From: nick@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Nick Andrew)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386,alt.bbs.unixbbs
Subject: Re: Fido Frontdoor Mailer Under unix
Keywords: frontdoor , fidonet
Date: 11 Oct 92 08:41:29 GMT
Followup-To: alt.bbs.unixbbs
Organization: Kralizec Dialup Unix Sydney: +61-2-837-1183 V.32

mark@onyx.kiwi.gen.nz (Mark Goldie) writes:

>Hi ... This question may have been posted to the net beforehand.
>But i am a member of quite a few fido-type news networks.
>3:772/701 199:340/80 etc... anyways .. I was wondering if it is possible 
>to have a mailer system to call other Fidonet systems and download mail
>packets ..THEN (asking a bit much?) convert them into news and/or E-mail

Why bother connecting with E-mail? The IXgate already does this for Zone 3.
You don't need to do anything except be a part of Zone 3.

The IXgate user guide follows below.

   User guide for IXgate - the Internet to Microcomputer networks gateway

                               10th July, 1992

                           What is IXgate, anyway?

  IXgate is both a piece of software and a physical entity. The  entity  is
  an  operational gateway run by Nick Andrew and Larry Lewis to effectively
  link Fidonet and other microcomputer networks to the Internet. We do this
  to  enhance  the  intangible  skill and knowledge transfers which is made
  possible by computer networking. The IXgate software performs  the  func-
  tions of general USENET and Echomail distribution as well as the particu-
  lar conversions required by a gateway.

  IXgate provides the following four basic services:

      USENET News to Echomail
      Echomail to USENET News
      Internet Mail to Netmail
      Netmail to Internet Mail

  The above services can be utilized by other Fidonet  technology  networks
  and similar Microcomputer networks (such as GT-Net) when a gateway system
  is in place to link those networks. That  is,  the  messages  can  travel
  through  two  conversions  and arrive essentially intact. And more impor-
  tantly, for messages returned to USENET or Internet, the IXgate  software
  has  been designed to allow this through-transition to occur automatical-
  ly, with all necessary conversions.

  From the point of view of a microcomputer network, IXgate is a convenient
  and  cheap method of accessing a skills and knowledge base which can only
  be achieved through a worldwide network of professional  research  estab-
  lishments, government, and industry.

                                 Definitions

  This document is best understood  by  the  reader  with  some  networking
  knowledge.  In the absence of such knowledge, these definitions may prove
  useful.

                                   USENET

  USENET is not a network.  It is a conferencing system based around a mes-
  sage  format  standard (RFC1036) implemented by various software (B-news,
  C-news, Nn, NNTP, ...).  To say that USENET is not a network implies that
  USENET must utilise the facilities of some underlying network in order to
  transport messages.  This underlying network might be  ACSnet,  Internet,
  UUCP, Fidonet, BITNET or any of the many other networks in use today.

  USENET is an open forum for the public dissemination of  any  information
  which  can  be  stored  on a computer. This information usually takes the
  form of text messages, but it can also be source code, binary  (runnable)
  programs, PostScript printer files, graphic pictures, etc... Binary files
  are encoded into text messages using a  program  such  as  uuencode,  and
  source files are distributed in a form known as 'shar files'. A shar file
  is a program to be run by the Unix shell  /bin/sh  and  it  extracts  the
  source files and verifies their contents.

  USENET consists of a collection of "newsgroups", each one  devoted  to  a
  particular  topic.  Messages placed in a newsgroup are distributed to all
  other sites which receive the newsgroup, except for the following: USENET
  has a mechanism to limit the propagation of messages to particular organ-
  izational or geographic boundaries. The IXgate does not utilize this  fa-
  cility when converting to/from Echomail.

