FidoNet

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The classic FidoNet logo as ASCII art

The FidoNet is a so-called mailbox network that spread over the whole world in the 1980s and 1990s , but was then very heavily supplanted by the Internet . Today there are still several thousand systems actively participating in FidoNet worldwide.

Technology and organization

Number of Fido nodes since 1984

FidoNet comes from a time when, at least in the private sector, electronic data transmission between two computers was only possible by directly dialing the target system via a telephone modem. The Internet did not exist in its current form, fast data connections via the Datex-P network of the then still state-owned Deutsche Bundespost were reserved for companies due to the very high costs.

Since long-distance and international calls in particular were very expensive, a great deal of creative energy was devoted to achieving fast and effective distribution of emails and files to all connected systems with as few connections as possible and as short as possible at times of day with low charges. In its heyday around 1990, FidoNet was not the only organized network of privately operated mailboxes, but it was by far the most popular worldwide.

The connected systems use their own protocol and special software in terms of both data format and data transmission . The protocols enable the sending of individual ( netmails ) and public ( echo mail ) messages. Netmails are comparable to e-mails to a limited extent , echomails in the individual echoes with the Usenet concept .

The data is transmitted asynchronously ( store and forward ). The network is structured in a kind of tree structure. Each system forwards the messages to the next higher system in the hierarchy. Only the direct transmission of Netmails from the sender system via direct connection to the target system, so-called crash mail , is not based on the hierarchy. (Sometimes the forwarding of Netmails is handled separately from the Echo Mail in order to achieve faster runtimes of Netmails without significantly higher costs, but this is now the exception).

In Europe, after the opening of the Iron Curtain, the number of systems connected to the Fido network rose sharply. Nodes from the former Eastern Bloc - especially from Russia - operated the majority of the systems in Zone 2 from the beginning of the 1990s. At the beginning of 2006, the regions of Russia and Ukraine provided most of the nodes in FidoNet. More than 80% of the Zone 2 nodes can be found in the Eastern European FidoNet regions. Region 24 - Germany - is the largest region in Western Europe with over 8% of the nodes .

In terms of the amount of data transported, the real boom of FidoNet began with the introduction of ISDN in Europe. Significantly more message volumes could be transported at the same cost. This was partly due to the higher speed of 64,000  bit / s , while modems were between 2,400 and 19,200 bit / s. In addition, the establishment of a connection with ISDN only takes a second, while with analog modems it can take up to 20 seconds, during which the connection has to be paid for.

Due to the higher transfer rate, file echoes came into fashion in order to automatically distribute freeware , shareware and text files over the tree structure of the network. File echoes use the same technology that was used to distribute the node lists. Some file echoes are thematically delimited, for example games, texts or operating systems. Any participant in the file echo can feed in (so-called hatches ).

The public contributions are published in echoes , which in their function are very similar to the Usenet newsgroups . Almost all echoes have a moderator who ensures that the content of the posts fits the topic of the echo and that the general rules of fidos are adhered to. The moderator is usually elected by the Echo participants on a rotating basis. In the event of multiple rule violations, a point or node via which the rule violations entered the Fido network can be excluded from receiving the echo and even from the entire Fidonet. Once a public article has been sent, it cannot be withdrawn (as can be attempted in Usenet with a “ cancel message ”).

In contrast to Usenet, communication in FidoNet is more private : While many newsgroups in Usenet are flooded with spam and some users write under a pseudonym contrary to netiquette , FidoNet is usually spam-free and offers one of many due to the general observation of the rules of conduct as a pleasant atmosphere. In addition, when registering for FidoNet, you need to contact the operator ( SysOp ) of a mailbox.

This technique has been used by many private and commercial organizations to enable decentralized communication. For example, many oil rig operators have used this system because it was a cost-effective option.

The speed was also amazing for the conditions at the time. Although the Fidonet was a system created by private individuals, to which everyone contributed their small part, a Netmail from Germany to the USA rarely needed longer than 2 days, so-called Crashmail could even be guaranteed daily delivery times (National Mail Hour (NMH) / Zone Mail Hour (ZMH)) Netmail can be delivered within a maximum of one day.

In order to guarantee a demarcation between Fidonet and other Fidonet-based systems, numbers were used for geographical zones that FidoNet itself does not use (so-called Othernets ). A well-known example in Germany was Gernet (Zone 21) initiated by the Heinz Heise publishing house .

Geographical breakdown

The network is divided into six geographical zones:

Regional organization

Within the zones there are regions and networks that are simply designated by numbers. Each network is supplied with messages from at least one host and possibly several hubs .

The so-called nodes are connected to the hub . These are usually smaller mailbox systems that supply a manageable number of points , which are the last link in this chain, with messages. Points are not considered members of the FidoNet, but are pure users. In contrast to the nodes , points have no rights in the democratic structure.

According to this technical structure, a worldwide unique FidoNet address is structured according to the following scheme:

Zone: Net / Node.Point ( e.g. 2: 270 / 1200.1 )

In addition, there are so-called independent nodes , which in most cases act as gateways . The Fidogate software from Martin Junius serves as the standard for a gateway to the Usenet . For many years, the accessibility of the user Max Mustermann of the above. Mailbox-Systems via the address Max_Mustermann@p1.f1200.n270.z2.fidonet.org . A side effect of transporting Fido echo mails to Usenet and vice versa is that many mails from former Fidonet points and nodes can now be found in Google's Usenet archive.

