🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1991Jun3.112925.18607@agora.rain.com> trifid@agora.rain.com 
(Roadster Racewerks) writes:

>As to the lack of administrators, I think there is a software revolt at hand.
>One of my favorite local BBSs is (maybe tonight!) going Fidonet. Fidonet allows
>use of regular (Very user friendly) BBS software to interface with the network.
>The software she uses (QuickBBS and D'Bridge) do her netmail calls automatically
>on a regular basis. All she attends to are power failures, system breakdowns,
>and system upgrades. She's online 24hrs a day, and some months puts in *no*
>involuntary time on the system. Her computer is a clone that she has slowly
>built from re-conditioned components, and although she is not a computer tech,
>she runs the system gratis, as a hobby. She isn't at all wealthy, but she enjoys
>the interaction, and helping others so much that it doesn't seem like a 
>sacrifice to her. She's going Fido because she *hates* unix, and has never quite
>gotten the hang of it (she has an account on this system she hardly uses except
>to read news). She is not a computer genius, just motivated. Her motivation may
>not be what business and university admins envision at all. She learned all her
>skills hands-on as events required, with the coaching of tech friends. Don't be
>afraid to look in unusual places for the people to do this. Give up preconceived
>notions. There must be librarians in many African cities. And doctors. These
>would have their own, built-in motives to want to connect. Who knows who else?
>As for the people in the countryside, well, our countryside isn't all connected
>up yet, but every BBS-fan who moves back to the farm dreams of opening a local
>system. Sometimes they even find users out there. That part will grow naturally,
>no matter where. Just get people online in the cities, city folk don't exist in
>a cultural vacuum....

I strongly agree with the thrust of your approach, that there are people
out there in developing countries who can be motivated to provide the
administration required. But that is only true WITH the "software
revolt" you mention as being "at hand" (by no means complete).

People with the motivation and attitudes and skills to be able to pickup
how to run a Fido BBS with a little help from their friends are much
more readily found in developed countries than in developing countries.
They are a PRODUCT of "development".

They still have to spend a LOT of time on their BBSes, which may not
even be noticed because it overlaps with time they spend as users, but
has a different significance when competing with other priorities for
a librarian or doctor in a developing country.

Running a Fido BBS is still a MAJOR undertaking, even though less so
than administering a unix system.

But the amount of skill and work required HAS been reduced, and CAN
be reduced much further, if we put our minds to it.

I don't believe anybody has really sat down and done a proper
software engineering requirements analysis on what would be
needed to make email and news a mere extension of wordprocessing.

It hasn't been necessary because email and news are mainly used in
either university/research or computer hobbyist environments where
people willing to learn how to edit complex configuration files
are readily available.

I believe it is necessary for take off in developing countries and
dramatically wider access in developed countries.

We should go systematically through what is REQUIRED for email and
news to be accessible to any developing country librarian or doctor
that has access to a wordprocessor and telephone. Then prepare
proper SPECIFICATIONS and then DESIGN and BUILD (in stages) a
system that meets those requirements. Neither FidoNet nor USENET
were designed to meet developing country or mass access requirements, 
but what they have accomplished can be made use of if the additional 
requirements are kept firmly in mind. (I believe the OSI X400 and X500 
specs for corporate email and SNMP/CMIP for network management will 
prove even more useful).

--
Opinions disclaimed (Authoritative answer from opinion server)
Header reply address wrong. Use cmf851@csc2.anu.edu.au