Number nine, number nine, number nine, ... Decentralizing the FidoNet Nodelist - Decentralizing FidoNet Power Randy Bush 1:105/6 16 Jun 89 Think of FidoNet as a confederation of local nets. Forget regions. Forget zones except as a way of saving telco charges by concentrating messages and as a way to segment the total nodelist. FidoNet returns to being a collection of local nets, as it was before the region and zone hierarchies were added just a few years ago. In each zone there is an echo, call it ZnnnLIST, to which every NC in that zone subscribes. In the North American zone, it is Z001LIST. For the moment, do not worry about the security or reliability of this echo, but things like sequence numbers, checksums, and RSA public key signatures can be used to address such problems (you are aware that RSA can be used to send a validatable signature, yes?). When an NC's net (or hub) segment undergoes significant change (significant is that which would be likely to affect callers from outside one's own net), then the NC posts a processed version of that segment to the ZnnnLIST echo. The processing could be to create a difference file, compress the file, maybe RSA signature encode it, or whatever else is deemed necessary. A simplistic scheme to start is a collection of lines of the form add z:n/n del z:n/n chg z:n/n similar to the prerevolutionary nodediff file. By placing the processed segment in the ZnnnLIST echo, each net's nodelist segment(s) will be automatically distributed to all other nets within that zone. This is the essence of the scheme. Each NC automatically accumulates the changes to the zone nodelist as they pass by in the ZnnnLIST echo for their zone. Once a week (or two), they create a difference file against last week's accumulated zone nodelist, and distribute this new difference file within their local net. The nodes within the net are thus insulated from all change, and do not have to change their prerevolutionary batch files or programs. The zonegates exchange periodic diffference files for their zones, and make the lists (or difference files) of the other zones available within their own, likely via the local ZnnnLIST echo. Since the advent of zonegates, one need not know much about a node in another zone, only the sysop's name and the node number. So we could choose to reduce the size of lists we keep of other zones, if the thought is not too scary. Note that a first prototype of this methodology could be constructed from existing software plus a few days of coding. -------- Credits: o FidoNet is a trademark of Fido Software and Tom Jennings. o UucpNet/Internet distribute the maps via their equivalents of echomail. o This idea in this general form was first spoken of by Tom Jennings in the FIDOBETA echo in May '89. o Ken Ganshirt refocussed my attention on it when I whined about the current FidoNet hierarchic power structure.