> Where on the Internet can I obtain a copy of the 
> FidoNet nodelist?

Tim Pozar responds:

I keep the nodelist on my anonymous ftp site of ftp.lns.com
[140.174.7.11].  Look in the /pub/text directory.

          Tim (pozar@kumr.lns.com)


Tom Jennings adds:

Keep the following in mind:

o The nodelist is a copyrighted work, and is for 
  use only by FidoNet sysops and users, or others working 
  in some way with the FidoNet network (mailer authors, 
  gateways, etc). 

o The nodelist is *not* a bulletin board list for human
  callers. It is used by automated machinery to connect
  to other FidoNet nodes. Many of the systems listed in
  the nodelist operate during limited hours only!

o The nodelist may not be used for any commercial purpose,
  directly or indirectly. (It is OK for your business to
  use the nodelist on a node connected to the FidoNet
  network -- that's different).

o The FidoNet is militantly anti-commercial.

o You may post the nodelist for further distribution, only
  if you do not modify the file in ANY WAY (changing com-
  pression method etc is OK) and make these restrictions
  clear to potential users.

o If you have specific questions regarding the use of the 
  nodelist, please contact Tom Jennings at FidoNet 1:125/111
  or tomj@fidosw.fidonet.org.

o FidoNet sysops are paranoid, cranky and take offense at
  the slightest mistake. You're better off banging hornets nests
  with sticks if ya wanna wrastle. Some have egos the size 
  of small planets. Don't say I didn't warn you. Our
  computers may be smaller, but they are mean and smart.

o FidoNet is organized in a radically different manner than
  nearly any other network you can think of. There is *no*
  central authority of any kind. You must deal with actual
  individual humans. Organization varies radically with time
  and place. Act as you would like to be treated.

o Last and not least, FidoNet people get very tired of network
  elitism; the assumption that because we're composed of (mainly)
  bulletin boards, our technologies are trivial and simple and
  somehow "not a real network". Please don't fall into this trap.


REALITY CHECK: If you aren't a FidoNet person, and you just want to
look, or get the phone number for a node you want to call, or are
thinking about joining or becoming an author or are just plain
curious, go right ahead and look. If you do decide to pull out a phone
number and start dialing, you better be damn sure you can decipher the
time-of-day codes and other magical keywords (please don't ask me to
do this for you) or you'll annoy someone to no end (and if they have
callerID, you will be annoyed back :-)

Be ethical -- don't do to others what you don't want done 
to you.

If you are on the Internet, and have further questions about FidoNet,
send your questions to deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org, who in real life is
David Deitch in Atlanta, Georgia, USofA. A volunteer also, so be nice
and have patience.
