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Ärende: FidoNews 27:40 [02/05]: General Articles
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                        GENERAL ARTICLES
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                  Salute to a longtime sysop
             Richard Webb, 1:116/901

Fidonet, as we all know, is about connecting people.  Although we
forget that sometimes in our discussions of connection schemes for
systems and other technical standards it's all meaningless if we don't
actually connect people.  IN fact, one of the biggest reasons we have
heard since the internet became ubiquitous for taking down a fidonet
board was "nobody calls anymore.  They don't use the echoes, so I'll
move on to other activities."

This, then is an article about some of those people that FIdonet
connects together.  These people aren't listed in your nodelist, but,
for many echomail conferences on the North American backbone they are
the lifeblood of the conference.     IN any echo which isn't related
to operating a bbs directly, whether it be political chatter,
nostalgia, automotive topics, if it's of interest to folks other than
sysops you'll sooner or later see the following text in the origin
line.

 + Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com
(1:123/140)


This is also an article about someone whose name you will see in the
fidonet nodelist.  I have never noted his name in any other official
or quasi official FIdonet document, but he appears in your nodelist,
week after week, and keeps those users connected to the rest of us in
the Fido world.

Although Ed isn't one of the pioneers such as Tom Jennings, Ben Baker
and others he operates one of the longest running systems available
for bbs users in fidonet.  When internet connectivity became the norm
for transferring fidonet mail between systems, and telnet the most
popular form of access for bbs users Ed made his system available to
them via the internet.  As others threw the big switch and users
looked for a new BBS home Doc's beckoned with reliable offline reader
facilities and the entire NOrth American Backbone available to them.

Although I don't recall seeing Doc's users in echoes I frequented when
I too operated a busy bbs system in the early 90's I know that he's
been operational since 1991 as he states in his origin line. He's seen
many come and go over the years, and remained faithful and available
to his users.  In fact, some time next year Ed's BBS will be
celebrating 20 years of activity.

IN North America the most popular portals to Fidonet for those not
interested in becoming a sysop themselves was the bbs with the qwk or
other offline reader door.  Bulletin board systems such as Doc's
filled the connectivity void for many when their local home town dial
up FIdo board went dark.

As is true for many Fidonet bulletin boards, Doc's is, in and of
itself, a destination online.  Just like the corner cafe or pub DOc's
is a place to go to interact with others, to talk about politics, or
the weather, or your favorite programming language, or ..

I'm sure you get the idea.  COmmunities grow up around such places as
local pubs, restaurants, parks and other such venues.  For some who
cannot otherwise leave their homes to visit the local watering hole
places like Doc's are welcoming and offer company, advice from friends
and much more.  Before there was SKype, and a broadband connection to
most homes with instant messages and cheap long distance places such
as Doc's offered a degree of connectivity to the otherwise shut in not
available unless he or she wished to put forth the effort to become a
radio amateur.

Doc's is not just a community of users, but a gateway to numerous
communities, i.e. echomail conferences.  Doc's has kept folks
connected to those communities they voluntarily joined for nearly
twenty years.  THough he hears it from those regular users of his
system, I as another sysop would like to say a word of thanks to him
for keeping those users connected, and participating.  So Ed, consider
that though to many your system is known, if at all as just another
line in their nodelist, some of us appreciate what you've done for
those folks you serve.  THanks for helping keep some of our echoes
alive by offering that portal to our little communities we've created
in cyberspace.


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