About Joining Fidonet

=====================



This system is the home of the current Net Coordinator for Fidonet

Net125.  Net125 is centered in San Francisco and also provides

service to nearby northern parts of the penninsula, Marin County,

Sonoma County, much of Napa County, Mendocino County and Humboldt

County.  Yes, it's a big one.  Two Hubs, one in Santa Rosa and one

in Humboldt County, help in the distribution of mail and files to

the more out-lying member nodes.



Fidonet membership is not to be taken lightly.  Every member has

certain responsibilities, set forth in Fidonet Policy 4.  There is

really only one rule -- that you run an FTS-0001 compliant mailer

during ZoneMailHour (ZMH) daily.  Net125 specifically also requires

that you maintain regular contact with either the Net Host (this

system) or one of the Hubs.  All Net125 members must also receive

the NET_125 echo, our primary means of communication amongst our-

selves.  All net members must also receive the weekly Nodediff and

FidoNews files.  Those members who are not local to San Francisco,

and in general those who do not run 24-hour mail systems, must

poll this system on a regular basis to pick up these files.



Fidonet is open to any and all comers who are able to meet the ZMH

technical requirement, but is not something you join on the spur of

the moment without understanding your responsibilities.  You will

really need to have at least a basic understanding of how Fidonet

and your FTS-0001 compliant software work.  The best way to gain

this knowledge is to both participate as a user on an existing Fido-

BBS, and to set up your own not-yet-linked-to-Fidonet BBS.  Once you

have a basic understanding of what Fidonet provides and how your

software does this, you are ready to proceed with joining as an

official member.



Don't let this scare you -- virtually nobody knows what's going on

when they first join.  There will be plenty of time for questions

and usually tons of help available to you later.  Waiting until you

have a little bit of understanding will simply ease the process for

both yourself and your Net Coordinator.  Remember that your NC is

just a hobbyist too, has plenty of work to do already, and often

has several other newcomers like yourself needing help at any given

time.





How To Join Fidonet

===================



Step 1:  Gain a basic understanding of Fidonet and your software.

         Download the POLICY4.ZIP document from File Area 23 of

         this system -- read this thoroughly.  Then read it again.

         Do the same with your software's documentation.  You will

         also need a current copy of the Fidonet Nodelist, also

         available in File Area 23.  These are both available via

         File REQuest (FREQ) mechanisms as well, under the names

         POLICY4 and NODELIST.



Step 2:  Set up your BBS.  Make sure it operates correctly, to the

         best of your knowledge.



Step 3:  Follow, to the letter, the procedure outlined in POLICY4

         for joining Fidonet.  The request MUST come in as a

         Netmail message.  This shows the NC that your system is

         indeed capable of exchanging mail -- the basic requirement

         for membership.  Do NOT request a node number in a local

         message on your NC's system, it will only delay the

         process, and may even be simply ignored.



Step 4:  Be patient.  It may take up to 2 weeks for your request to

         be fully processed and appear in the Nodelist.  Remember

         that your NC may not be able to contact you at all until

         your address becomes official.  One good way to speed up

         this process is to provide in your request a specific Node

         number (address) that you would like to use, along with a

         second choice.  Do this by checking the Nodelist (or the

         125NODES.TXT file in Area 23) and picking a number that is

         not yet in use.  Some node numbers may be reserved or

         retired, thus always provide a second choice (or more).

         By you providing a number instead of having one arbitrarily

         assigned, your NC may be able to leave mail on hold for

         you right away (instead of waiting up to 2 weeks), so you

         can call back and possibly have confirmation of your

         request or other information.



Step 5:  If you have provided an address in your request, you can

         begin receiving the NET_125 echo right away.  As a matter

         of fact, the NC will set it up for you as soon as your

         node number has been assigned, no matter what.  Be sure

         to set up a NET_125 echo message area on your system

         before you call back.  There will very likely already be

         mail waiting for you to pick up.  Your link for this echo

         is always the NC's primary Fidonet address, 1:125/222 at

         present.



Step 6:  Once your address is officially in the Nodelist, send out

         a "test" or "howdy" message in the NET_125 echo.  Use

         this echo to experiment in getting echomail working on

         your system.  If you do not get a reply within a day or

         two, something is definitely wrong and you'll need to do

         some fiddling.



Step 7:  Once you are sure that your NET_125 echo is functioning

         properly, you are ready to contact the Net Echo Coordin-

         ator (NEC) to arrange for other echomail feeds.  Do this

         by sending Netmail to the NEC, currently Barry Kapke at

         125/33.  Note that the actual system which distributes

         the echomail is NOT 125/33, but 125/10.  So, send human

         type mail regarding echomail feeds to 125/33 and use

         125/10 to pick up and send echomail.  The NEC will provide

         you with information regarding how to turn on or turn off

         echoes, as well as information about how we all share the

         costs of bringing echomail into our net, and anything else

         you might need to know.



Step 8:  There is no step 8 -- it's time to sit back and enjoy

         yourself.





I hope this document helps -- comments on how it can be improved

are always welcome.





--  

William Sommers - via FidoNet node 1:125/555

    UUCP: ...!uunet!hoptoad!kumr!fidogate!222!William.Sommers

INTERNET: William.Sommers@f222.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG

--

