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            *     *   ****          The independent guide to BITNET  *
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       Christopher Condon    Editor                  CONDON @ YALEVM
       Mike Patrick          Contributing Editor    PATRICK @ YALEVM
       Timothy Stephen       Contributing Editor    STEPHEN @ RPICICGE
       Craig White           Contributing Editor     CWHITE @ UA1VM
       Glen Overby           Technical Assistant   NU070156 @ NDSUVM1
       Gary Moss             Staff Supervisor          MOSS @ YALEVM


       ********************  Contents - Issue 20  ********************


       EDITORIAL PAGE_________________________________________________

       Bitnotes .................................................... 1
       The Human Factor ............................................ 3
       Flames To: .................................................. 7
       The Jedi Speaks ............................................. 9
       Toward a Philosophy of BITNET, Part 1 ...................... 10

       FEATURES_______________________________________________________

       The Listserv LISTS Database ................................ 13
       NBSLIB at the National Bureau of Standards ................. 14
       CLASS FOUR:  The Relay Magazine ............................ 16
       Accessing the SCIT Database ................................ 17
       The Computer Science Research Network ...................... 18

       DEPARTMENTS____________________________________________________

       Headlines .................................................. 20
       Helpdesk ................................................... 21
       New Mailing Lists .......................................... 22
       Feedback ................................................... 24
       Policies ................................................... 27


       *  For information on  subscribing to  NetMonth,  submitting  *
       *  articles, sending  letters, and  printing this  file, see  *
       *  the "Policies" section on the last pages of this issue.    *


       -----------------------------------------

                A publication of the BITNET Services Library
1

                                                                Page 1


        *********
       *         *  Bitnotes
       *         *
       *         *  by Christopher Condon
       *         *
       *         *  CONDON@YALEVM
        *********


                         "If I only had a brain..."
                                           - S. Crow


       Have you ever run head first into  a wall as fast as you could?
       Me neither,  but sometimes  I act as if I did.    Perhaps I hit
       myself over the head with a hammer  when I was very young and I
       don't remember...

       Last month I made  something of a big deal over  the the way in
       which the BITNET community depends  upon volunteers for many of
       those services  we have  come to  know and  love (Listserv  and
       Relay,  to name  a few).   In my usual  doom-and-gloom manner I
       recognized  the  contributions  these people  have  made,   but
       questioned where this  will lead BITNET in  the future.   There
       has been  some comment  on this,  notably  on the  mailing list
       POLICY-L,   some of  which  I have  reprinted  in the  Feedback
       column.

       Beneath that editorial  however,  was a message  which I veiled
       all too well.   In our correspondence Tim Stephen inadvertently
       pointed it out, if with a slightly misdirected question:

       "What happens to NetMonth when you graduate this term?"

       Of course, I DID graduate in May of 1987 (I have been a Yuppie-
       in-training at  Sikorsky Aircraft for  the past year)   but the
       question is still valid.   What happens to NetMonth if and when
       I decide  to hang up  my userid?    Forget the "if".    It WILL
       happen,  and there are several  circumstances which can lead to
       my departure within this year.

       I have thought of this in the past, as had assumed that I would
       leave the network  when I  graduated.   There  were some  half-
       hearted  attempts   at  finding  someone  with   the  interest,
       knowledge, and time take over the magazine (and everything that
       goes with it...  BITLIB, BITNET SERVERS) but let's face it:   I
       am not a great delegater.

       Does every volunteer grapple with this question?  Dave (FSFNET)
       Liscomb tells me that when he  finally packs it in,  there will
1

                                                                Page 2


       be no successor.   FSFNET will go the way of VM/COM, CLUB,  and
       Vax Toolbox,  albeit with style.   While  this would be a loss,
       there are other places for Science  Fiction and Fantasy fans to
       go...  SF-LOVERS,  SF-WRITERS,  and so on.   It wouldn't be the
       same, it wouldn't have that "Orny" touch, but the readers won't
       be left high and dry.

       For  the NetMonth  readers,  however,   there will  be no  such
       recourse.    And   while  I   have  no   illusion  that   I  am
       indispensable,  it will  be very hard to find  someone with the
       time  and  commitment to fill  these shoes.    Talent  and good
       spelling, as you know, are optional.

       Or should I try to find someone  at all?   In the spirit of the
       old days,  I  could leave that gap in BITNET  service,  and let
       whoever  has  the   drive  and  initiative  create   their  own
       magazines.    After all,   one  "independent  guide to  BITNET"
       doesn't leave much room for competition.  If the need is there,
       someone will try to satisfy it.

       But I shouldn't fool myself.  These are NOT the old days.   The
       network has changed, and there is now,  more than ever,  a need
       for continuity.    While someone  might replace  NetMonth,  the
       transition would cause a lot  of trouble and confusion.   There
       was  a GREAT  deal  of trouble  when  Bitlist became  NetMonth.
       Since  then the  mailing  list  has quadrupled.    Imagine  the
       problems it would cause now.

       NetMonth should go on, with or without me.  But how?


              Virtually,

                     Chris Condon@YALEVM


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        *********
       *         *  The Human Factor
       *         *
       *         *  by T. D. Stephen
       *         *
       *         *  STEPHEN@RPICICGE
        *********


       Thanks to editor Chris Condon and others at the BITNET Services
       Library,  the NetMonth/NetWeek/BITNET SERVERS trio has become a
       premier source  for news and  opinion on BITNET.    Probably no
       other BITNET newsletter  reaches as many network  users.   "The
       Chronicle  of Higher  Education," on  the other  hand,  is  the
       premier publication for academic administrators, the people who
       make  decisions  about  budget   allocations  in  colleges  and
       universities and who  decide directions for the  future.   Most
       college and  university libraries carry  the Chronicle  and its
       weekly  50-80   page,   newspaper-style  issues   circulate  to
       approximately  79,000  professors  and  administrators  through
       individual subscriptions.

       The Chronicle  began to regularly  feature stories  on academic
       computing about 4 years ago  following the hype that surrounded
       the   introduction   of   IBM's    Personal   Computer.     The
       microcomputer,  if  you recall,  was  supposed to usher  in the
       "information society,"  a paperless  white collar  utopia where
       corporate productivity  would skyrocket and  where the  face of
       education would  be forever  changed because  courses would  be
       offered  through microcomputer  software --  or something  like
       that.   Needless to say,  there is probably more paper floating
       around today than in 1984, productivity is still a problem, and
       college life is chugging  along much as it has for  the past 20
       years.    But  the  Chronicle attempted  to  be  responsive  to
       increased interest  in computing by  expanding its  coverage of
       computer-related stories.

       As we all know, the one really revolutionary story in computing
       for this decade  is networking.   The French  Minitel system is
       altering  the social  practices of  an entire  nation and  even
       BITNET,  comparatively modest in scope and primitive in design,
       has  opened   new  possibilities   for  enhancing   educational
       practice.  Unfortunately, the Chronicle never picked this story
       up --  or so it  was until the  April 6th issue  when Chronicle
       computer reporter Judith Axler Turner finally printed something
       about academic networking.

