On 01 Jun 2020 at 10:10p, Ogg pondered and said...

Your 'net is techy in nature throughout. Most of the content in _GEN is consistent with that. The different bbs support echos are good. The _BOT is wise so keep the automated stuff separate. The occassional test
message in _GEN is actually not too bad - it can actually serve as a headsup and announces a new member. It's all good.

I appreciate you giving your perspective on this. I agree with your summary. I think some of the general chat in GEN is non techy but also agree most of what is covered in fsxNet leans in that tech / geek / retro space. I could be wrong though :) I suppose given most folks here are sysops with some interest in such matters it's going to lend itself to that sort of banter.

But, I am not encouraged to blather about a recent tv show or a
gardening dilema or what ails me personally. There are specific echos
on othernets that are better places for that. Sure, _GEN does not discourage general chatter, but I wouldn't want to blather about
something that the general membership does not expect to find here.

I love the word blather :) This got me thinking and led to the post I made
last night putting out a bit of a challenge to others to suggest some
other echos that could support a range of distilled down subjects. Trying to find the balance between not too many echos of niche appeal vs not having somewhere to blather about star trek, wonder woman and project blue book for example.

That discussion has started and I hope in the next few days we firm up what
may be added to the FSXNET.NA file in the infopack.

I originally learned about fsxnet from a comment that someone else made somewhere else. At the time, I was considering toying with a couple different bbs packages and was told that fsxnet is the place to be. I
also read that fsxnet is (and I'm paraphrasing) "the friendliest | politik-free | straight-shooting on topic | fast growing" net there is.
I didn't come here expecting non-tech echos. I see that it is a close-knit community of people who are truly interested in helping each other and sharing ideas w.r.t to bbs tech.

Thanks for this kind feedback and I'm glad you feel that way about the
network. I do see a number of regular authors in the network, I think there
is a good general sense of camaraderie between all of us and support for queries we have both technical and all other things real life that we may choose to share.

Personally I'm open to creating new echomail areas but only if there's traffic evident that will support the topic.

Catch-22. If I don't see a _TVSHOWS echo, I wouldn't arbrarily start foisting my tv show experiences here.

Yep I get that but what I have also found is that if there were many folks
who did choose to start talking about a topic here it can (and has) led to
the creation of other echos. Now admittedly they have been BBS centric for
the most part. The HAM radio one probably being the exception to that theme
so far.

But this 'net is your baby. According to the wiki, it was intended as a network for bbs support and development. In that case, having non-tech related echos and personal chatter is not even to be expected.

Not quite right. I just went back and looked at what I wrote up when first creating the infopack

[snip]

Technologies covered by the network include (but are not limited to)
BBSing, ANSI art, Amateur (HAM) Radio, Retro / Vintage Computers & Gaming,
FTN communications, network protocols & topologies, encryption methods, contemporary computers (e.g. Raspberry Pi), computer coding and more.

[snip]

Granted that there's also stuff later on about it being an active support network for BBS software..

On refection I was trying to identify when I penned the above text some
themes that I thought might be common to the kinds of folks who may spin up a BBS and be interested in chatting more about.

It was always a desire to try and keep the ethos of the network progressive
and relaxed in that "fsxNet is not a prescriptive network. e[X]perimentation
is at heart of its name and members are actively encouraged to be creative in their use of the network."

The reality is/was it certainly became Mystic focused and I (as a Mystic
user) was happy to support the development of the software and for a number
of years we had g00r00 active in the network also. I'd always wanted the network to be not just Mystic supportive so worked hard to engage with other authors to try and spotlight their work and the BBS specific software echos
are really a reflection of that.

One thing I have always liked though is through it all, those who have come
and gone, and those who remain and those who are currently new, is that it's been a people centric place that been constantly active and populated (for
the most part) with kind souls who have supported one and other or just used
it as a time out space to natter 80's/90's style when the real world gets too much and big-brother social media becomes too much.

Feedback I've seen time and again from many coming back to the scene (or new to it) is that they get frustrated joining networks only to find all these echos of interest they set up remain inactive... so am I cautious about creating new ones... yes (Just ask Al :)) but have we created new echos when there has been evidential support / traffic for them - yep :)

Well.. Fidonet is an open network. Anyone can start an echo, announce its presence to the world, and sysop members of the network decide
whether to carry it or not. Fsxnet is different: it's a closed network and echo area decisions are tightly scrutinized and rightly so inorder
to stay true to the purpose of the network.

I'm not sure I can honestly say the echo area decisions are tightly
scrutinized because of trying to stay true to the network purpose. But I have always felt 'less is more' when you have a relatively speaking small
population of active folks in the BBS scene. So yeah on that count I've been
a tough nut to crack when it comes to adding echos :)

Some that have been added in the past have been retired and I think if we end up adding let's say 4-5 more in the coming week then their long term survival won't be assured unless it's clear that they are being utilized and there's a need for them.

I saw that someone had a FSX_JOKES echo on their system, and obviously
it was just local to that BBS.

Ha :) Well based on that convention it would be a filebase :)

Anyway.. I've blathered on long enough. I will retreat into lurkdom for
a while now.

Thanks for posting these thoughts and feedback. Really appreciated.

Sorry it took another day to get back to typing my reply.

Best, Paul

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/20 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

user) was happy to support the development of the software and for a number of years we had g00r00 active in the network also. I'd always

Since I missed whatever happened, is there a network/place where g00r00 is active at this point, or plans to be active in the future?

I don't want to rehash anything; it's just that his posts were oftentimes informative on Mystic, so if I'm missing something out there, I'd welcome the info.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Since I missed whatever happened, is there a network/place where g00r00
is active at this point, or plans to be active in the future?

He replies fairly regularly on the fidonet MYSTIC echo.

Jay

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Northern Realms BBS | bbs.nrbbs.net | Binbrook, ON (21:3/110)

On 03 Jun 2020 at 04:20p, Adept pondered and said...

Since I missed whatever happened, is there a network/place where g00r00
is active at this point, or plans to be active in the future?
I don't want to rehash anything; it's just that his posts were oftentimes informative on Mystic, so if I'm missing something out there, I'd

Sure you can find him on the Fidonet MYSTIC echo and the mystic website also lists othernets he's active on. There's quite a list to choose from.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/20 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Since I missed whatever happened, is there a network/place where g00r is active at this point, or plans to be active in the future?

He replies fairly regularly on the fidonet MYSTIC echo.

Thanks for that tidbit, then. I'll have to begin looking at fidonet echos again. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Sure you can find him on the Fidonet MYSTIC echo and the mystic website also lists othernets he's active on. There's quite a list to choose from.

Nice. I'm glad he's still active, then. I know he's developed Mystic for a
good long while, but it's nice for multiple BBS softwares to be in active development.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)