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Ärende: FidoNews Vol. 18 No. 38 Articles:Sustainability, Part II
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                         Sustainability, Part II.

     By Richard Webb, 1:116/901

     Last time you'll recall I was discussing Fidonet's growth, or lack
     thereof, and what happens or could conceivably occur if the
     nodelist shrinks even further.  To continue on that theme this time
     of course I hope will be helpful.  To keep folks maintaining a
     system, and an entry in the nodelist, we need to keep them engaged
     in Fidonet.  How to do that is of course the question.

     A few months ago an article I penned was published which featured
     a z1 sysop who was celebrating 20 years of providing Fidonet
     services to the bbs community.  During the process of a couple of
     interviews with him via netmail the feeling came through quite
     strong that he continues in Fidonet because he derives great
     pleasure from those bbs users who log in and actually participate
     in the various discussion echoes.  Users who found their local bbs
     going dark could always log into his system via telnet, and plain
     old modem even.  His users appreciate it too.  They participate in
     some of the general interest echoes here in North America.

     For many sysops that's the attraction, they get a good feeling
     putting up a system people will actually use.  When the "callers"
     quit calling, they'll devote the energy, cpu used  and disk space
     to something else, and another entry leaves the nodelist.  Other
     sysops find additional ways to encourage folks to remain loyal
     users, favorite door games, etc.  But, for some of those they don't
     need Fidonet.  It's the message and file echoes that make Fidonet
     connectivity attractive.  If we offer their users something said
     users want they'll connect.  If we don't, or discontinue what their
     users want then they'll choose otherwise.

     What do you want 'em to use?  If message bases then there has to be
     interesting content in said message bases.  If it's a files
     repository available via ftp and the web then connect to everything
     that file distribution networks offer.  But then, you gotta promote
     it if you want 'em to come.  Remember last time I stated quite
     bluntly that nobody gives a tinker's dam about the protocol if
     there's nothing of interest once the bundle is transferred or
     there's nothing to do when they connect.

     Now contrast Fidonet and our echoes with usenet.  Usenet pundits
     also talk about a decline in users, but they seem to retain enough
     regular users.  Many of those users like the wide variety of
     methods for connecting with it.  Usenet also got a bit of help
     (though that one's a double edged blade) when google bought out the
     old Dejanews archives and made usenet part of "google groups."  Yet
     many long time denizens of usenet accuse google of being a bad
     usenet citizen thanks to the floods of spam.  When the google
     groups user complains about the spam we often tell them to find a
     real nntp host and drop google groups.

     Usenet has had its share of setbacks, some which could have been
     major.  Many North American internet service providers shut down
     their nntp servers.  But, third parties stepped into the gap with
     free or low cost nntp servers accessible to the public.  My fidonet
     feed pulls a couple of my favorite usenet groups for me, and for
     others that I look in on occasionally I use a very good nntp server
     in Europe with my dial-up ppp connection.  Its administrators work
     actively to control the spam and other junk posts, and most of the
     time it's quite reliable.

     What do they offer the end user that Fidonet doesn't?  Groups on a
     wide variety of topics that actually interest real people.
     Everything from automotive to zoology.  Contrast that with Fidonet.
     DO you actually think that a guy in Chicago cares if a node in
     germany announces that it got a nodediff?  Does he care about much
     of anything in a file announcement echo?  He's interested in what's
     carried where he usually connects, whether that be a node in
     Chicago, or one in Stockholm.

     Then what about all those echoes supporting the tools we use in
     fidonet?  Yes they're handy to have around, good places to go when
     one needs a little help with a problem he's having with the
     referenced tool.  But, to be honest, even though I took over mod
     duties for the artware echo along with another longtime Fido sysop
     I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing timed, netmgr, etc.
     It's there when folks need to ask questions, or find out where to
     get the products germane to the echo.

     But what of that average user?  He doesn't want to spend all his
     time on his telephone discussing the arcana of the telephone
     system!  Even if he happens to be a sysop he doesn't wish to spend
     all his time arguing the merits of one sysop tool over another.  HE
     might be interested in doing a better job refinishing that piece of
     antique furniture, or restoring that old classic ride he found
     under a tarp in a barn somewhere for cheap.  He might be interested
     in increasing his knowledge of how his house works so that he can
     do more of the repairs himself.  He wants to enhance his leisure
     time, get more from his hobbies; become more productive at work.
     Usenet continues to survive because it offers him what he wants.
     Fidonet fails to thrive because oftentimes the folks making the
     loudest noise are too busy rehashing old fights than actually
     promoting Fidonet.  That average guy whose hobby or profession
     isn't the computer could care less about the binkd echo, and
     wouldn't know allfix from the Horse nebula.  He wouldn't know
     makenl from mars.  He might have a quick look down the list of
     conferences you carry and if all he sees is a bunch of gobbledygook
     he'll probably never come back.  You're lucky to get him to
     understand Microsoft internet explorer and outlook.  He wouldn't
     know what a Blue Wave is, and if he wants the nasa picture of the
     day he might grab it from you and leave.  But, if he can get it
     elsewhere with his browser without having to log in, remember his
     password, etc. he'll do that.  If you don't offer him something
     that enhances his regular life he'll probably make a comment about
     how amazing it is that folks still offer bbs systems via telnet,
     but that's as far as he'll ever go with it.  Use your message
     bases?  He doesn't see anything in your message bases that he
     understands, so he won't bother.

     Now you find yourself asking if I'm just going to stand here
     throwing ascii darts or if I've got anything constructive to say.
     A legitimate question.  Next time, a bit of analysis what our
     message echoes do and don't offer that user we want, and some
     suggestions.





     FIDONEWS Vol 28 No 38              Page 4          September 19 2011




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