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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!cbosgd!cbdkc1!desoto!packard!topaz!sommers
From: sommers@topaz.ARPA (Mamaliz @ The Soup Kitchen)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Personal netnodes?
Message-ID: <2283@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 14-Jun-85 08:19:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.2283
Posted: Fri Jun 14 08:19:10 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Jun-85 09:17:09 EDT
References: <381@moncol.UUCP>
Reply-To: sommers@topaz.UUCP (Mamaliz @ The Soup Kitchen)
Organization: The NJ Home for Perverted Hackers
Lines: 51

In article <381@moncol.UUCP> john@moncol.UUCP writes:
>
>With the decreasing price of UNIX-based micros and the availability of
>packages such as Lauren Weinstein's UUCP for MS-DOS, it is becoming easily
>possible to have a "personal" computer acting as a net node. 
>
>What I was wondering was whether anyone had given thought to the
>implications this has for the net? I have heard several possible scenarios
>for the future of the net, but none have ever mentioned this possibility.
>
One of the computers that we have at home (mama) (alternates between a
PC-AT and a NBI U!) is a net node, and we will probably put another one on
the net permanently.  We use these computers in our work, and find that we
have many of the same communication needs as larger sites.  I want my mail
to come to whatever machine I am working on.  Interrupting work to check
for mail, or having to kludge large file transfers is not for me.  We have
not moved any news software to these machines.  Disk space is just too
precious a commodity.

>What happens when the Ken Arndts and Frank Adrians of the net cease to
>be random users and become sites?

I think you might be confusing the USENET and netnews.  The net is a lot
more then netnews.  They will probably be able to deal with their mail
more efficiently.  I doubt that they would even bother to install netnews
software....I know I can't spare any disk space on a 45 meg disk for
flaming.  They probably already have terminals at home, does this make
them sites?

>
>From what I have seen of the USENET documentation, this has never been
>mentioned. Does this mean that someone with the right make of computer
>needs nothing more than the right software and a feed to become a node?

Probably.  I don't think anybody has set themselves up as god to say who
is and isn't going to be on the Net.  This isn't Arpa after all.

>
>If nothing else, how do you name such a site and what do you put as an
>organization?
How do you name any site?  You look for an available name that you like.
Organization lines would probably be easier to come up with.

liz sommers
mama!liz


-- 
liz sommers
uucp:   ...{harvard, seismo, ut-sally, sri-iu, ihnp4!packard}!topaz!sommers
arpa:   sommers@rutgers