Text 22752, 61 rader
Skriven 2015-04-05 14:21:44 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Paul Hayton (3:770/100)
Ärende: Fidonet Membership
==========================
Hello Paul,

On Sunday April 05 2015 07:47, you wrote to me:

 TR>>>> Your optimism is misplaced. Fido is dying.

 PH>>> I disagree, and let's agree to disagree.
 Mv>> Denial is not a river in Egypt.

 PH> Disagrement and denial are two different things.

In this case it boils down to the same thing. You disagree that Fido is dying
--> you deny that Fido is dying.

 PH> Are you suggesting I am unaware of how inactive Fidonet is compared to
 PH> the busier times of the 1990s I referenced in my reply to Tim?

I am not suggecting that at all.

 PH> I'm very aware Fidonet is not as busy etc.

No ergument there. Where we differ is that Fdionet can be made to grow agian.
Yes we have the occasional returning sysop and  even a rare new one. But they
do not compensate for the numbers that drop out.

 PH> From my POV sure it's not 1992 with heaps of BBS's and a huge
 PH> nodelist.. but we're not down to our last 2-3 systems either.

I always compare Fidonet with a shipping company. There are some ships left.
But there is no cargo and there are no passengers. We keep the ships running
because we like to run ships. But ours is the last generation to do so. When we
go, the ships will come to rest with us.

 PH> I am heartened to see new / returning systems to the network and am
 PH> in the process of adding a new member to Z3 as I type :)

 Mv>> Getting them in is the easy part. Keeping them in is the hard
 Mv>> part.

We had some returning sysops and even a new one in R28 in the past years. They
all dropped out again within a year. The new one didn't even last a week.

The ironie is that what freed us of the heavy telephone bills: the Internet,
also made Fido superflous. The reality is that all Fidonet has to offer is
nostalgia. It has nothing to offer to the next generation. Everything that
Fidonet has, is to be found elsewhere on the Internet end better. When  heve a
technical problem with my motor bike, I don't  bother asking in Fidonet. I go
to the Suzuku Bandit forum and ask there. There are the people that have the
answers.

 PH> Those of us who are still active all have an equal part to play in the
 PH> attraction and retention of members across the network. Nothing about
 PH> it is easy, but nothing about it is impossible either.

I admire your optimism.


Cheers, Michiel

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