  As mentioned, USENET is an open forum. All messages are public, they  can
  be read by anybody.  In USENET, there is no concept of a private message.
  Additionally, there is no concept of "To:" in messages. All messages  are
  monologues which refer back to previous messages through ordinary message
  quoting. Discussions only of interest to two participants are  best  car-
  ried on through private mail. There is no such thing as E-mail in USENET.
  But the underlying network usually has an E-mail service. So most  USENET
  newsreaders  have  an interface to the Unix Mail program to allow private
  replies to a message to go through E-mail.

  The only restricted newsgroups  are  known  as  'moderated';  The  USENET
  software  sends  all  submissions as private mail to the moderator of the
  group, who then edits, rearranges or collects articles  into  digests  to
  post to the newsgroup.

  USENET crosses network boundaries through gateways to link many thousands
  of  computers into a worldwide news network.  USENET is very loosely cou-
  pled - there is no formal mechanism to join, and from  an  administrative
  sense USENET is an anarchy, with little control over the actions of indi-
  viduals except through the sheer  volume  of  disapproval  which  can  be
  levelled at offensive individuals.

                                  Internet

  The Internet is a conglomeration of thousands of organisational  networks
  worldwide.  Sponsored  by the US National Science Foundation, the charter
  of the Internet is to support the research  activities  of  Universities.
  This charter may be interpreted broadly, and so many commercial organisa-
  tions have become linked to the Internet. It is mostly based around dedi-
  cated  leased  lines or high-speed (64 Kbps - 2 Mbps) links, and the dom-
  inant protocols in use are called  TCP/IP,  which  allow  functions  like
  point-to-point  mail  delivery, remote login, and high volume remote file
  transfers. For example file transfers from  overseas  Internet  sites  in
  Australia  outside  prime  time  can attain speeds of 20 Kbps through the
  packet-switched networks.  The Australian arm of the Internet is known as
  AARNet,  which  provides  the high-speed links to Australian Universities
  and also allows 3rd party organisations to participate in  Internet  mail
  for  $1000  p.a.,  or  $250 p.a.  through a deal with the Australian Unix
  Users Group (AUUG). Please note that the IXgate is a participant in  this
  deal, and it costs money to run.

                           Microcomputer networks

  Are the networks to which IXgate addresses itself.  This  is  principally
  Fidonet  itself. However the IXgate does not limit itself to this, we are
  interested in _all_ Microcomputer based networks.

                         Fidonet technology networks

  These are Microcomputer networks which utilise the technology (the proto-
  cols  and  software)  of the Fidonet network, but are not part of Fidonet
  and thus are not subject to its rules and standards.  The  IXgate  itself
  can  be  considered a Fidonet-like network and as such is not governed by
  Fidonet in any way.

                                   Fidonet

  A worldwide network of Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs), principally made up
  of microcomputers running MS-DOS and Fidonet compatible software (such as
  Opus, Fido, SEAdog, TBBS and Quickbbs).  A computer in the  Fidonet  net-
  work is either a node or a point.  A node is most commonly a BBS support-
  ing several (hundred) users, whereas a point typically supports only  one
  or a handful of users.

  Fidonet's structure is hierarchical, and consists of zones,  nets,  nodes
  and  points.   A Zone identifies a large geographical area.  For example,
  Zone 1 refers to North America and Canada.  Zone 2 refers to Europe.  And
  Zone  3  is Australia.  Each Zone is made up of several Nets.  A Net is a
  group of BBSs which are usually physically close  together,  administered
  by  a  Net Host, who provides basic Fidonet services to the several Nodes
  who make up the Net.  And every  Node  in  Fidonet  (each  computer)  may
  choose  to  support one or more Points. Points are typically single-user,
  non-BBS systems.

                                  Echomail

  Echomail is Fidonet's public conferencing system.  Messages  placed  into
  an  Echomail  conference  are echoed (distributed) to other participating
  sites.  Messages usually are addressed  to  somebody's  name,  so  public
  conversations  can  take place. Echoes (as echomail conferences are popu-
  larly called) may be restricted to certain audiences, such as Sysops, and
  are  usually  of  limited  distribution.  There are international echoes,
  Zone-wide echoes, Net-wide echoes, and others with more specialized  dis-
  tribution.