       In a story  titled "Uncertainties Strain Computer  Networks for
       U.S.   Professors",   Ms.   Turner characterized the  status of
       university  networks  as  "growing  like  adolescents"  with  a
1

                                                                Page 4


       "Byzantine" structure,   "tangles" of high  speed communication
       lines,   and a  "hodgepodge"  of connections.    Unfortunately,
       BITNET was named in the story along with Arpanet,  NSFNet,  and
       the Merit network.   While one might  agree with aspects of the
       story,  its implicit conclusion is  that the status of American
       academic networking is  a mess and it may  become difficult for
       administrators to justify its cost in the future.

       Ironically,   on  the  same  day  that  this  story  was  being
       circulated to those  who establish policy and  control academic
       expenditures (i.e.,   those who decide  how much of  a school's
       budget should go for academic networking),  the BITNET Board of
       Trustees announced that a review would be conducted sometime to
       determine  what BITNET's  Network  Information Center  (BITNIC)
       does best and  worst.   May I humbly  submit *public relations*
       for your consideration  as candidate for The  Thing That BITNIC
       Does Worst? Of course, it wouldn't be fair to indict anyone who
       actually works at BITNIC for our failure to utilize organs such
       as the Chronicle to help bolster interest,  participation,  and
       support for BITNET.  After all, the responsibilities and duties
       of  BITNIC  personnel  are  defined  by  the  BITNET  Board  of
       Trustees.  (Remember the BITNET Board of Trustees? The Board of
       Trustees is  the policy-making group that  consists exclusively
       of computer personnel  and that operates without  any realistic
       mechanism for gathering input from users.)  Regardless of where
       the responsibility lies  for the paucity of  positive publicity
       for  BITNET,  I  think that  the publication  of Ms.   Turner's
       article points to  a genuine need for the Board  of Trustees to
       take  steps  to  promote BITNET  within  the  broader  academic
       community.

       It  is apparent  that  Ms.   Turner  could  stand  to have  her
       horizons expanded a little in terms  of what it is that happens
       on BITNET.  According to her,

       "Academics use networks to feed raw data into remote computers,
       and to  share research results  with colleagues  who manipulate
       them  on  their  own  computers.   They  use  networks  to  run
       equipment  in laboratories  across  the  campus or  across  the
       country.   They  gain access  to library-sized  electronic data
       bases over  networks,  and load  the information  directly into
       their own computers, eventually to use it in research reports."

       While I'm sure it would be possible to find examples of each of
       these  activities on  some  network  connected to  some  campus
       somewhere, this not only seems a poor rendition of BITNET,  but
       it leaves out students entirely and, in so doing,  misses a key
       point in what makes BITNET valuable.  Ms.  Turner's description
       makes it  sound like BITNET is  used primarily by  hard science
       researchers to send  data sets and manuscripts  back and forth.
1

                                                                Page 5


       Of  course  BITNET is  not  used  to control  remotely  located
       equipment (except in the vaguest sense).  As for the part about
       getting  information from  library  sized electronic  databases
       that is eventually used in publications, frankly,  I don't know
       what she is talking about.

       Even  if  BITNET was  used  primarily  for the  activities  Ms.
       Turner mentions, BITNET would be valuable.   But it is apparent
       from  her  description  that  she  has  never  been  adequately
       informed  about what  it is  that is  truly revolutionary  this
       network  and  what  it  is  that   makes  it  worth  the  money
       universities pay to access it.

       BITNET brings people into contact  who would not otherwise meet
       and  the nature  of networking  helps  to place  them on  equal
       ground.   BITNET is most fundamentally an interactional context
       and  one that  bridges disciplinary  boundaries and  eradicates
       traditional barriers to discourse  (e.g.,  age,  status,  race,
       sex, and physical handicap).   In a world that has long decried
       the  hazards of  disciplinary overspecialization  and that  has
       struggled to find methods to guarantee  an equal voice to women
       and disenfranchised  minorities,  BITNET  offers a  context for
       communication in which such barriers are significantly reduced.

       There  are  and have  always  been  lots  of ways  to  transfer
       information  from  one  researcher to  another  (e.g.,   paper,
       punched cards,  tape,  diskette,  op-scan forms)  and there are
       many ways to communicate with colleagues (phone, letter,  face-
       to-face conversation).  Except in special cases, BITNET may not
       even  be  the best  method  of  accomplishing either  of  these
       things.   However, there has never before been a social context
       the likes of  BITNET and our experience  with Comserve@Rpicicge
       during  the past  two academic  years  has frequently  supplied
       examples of the potential that this has created.

       In addition to its database, news,  and "white pages" services,
       Comserve hosts some 15 "hotlines" (i.e., listserv "lists") that
       are  organized  to  represent  focus  areas  for  research  and
       scholarship within the communication  studies discipline (e.g.,
       organizational  communication,   mass   communication  and  new
       technologies, rhetorical studies,  philosophy of communication,
       research methodology, etc.).  Comserve's hotlines are available
       to anyone and now, following a year of publicity,  they provide
       a method  of communication for  a group  of users that  is just
       about as diverse as the BITNET community itself.

       We  see  the value  of  academic  networking in  the  following
       instances:    Case 1:   A  student sent  a  question about  the
       sophistic movement in  ancient Greece to the  rhetoric hotline.
       Within  three days,   his question  had been  addressed by  two
1

                                                                Page 6


       leading  rhetorical scholars  located hundreds  of miles  away.
       Case 2:   A fourteen  year old girl,   whose father  has BITNET
       access,  sent  a question about  clay animation  (the technique
       used to create the California raisins commercials)  to the mass
       communication hotline.  She needed the information for a school
       report on how clay animation is accomplished.   Within 48 hours
       she received  six responses including  one from a  producer who
       had  created   clay  animation  films.    The   responses  were
       sufficiently  detailed  to  allow  her to  make  her  own  clay
       animation  project.   Case  3:   A  professor of  intercultural
       communication uses  the intercultural communication  hotline to
       create opportunities for  her students to interact  with people
       from  other countries.    Case  4:   A professor  requires  his
       research methodology graduate students  to monitor the research
       methodology  hotline using  questions sent  to  the hotline  as
       class examples.

       I  could cite  other examples  -- of  isolated professors  from
       small  colleges  keeping  in  contact   with  others  in  their
       profession,   of   professionals  from   disparate  disciplines
       learning  from each  other  in the  responses  they provide  to
       issues raised on our hotlines, or of blind and deaf subscribers
       who interact on  our hotlines with none of  the usual barriers.
       But my  point is,  simply,  that  without BITNET none  of these
       interactions could occur  -- there is no  substitute.   This is
       the aspect of BITNET that gives it special value and it is this
       aspect of BITNET that should be highlighted when we communicate
       about ourselves to the broader academic community.

       It may  be that even  among BITNET's  users there are  some who
       share Ms.   Turner's conception of what happens on the network;
       possibly this has  contributed to decisions in  some schools to
       deny access to students.   I don't  know how many schools still
       do this, but every now and then we hear from somebody who seems
       to take it  for granted that students should not  be allowed to
       use BITNET.    Perhaps they feel  that student  message traffic
       will slow  down all  those hard-science  Ph.D.'s who  are using
       BITNET to "feed raw data into remote computers".

