• FTSC_PUBLIC: FSP-10xx-1: BBSID Kludge Specification

    From Vladimir Fyodorov@2:6035/3.1 to All on Thu Dec 28 16:31:55 2023

    Rob Swindell, 1:103/705, опубликовал черновик пропозала "FSP-10xx-1:
    BBSID Kludge Specification", который подвергся критике от Michiel van der Vlist и Alexey Vissarionov (смотрите подробности в профильной эхе, если хорошо знаете ангийский).

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    * Area : FTSC_PUBLIC
    * From : Rob Swindell, 1:103/705 (26 Декабря 2023 15:05)
    * Subj : FSP-10xx-1: BBSID Kludge Specification ============================================================================= **********************************************************************
    FTSC FIDONET TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE **********************************************************************

    Publication: FSP-10xx
    Revision: 1
    Title: BBSID Kludge Specification
    Author: Rob Swindell (1:103/705)
    Date: 2023-12-12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Status of this document
    -----------------------

    This document is a Fidonet Standard Proposal (FSP), issued by its
    author for the benefit of the Fidonet community.

    This document specifies an optional Fidonet standard protocol for
    the Fidonet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
    improvements.

    This document is released to the public domain, and may be used,
    copied or modified for any purpose whatever.


    Contents
    --------
    1. Background
    2. Definition
    3. Deployment
    4. References

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

    1. Background
    -------------
    Synchronet BBS software supports the optional storage and display
    of character/block-graphic "avatars" for users of a BBS as well
    as the authors of messages imported from message networks.

    Other BBS software packages have also adopted the Synchronet avatar
    specifications and distribution model. The technical details of
    Synchronet avatars, including their sharing and storage formats,
    are not within the scope of this document, but more information
    can be found by following the links in the References section.

    1.1 The Problem
    ---------------
    The Synchronet user avatar data is not sent/stored with every
    posted message, but rather the avatar data is communicated
    out-of-band from networked discussion areas and the stored avatars
    include metadata to allow them to be correlated with the authors
    of subsequently locally-posted and received networked messages.
    This correlation is necessary in order to display the proper stored
    avatar corresponding with each message's author.

    Since avatars may be shared among BBSes using one of a number of
    message networking technologies (e.g. QWK, NNTP, FidoNet), and a
    BBS may have multiple FidoNet addresses (AKAs), a single
    correlatable ID was saught to enable the identification of the
    proper avatar to be displayed with the author of a networked
    message, regardless of which FidoNet-technology-network address
    from which the message was posted.

    For example, a BBS may store an avatar for "Rob Swindell" at
    1:103/705 (the FidoNet address of Vertrauen BBS) but would want
    that same avatar to be displayed along with any messages received
    from "Digital Man" at 21:1/183 (the fsxNet address of Vertrauen
    BBS). Solving the correlation of user aliases and real names is
    not within the scope of this document.

    1.2 The Solution
    ----------------
    Since BBSes that support QWK packet technology must already have a
    globally unique ID (the so-called BBS-ID or "Board ID" from which
    their QWK packet files are named), it made logical sense to reuse
    this same ID as the method of correlating any message received via
    FidoNet with the avatar data stored for the message author.

    2. Definition
    -------------
    A control paragraph (AKA kludge line) that contains a FidoNet
    node's BBS-ID has the format.

    BBSID: <bbs-id>

    Where <bbs-id> is a string of between 2 and 8 monocased ASCII
    characters, begining with an alphabetic character (betweeen 'A'
    and 'Z' inclusive). Only MS-DOS compatible filename characters
    may be included in a BBS-ID.

    The current common practice is for FidoNet message control
    paragraphs to be introduced with an ASCII 1 (SOH) character and
    terminated with an ASCII 13 (CR) character.

    Although a BBS sysop would best serve their users by having a
    globally unique BBS-ID, there's no existing known method to insure
    that is the case. So some creativity and research on the part of
    the sysop is recommended when determining what their BBS-ID should
    be and it should not be changed once the system usership has been
    established.

    3. Deployment
    -------------
    Synchronet and its FidoNet echomail program, SBBSecho, added BBSID
    kludge line support in December of 2020 (w/SBBSecho v3.12). So it's
    likely that the nodes of various FidoNet technology networks around
    the world started importing and storing echomail messages with BBS-IDs
    around this same time. So this document (from late 2023) finally
    formally defines the intention and use of this new metadata.

    Its possible that other uses for shared correlatable BBS-IDs within
    the metadata of FidoNet netmail and echomail messages may come to
    light in the future.


    4. References
    -------------
    [Synchronet Avatars] https://wiki.synchro.net/module:avatars
    [QWK Packets] https://wiki.synchro.net/ref:qwk
    [Kludge Line] https://wiki.synchro.net/ref:fidonet_glossary#kludge_line--
    digital man (rob)

    Sling Blade quote #11:
    Doyle Hargraves (to Karl): What in the hell you doin' with that hammer?
    Norco, CA WX: 64.1°F, 58.0% humidity, 0 mph E wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    --- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705) =============================================================================

    --- GoldED+/W64-MSVC 1.1.5-b20231028
    * Origin: Esquire Station (2:6035/3.1)