What is the difference between Fido and RIME?
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   RelayNet International Mail Exchange (RIME) is another large
network very much like FidoNet in the end result to BBS systems. It
uses much different technology to get the same job done, and its
structure is much different. Therefore it might do us well to compare
the two systems to highlight the differences so you better understand
what FidoNet is about.
   As we do this, please bear in mind that the intent of this document
is not to claim that one network is better than another. RIME is every
bit as "good" as FidoNet. FidoNet is every bit as "good" as RIME. To
those who wish to play the "My network is better than yours" routine,
have at it on the playground. That's juvenile behavior at best. It has
no place here.
   
Technical Differences
---------------------
   As you can tell from the above, most FidoNet Sysops put up a 24-
hour "mailer" program ahead of the BBS. This allows you to receive
mail calls any time of day. Your Hub can call any time to send you
mail. You can call out any time to send mail. Because of the nature of
mailers, if they don't get through on the first call, they keep trying
until they do.
   RIME does not use mailer software. Instead, RIME uses a special
program called "PostLink" which works very similar to an offline mail
reader. If you've ever used MegaMail, PostLink will be familiar. Kip
Compton wrote both programs. The local Sysop writes a batch file to
hook to his hub, sign onto the BBS, enter a special door, and perform
mail transfers through the door. In most cases there are time slots
assigned when a given BBS can hook to a hub, or when a hub can hook to
a regional hub. Each local RIME board must use PostLink (or the
earlier PC Relay), and each board must also pay for it. Hooking to one
hub doesn't mean you can hook to another hub or even another RIME
board, ever. Batch files tend to be unique to each board.
   You can see that the basic difference here is one of time. RIME
boards either have a dedicated line or a time-slot on a caller line
where and when these mail events take place. This means no callers can
be on the board (or the line) when a mail event is scheduled. Fido
boards are a little more lenient in this regard because mail events
can take place any old time, in between callers.
   Also, RIME boards can only connect to designated other boards. Fido
Boards can connect to each other, no matter what, via the mailers.
   Is one way better than the other? Doesn't matter to talk that way.
RIME resembles the way Fido used to schedule events a long time ago.
Both methods get the job done.
   I think it is fair to say that RIME is easier to run than FidoNet.
There is only one way to do things. There are fewer parts. PostLink as
a mailer does everything a mailer, tosser, scanner, and router would
do in FidoNet. It's very fancy with pull-down menus. It is usually
(though not exclusively) used with commercial software where you type
"SETUP" and Enter to come up with a working board. RIME is an
automatic transmission.
   FidoNet is a manual transmission. You have to learn how to use a
clutch. There are more pieces to put together. You are not going to
get away with not knowing how your system operates to make it work.
There are no Install programs to make it easy for you. But when you
get done, you will have accomplished something.
   