       Misconception  is  the  inevitable  result  when  there  is  no
       concerted effort to communicate.  I believe academia would find
       BITNET both interesting and exciting if  only it heard a little
       more  about  what  really  goes   on  here.    To  handle  this
       adequately,  the BITNET Board of  Trustees should take steps to
       establish  a   public  relations  sub-committee   charged  with
       communicating  about   BITNET  within   the  broader   academic
       community.   This  sub-committee should feed stories  to organs
       such  as  the  Chronicle  and the  national  press  and  should
       disseminate  information  about BITNET  and  coordinate  BITNET
       demonstrations within national scholarly organizations.
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                                                                Page 7


        *********
       *         *  Flames To:
       *         *
       *         *  by Craig White
       *         *
       *         *  CWHITE@UA1VM
        *********


       Hello again,

       I hope this finds everyone in  good health and spirit.   During
       the past  month I  have thought about  several things  to flame
       about but  nothing seemed to  be exactly right.    Then someone
       sent me a program  via BITNET and I thought it  would never get
       here.   It  seems like just  yesterday a comparablly sized file
       would have gotten here at least overnight.   I ended up waiting
       about three days  for a file that was 1133,   80 byte,  records
       well under the 300,000 byte limit on a single file (by the way,
       use BITSEND and BITRCV to send larger files).

       As I waited for this file,  I thought about all the things that
       could be  holding it up.    Perhaps it  had been sent  with the
       wrong attributes;  maybe there was simply too much net traffic.
       During this  time it occurred to  me that mailing  list traffic
       was getting  out of control.    I had received  several hundred
       mailing list files  during this three day  period.   I wondered
       how many  more like me there  were.    After thinking  about my
       pile of mail,  I wondered if all this congestion was just mail.
       Then it hit me,  with Listserv around  it has become so easy to
       subscribe to mailing lists and so convenient to start one, that
       it was taking its toll on the  links.   Before you get ready to
       flame  me  about the  virtues  of  Listserv,   let me  make  it
       perfectly clear  that I think Listserv  is a very  nice server.
       Further more, I think the concept of mailing lists is great and
       I would fight to keep them around.

       As I  pondered the current state  of affairs,  I  wondered what
       could be done  to eliminate some of this mess.    Then from the
       far reaches of my brain came  this thought:  wasn't there a way
       to  search  notebooks without  having  to  send for  the  whole
       notebook and then search it locally?  There is and it's name is
       LDBASE  (Listserv  Data  BASE.)   I sent  a  TELL  Listserv  at
        SENDME LDBASE EXEC.   I quickly received it and
       started to run it, but I found I needed another piece.   I then
       sent TELL  Listserv at   SENDME  LSVIUCV MODULE.
       With both pieces of  the puzzle I began to try  it out.   I was
       able  to  link up  with  a  Listserv  and  peruse some  of  the
       notebooks there.    The exec said  I should  get a copy  of the
1

                                                                Page 8


       documentation by using the INFO DATABASE command.  So I entered
       TELL Listserv at  INFO  DATABASE.   I received a
       very nice  document explaining how to  search for all  kinds of
       things and how to get back the results of my search.  I thought
       "Great,  now I can unsubscribe some of those mailing lists that
       I wasn't really  into and just use  LDBASE a couple of  times a
       week to check out the SUBJECT: line.

       I tried  searching for  "SUBJECT:" in a  very active  list.   I
       really get  a lot  of hits on  that string (there  is a  way to
       limit you search to specific  dates --check the documentation).
       I got the results back and I was in for some surprises.   A lot
       of the entries had a blank subject line and,  even worse,  some
       didn't have one at all.   Which brings us to this months flame.
       Always include  a SUBJECT:   line in all  of your  mailing list
       submissions.   Also,  make sure that if you are responding to a
       mailing that your subject line  contains the standard RE:  <the
       old subject> which makes it much  easier to follow a particular
       topic.

       During the  next month I'm  going to  test out using  LDBASE on
       many  of the  lists I'm  on and  see  how it  works.   I  would
       recommend that  you give LDBASE  a try  with some of  the lists
       that you might be on.  Who knows it might just cut down on some
       of the traffic.   Winding down,  I  hear that soon the semester
       will end  and some accounts will  go on hiatus for  the summer.
       In preparation for that let me pass along a thought from Marvin
       Klassen that he submitted to the ADVISE-L list.  To unsubscribe
       yourself from all lists that you  may be on,  use TELL Listserv
       AT   SIGNOFF  * (NETWIDE.    Also  if you  have
       registered  with the  name  feature of  Listserv,   be sure  to
       include a TELL Listserv AT   REGISTER OFF.   It
       was mentioned  that the global  unsubscribe command  will cause
       one mail file per list to be  sent to your userid.   Be sure to
       delete them from your incoming box before leaving for summer.

       And finally, FLAMES TO ME:  Anyone guess what this one is going
       to  be about?   Last months  Flames To:   on spelling  checkers
       contained,   of all  things a  spelling mistake.    I used  its
       instead of it's.    If we could only get someone  to write that
       superduper spelling, grammatical,  punctuation checker we'd all
       be doing great.  Thanks to everyone who responded and so kindly
       pointed  out my  mistake.   As  always if  you have  questions,
       comments or thoughts about this column please send it to CWHITE
       AT UA1VM.   (NOTE:   All Listserv commands could  be issued via
       batch mode.   LDBASE  is also available to  VAX/VMS sites,  the
       name is LDBASE COM.)

       Send your flames to CWHITE@UA1VM.

1

                                                                Page 9

        *********
       *         *  The Jedi Speaks
       *         *
       *         *  by Jeffrey P. Robinson
       *         *
       *         *  IP50583@PORTLAND
        *********


       I was  talking to  Chris Condon  (I suppose  I should  call him
       Fuzzyman  since I  am doing  this  for the  old BITNET  chatter
       people),  and what Fuzzyman and I were talking about was how we
       were (and still are) inspired by BITNET.   He asked me to write
       something about the  way BITNET was a few years  ago.   I don't
       not the one to say how the  network has affected me,  but Fuzzy
       asked me, and as a Jedi Knight how could I refuse?

       I am intrigued by chatting, or rather,  by the people with whom
       I have chatted (relayed for you younger folks)  over the years.
       What I  have noticed more than  anything else is  that people's
       attitudes have changed; what the people talk about on the chats
       has changed.  I remember a time  when we would talk about world
       politics and such.   You might say that I got my news that way.
       Hearing people's views on things was what really got me hooked.
       Not this "Well if you send me an ID-Card..." junk you see these
       days.

       Now people only talk about music  - little stuff.  It's kind of
       hard to get a *REAL* conversation going on religion or politics
       on a public channel anymore.   This also intrigues me,  perhaps
       because I  have always been  crazy about  understanding people.
       Trying to  figure out why they  do the things they  do.   Other
       stuff keeps me going on this network too.... mostly the NetCons
       (or should I say NetCon(tm)) The chat user community has really
       grown since I  started around here,  so the  intrigue has grown
       even more.  The network is just like life; the more you want it
       to stay the same,   the more it changes on you.   I do miss the
       good old days. I guess it's true - you cant go home again...

