On 03-20-19 20:17, Bj”rn Felten wrote to Tony Langdon <=-
While Fidonet doesn't _need_ multiple zones, we have them, and mail is flowing, so "fixing" this is low on the priority list.
What we don't need is regions (except for the archaic nodelist
format). Nowadays the RINs are obsolete, so they are no longer needed.
That makes sense, and only those who peruse the nodelist would even know they existed. I doubt there's an othernet that uses more than 1 region. In fact, I only know of one othernet that uses more than one net (FSXnet).
The original idea was that each zone should have ten regions e.g.
10-19 in zone 1, 20-29 in zone 2 and so on. Each zone should have a hundred nets e.g. 100-1099 in region 10, 110-1199 in region 1:11 and so on.
I see. Locking down structure like that is always fraught. ;)
But it didn't take long before net 1:202 was created. The net where
I first got my nodenumber was 2:202. By then I often got netmail
addressed to my node intended for the duplicate 1:202 node.
Removing all regions save for a single place-holder for our nodelist would be a big step forward. Today's RCs are nothing but nodelist
clerks not even needed, our ZCs can easily handle net segments.
Yep, that makes sense - there is a logic to cutting out that middle level in today's smaller Fidonet. It would certainly streamline things.
But we (yes, that includes me, RC20) still have an unreasonable
power to influence not only important elections, but, even worse, such things as veto any changes to our policy documents.
Understood. And removing that political aspect through removing regions is likely to benefit as well.
Overall this does make sense. Keep the zones - there's no real problem with keeping them (if it sin't broke...). Keep nets, nets are an important functional component, and NCs have an important role to play, managing their nodes and maintaining their part of the nodelist. Remove regions, as a now unnecessary bureaucratic layer that's redundant. And the other nice thing is no one should have to renumber their node. :)
... What do you think management's real interests are?
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