                      IXGATE ADMINISTRATION AND HISTORY

  The    IXgate     software     was     written     by     Nick     Andrew
  <nick@kralizec.zeta.org.au> (Fidonet 3:713/602) over 1987 - 1992.

  The gateway was first written in 1987, as a project in networking of dis-
  similar  networks. Since that time it has been modified and enhanced many
  times.

  The addressing structures changed once during the period 1988-1989  as  a
  result  of the changing environment within ACSnet, and have changed again
  in late 1991.

  An early version of the IXgate software was released to several interest-
  ed  people  at  the  start  of 1988. It is currently installed on several
  machines, as follows:

  runxtsa.runx.oz.au    is the feeder of USENET News to ...

  Prophet BBS           Receives USENET from Runx & is primary feed to
                        Fidonet and other networks. Returned data from
                        Fidonet (E-mail to Internet and replies in
                        Echomail) is sent to ...

  kralizec.zeta.org.au  Which converts it and sends it out onto the
                        Internet or posts it into USENET.

  socs.uts.edu.au       Is Kralizec's uplink for returned Mail & News
                        and is Kralizec's USENET feeder.

  As you can see, all machines participate in the IXgate workings. However,
  Kralizec  Dialup  Unix  is the main machine for all these. It is Kralizec
  which owns the registered  Internet  domain  which  is  used  in  address
  conversions.  All  E-mail into and out of Internet goes through Kralizec.
  Also, all Echomail messages which are to be posted to USENET pass through
  Kralizec.

                          OBTAINING IXGATE SOFTWARE

  The IXgate software is (C)opyright. However parties wishing to  establish
  alternate  gateways  using  the same software may obtain a licence to the
  source code. Requests will be handled on a case by case basis.

  IXgate is written in portable C code. The code currently runs under Unix,
  MS-DOS  (Turbo-C and MSC) and Minix. Parts of the IXgate may be useful to
  those who need to distribute USENET or Echomail. If the  IXgate  software
  is  used,  USENET  news  can  be  received directly from Kralizec without
  conversion.  This news can be redistributed to  downstream  systems  very
  efficiently  -  much more efficiently than can Echomail, and with reduced
  possibility of duplicates. MS-DOS binaries of the USENET distributor  are
  available upon request.

                     ADDRESSING IN INTERNET AND FIDONET

  This document cannot completely describe Internet or  Fidonet  addressing
  formats.  It is not necessary to know addressing formats in order to par-
  ticipate in echomail or news which has been gated from USENET.

                           Addressing in Internet

  Internet addresses take this general form:
                              user@host.domains

  USER is the user name. It is usually 1 to 16 characters long,  lowercase,
  and can include digits or other characters. There is no standard for user
  names.  Because of the short length of user names in  Unix,  for  example
  Fred   Nurk's  user  name  might  be  'fred',  'nurk',  'fjn',  'buddha',
  's8739221' or others.

  HOST is the name of the host computer which Fred uses. Some  examples  of
  host  names are basser, uowcsa, cyberfrog, aragorn, munnari, runx, etc...
  The host name is restricted in length to about 16 characters.

  DOMAINS describes where the site is in the  Internet  network.  A  domain
  describes  an organisation (say upenn.edu for the University of Pennysyl-
  vania in the USA, and adelaide.edu.au for the University of  Adelaide  in
  Australia).

  The above does not do any justice to the incredible variety of  addresses
  which  the  Internet supports. Suffice to say that the networks out there
  in the real world are quite diverse, and  being  interconnected  as  they
  are,  the complexity of the addresses increases as they pass from network
  to network.

                            Addressing in Fidonet

  Fidonet addresses are in two parts. The first is the user name, which  is
  normally  the  person's first and last name, separated by one space.  The
  second part identifies the Fidonet node he/she uses.  This  is  a  string
  which may look like this:

                                 3:713/606.1

  In this case, the 3: refers to Zone 3, Australia. The 713/606  refers  to
  node number 606 within net number 713.  The .1 refers to point number one
  of that node.