       A little food for thought - if  you had the power to change the
       the net, how would you change it,  why,  and would your changes
       really be best for all users?  I don't have an answer, nor do I
       ever think  I will,  but what  right does anyone have  to think
       badly of anyone else for trying  to change the network for what
       might make it a better place?

                                                     ****
           ****    ****                     ****      **** ****
          ****      ****   ****         *******        *******    ****
         ****         *** ****           *****          *****    ****
        ****    ****  *******            *****          *****   ****
1

                                                               Page 10


        *********
       *         *  Toward a Philosophy of BITNET, Part 1.
       *         *
       *         *  by Mama
       *         *
       *         *  ENGL0333@UNLVM
        *********


       Editors note: "Mama" is the pen name of the founder of The MAMA
       (Middle American Manuscript Association) Writing Project at the
       University of Nebraska-Lincoln.


                      "Something's happening here.  What
                       it is ain't exactly clear."

                                   -- Mid-Sixties Song Lyric


       Three editorials in the March,  1988 issue of NetMonth indicate
       that BITNET  is coming of age  in new and exciting  ways.   The
       first view stems  from Chris Condon's excellent  ruminations on
       the way  in which bigger and  better mousetraps may or  may not
       impact  the  system,   leading   to  his  exquisite  rhetorical
       queries:  "Who is planning the future of BITNET, if at all? Who
       is at the helm?" The second  view evolves from T.D.   Stephen's
       analysis of  language,  with  his valid  observations that  any
       language system  reflects the peculiar  "habits of  thought and
       economies of expression" of the people who created it, and that
       we ought to "give more consideration to the frames of reference
       that characterize the population  that BITNET serves." Finally,
       Craig White's flaming remarks about the  inanity of the Brand X
       vs.   Brand Y  vs.   Brand Z mail  is right on target  not only
       about   hardware   argumentation  but   also   about   software
       controversy.

       Yet as  a relative  newcomer to the  system (I've  been working
       with computers since 1970 and on  mainframes since 1982,  but a
       serious  automobile accident  and two  year's disability  leave
       kept me away  from terminals from April,   1985 through August,
       1987),   what I  find  most  intriguing about  their  composite
       observations is the way in which they all implicitly suggest we
       are   achieving   a   new  level   of   selfconsciousness   and
       introspection regarding what we are about in BITNET.

       For consider, dear friends,  that what has been accomplished in
       such short order in BITNET is something truly revolutionary and
       extraordinary.    And  I  refer not  just  to  the  astonishing
       applications  of   both  hardware   and  software   but,   more
1

                                                               Page 11


       importantly,   to  the  evolutions of  human  mind  which  have
       simultaneously occurred.    Isn't it time  we all  began paying
       more attention  to what has  been evolving implicitly  among us
       without much  comment?  Isn't it  time we began  grappling with
       defining and understanding just  who this polyglot intellectual
       community is becoming? Isn't it time we started reflecting upon
       the philosophy of BITNET?

       After all, many if not most of us are Doctors of Philosophy, in
       name at least.   It is a relatively recent and bizarre quirk of
       human development and culture, however, that Ph.D.  has come to
       stand for specialist rather than  synthesist.   Things were not
       always that way among intellectuals.   And one need not go back
       to the  Middle Ages  to discover ideals  of such  harmony,  for
       relatively recent American  history gives many examples  of men
       and women  of vast vision  and breadth of  interest.   Consider
       someone like Benjamin Franklin, for instance, who could achieve
       monumental  insights  not  only   as  a  theoretical  scientist
       (experiments with  electricity),  but  as an  applied scientist
       (inventor,   printer,  etc.),   as a  politician and  statesman
       (drafter of  pivotal U.S.    documents and  frequent Ambassador
       abroad), as an author and philosopher (Poor Richard's Almanac),
       as a  founder of universities  and fire departments  and street
       cleaning brigades,  and  as a simply marvelous  human being who
       even in his advanced age was  able to chase women across France
       when men  half his age had  drawn up panting from  shortness of
       breath.

       Yet  somewhere along  the line  this  cosmopolitan ideal  which
       flourished in the Age of Reason  gave way to a pragmatism which
       turned intellectuals ever more inward upon themselves, limiting
       their vision  to increasingly constricted fields.    Decades of
       such  evolution  this  century,  coupled  with  the  monumental
       explosion of information in all areas of human endeavor and the
       alteration of  fundamental concepts  in institutions  of higher
       learning,  led to the development  of "Academic Communities" in
       which the concept  of "community" was totally  fictitious since
       the pedant-scholars  couldn't even know  the people  across the
       hallway much less  the people across the college  or across the
       campus.   Indeed,  the  large state university in  which I have
       taught now for twenty years numbers almost 25,000 students with
       well over  1,000 permanent professorial staff.    My department
       alone has over 60 professional staff  and almost 200 members if
       you  add in  the part-timers  and  graduate instructors.    The
       difficulties  of establishing  any  meaningful community  among
       such staggering numbers cannot be underestimated.   Then, enter
       BITNET.

       Suddenly, at the touch of a button it is possible to open minds
       not just  across campus  but across  continents,  and  all this
1

                                                               Page 12


       without even opening an office  door.   Suddenly,  decades upon
       decades  of   fossilization  of   insight  and   expression  as
       specialist competing with specialist to  publish in journals of
       narrowing breadth  is quite  simply and  quite literally  blown
       away by the infusion of an  entirely new level of communication
       within and  between fields  of even  divergent interest.    Are
       there others  of you out there  who,  like me,  gaze  upon this
       phenomenon with almost  speechless wonder and amazement?   As I
       survey this bubbling and frothing mass and sometimes mess which
       we call BITNET,   I think I perhaps understand a  little of how
       Henry David Thoreau must have felt when he first laid eyes upon
       Walden pond,  or how Ralph Waldo Emerson must have felt when he
       first read through  the poetry of Walt  Whitman.   "Something's
       happening here;  what  it is ain't exactly clear."  But what is
       clear is that whatever it is is simply marvelous, and we should
       take note of it because we are all part of it.

       So  I can  agree  with Chris  Condon that  there  may be  great
       question of who is at the helm,  but such  uncertainty does not
       trouble me.   For in a way,  we all are--though some of us rise
       more prominently  from time to  time to fulfill  specific tasks
       which need doing.   And I can agree with T. D.  Stephen that we
       increasingly need  to evolve  simpler and  more human  language
       patterns, though even accidents like the etymology of BITNET do
       not alarm me.   For when I unpack BITNET and find "Because It's
       There Network," I see a brash and assertive and quite-typically
       American nonchalance  which I feel  more properly  reflects our
       spirit  than  would the  pompous  and  academic sound  of  some
       variant of EARN (European Academic and Research Network).   And
       when Craig White flames about  the stupidity and shallowness of
       some  network  argumentation,   I  say   "right  on!"  For  the
       identification of  such weakness is  the first step  toward its
       resolution.   I look forward to the  expression of new modes of
       argumentation about  matters of true substance  which transcend
       the  narrow borders  of particular  disciplines  or schools  of
       thought.

       Which  brings  me back  to  where  I  began.   Now  that  we're
       beginning to look  into our consoles and see  not just messages
       from others  but reflections  of ourselves,   isn't it  time we
       began sorting  out just who we  are?  Isn't it time  we started
       evolving a Philosophy of BITNET?

