroying this network from within.

"You [Björn Felten] completely missed what I was trying to say or
get across.  If you quit with your digs, and the others quit with their
insults, maybe, just maybe we can get back to normal.  Yes I know you
slowed down your insults for a while, but you still had those little
digs in a lot of your messages.  Your behaviour towards Bob Bashe also
was a factor."
- Joe Delahaye, FN_SYSOP echo

Aside from bein a personal insult to Björn Felten, there are a few
other things about Joe's statement that are false.  It was not Björn
Felten or any other participant of the Fidonews echo that caused the
so-called "Troika" to do what they did.  So here's the deal -

Ross Cassell in particular was mad at Björn Felten because he is
jealous.  Jealous that Frank Vest did not appoint Ross Cassell as
editor of the Fidonews.  Ross Cassell even went so far as to elist
himself on a private elist, naming himself as "moderator" of the
Fidonews echo.  Not only that, but Ross Cassell also gave himself
a nickname, declaring himself the "King of Fido".

Janis Kracht was also mad at Björn Felten.  Why?  Because she is
also jealous.  Jealous that the Fidonews echo was getting lots of
messages every day, along with a newsletter being produced like
clockwork.  It was just too much for her to handle.  Especially
since her own Fidogazette echo and newsletter was not getting nearly
the same number of hits.  So Janis decided to copy the Fidonews
newsletter (copy and paste sort of thing) and call it her own,
originating from her very own BBS.

Bob Seaborn was mad at Björn Felten for totally different reasons.
Although he, too, was jealous.  You see, Bob Seaborn called Björn
Felten an asshole.  A real asshole.  Why, one might ask, would Bob
(or anybody else) be jealous about that?  Well, as it turns out,
Björn Felten is an equal opportunity asshole.  A true believer in
freedom of expression.  And Bob Seaborn simply could not have that.
So what did he do?  Well, I must admit I am partially at fault.
After all, I am the owner of the fidonews.us web site.  Bob went
and gobbled up the fidonews.ca site before some other mad Canadian
got that idea, and offered Janis access to post her local rag from
his own Canadian web site.

Yes, my friends.  It is a conspiracy.  A conspiracy of thieves.

"... and the trouble is that Fidonews, is not a general chat echo,
and never was."
- Joe Delahaye

On that point, our Canadian friend is completely delusional.
Fidonews is, has been, and always will be, a general chat echo.

--Lee

--- MesNews/1.06.00.00-gb
 * Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)