Administrative Differences
--------------------------
   Fido has a very broad-based hierarchy. No one "owns" the system. In
fact, "FidoNet" is a collective noun which does not refer to a legal
organization. Local Networks band together for a common purpose to
distribute EchoMail and files. Some are incorporated; some aren't.
Lots of things are possible. In Fido, moderators of conferences
absolutely own them. They can pretty much do what they want. The
Policy document for Fido is fairly small, all things considered.
   With FidoNet anyone can be a member if they have the technical
competence to put up a board. Unless they become "excessively
annoying," they can stay a member. No one can tell you you can't. The
latest Nodelist from FidoNet (October, 1992) shows about 19,000 nodes.
   RIME is a little different. It has a "top down" hierarchy, a
headquarters board (Running Board A) and someone who runs the show
(Bonnie Anthony is CEO as of this writing.) It is similar to a typical
corporate hierarchy in the way it operates. You must use the PostLink
software (or PC Relay) to do mail transfers. You must pay for this
program, and there is a yearly (though nominal) fee to be a part of
the network.
   With RIME you petition to join the network, and you do so as a
probationary member until the hierarchy decides to vote you into
permanent status. The latest BBS list I have from RIME (April, 1992)
shows about 1,000 nodes, but it is growing rapidly.
   RIME moderators still rule the conferences, but they don't have as
much absolute authority as Fido moderators. There are levels of appeal
for people who feel they have been mis-treated within a conference.
The system can still control what kind of messages get posted on the
network and where. In terms of a quotient of "nasty messages from the
boss," both FidoNet and RIME have them, in probably equal amounts. The
rules within RIME conferences are more uniform, mostly because they
are controlled from the top. Uniform rules make it easier, of course,
for a user to know what is likely to be allowed.
   The way conferences are started is also quite different. With RIME
an idea for a conference must past muster with the Conference
Coordinator. You are issued a prospecting number which you MUST USE
when prospecting for boards which may wish to carry your conference.
You are allowed to prospect only in five other RIME conferences, and
you must solicit support in a particular manner. This is the way you
get other boards to commit to carrying a conference, and if this is
done, you are allowed to start the conference on what amounts to the
RIME backbone, even though they don't call it that.
   With FidoNet, anyone can start a conference for any reason. You can
promote it any way you want to. If you've done the bureaucratic work
of getting it listed, and easy process, you need convince only two
Regional Coordinators to get it placed on the backbone. Even if you
don't succeed in reaching this status, you can promote the conference
locally or regionally. There is a lot more freedom to promote within
FidoNet. No one is going to tell you you didn't post your prospecting
number when asking for support.
   Fido has roots in anarchism. That probably doesn't mean what you
think it does. We tend to define "anarchy" as disarray, but what it
really means is "without order." Translated to the vernacular,
anarchism means that no one gets to tell you what to do, period.
Government is unnecessary because it is intrusive and authoritarian.
The founder of FidoNet doesn't have a job.
   RIME looks like corporate America. It is much more tightly
organized in the way it feels to operate, and in the structure of the
organization. There is a Steering Committee which rules the network
like a Board of Trustees does to a large corporation. The CEO of RIME
is a medical doctor.
   So, what do we have? Actually a broad spectrum of boards with
varied interests. If you were to place one type of board against
another on a scale, FidoNet would be left of center; RIME would be
right of center. Fido boards tend to be more individualistic and
resentful of authority. RIME boards tend to be more subscription-
oriented and commercial. These aren't hard and fast rules; you may
find either type of board at either extreme. It's just that if you
drew two curves to measure these tendencies, this is what you would
find as a statistical average.
   Once again, which is better? The one you feel most comfortable
with. But just because you personally feel more comfortable with one,
does not mean the other is bad. To believe otherwise is terribly
ethnocentric.
   
Functional Differences
----------------------
   Some of these attitudinal differences show themselves in what
services are offered by either network. Fido is a loose association of
Sysops running boards that usually are subscription-free, usually for
the benefit of the Sysop alone, and incidentally to users.
   This can be seen especially in the area of Host-routed NetMail.
RIME does it; Fido would prefer not to. That is, if you send a NetMail
message in Fido, you are expected to call direct unless other
arrangements have been made. On RIME, all mail is host-routed by
definition, and travels along with the echo conferences and file
requests.
   The tradeoff here is probably one of time, insofar as that is
important. FidoNet Netmail arrives instantly. RIME mail takes the
host-route and gets there eventually. If you call direct, Fido boards
will pay the long distance. With RIME, costs are absorbed because the
EchoMail transfers are such a huge percentage of the transfer.
   Now, having said that, the fact is that Fido boards are
increasingly taking advantage of host-routing techniques, so I would
expect this difference to fade over time.
   
Board differences
-----------------
   RIME boards tend to be PCBoard or Gap systems, and, as far as I
know, they all are MS-DOS machines. They both are commercial products.
PCBoard, in particular, can be used in multi-line setups fairly
easily. As I understand it, the RIME technical methods were developed
in conjunction with PCBoard.
   That doesn't make it a PCBoard network. Use of the "UTI"
(Universal Text Interface) means that RIME messages can be imported
into and exported from lots of different board types, including many
which were designed more with FidoNet in mind.
   FidoNet boards tend to use shareware software. Maximus, QuickBBS,
Remote Access, Opus--these are some of the names usually associated
with FidoNet. On the whole, they have roots in the hacker community
rather than in the commercial software industry. Yet as long as the
tosser/scanner combination exists, any board can run FidoNet
technology messages as well. PCBoard can be used with FidoNet.  So can
Wildcat! and tbbs (The Bread Board System), both commercial BBS
software packages.
   So, you see, either kind of board can run either kind of network.
They just TEND to run one or another because of historical reasons and
easy availability of interface software.
   