                                              ****           ****
                    ****     ****     ****   ****           ****
           ****    ****     ****       **** ****      **** ****
          ****    ****     ****         *******        *******    ****
         ****    ******** ****           *****          *****    ****
        ****    ****  *******            *****          *****   ****
        ***    ****    *****            *******        ******* ****
1

                                                               Page 13


        *********
       *         *  The Listserv LISTS Database
       *         *
       *         *  by Eric Thomas
       *         *
       *         *  ERIC@CEARN
        *********


       The  Listserv database  functions  have  been developed  in  an
       attempt  to make  it  possible for  users  to extract  relevant
       information from  list archives  without having  to retrieve  a
       large "notebook"  file and scan  it locally.   Users  will send
       commands  to   Listserv,   requesting  it  to   perform  search
       operations locally and to send out only the selected items from
       the list archives.   The following goals have been kept in mind
       all throughout the development of the new facilities:

       * The functionalities provided must  be general enough to allow
       for databases other than list archives (i.e.   electronic mail)
       to be used if needed.

       * Users with little or no database  experience  must be able to
       learn how to use the Listserv database in a few minutes.

       * The  syntax  should  be  as  close  to "natural  english"  as
       possible, and should be easy to remember.

       * The commands  must be powerful enough to  be functional,  but
       they  should not  be overly  complex  so as  not to  discourage
       beginners.

       * Interactive  access to  the database  through the  network is
       primordial.   Once the  search has been carried  out,  the user
       should have the option to retrieve the results in a file rather
       than as interactive output.

       Because  their  main  application  is   the  scanning  of  list
       archives, the Listserv database functions are document-oriented
       and therefore quite different  from "usual" commercial database
       systems.

       The database can be accessed either interactively or in "batch"
       mode.   In  the former case,  you  must obtain the  LDBASE user
       interface by  sending the  following commands  to your  nearest
       Listserv:
1

                                                               Page 14


       * For VM/CMS systems:

            GET LDBASE EXEC
            GET LSVIUCV MODULE

       * For VAX/VMS systems:

            GET LDBASE COM

       Other systems may not access the database in interactive mode.

       Because of the length of the  LISTDB user documentation,  it is
       next  to impossible  to print  any kind  of useful  information
       here.   Intead,  you should send  the following command to your
       nearest Listserv for complete instructions:

            INFO LISTDB

       The file sent to you explains some basic database concepts, and
       how to access LISTDB using  either the programs mentioned above
       or batch (mail) mode.


        *********
       *         *  NBSLIB at the National Bureau of Standards
       *         *
       *         *  by John Antonishek
       *         *
       *         *  ANT@ICST-CMR.ARPA
        *********


       The NBSLIB is a collection of benchmarks, measurement data, and
       a bibliography on  benchmarking maintained at NBS as  part of a
       project on  the performance measurement of  parallel computers.
       The collection exists to provide a pool of measurement data and
       benchmarks on more or less  "large" computers.   The pool grows
       by  donation from  the  interested public.    The  idea for  an
       automatic,  electronic mail-based software distribution system,
       as  well as  the  software to  make it  work,   came from  Jack
       Dongarra  at Argonne  National Laboratory  and  Eric Grosse  at
       AT&T-Bell Labs.    The idea for  a collection of  benchmarks to
       help untangle the performance issues  in parallel machines came
       from a group of scientists who  attended a workshop on parallel
       performance measurement  at NBS in  June,  1985.    Please send
       comments, criticisms,   and  software  donations  to  ANT@ICST-
       CMR.ARPA or to RJB@ICST-CMR.ARPA.
1

                                                               Page 15


       Public domain  benchmarks can  be obtained  free of  charge via
       electronic mail by sending commands on the first line of a mail
       message to:

            NBSLIB@ICST-CMR.ARPA

       For an index of the available software libraries send the line:

            SEND INDEX

       to the above  address.   And index for a single  library can be
       retrieved by the SEND INDEX command.    For example,  to get an
       index of the LANL library you would issue:

            SEND INDEX FOR LANL

       To get  the program BMK11 from  the LANL directory,   you would
       send:

            SEND BMK11 FROM LANL

       The NBS Parallel Computer Benchmark  Collection aims to provide
       a  common  set  of  codes that  can  be  used  for  performance
       measurement on parallel systems.

       Many innovative parallel computer architectures are being built
       and a larger number being proposed,   a development due in part
       to  advances in  VLSI technology.    This  technology makes  it
       possible  to  use  numbers of  relatively  cheap  but  powerful
       processors to execute parts of the same program simultaneously.
       Many  of the  new  architectures  are for  special  application
       problems,   others are  considered  by  their designers  to  be
       general purpose.    A myriad  of design  choices in  numbers of
       processors,  methods of interconnection,   and memory sizes are
       available.   It is difficult to predict the performance of such
       systems, and measurement of their performance continues to be a
       research issue.

       One  method  of  performance  measurement  is  benchmarking  --
       running a program on a system  and noting carefully the elapsed
       time and system conditions.  Often the problem size, the amount
       of computational and I/O work done by the benchmark program, is
       varied systematically  and the run  times measured.    Then the
       timing data is analyzed in the light of the system architecture
       and  component speeds.    The interpretation  of  this data  is
       greatly  aided if  the  structure  and characteristics  of  the
       benchmark program are well known;  but achieving this knowledge
       requires some  understanding of  the underlying  algorithms and
       therefore  of  the  application area  from  which  the  program
       originates.    A  considerable  understanding   of  the  system
       architecture is also certain to be required.
1

                                                               Page 16


        *********
       *         *  CLASS FOUR:  The Relay Magazine
       *         *
       *         *  by Dave Phillips
       *         *
       *         *  V184GAVW@UBVMS
        *********


       CLASS FOUR is intended to be edited by,  and in the large to be
       written by,   junior Relay operators.    After all,   with some
       exceptions junior Ops are on frequently and have a good deal of
       familiarity with  what new users  need to know,   what harassed
       female users  need to know (for  example),  and what  users who
       might wish  to become Ops  themselves would like/need  to know.
       Many of  these questions  came  out in between  the mudslinging
       and "let  me reiterates" that RELUSR-L has become,   and recent
       events have  made not a  few Relayers do  a /info and  ask some
       good questions.

       CLASS 4 OPS:  You  know  who  you are.   "You look  mahvelous."
       Please send  *brief* comments,   suggestions,  questions  which
       MasterOps  (eg)   could  publically   answer  (or  answer  them
       yourself)  in print,  etc.  to one of the editors listed in the
       panel below. Note: we have candidates for Mexico and South/West
       editors in  mind but we're still  in the process  of contacting
       them (links aren't mahvelous).

       OTHER OPS:  You don't get off the hook either.  Write, comment,
       criticize, suggest, also, to the editor nearest you.

       Finally,  I'm just pushing this forward to  see if we can do it
       and do it right:  that is, to put something in the hands of all
       Relayers who care about Relay that they can USE.  I hope to get
       it rolling  and then go  to rotating issue  editorships.   Till
       then,  flames to me,  contributions to any of the editors,  and
       frets,  policy-concerns,  and all that good stuff to any/all of
       the masterOps on the advisory panel.

