Questions about the Fidonet Nodelist
reddit / bbs

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SqualorTrawler · 2022-03-04 07:48

I am looking at the Fidonet nodelist and trying to write a script
which pretty-prints it somehow to get a better look at the network.

Please correct any misperceptions in these questions:

There are lines which start with Zone, and those make sense, I think.
But then they are followed by a bunch of other hosts.  Consider this
for zone 1:

    Zone,1,North_America_(299),Toronto,Nick_Andre,1-647-847-
2083,9600,CM,XX,INA:bbs.darkrealms.ca,IBN,PING,TRACE
    ,19,FTSC_Administrator,Pawcatuck_CT,Andrew_Leary,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,XX,INA:phoenix.bnbbbs.net,IBN:24555,IFC,ITN:60177,PING,TRACE
    ,100,Rhenium,Crestview_FL,Ozz_Nixon,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,XX,MN,INA:doug.modernpascal.com,IBN,ITN:60177
    ,105,Renegade_BBS_Support,New_Derry_PA,T.J._McMillen,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,IBN:ttb.rgbbs.info

**Question 1:** What do all of these mean, right under the Zone?  I
normally expect things to be under regions, then hosts.  But these are
right under the main zone.

**Question 2:** What is a region, besides an indication of
geography?**  What is a region in its relevance to network routing?  I
know there are regional coordinators, but am unsure what this means to
the network.  I have a sense this had to do with long distance calling
when that was relevant, but what does it mean now?

    Region,10,Calif-Nevada,Aptos_CA,Kurt_Weiske,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,XX,INA:realitycheckbbs.org,IBN
    ,1,Region_10_Echomail_Coordinator_Calif_Nevada,Aptos_CA,Kurt_Weisk
e,-Unpublished-,300,CM,XX,INA:realitycheckbbs.org,IBN

**Question 3:** What is the difference between a HOST and a HUB?  Do
hubs ever represent their own nets (net number), or are they always
part of another network identified by HOST?

**Question 4:** Are all lines marked as Pvt points, and are they
points feeding off the system on the previous line?  For example:

    Host,218,CalNev_IPNet,Aptos_CA,Kurt_Weiske,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,XX,INA:realitycheckbbs.org,IBN
    ,1,Net_218_NEC,Aptos_CA,Kurt_Weiske,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,XX,INA:realitycheckbbs.org,IBN,IFC
    Pvt,109,Inland_Utopia,Ontario_CA,Matt_Munson,-Unpublished-
,300,CM,MO,IBN

What's the deal with the Pvt,109 line?  Or is there some other way
points are identified?

Thanks.

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crashj · 2022-03-04 14:53

A majority of these questions are explained here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet#Technical_structure

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denzuko · 2022-03-06 11:11

Two things, Read the fine Policy file. Yes we live in a world where
google dorking answers is common but just digging up and reading the
Fidonet Policy file is the basis for learning fidonet and its culture.
Next, just like html has w3c, all the internet has IETF RFCs. Fidonet
has the Fidonet Technical Standards Committee whom published the
nodelist format standard as [http://ftsc.org/docs/fts-
5000.005](http://ftsc.org/docs/fts-5000.005).

I'm sure one has already read the Policy file so the next steps is
grok FTS-5000 and unlike RFCs; FTSs are very detailed in plain
language to what the standard is and why its there.

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9600bps · 2022-04-15 13:25

Any luck? This sounds like a great project and I'm happy to help out
with follow-up questions. Some of the confusion is because the early
network grew differently in different places so the terminology can be
a bit fuzzy over time.