                    Address conversions and sending mail

  Every user of Fidonet has a unique Fidonet address, which is their  first
  and last name and their zone:net/node.point numbers. The IXgate maps this
  address into a unique Internet address which may be used by any member of
  the Internet. The mapping looks like the following:

                 first.last@px.fxxx.nxxx.zx.fido.zeta.org.au
            e.g., Harry Scum of 3:633/628.4 is represented as:...
                 harry.scum@p4.f628.n633.z3.fido.zeta.org.au

  The point number (p4.) and the zone number (z3.) are  not  mandatory.  If
  missing  the zone defaults to Zone 3. The 'zeta.org.au' domain is the re-
  gistered Internet domain of Kralizec. The 'fido'  before  that  indicates
  the  network to which the message will be sent. Possible replacements are
  'gtnet' or 'intlnet', however currently only 'fido' is implemented.

                              Addressing Notes

  Point and Zone support is fully implemented. However E-mail from Internet
  to  Zones  other than 3 (Australasia) should be sent to US-based gateways
  using the *.fidonet.org domains.

  The first and last name is separated by a dot '.', not an underline.  The
  underline is passed through without change. Also do not worry about upper
  or lower case on names. The IXgate software  capitalizes  names  properly
  when  sending  into Fidonet, and converts all addresses to lowercase when
  sending into Internet.

  When sending mail into the Internet, your sending address is converted by
  the  IXgate  and  appears automagically on the From: line in messages. To
  send a message into the Internet from Fidonet, you send  the  message  to
  713/602  and  in the To part of the message you put the full Internet ad-
  dress of the required destination. For example:

   Command?  s         send mail
   Matrix Address: 713/602
   To: oracle@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
   Start typing your message now...
   Subject: askme

  This ability of the IXgate software to put the Internet  address  of  the
  sender into the Fidonet From field of messages is what sets it apart from
  other so-called gateways and it makes replying to Netmail & Echomail mes-
  sages an easy, intuitive and transparent task.

  But sometimes Internet people have names  which  are  too  long  for  the
  Fidonet  standards - 36 characters or more. In this case, you can use the
  kludge which other "gateways" consider the normal mode of operation. What
  you  do is send the message to "uucp" at 713/602 and type in the Internet
  address of the recipient into the first line of the message. It goes like
  this:

   Command?  s         send mail
   Matrix Address: 713/602
   To: uucp
   Subject: askme
   Start typing your message now...
   To: someuser@verylongname.verylongdomains.com

  This style of message input is accepted at all  times  to  retain  upward
  compatibility with kludgy gateways.

  If the IXgate is sending a message from the Internet to Fidonet  and  the
  Sender's  Internet  address  is  too  long, the IXgate will automatically
  create a kludge-gateway type message from "uucp" at 713/602 and  contain-
  ing instructions to assist humans when replying.

  This doesn't happen very often. An extensive analysis  of  30,000  USENET
  messages revealed that 99.8% of addresses are <= 35 characters long, with
  the notable exception of:

    - Addresses going through gateways (e.g. X.400)
    - Addresses in Germany (they dislike abbreviating university names)
    - Some addresses at the University of Adelaide, where they picked
      particularly silly domains.
      E.G: frednurk@teaching.cs.adelaide.edu.au






                           THE FIDONET.ORG DOMAIN

  The "official" Internet domain for  Fidonet  is  "fidonet.org".  Messages
  sent  to  z3.fidonet.org  are directed to a system in VIC, and all others
  are sent to the USA.

  Though these addresses are "official", the  techniques  used  to  convert
  messages from Internet to Fidonet aren't very good. They have a big prob-
  lem: A message sent from (say)  fred@cs.uow.edu.au  appears  to  be  from
  somebody called "uucp" at somenet/somenode. The sender's address only ap-
  pears within the body of the Fidonet message. This means that  the  reci-
  pient cannot reply unless they know how to use the gateway.