       If you are a Relay operator,  you can receive a subscription to
       CLASS FOUR by  subscribing to the mailing  list Relay-L@NCSUVM.
       If you are NOT a Relay operator,   you can subscribe to RELUSR-
       L@NCSUVM.    To  do  this,   send  the  following  commands  to
       Listserv@NCSUVM via mail or message:

            SUBSCRIBE Relay-L  your_full_name
            SUBSCRIBE RELUSR-L your_full_name

       Note that these mailing lists are  open forums.   CLASS FOUR is
       distributed to them periodicly.
1

                                                               Page 17


        *********
       *         *  Accessing the SCIT Database
       *         *
       *         *  by Mark Levinson
       *         *
       *         *  SCITDOC@QUCDN
        *********


       Studies in Communication and  Information Technology (SCIT)  is
       an interdisciplinary  group at Queen's Univeristy  in Kingston,
       Ontario,  which is involved in  promoting research and teaching
       related  to  the social  impacts  of  the new  information  and
       communication technology.   Among its various activities,  SCIT
       mounts  seminars   during  the  academic  year   and  publishes
       occasional papers which deal with the social impacts of the new
       technology.   In addition,  a central  activity of the group is
       the  management  of  an  on-line  bibliographic  service  which
       contains  close to  6,000 references  dealing  with the  social
       context  of  the  new  technology.    This  database  is  being
       constantly updated,  and as of recently has been made available
       to  users outside  Queen's University  who have  access to  the
       BITNET.

       To access the SCIT database through BITNET, the user must first
       subscribe to the  particular database called SCIT-BIB.    To do
       this send the  following command to Listserv@QUCDN  via mail or
       message:

             SUBSCRIBE SCIT-BIB your_full_name

       You will  receive acknowledgement in  about a  day,  confirming
       your  addition  to  the  SCIT-BIB   database.    Once  you  are
       subscribed,  you may  access the database at  your convenience.
       You must send SCIT queries to Listserv@QUCDN via mail.

       The following is the format for sending queries:

            +SCITBIB
            //SEARCH DD *
            your query goes here
            /*

       For example:

            +SCITBIB
            //SEARCH DD *
            SEARCH CANADA .TITLE.
            BROWSE
            /*
1

                                                               Page 18


       This will  search  for  all TITLES with CANADA  in them.    The
       results will be mailed in about a day.

       Every  entry in  the  SCIT Bibliography  contains  a number  of
       "fields".    When searching  for a  reference   you may  search
       through all fields in each entry or you may specify which field
       you would  like searched.The  fields that can  be found  in the
       SCIT database are:

            * title
            * keywords
            * firstauth
            * otherauth
            * source

       By default  a search  will look through  all fields  unless you
       specify otherwise.    WHen you subscribe  to SCIT-BIB  you will
       receive a list  of keywords and detailed information  on how to
       access SCIT.


        *********
       *         *  The Computer Science Research Network
       *         *
       *         *  from the CSNET documentation
       *         *
       *         *  NETSERV@BITNIC
        *********


       This is fourth in a series of articles about other networks.

       CSNET  (the  computer  science research  network)   is  a  data
       communications   network   linking  computer   scientists   and
       engineers at sites throughout the  United States,  Canada,  and
       Europe.

       Membership  in CSNET  is open  to any  organization engaged  in
       research  or  advanced  development   in  computer  science  or
       computer engineering. Members include universities,  government
       agencies, corporations, and non-profit organizations.

       CSNET is  a logical network  that spans several  physical nets:
       the Department  of Defense  ARPANET,  the  public data  network
       Telenet,   and a  telephone-based message  relay system  called
       PhoneNet.   Bridges  between these networks are  transparent to
       users.  Network addresses are straightforward.

       CSNET  PhoneNet provides  a  store-and-forward electronic  mail
       delivery service.  PhoneNet sites are connected via the dial-up
1

                                                               Page 19


       telephone network  to a central  relay located at  Bolt Beranek
       and Newman in Cambridge,  Massachusetts.   The relay links them
       to hosts on other networks such as ARPANET and BITNET.

       CSNET  X25Net  provides   high-speed  interactive  host-to-host
       network communications  over the  public X.25  network Telenet.
       Hosts on X25Net run the DoD protocols for electronic mail, file
       transfer,  and  remote login that are  used on the  ARPANET and
       other government networks.

       CSNET has foreign associate sites,   some of which run PhoneNet
       software  over a  commercial  packet-switched network.    These
       sites have  agreed to act as  gateways to other hosts  in their
       countries.

       CSNET users  are faculty,  graduate  students,  undergraduates,
       corporate  research  staff,  visiting  scientists,   government
       researchers,  and other professionals in the fields of computer
       science and electrical engineering.

       * Electronic mail service to nearly 150 member organizations in
       the United States and Canada, and six international affiliates.

       * Gateways to other networks in the United States, Canada,  and
       Europe for the exchange of mail and files.

       * A database of CSNET users,  the User Name Server,  indexed by
       keyword,  for  locating network addresses  and groups  of users
       with  common  interests.    This centralized  database  can  be
       accessed with local software supplied by CSNET.

       * Continuously  updated   information  about  CSNET  and  other
       networks, available by electronic mail.

       * Access to national network mailing  lists in areas of special
       interest  to  computer  scientists  and  engineers:   operating
       systems,   microcomputers,   programming  languages,   computer
       graphics, message systems, and more.

       For hosts on  the CSNET X25net,  these  additional services are
       available:

       * Immediate transmission of electronic mail

       * Interactive processes: file transfer and remote login

       * Access to hosts on the public data network Telenet
1

                                                               Page 20


       Sending mail to  people in CSNET is relatively  easy.   You can
       address you mail to USERID@NODE.CS.NET.   For example,  someone
       with  a userid  of FRED  at node  SEYMOUR would  would have  an
       address that looks like this:

            FRED@SEYMOUR.CS.NET


        *********
       *         *  Headlines
       *         *
       *         *  Smaller particles of news, but not unimportant...
       *         *
       *         *  Send them to BITLIB@YALEVM
        *********


       * Listserv news:   Thanks to Gary  Amek for his announcement of
       the new  Listserv@@UTARLVM1.   The Listserv@TECMTYVM now  has a
       FILELIST known  as VM-UTIL.     This contains  many useful  and
       interesting VM-related utilities.   See the article New Mailing
       Lists  for information  on the  VM-UTIL mailing  list as  well.
       Thanks  also   to  Lois  Buwalda   for  the  announcement  that
       Listserv@UCF1VM is now running the /WHOIS name server package.

       * Network statistics from Patricia Noeth:  Altogether, over 700
       institutions and 2,100 computers are connected to BITNET, EARN,
       and NetNorth.  Domestically, all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico
       are now  connected.   Internationally,  we can  now communicate
       easily and quickly with  universities,  colleges,  and research
       institutions  in 29  countries on  five continents:    Austria,
       Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Great Britain,
       Finland, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Israel,  Ivory Coast,
       Japan,   Korea,   Luxembourg,  Mexico,   Netherlands,   Norway,
       Portugal,  Singapore,   Spain,  Sweden,   Switzerland,  Taiwan,
       Turkey, and West Germany.

