Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-1 This is once again a totally new manual for Fido and FidoNet. It replaces all older documentation; the information contained here overrides any previous documentation. Fourth Edition, August 1985 Dial Up or Fidonet Mail Mailing Address Tom Jennings Fido Software Fido's Board Tom Jennings (415)-864-1418 2269 Market St. #118 300/1200/2400 baud San Francisco CA 94114 FidoNet Address: Fido's_Board Net 125 Node 1 Usenet Address: ihnp4!encore!vaxine!spark!125!1!tom_jennings (Note: The usenet gateway, run by Bob Hartman (FidoNode 101/101) is very new, and as of Aug 85, runs usenet to Fido only; please contact Bob Hartman before using the Unix/Fido gateway.) _ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ Fido (tm) is a trademark of Tom Jennings FidoNet (tm) is a trademark of Tom Jennings Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-2 Introduction This manual is in four parts; you are reading INTRO. Next is OPERATE, the manual on operating Fido and FidoNet, FIDONET, how FidoNet works and what it does, and then INSTALL, how to install Fido. Each section is totally standalone, and has it's own table of contents and index. The INTRO section contains: What Fido and FidoNet Are ________________ Page 3 Credits __________________________________ Page 4 Commercial Use of Fido ___________________ Page 5 The Public Domain FidoNet Network ________ Page 6 Obtaining Fido ___________________________ Page 7 Introduction to Fido's Complete Manual ___ Page 8 Supported Computers and Modems At the time of this writing, Fido supports the following hardware and software. Please contact Fido Software for the most current list of supported hardware; new machines are added as time goes on. IBM PC, XT, AT, Junior DEC Rainbow, 100, 100+, 100B Otrona Attache 8:16 Sanyo 555 Victor 9000 D.C. Hayes SmartModem 300, 1200, 2400 and clones EXCEPT Anchor Automation Racal Vadic VA212 DEC DF03 Novation SmartCat series Fido requires 256K of memory, and MSDOS 2.00 or higher, and at least two floppies. It is recommended that you use a hard disk. Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-3 What Fido and FidoNet Are Fido is a software system that contains a non realtime packet switched electronic mail system, plus a full featured bulletin board system to support it. Fido uses the hierarchical file structure of MSDOS version 2 and 3. The basic features are: Fido Bulletin Board System - Unlimited number of users - Absolute security - Multiple message and file areas - Consistent Email commands - Eight file transfer methods Users, commands, message and file areas all have seperate privelege levels; these can be intermixed to allow free access to all areas, limited access to some areas, or locking each user into a specific area. Fido uses pathname strings for accessing all disk files; this affords complete control of file uploads, downloads, work files and messages. FidoNet Packet Switched Electronic Mail FidoNet is a packet switch electronic mail system contained within Fido. It supports almost any network topology; amorphous, ring, star, or any mixture. Any node can act as host for one or more nodes, to any practical number of levels deep. Routing and hosting is controlled via a text file; there is a true English Language route processor available in the public domain. Routing is chosen manually; FidoNet executes it automatically, with error handling and error recovery, and a full log file of net activity. The public domain FidoNet is organized into Nets, Regions and Nodes. A node is an individual FidoNet system. A net is a group of FidoNets in a local calling area; a net provides many advantageous services. Regions are FidoNet nodes in a geographical area that cannot yet take advantage of packet routing within a local calling area. FidoNet supports up to 32767 regions and nets, each containing up to 32767 nodes. At this writing there are more than 400 nodes in more than 30 nets and regions in the continental US; others are in Indonesia, Sweden, England, The Netherlands, etc. Any FidoNet may access any other FidoNet in the world, usually overnight. Nets and regions are added constantly; please obtain a current NodeList file for the latest listings. The NodeList is published weekly. Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-4 Credits The following people have contributed greatly to the design of Fido and FidoNet. I know I have omitted many people from this list; apologies ahead of time. Thanks also to the many Fido sysops and callers that contributed ideas (and found the many bugs). Special thanks to John Madill, who thought out many of the nicer Fido features, and did much of my debugging for me. (And contributed from end to end; he finally got me to do PICKUP and POLL ... ) Fido and FidoNet Design Crew: John Madill, Baltimore, MD (Fido #2) Tony Clark, St. Louis, MO (Fido #4) Danny Feinsmith, NYC, NY (Fido #8) Jim Ryan, Danbury, CT (Fido #9) Ben Baker, St. Louis, MO (Fido #10) Vern Crawford, San Jose, CA (Fido #13) FidoNet Scheduling and Routing: The St. Louis DECUS Group: Ken Kaplan, Mike Mellinger, Jon Wichman (Fido's 16, 17, 22) And general thanks to all of the other Fido sysops for suggestions. Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-5 Commercial Use of Fido For all commercial uses, except as noted below, all that is required is to purchase a copy of Fido from Fido Software, address below. This provides you with a diskette, a printed manual, and unlimited updates (see Obtaining Fido). If you will have a "small" number of installations (under 5), make copies as necessary. You need not purchase a copy for each site (though Fido Software wouldn't mind if you did ...) If you are to have a large number of installations, please write Fido Software at the address below for special arrangements. Volunteer run, not for profit organizations (irregardless of any non-profit status) serving their community can use Fido freely; they can either purchase one copy to get the update capability, or download it for free and maintain it themselves. Obviously Fido Software relies on your honest evaluation of the installation. The above scheme is suggested because it is simple and non-obnoxious to both you and Fido Software. Please contact Fido Software if you have any questions. Purchasing a copy of Fido is considered by me to be authorization for commercial use. Please note that these are guidelines; it is not the policy of Fido Software to define rigid or unreasonable licensing policies, and in any case contracts of any kind are nearly impossible to enforce. It is up to you to determine what type of installation you have, and purchase copies or not as the case may be. Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-6 The Public Domain FidoNet Network There is a large public domain, public access electronic mail network comprised of independent Fido/FidoNet bulletin board systems in North America and Europe. The net is growing very quickly; in May 84 there were two nodes, Sept 84 fifty, March 85 there were 160, in Aug 85, 400. Each of the FidoNet nodes (FidoNodes) is a totally independent, generally privately owned bulletin board system using Fido. Late at night, they all run the FidoNet portion of the Fido system, and exchange messages and files. The messages and files transferred are ones entered by users of the particular FidoNode; besides entering the usualy BBS message type information (name, subject, etc) they select which FidoNode; unlike Usenet, the FidoNet software worries about such things as routing. FidoNet does it's electronic mail transfers using a packet system that supports addresses within the packets and the messages themselves, and a complex routing language that lets networks or any arbitrary complexity be generated for effecient use of the phone lines. FidoNet is getting more organized as time goes on; updating nodelists (central to FidoNet's organization) will be be totally automated very soon; the newsletter (FidoNews, published by Fido 107/375) is already published mechanically, and distributed further and further as time goes on. Getting a node number The structure, organization of FidoNet, and the software itself are all constantly changing; it is not possible for me to tell you exactly what to do to get a node number and join the net. What I can do is point you in the right direction to figure out what the process is at the moment. At the moment, FidoNet is organized into Networks and Regions; Networks are concentrated FidoNodes, such as in Los Angeles, New York, etc. Regions are geographical areas, such as the South West, New England, etc. You need to determine who is your network or region host; they provide you with a node number. After rummaging through this manual and getting your system up and running, contact Fido 100/51 (FidoNet Central) or Fido 125/1 (thats me) and read the bulletins; 100/51 keeps the list of networks and regions available. I hope this is not all obsolete by the time you read it; good luck! Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-7 Obtaining Fido The Fido/FidoNet software can be obtained by downloading it, for free, from Fido #1 or any other system, or directly from Fido Software. Purchasing Fido enables you to get unlimited updates for a small fee. The following are the only computers and modems supported at this time. Fido is MSDOS only and will not be ported to any other DOS. COMPUTERS SUPPORTED IBM PC, XT, Jr. and AT and HARDWARE clones DEC Rainbow 100 (MSDOS 2.05 and later) Otrona Attache 8:16 Sanyo 555 Victor 9000 MODEMS SUPPORTED DC Hayes Smartmodem 1200 and clones DC Hayes Smartmodem 2400 and clones US Robotics Courier 2400 Racal Vadic VA212 DEC DF03 Ventel MD-212 with WECO EPROM Updates Updates are provided to Fido purchasers; downloaders must obtain their own updates. You can receive an update at any time by returning your original diskette in a returnable diskette mailer plus $20.00. You will receive the latest distribution diskette, plus any errata sheets for the manual. New manuals are not included with updates, though errata sheets are. New manuals are released on major revision changes (9 to 10, 10 to 11, etc). The latest version is always available free for downloading from Fido #1. Fido is a public domain program, and direct support cannot be done without special arrangements. Ordering Send your order to the address inside the front cover, specifying what computer you want it for; if you do not specify, the IBM version will be shipped. Please do not order for machines not listed above. -- NEW PRICES: 1 SEPT 1985 -- Fido and FidoNet system, all versions : $100.00 CA orders add 6.5% sales tax : $ 6.50 Printed Manual only : $ 35.00 Software Update (plus orig. diskette) : $ 20.00 Fido's Complete Operating Manual Page INTRO-8 Introduction to Fido's Manual This manual is divided into three major sections. If you download this manual, you will have found it in three files; these sections do correspond to the logical layout of this manual. I apologize for the intimidating size. Each section is more or less self contained, with it's own index and table of contents. The bad part of this is that you have to refer to the right section to find something; luckily, Fido is partitioned well enough to allow this kind of manual. OPERATE FIDO-1-3.PRN This is the section you are reading now. It covers operating Fido; it assumes that you understand basically what Fido is about, and that you already have it installed. The Operating section is first, because it's assumed that once you install Fido you will refer to this section more that the Installation notes. FIDONET FIDO-2-3.PRN This covers the theory, installation and operation of the FidoNet packet switch electronic mail section of Fido. It tells you how to find out the process invloved in hooking up to the network in the U.S.; for Europe and Asia, you need to find the systems located in England, Sweden, or Jakarta; the sysops there can point you in the right direction. INSTALL FIDO-3-3.PRN This section covers installing the software on the hardware you plan to use. There are step by step instructions for setting up a minimal board, and hints on customizing it and making Fido do what you want.