Your Responsibilities
=====================
   As a FidoNet Sysop, you have some, though they are hardly onerous.
Some are tied to policy, but most are simply "ethical," if you will,
and are not binding in any contractual or legal sense. The policy
responsibilities are simple: You must be up when you say you're going
to be up. You must be up during Zone Mail Hour. You must not be
excessively annoying to others, nor too easily annoyed by others.
That's about it. That's all.
   By the same token, you can't demand a lot of other Sysops either,
or your Network Coordinator, or the rest of FidoLand. You can expect
to have FidoNews made available to you. You can expect to have
Nodelists and Nodediff updates available to you. You can expect to get
your information changed in the Nodelist in a reasonably timely
fashion. You can expect to get FidoNet information from your Network
Coordinator. That's about it. That's all.
   Now, if you get into some sort of hassle, you have some appeal
rights. Check out Policy 4 for the procedure. Just remember that you
had better follow that Policy 4 procedure, or you won't get anywhere.
An illiterate and emotional harangue is not going to win you any
support. If you can't get your act together well enough to state your
case clearly, then you don't have one.
   Basically, you must give each level a chance to respond before you
go to the next level. If you have a hassle with a fellow Sysop,
writing to the Zone Coordinator won't get you anywhere. Write to the
Sysop instead. If you have a problem with the Net Coordinator, talk
about it with him first. Give him a reasonable time to respond and fix
the problem--or to tell you you're out of line and being unreasonable.
The responsibility, then, is to follow the channels set up for this
sort of thing.
   Personally, I believe two weeks is a reasonable response time for
something that is not a life-threatening emergency. I have a sign in
my office. It says: "A failure to plan ahead on your part does not
constitute an emergency on my part."
   Here's some things you don't have rights to. You don't have the
right to elect your NC. He is appointed by the RC. He also appoints
any assistant positions. You don't have the right to cause someone
else to spend money on your behalf. You don't have the right to tell
someone else how to run their board, what the contents or subject
matter are, etc. You don't have the right to have certain files made
available to you.
   Get the idea? This is not hard. If you don't want to be put upon,
you have little right to put upon others. That's all.
   
   Anything else that happens in FidoLand, anything else that you
want, is really a matter of cooperative effort between you and other
local Sysops to pull together. This includes EchoMail. EchoMail can be
expensive. No one should expect a free ride. Our Network is really
low-key compared to some of the others, but as we get bigger costs
will rise before they lower again with economies of scale.
   Here's an example. Right now your NC pulls in all the EchoMail for
the Network in addition to his duties as NC. That's a big job. Why is
he doing it? There is as yet no one else who has volunteered to take
part of the EchoMail load. We've also tripled in size in the last
year. When I first joined FidoNet 350 I think there were five other
boards. Now there are 19.
   We are just beginning to get files into the network. There are such
things as "File Backbones" just as there is an EchoMail Backbone. The
slang for file backbones is "File 'bones" and there are several. There
is a "Shareware Distribution Network (SDS)," a "Programmers
Distribution Network (PDN)", and several for such things as Windows or
Unix or whatever. Currently Adolph at 350/35 is pulling in SDSMAX,
some Amiga utilities, and a couple of 'bones on OS/2. His standing
offer is to simply split the cost by the number of Sysops taking
advantage of the deal. And believe me: This is a GOOD deal!
   This is an informal way to handle the problem. At some point, we
may want to provide a HUB for the entire Net that brought in selected
files and make that a part of the network distribution system
available to all. Many structures are possible, and it is up to the
Sysops of the Net to be creative and come up with whatever works, as
Adolph has done with the file 'bones he's bringing in now.
   There's more and more demand for EchoMail as well. It's not like
we're getting all 500 backbone conferences. But we can't get more with
just one machine which is not dedicated to the network. There's not
enough time in the day nor money in the coffers to do this.
   What I would like to see happen is that every Net 350 Sysop take on
some responsibility for the Net. That is, every one of us should do
something to help out. In some sense it doesn't even matter what. If
you have a specialty or some sort of expertise, maybe you could make
yourself available for that. Do you know all about viruses? Maybe we
could depend on you to get the latest McAfee files. Who knows? Do what
you are best suited to do. You are the best judge of that. Do what you
are interested in doing. That way you will stick around longer.
   