       * INTERACT@DTUPEV5A  is  a  file  server storing  software  for
       VAX/VMS sites  which use the  JNET interface to  BITNET.  Users
       should note that the packages stored on INTERACT require system
       privileges.   The server will accept commands sent by both mail
       and message.

       The following commands are available from INTERACT:

       CMD  Ã•cmdÃ¥   -  Executes a single DCL command
       DIR  Ã•nameÃ¥  -  Lists the contents of SOFT directory Ã•nameÃ¥
       HELP         -  Sends you help
       HELP SOFT    -  Gives information on available software
       SOFT Ã•nameÃ¥  -  Sends software as described in HELP SOFT
       STAT         -  Gives information about current INTERACT users
1

                                                               Page 21


       The following software packages are available:

       INTERACT     -  The BITNET remote login facility for VAXes
       PSEUDOTERM   -  VAX Pseudo terminal software


        *********
       *         *  Helpdesk
       *         *
       *         *  a Question and Answer Column
       *         *
       *         *  Send your questions to BITLIB@YALEVM
        *********


       *Q* All network mail from our  node is routed through the UMass
       nodes UMAECS and UMASSVM, and then through UCONNVM.   Over here
       we have a continual problem of error messages from UMASSVM that
       say,  "Link UCONNVM  not active."  I've been told  that this is
       because  of  a  software incompatibility  between  UMASSVM  and
       UCONNVM,  but it's been going on for  a long time and I haven't
       heard of any plans to fix  it.   I've tried sending messages to
       OPERATOR at each of these nodes, but nobody's responded.  Since
       this is the only available mail route, what can I do about it?

       *A*  Other  people   you  can  contact  who   might  have  more
       information are the  Inforeps for those nodes.   You  can get a
       list of these people by sending the command SENDME INFOREP LIST
       to NICSERVE@BITNIC.    You may  also want  to contact  your won
       Inforep,  as he/she may have already inquired into the problem.
       Otherwise, there is nothing you can do except wait.


       *Q* How do I get documentation about the /WHOIS feature on some
       Listservs ?

       *A* If  a Listserv  is running /WHOIS,   the command  should be
       documented on a file named LOCAL HELPCMD.  (Send the server the
       command SENDME LOCAL HELPCMD).   If the  file does not exist or
       the information is  not there,  you can request  the file WHOIS
       HELPCMD from Listserv@BOSTONU.


       And now,  a question for which we  do not have an answer:   Any
       takers?

       *Q* Why  isn't node OHSTMPA on  routing tables?   To  issue any
       RSCS  commands  to that  node  one  must  first issue  them  to
       adjacent nodes (OHSTVMA or PSUVM).  I can understand if OHSTMPA
       is a temporary node but its been there for months.  Any insight
       on this?
1

                                                               Page 22


        *********
       *         *  New Mailing Lists
       *         *
       *         *  from List of Lists by Rich Zellich
       *         *
       *         *  ZELLICH@SRI-NIC.ARPA
        *********


       AMIGA-Relay@UDEL.EDU

       A direct (unmoderated)  bi-directional  gateway with the USENET
       newsgroup  comp.sys.amiga for  those people  without access  to
       USENET.

       All  requests  to  be  added to  or  deleted  from  this  list,
       problems, questions, etc., should be sent to:

            AMIGA-Relay-REQUEST@UDEL.EDU

            Coordinator: Chuck Cranor 


       INFO-HIGH-AUDIO@CSD4.MILW.WISC.EDU

       This list is for the exchange of subjective comments about high
       end audio  equipment and  modifications performed  to high  end
       pieces.   Techniques used to  modify equipment especially,  but
       not limited to,  vacuum tube  electronics are exchanged.   Some
       comments may be subjective or intuitive  and may not yet have a
       measurable  basis.     Other  topics   of  discussion   include
       turntables,  arms and cartridges;  preamplifiers,  headamps and
       cartridge  matching;    speakers,   amplifiers   and  matching;
       placement of speakers, and room treatments.   Any comments that
       prevent  an  open exchange  of  ideas  and techniques  are  not
       encouraged.

       All  requests  to  be  added to  or  deleted  from  this  list,
       problems, questions, etc., should be sent to:

            INFO-HIGH-AUDIO-REQUEST@CSD4.MILW.WISC.EDU

            Coordinator: Thomas Krueger 


       INFO-MACH@CS.CMU.EDU

       This mailing list  exists for the purpose  of discussing issues
       related to the  Mach operating system.   Mach is  a UNIX BSD4.3
       compatible  operating   system  based  on  a   message  passing
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       architecture that incorporates such  features as multiprocessor
       support,  lightweight tasking,  external pagers,  and a machine
       independent vm  system.   Mach is  being developed  at Carnegie
       Mellon University.

       All  requests  to  be  added to  or  deleted  from  this  list,
       problems, questions, etc., should be sent to:

            INFO-MACH-REQUEST@CS.CMU.EDU

            Coordinator: Doug Orr 


       POLITICS@UCF1VM

       A list for  the serious discussion of politics,   hosted by the
       University  of  Central  Florida.    Since   it  is  not  being
       moderated, we ask that all users refrain from making attacks or
       flames of a personal nature.

       To subscribe send the following  command to Listserv@UCF1VM via
       mail or message:  SUBSCRIBE POLITICS your_full_name

       Coordinator: Lois Buwalda 


       QUICKEYS-USERS@PLAID.SUN.COM

       Discussion group for the Macintosh Quickeys product.

       All  requests  to  be  added to  or  deleted  from  this  list,
       problems, questions, etc., should be sent to:

            QUICKEYS-REQUEST@PLAID.SUN.COM

            Coordinator: Chuq Von Rospach 


       VMXA-L@UGA

       Discussion of issues in installation, operation and maintenance
       of VM/XA  systems.   Included  are both  the existing  VM/XA/SF
       system as  well as  the new  VM/XA/SP system.    Topics include
       anything related to VM/XA, as well as conversion from VM/SP and
       VM/SP/HPO to VM/XA.

       To subscribe  send the  following command  to Listserv@UGA  via
       mail or message:  SUBSCRIBE VMXA-L your_full_name

            Coordinator: Harold C. Pritchett 
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       WHITEWATER@IUVAX.CS.INDIANA.EDU

       Mail.whitewater  is  devoted  to  those  who  enjoy  whitewater
       kayaking, rafting,  and canoeing.   The list is a forum for the
       discussion of  trips,  rivers,  equipment,   current happenings
       affecting "river rats", and anything else related to the sport.