  To reply to such a message, the To address must be typed (manually)  into
  the  first  line  of  the  reply. It is error-pront and not intuitive. It
  means also that automatic "message robots" used in Fidonet cannot send an
  error message back to the correct address.
                 WHY SHOULD I USE IXGATE FROM THE INTERNET?

  So given that an "official" domain set exists for Fidonet, why should you
  use the IXgate and its domain set '*.fido.zeta.org.au'?

  Firstly, if you are replying to a message  sent  by  somebody  from  that
  domain,  they  obviously prefer to use it instead of the other domain. So
  just Reply to the same address that sent it.

  Secondly, if you are in Australia  and  you  are  sending  a  message  to
  Fidonet  in NSW, QLD, SA or WA then you should use the IXgate. The reason
  is that the IXgate is situated in  NSW,  but  the  system  which  handles
  'z3.fidonet.org' is situated in VIC. So for nets in NSW (such as 711, 712
  and 713) it saves Fidonet Sysops from making STD calls.  Also,  the  net-
  works in SA (net 680) and WA (net 690) talk directly to the IXgate's pri-
  mary distributor for Fidonet here in NSW. So it is efficient.

  Third, when you use the IXgate you know  that  the  recipient  can  reply
  easily.   This is because the other user doesn't need to know how the IX-
  gate works, and doesn't have to put anything special into  the  reply  to
  make  it go back to you. This is an important benefit of the IXgate. Also
  "Message Robots" which are used in some places in Fidonet will be able to
  inform you if your message has a problem - this isn't possible if you use
  the fidonet.org domain set.

  Finally, if you're sending a message into VIC or outside  Australia  (not
  Zone  3),  then  you are better off using fidonet.org. In the latter case
  your message will travel to the  USA  through  Internet,  and  then  into
  Fidonet.

                    WHY SHOULD I USE IXGATE FROM FIDONET?

  It's simpler and more intuitive. It means you can read an  Echomail  mes-
  sage  which  comes from USENET and do a netmail reply just by hitting the
  "R" key.  The Sender's Internet address is in the From field of the  mes-
  sage to which you're replying, so you know who you are sending to and you
  are less likely to make a typing mistake.

  If you're in NSW or Nets 680 or 690, then your message will arrive quick-
  er and an STD call isn't required.

             ECHOMAIL AND NEWS FEEDS INTO MICROCOMPUTER NETWORKS

  IXgate actively gateways many USENET newsgroups into Fidonet.  These look
  like Echomail conferences to Fidonet nodes.

                        OBTAINING A FEED FROM IXGATE

  If you are the sysop of a publically available node on some microcomputer
  network,  you  may  obtain a feed from IXgate. In the first instance, you
  should contact Larry Lewis of Prophet (3:713/600).

  Note that some USENET postings may carry Copyright messages and distribu-
  tion  restrictions.  The  IXgate software does what any other USENET site
  does, which is automatically copy and distribute messages.  Any site  may
  archive  and  redistribute  any  message for free. But if there are other
  restrictions, please abide by them as any upstream USENET site would.

  As the IXgate system is bidirectional, certain standards need to be  fol-
  lowed when linking in to conferences supplied by IXgate.

  Rule 1 - No crosslinking, under any circumstances. Other  "gateways"  may
  provide conferences. No site may receive a feed from both IXgate and some
  other USENET gateway, as the chances for crosslinking and causing massive
  duplication  are  too great. Also, newsgroups converted into Echomail are
  not to be connected to existing Echomail conferences.

  Rule 2 - The set of Echo conferences originating  from  IXgate  have  the
  same  name as the corresponding USENET conferences, except such names are
  converted to upper-case.  These Echoes are owned by IXgate. For  Fidonet,
  which  contains the administrative (not technical) concept of "moderated"
  echoes, these echoes are all to be considered as moderated by Nick Andrew
  (Sysop  at  3:713/602).   They  are  IXgate  conferences  and not Fidonet
  conferences. IXgate maintains the right to cut  feeds,  or  to  "suggest"
  that a feed be cut, for abuse of the rules.

