What is NetMail?
================
   NetMail IS FidoNet. NetMail is why FidoNet was started in the first
place. The whole idea was to send messages back and forth, in the dead
of night, from one computer to another. At Midnight the telephone
costs are at their cheapest. Even with slow modems you can transmit a
fair sized letter in less than a minute. At AT&T Reach Out America
rates, that's less than twelve cents. Compare that to a postage stamp,
the cost of envelopes and paper, and a trip to the Post Office. Of
course, you don't have to have a thousand dollar computer to mail a
letter, but the idea is you already have one anyway, so why not put it
to good use?
   Because every FidoNet BBS has an address, you can send NetMail
directly to that board. Your BBS calls another BBS long distance,
transmits the mail packet, and hangs up. Neat, fast, easy! Your
electronic letter is just like a real one. It is to a specific person,
and only that person will probably see it. Because NetMail was
developed by Sysops for Sysops, most senders of NetMail are Sysops
anyway.
   NetMail can be made available to users of your BBS. That's your
choice. You'll probably want to charge them for it, at least a few
cents, because they are using your telephone number to make a long
distance call. That's all between you and your users. No one else
cares all that much how you spend your money. But it is like a
stranger walking into your house, picking up the telephone, and making
a long distance call. BBS systems that are "Fido aware" allow you to
give credit to your users in their own accounts. When they enter a
NetMail message, the BBS software deducts the cost of the call, as set
up in a cost table for that purpose. In these cases you would normally
charge your users a couple of dollars in advance, then ask for
additional dollars when the account was depleted. If you run a
subscription board, you may give your users a certain amount of
NetMail credits as part of their purchase.
   Let's take a moment to cover this possibility. Let's say you wanted
to allow your users access to NetMail. Why would they want to? How
would you do it?
   A user might want to send NetMail to a regular correspondent
somewhere else. That person would need to have access to NetMail on
the board he called. So a couple of logistical details would have to
be worked out in advance. If your correspondent were in Boston, you
would have to find the FidoNet address of the board in Boston (as
opposed to the banned in Boston. Ouch!) and make sure your local user
understood how to enter the correct address in his letters. The Boston
correspondent would have to make similar arrangements with the board
he called. All this is perfectly possible to set up, at your
discretion.
   So what are the characteristics of NetMail? It is sent DIRECTLY
from one board to another using the FidoNet addressing scheme. It is
usually a private message from one person to another. It is a long
distance call, usually, done late at night to take advantage of cheap
rates. That's NetMail.
   
What is EchoMail?
=================
   It's NetMail with a few differences. The technology is (pretty
much) the same. But this time your messages are related to a single
subject and placed in a subject-message area on your BBS along with
lots of other people's messages. All the messages on this subject are
then bundled up and sent out of your BBS to a HUB which bundles your
messages with others entered on other BBS systems in the area and re-
transmits all these messages to another HUB, which then reverses the
process.
   Eventually all the messages on a given topic are transmitted
(echoed) to ALL the BBS systems that carry this topic on their own
boards. Someone on one of those other BBS systems may choose to answer
your message. Eventually you, and every other BBS, will receive this
answer. Although it may be addressed to you, everyone else will see
it. These messages are public (not private) and they are seen by
everyone. This is sort of like extending a conversation on a given
topic all across the world so everyone can participate, a huge party
line.
   In this case you probably would not charge your users for entering
messages. The only practical way to do that would be to charge a
subscription fee for access to the EchoMail areas of your board.
EchoMail will cost you money to haul in, though usually not a lot. But
your users probably won't pay for that. That's one of your many
contributions to being a FidoNet Sysop.
   There is some compensation in that most EchoMail conferences allow
PUBLIC messages only, not private ones. And this is something you can
force on your board. That means your users will not be able to send
private mail through the echoes. The idea is that everyone benefits
from postings, even though they may be addressed to an individual.
   You will find that the "signal to noise ratio" on some conferences
is higher than others. Some are designed for "chatting" rather than
substance. But even the most strictly managed conferences can have
quite a lot of noise for every bit of hard information gleaned from
the postings.
   EchoMail forms the bulk of activity in FidoNet. Since it's
invention it has eclipsed NetMail by magnitudes! In fact, it is
impossible to know how many EchoMail areas exist on FidoNet. There are
several sources:
   