This network is supported exclusively by private individuals, commerce is prohibited in FidoNet. When Heise-Verlag was not allowed to operate its areas within the framework of FidoNet, it founded the Gernet. However, this has not always been the case; for a time there were company-funded nodes that distributed support echoes for their products in particular.

In order to have an overview of all connected systems, but also to guarantee a correct routing of the messages, the node list is created in which all nodes of the FidoNet are listed. The list is updated every Friday and a list of the changes to the last list is sent, the so-called node diff , which can be processed automatically by the connected systems. The node list contains the information about the node number information relating to the operator of the nodes , the geographical location, the telephone or IP number, the possible transfer protocols as well as the time frame in which the system is achievable. On the basis of this information, nodes and points can decide at which point the direct netmails , the crash mails , can be delivered.

history

FidoNet was founded in 1984 by Tom Jennings in the USA. It was named after his dog "Fido". Membership numbers have been falling since the late 1990s, mainly because full Internet access has now become standard. At its best, the nodelist contained over 30,000 entries worldwide.

Fido Putsch in 1993 within the network 2:24 (Germany)

In terms of its structure, Fido should actually be organized regionally and hierarchically. This means that the higher-level server , the so-called uplink , is located in the immediate vicinity of your own system (node) (ideally within the scope of the local tariff of the telephone company).

Over the years, however, various hubs and uplinks began charging their subsystems primarily to cover their own costs. This caused competition within the network, which led to the network becoming increasingly fragmented and the nodes looking for uplinks outside their area.

A movement developed within the network that wanted to force the nodes back into a regionally oriented structure. After many months of dispute, especially among the network coordinators (NCs), a not inconsiderable part of the network came together to strive for a "violent" takeover by pulling the node list keepers on their side or introducing their own node lists. The node list is therefore the linchpin of the network, as it contains the addresses of the connected systems on the one hand and the routing is based on it on the other.

On July 2, 1993, part of the network split off with Nodelist 176 and became the new official FidoNet (Fido-Lite). The nodes that did not move were managed within the Fido-Classic, which continued its own node list logic. Since then, virtually all systems within the network have had to keep a Fido-Lite and a Fido-Classic nodelist.

On July 12, 1993, Juergen Hermann wrote in the global Fido News: 

+++ news flash +++ news flash +++ news flash +++ news flash
FidoNet lost 500 nodes - first major disruption of so-far constant
growth - more losses to come - keep your lines open for the next HUGE
nodediff - a great step towards enforcing THE POLICY
+++ news flash +++ news flash +++ news flash +++ news flash

The actual separation of FidoNet into two networks that used the same zone and region for addressing posed more or less insoluble technical problems for most mailboxes. To ensure the echo and netmail supply between the two networks, some operators took on great burdens. The connections were initially via American and later Dutch mailboxes, which was an enormous financial burden given the telephone costs at the time.

State 2006

The German echoes that can be read publicly (as a point) are mostly abandoned, some only exist on the area list of the selected (“polled”) mailbox. The number of still active (German) users has now dropped to a manageable number and is made up of around 50% via Fido-over-IP (querying the mailbox via the Internet) and 50% from users who dial directly (without the Internet) together. Most mailboxes get their messages nowadays via a national connection via the Internet in order to enable faster forwarding of messages (it is polled at very short intervals) and operation at very low costs (by using a flat rate ). However, many mailboxes have now been switched off, and so it is difficult to find access to FidoNet at all. The well-known software required for participation is in part no longer developed and usually only runs incorrectly on newer operating systems . Current CrossPoint derivatives, which are still maintained and actively developed due to their multi-network capability and compatibility with different networks, are an exception . The well-known WinPoint is also still maintained by the author and new versions are regularly published. The Fido-Deluxe package from Michael Haase, which is based on the CDP standard and offers an intelligent installation routine and a modern front-end, offers a possibility of becoming a point with all rights and obligations within minutes.

At the end of the 1990s, direct access to the Internet for private users became more and more affordable, as a result of which FidoNet was increasingly displaced 20 years after it was founded. Nowadays, hardly anyone knows what to do with the term FidoNet - communication takes place in the web forums that are much more accessible for most users (since they can be accessed only with a web browser without additional software ) , which, however, unlike FidoNet or Usenet, for example, have no content networking can offer each other.

In January 2006 , 7725 nodes are still listed. The following table shows their distribution as well as the development of the numbers since 1995:

Number of nodes
Zone Surname 1/1995 4/1996 1/1998 1/2000 1/2002 1/2004 1/2006 2020
1 North America 18242 14079 6199 2003 1268 940 687
2 Europe 13378 16512 14598 11873 11067 8768 6906
3 Oceania 1183 1103 580 197 122 75 60
4th Latin America 615 573 435 207 49 35 29
5 Africa 126 117 91 53 87 87 14th
6th Asia 1317 1228 1091 916 112 87 29
total 34866 33612 22934 15249 12655 9992 7725 4648

On January 30th, 2011, many FidoNet nodes were reactivated to avoid the temporary shutdown of the network during the 2011 revolution in Egypt .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nodelist history search. Retrieved January 10, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Emuconsoleexploitnews.blogspot.com

Web links