  Rule 3 - No aliases. The IXgate software converts  every  proper  Fidonet
  address  into  an  Internet address, perfectly. The conversion is so good
  that two people on different networks  can  hold  dialogue  without  ever
  needing  to  know that their messages are going through a gateway. Please
  keep it like that. Use of aliases (especially those containing  @  signs)
  buggers up the conversion, so don't do it.

  Rule 4 - No off-topic messages. Messages entered into IXgate  conferences
  which  are off-topic, trivial, all UPPERCASE or quote too heavily (90% or
  more?) from other messages will be CANCELLED without entering USENET.  No
  notice is currently given of this action.

  Rule 5 - There is now a Rule 5. It is that Mail-based file transfer (such
  as  ftpmail,  bitftp or listserv) is NOT permitted using the IXgate.  Nor
  is subscription to high-volume mailing lists, nor  to  USENET  Newsgroups
  which  have been shadowed to mailing lists. The maximum allowed length of
  messages from Internet to Fidonet is 30k. Most Fidonet sites cannot  han-
  dle messages longer than this.

  Rule 6 - DO NOT use the IXgate to send messages into Zones 1 or  2  (USA,
  Europe) unless you are located in Australia.


















                             OFFENSIVE MATERIAL

  USENET users who wish to post material which other people may find offen-
  sive  will  do  so  using a code called Rot13, which substitutes for each
  letter a corresponding letter 13 characters away (a becomes n, b  becomes
  o,  etc). A trivial program will encode/decode these.  USENET newsreading
  software usually does this encoding and decoding for the user  (when  re-
  quested).

                                 OTHER NOTES

  The IXgate uses intermittent modem links. As with all networks, there  is
  uptime and there is downtime. The IXgate is monitored daily and action is
  taken immediately there is downtime. If  your  message(s)  do  not  reach
  their  destination,  the  most  probable cause is that you addressed them
  wrongly. You can contact nick at kralizec.zeta.org.au or 713/602  to  ask
  about  the fate of individual messages. Be sure to have the following in-
  formation handy: From & To addresses and Date sent.

  The IXgate (as does Internet) attempts to send a bounce message if a mes-
  sage could not be delivered.

  When you send a message through the IXgate into Internet, enter  the  To:
  address  with  care.  If  you  mistype  the  address, your mail cannot be
  delivered. In this case, you will receive a bounce  message  from  either
  Kralizec  or whichever Internet system was unable to deliver it. You will
  usually receive a copy of your message also.

  Sometimes a correctly addressed message is bounced by Kralizec.  This  is
  caused  by  some  Fidonet  system  between you & it which runs "TosScan".
  TosScan is particularly rude, because it strips the '@' sign  (mandatory)
  and all following characters from the To and From parts of through-routed
  messages.  This is blatantly illegal, so far  as  Fidonet  specifications
  are concerned.

  Anyway you have three options: First is to ask whichever node  it  is  to
  STOP  running  TosScan.  Second  is  to  wear the cost of direct calls to
  713/602 or 713/600 for all your Internet E-mail.  Third  is  to  use  the
  "uucp" kludge on all your outbound messages to Internet.

                                THIS DOCUMENT

  This document is known as IXGATE.DOC. The most recent copy  is  available
  by  file  request from Prophet (713/600), Sentry (711/403), or by sending
  some    sort    of     human-readable     mail     to     Nick     Andrew
  <nick@kralizec.zeta.org.au> or (Sysop of 3:713/602@fidonet).

  The information contained here is subject to  change  and  revision  over
  time.  To  try  and keep users relatively well informed on how to use the
  IXgate software, this document is supplied with an expiry date of:

                            31st December, 1992.

  After that date, please seek the latest version.

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