Backbone
--------
   The "BackBone" is a series of approximately 500 echo conferences
that are carried all over North America. Other zones have their own
backbones, and some of the echoes are "gated" between zones so they
appear all over. Most of the busy message areas are backbone echoes.
The file that lists these echoes is usually called FIDONET.NA (North
America). We can USUALLY get backbone echoes into this Network through
the normal feed system. Sometimes we can't, but it is fair to say that
by far the largest majority of backbone conferences (echoes: same
thing) are available.
   To be on the "backbone" is a bit of an undertaking. The echo must
first be on the "E-List," an official list of conferences with all the
relevant information. You have to send information on a new echo in a
specific format compatible with the E-list robot software, yet
something else to learn. Secondly, it must be requested by at least
two Regional Coordinators. That means some lobbying to convince them
the echo is important. Then, as slots become available, and echo may
be listed on the backbone and carried all over the country. Backbone
echoes tend to have a lot of traffic. They're busy.
   If you ever get to the point where you want to start your own Echo,
we can talk more about that. At this point the task is to get an echo,
not start one up.
   Important Point! The E-List is NOT just a list of Backbone echoes.
It's a list of any old echoes someone wants to put into the E-List and
keep updated every six months (or they get dropped). That's all.
Backbone echoes MUST be in the E-List, but E-List echoes aren't all on
the Backbone! One of the reasons the E-List is important is because it
holds the name of the official Moderator of the conference, and you
can only change the Moderator name if you know the password.
   
The Moderator
-------------
   The Moderator is a key concept with echo conferences. Basically the
Moderator "owns" the conference and is the only one that knows the E-
List password. He or she can make up any rules he or she wants to with
reference to behavior on echoes. Most moderators have a standard suite
of rules: No swearing, no flaming. Be nice, stay on topic, etc. But
some may be more stringent than that.
   The "on topic" rule is particularly important. "On topic" means
what the moderator says it means. As a general rule it means you talk
about dogs on the dog conference and talk about cats on the cat
conference. If you don't, the moderator will step in and correct you.
But he could also rule that Pomeranians were off-topic in the dog
echo. And no matter how much you wanted to talk about Pomeranians, you
can't do it on the dog echo.
   Not long ago "Cyberpunk" science fiction was ruled off-topic in the
Science Fiction Echo. Religion was ruled off topic in the UFO echo, as
was Faster-than-light travel. Why? Mostly because these topics caused
so much hate and discontent that the echoes became overwhelmed in
controversy. It's the moderator's job to keep the echo functioning.
   If you seek controversy, there are echoes for that purpose. In
FLAME, for example, there are no rules. Enter that arena with your
swords drawn and have at it. That's its purpose.
   One more thing: The Moderator can cut your access to an echo. If he
doesn't like your messages, you can be barred from a conference,
period, though this is very rare. The Moderator may warn you directly,
via NetMail what the problem is and ask you to stop. Or the Moderator
may tell you to stop on the echo itself. Or the Moderator will write
to your NC and ask to have your access cut to an echo.
   The person barred can be a user of your BBS. In which case, you get
to cut access to this person. That's only happened one time in a year
in Network 350. If you don't and the behavior continues, the Moderator
will ask to have the BBS feed cut. If your NC doesn't cut you off then
HIS feed can be cut, and so on down the line. HUBS will pretty much
follow Moderator request on this issue, since their feeds are at stake
and they may have several nodes carrying a given conference. Why
should they get a feed cut to several nodes just because of one
problem node?
   USUALLY people are barred from an echo for perfectly legitimate
reasons. They are being unreasonable and causing a problem. We've all
had problems with users from time to time. It's the same thing on a
national scale.
   Here's another example. On an echo I frequent a Canadian posted a
message critical of the US Government and Americans in particular. It
was an unwarranted attack. Someone responded about the Canucks and
told them to go hunt moose. Another Canadian saw THAT message and
became rightly outraged. He didn't see the ORIGINAL message which
started it all. You can see what was about to happen. So the Moderator
stepped in and said "No cross-border talk, period." That ended the
controversy. Thank goodness.
   But sometimes someone may be barred for no good reason at all.
Someone doesn't like the rules and questions them, or there is a
severe difference of opinion. Or someone dominates the echo to the
point where other people are shouted down. Is this fair? No. Do you
have recourse? No. Does it happen often? No. Do you need to concern
yourself with this? No.
   Just be aware that the Moderator rules. He chooses his own
successor. If you can't live with that, start your own echo. Make it
popular. Get it on the backbone. That's how all the echoes started.
   
