Text 4040, 153 rader
Skriven 2004-12-22 05:54:10 av Gordon Lewicky (1:153/307)
     Kommentar till en text av SHANNON TALLEY
Ärende: Re: Z1B <> EP1
======================
 Quoting SHANNON TALLEY to MARK LEWIS 
 Subj. Re: Z1B <> EP1, dated 19-Dec-2004 16:42 

Hi Shannon,

 > BACKBONE.NA     24528 19-Dec-2004   NAB's list of echos carried
 > BACKBONE.WW     21384 31-Oct-2004   WWB's list of echos carried
 > BACKBONE.Z1B    15870 16-Nov-2003   Z1B's list of echos carries
 > BACKSTAT.NA      4894 19-Dec-2004   NAB's status list
 > BACKSTAT.WW      5976 18-Dec-2004   WWB's status list
 > BACKSTAT.Z1B     8876 16-Nov-2003   Z1B's status list

 ST> Yep, that's them... :)

 ST> I'm more than familiar with all of these.  The backstat.na needs
 ST> updated very very badly.  I think I mentioned that very issue in my
 ST> "very first post" to this thread.

I dunno Shannon, but I think your mind is fixated for some reason
on the word "backstat" while you are viewing in your mind the
"backbone" list.

I think this is where all the confusion is originating from.

The "backstat" is a list of echos that have been added or dropped
from the "backbone" in the past week.

Here's most of the  "BACKSTAT.NA" explaining what it is. A direct
cut and paste.

********** paste of BACKSTAT.NA *********************

                North American Backbone - Status and Changes
               ==============================================

                             BACKSTAT.NA

                            Dec 19, 2004


BACKSTAT.NA is a status report prepared by the North American Backbone
Robot. It is distributed in the BACKBONE file echo and posted in the
Z1_BACKBONE echo.  It summarizes BACKBONE.NA additions, deletions and
requests, as well as North American Backbone contacts.  The cutoff for
changes is midnight Friday night, and the update will be published the
following Sunday.

Further information about the North American Backbone's distribution
system can be found in the BOFAQ (North American Backbone Frequently
Asked Questions) file which is updated as required. Additional sources
of information are:

- BACKBONE.NA:  The primary listing of echomail areas on the NAB.
- Z1_BACKBONE:  Echomail area for contact with the NAB ZHubs.
- ELISTxxx.ZIP: EchoList of all echomail areas, produced by 1:1/21.


 ====================================================
  1.  Added to BACKBONE.NA
 ====================================================

 ====================================================
  2.  Dropped from BACKBONE.NA
 ====================================================

 ====================================================
  3.  Who's Who in The North American Backbone
 ====================================================

  NAB Robot                            1:1/20

  Zone Hubs:
    Western Star   Brenda Donovan      1:10/3       brenda@fidonet.ca
    NorthWest Star Bob Seaborn         1:140/1      bob@fidonet.ca
      *            Bob Juge            1:106/2000   bob@juge.com

*********** End paste *******

There is a bit more in the file, but it's just the regional
connection schemes. The 2 main points of interest to the average
sysop are items 1 & 2, what was added to and dropped from
the file "backbone.na", which is the list I'm positive you are
thinking of when you write "backstat"

The "backstat.na" file has always been this, for as long as I've
known about it, over 10 years.

Here is just the start of the "BACKBONE.NA" file, which, as I say,
I'm sure is the file you are thinking about.

10TH_AMD            10th Amendment Echo
12_STEPS            RECOVERY FOR "ALL" 12 STEPPERS
4DOS                4DOS Support Echo
80XXX               Assembly language programming (Intel CPUs mainly)
ABLED               disABLED Users Information Exchange.
ABORTION            Abortion Discussion
ADEPT_SYSOP         AdeptXBBS Sysop-Only Help and Discussion Group
ADSL                ADSL Modem Technology Support Conference
ADS_ANNOUNCE        ADS File Announcements
AIDS/ARC            AIDS & ARC
ALABAMA             GENERAL CHAT FOR ALABAMA
ALASKA_CHAT         Alaska Off Topic Chatter
ALL-POLITICS        Politics Unlimited
ALLFIX_FILE         Allfix File Announce Conference

This is the list of available echos distributed under the
auspices of "Backbone North America, (backbone.na) which uses the
Elist as a reference source.

Granted, there are many echos in this list which have 0 traffic,
and some more often then not, just have mod rule postings each
month. For as long as I've known about this file, 10+ years also,
it was never purported to be a list of "active echos", but rather
a list of echos which "exist", meaning that if somebody posted a
message into any one of them, that message would get distributed.

As far as I know, with the backbone.na, dropping of echos has
always been the last moderator's responsibility and not the
responsibility of the people who operate the backbone.na.

You could argue why not, and this argument has been argued and
some bones will or have dropped echos with 0 traffic, sometimes
even if only over a small time frame of say 3 months. I've seen
many a technical echo in backbone.na sit empty for almost a year
and then all of a sudden one person will ask a question and
traffic will flow for over a month in that echo just because of
that one question. It'll then go dormant until the next question
arises.

The people of the backbone.na have always stated that they do not
manage the list, nor wish to. Their job is to distribute the list
and the messages. The only way an echo gets dropped from the list
if a moderator hasn't requested the drop and has vanished, and
nobody re-lists that echo if it's Elist lapses, is if the Elist
keeper decides to fill out the drop request once he's sure the
echo is truly dead, no traffic, no moderator, no posters and
nobody could care less about it.

Is this right or wrong? Entire bones have gone by the wayside
because of arguing this point.

So anywho, hopefully I have convinced you that when you say the
"backstat" file, you are saying it in error, you really should be
saying the "backbone" file. :)

Cheers...
Gordon Lewicky (Pdk)

email glewicky@telus.net   www.milkyway-bbs.ca


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