       All  requests  to  be  added to  or  deleted  from  this  list,
       problems, questions, etc., should be sent to:

            WHITEWATER-REQUEST@IUVAX.CS.INDIANA.EDU

            Coordinator: Charles Daffinger 


        *********
       *         *  Feedback
       *         *
       *         *  Wow!  People CAN think...
       *         *
       *         *  Send your letters to BITLIB@YALEVM
        *********


       From:     Eric Keller
       Subject:  More on Crossnet Usage Beefs

       I got the March issue of NetMonth. Thanks for all the publicity
       for foNETiks (a pleasant surprise)  and for publishing my beefs
       about X-net usage.   Dave Gomberg of  UCSFVM sent me a suitably
       pithy comment.   I  thought you might want to include  it in an
       upcoming issue of NetMonth:

       "I heard your NetMonth complaint.   As a programmer since 1959,
       even on machines  with tubes,  and the local  maintainer of our
       own MTA and UA,   I can tell you the other  networks problem is
       nearly insoluble. The others (and BITNET too, if I could see it
       thru the eyes of others) are both inconsistent (internally) and
       in continual flux.   The worst is UUNET.  The  only SOLUTION is
       standardization and someday we will get it. Till then, the best
       you can  do is hang  in there.  If you  want to take  an active
       role, try to get your institution entirely on Internet, and out
       of the  IBM BS used  by BITNET.  This need  not be true  from a
       traffic perspective (99% of your  traffic can still be BITNET),
       but  if  you  have  an   Internet  interface  that  works  like
       clockwork,  the rest of the world  will have no bitch about how
       you are reached. Good luck."
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       From:     A. Harry Williams
       Subject:  Volunteers

       I almost  forgot,  but  thanks to Chris  Condon for  his recent
       editorial in NetMonth for jogging my  memory that I promised to
       start a discussion on POLICY-L about the volume of software the
       network is now dependant on that is written by volunteers,  and
       should we be concerned.  Let me set the stage a little:

       * I imagine  NetNorth and EARN are in similar situations, but I
       cannot speak for them.  (I can't speak for BITNET either, but I
       can raise the  BITNET questions as part  of my responsibilities
       as chair of the Node Management which I "volunteered" for.)

       * BITNET has a mandate from the BITNET Institutional reps to be
       inexpensive.

       * BITNET wants to play itself to the end user,  a commitment to
       all disciplines at the institution.  That is why fees are based
       on institution budget, not Computer Center, or other entity.

       * The growth  of BITNET and end user involvement  is due mostly
       to the services provided.   Users see these services as BITNET,
       NOT the  questions many of  us have  been dealing with  such as
       Node management or domains,  etc.   Most of the end users could
       care less about any of that, they want the services.

       * The  services  that  have made  it grow  are  such things  as
       Listserv, Netserv, Relay,  CSNEWS,  Comserve,  ISAAC,  and many
       others.   Others  such as MAIL and  MAILER in the VM  world are
       basic tools of some of these.   Also note that most of the ones
       listed above  are done by  volunteers,  either with  or without
       their institutions blessings.


       From:      Mads Ledet
       Subject:   Volunteers

       BITNET would  not be as  good as it is  or show such  growth if
       many un-thanked  volunteers had  not spent  long hours  writing
       software and maintaining systems.  It is exactly this volunteer
       aspect of BITNET which should be discussed as BITNET becomes an
       integral part of our working environment.

       Can we  afford to depend on  volunteer labor?  How many  of you
       would be comfortable  with having volunteers doing  1)  central
       site maintenance;   2)  mail  service;  3)   telephone  service
       (home);  4)  electric service (home)?  And yet,  as an example,
       when the telephone was in its infancy,  volunteers did maintain
       it and service it and string new lines, etc.
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       I believe  we have to move  toward standards for  site software
       and network "protocols".  The intent of  this belief is to make
       it possible for the maintainers to  do their work in a "network
       load independent" manner. Each site should have certain minimum
       networking  software  and  that   software  should  conform  to
       standards.  For example, every site should have a standard name
       server so that users can find  someone without putting an extra
       load on a volunteer or maintainer.

       There should be a  standard set of servers - I  don't know what
       all  should  be  in  it  -  but  I  would  like  to  hear  some
       suggestions. This does not mean that  a site couldn't have non-
       standard servers!  It does mean  that the maintainers and maybe
       some volunteers could share the workload that always comes with
       software.  For example, if a standard name server was available
       in several versions  for the different main  computers,  a site
       could install it  and assign a "maintainer".   The maintainer's
       job might be to just clean up and maintain databases, etc., and
       to communicate with a committee of  name server experts in case
       of problems. With this approach the volunteers would be able to
       go back  to developing  good additions  to or  new versions  of
       software.

       My question to you is:  can we  (or should we)  develop a model
       which fits the above?


       From:     Dan Pressler
       Subject:  An idea

       In the year and a half that I  have been using BITNET & Relay I
       have  often wondered  what events  of interest  outside of  the
       networks may  be happening  around the  country and  the world.
       Would anyone be interested in setting up or helping to set up a
       list of  ongoing and/or  periodic events from  in the  area the
       live in  for people who  may be planning  trips of one  sort or
       another?  This  could be  set up either  as some sort of server
       or simply as an account where requests for information are sent
       and replies,  based on what is sent in,  returned.   While this
       would  probably  not  be  as comprehensive  as  what  would  be
       available elsewhere, it would provide a different point of view
       as well as information on some of the more obscure, but no less
       enjoyable events in an area.

                                                     ****
           ****    ****                     ****      **** ****
          ****      ****   ****         *******        *******    ****
         ****         *** ****           *****          *****    ****
        ****    ****  *******            *****          *****   ****
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        *********
       *         *  NetMonth Policies
       *         *
       *         *  Everything you ever wanted to know...
       *         *
       *         *  BITLIB@YALEVM
        *********


       NetMonth is a  network service publication distributed free  of
       charge to  students  and  professionals  in  BITNET  and  other
       networks. This magazine and its companion file, BITNET SERVERS,
       are the  work  of the  BITNET Services Library (BSL) staff  and
       contributors from around the network.

       BITNET SERVERS is BITNETs list of servers and services.  If you
       know of servers not listed in BITNET SERVERS, or if some listed
       are no longer available, please contact the NetMonth Editor.

       * Subscribing to NetMonth and BITNET SERVERS:

       Send  the  following  command  to  Listserv@MARIST  by  mail or
       messgage:

            SUBSCRIBE NETMONTH Your_full_name

       Internet users may use this method, but must  address  the mail
       to Listserv%MARIST.BITNET

       * Back issues:

       BITNET users  may get NetMonth back issues from the file server
       NICSERVE@BITNIC.

       A subscriber  can delete  him/herself from  the mailing list by
       sending Listserv@MARIST the UNSUBSCRIBE NETMONTH command.

       * Letters to the Editor:  If  you  have  questions  or comments
       about BITNET or  NetMonth that you would like  to  see  printed
       here, mail  your letter  to BITLIB@YALEVM.  Make  sure that you
       specify in the "Subject:"  header or  somewhere  in  the letter
       that it is for the NetMonth letters column.

       * Article Submissions:  The  only  requirements  for   NetMonth
       articles and columns are that they be informative, interesting,
       and concern some BITNET-related topic.  Send your articles  and
       to BITLIB@YALEVM.
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                                                               Page 28


       * Printing this file:  VM  users can print  this file  by first
       copying it to NETMONTH LISTING and then printing  the new file.
       This will allow page-breaks and other formatting to be accepted
       by your printer.


            _
           __-
          __---    The
         __-----   BITNET
        __-------  Services
       ___________ Library                       "Because We're Here."

       ***************************************************************