   This Moderator thing causes a lot of problems with some people.
(They live in a democracy and they have free speech rights, and,
and....). FidoNet Sysops tend to be aggressive individualists rather
than cooperative peacemakers. That's true; it's the nature of the
beast. So we like to think no one can tell us what to do. That's a
very American point of view, too, isn't it?
   If you've participated in Echo Mail conferences before, you know
what it's like out there. To put it bluntly: The signal to noise ratio
is very high. You get a lot of noise for every useful piece of
information you can glean from a conference. A lot of people are
pretty impressed with themselves, at the expense of everyone else. You
have to endure to gain in this situation.
   The Moderator's job is really to get the signal to noise ratio as
low as possible, so that useful information gets transmitted, not just
someone's unruly opinions. It's sort of like being in a big party and
having someone continually remind us to keep the noise level down.
   FidoNet Sysops pretty quickly develop a low tolerance for junk on
echoes. The reason is simple: It costs real money to cart messages
around. If we all cut our verbiage by 20%, the cost of transmitting
echo mail would drop 20%.
   Now: One additional problem. Lots of people seem to feel moderators
*censor* messages. That isn't true at all. If you stop and think about
it, it is technologically impossible anyway. If you are participating
in an echo conference, your message enters the "echo stream" through
your hub. So do everyone else's. So do the Moderator's. The Moderator
can certainly react to an existing message, but he can't control the
flow of traffic. Anyone who suggests otherwise isn't being very
intelligent about this issue. I've seen people suggest this in
conferences, and the hoots of derisive laughter are overwhelming in
response.
   So although we all tend to get our backs up at the mention of the
control of Moderators, the only people who really have a problem on
echoes are those people who are basically impolite. So if you stay on
topic in a conference and contribute meaningfully, you'll earn the
gratitude of the Moderator, and the rest of the participants as well.
It would be a shame if you decided not to participate in FidoNet just
because you heard there is a problem with "moderators who play God."
Such behavior is no more or less prevalent than any other area of
life.
   
Regional
--------
   We were originally talking about the sources of echo traffic here.
We were talking about the "backbone" before we got sidetracked by
Moderators. Back on topic: Another source of conferences is Regional
Echoes. Our Region is 17. I think it is the largest. It covers the
Northwest as well as Western Canada. Personally, I like it that way. I
don't want the Region to split at the border. I enjoy and look forward
to the Canadian perspective on our local issues. Economically we have
lots more in common with Western Canada than either of us do to the
East Coast.
   RGN17 is a Regional Echo that covers regional topics. There are
also quite a few "PNW" (Pacific Northwest) conferences on various
topics available. It's another source of fairly wide-ranging
conferences.
   Frequently new conferences are offered to a Region before they "go
national." A new echo on the Supra v.32/fax modem was just started by
a fellow in Vancouver, B.C. Although now those interested call him
directly, I predict this will soon be a Regional Echo available to us
locally. If it takes off, it will probably make it to the backbone
eventually.
   
Local
-----
   We have a couple of local conferences: BREM-AIRE is for everyone.
CHAFF is for Sysops only. This is where we keep in touch with each
other. We could start additional echoes on any topic we wanted. This
is a local Net decision. It might be a nice way to "test the waters"
for an echo concept in preparation for launching it regionally or
nationwide.
   It's easy to get carried away with echo ideas, but the bottom line
of these ideas is participation. That's the ultimate test. There are
quite a few "local" echoes around the county, mostly outside of
FidoNet. They get very little participation. I try to keep tabs on
some of them because I keep the BBS list for the county. I use an
offline mail reader for this, and week after week after week there are
zero new messages. Just having a slot for messages doesn't mean
anyone's going to fill it.
   Probably the best way to start an "echo" is to start a local
conference on your own BBS. If participation builds at that level,
talk about the possibility of carrying the conference with other
FidoNet Sysops locally. If a few of them take it on, you can begin
promoting it outside the local net to the region.
