On Fri, 19 Jul 2024 14:38:53 +0000, Nash, Jonathan S. <[email protected]> wrote:
>This reminded me of Danny Hillis's discussion about >how we need a plan B for the Internet: > >https://youtu.be/2K6WN3LBHiw?si=R1-dBlYzdZRwCvSr I just watched the video. One of the things he mentioned was the police department being able to call the fire department - so that's a requirement for a real-time solution. I don't have a real-time solution, but I like the "simplicity" of Fidonet messaging. Perhaps Usenet UUCP is in the same ballpark. Both things still exist incidentally. And it can be used offline - not even requiring modems - you can transfer mail bundles using USB sticks or Bluetooth. If the internet is available you can send a bundle that way. You can literally use homing pigeons (and not just that silly ping thing that people always quote when I mention that). I have been making sure the software is fit for my purpose. Just a week ago or so msged started working with proper colors as a native ARM app running under PdAndro on an Android smartphone for this purpose. I have in mind running msged under z/PDOS-generic too, although I'm not sure that is actually useful. I more had in mind people in remote areas without cell towers using cheap smartphones and exchanging USB sticks. Latency is not an issue which may give more options for the use of satellites. I have been collecting UUCP bundles via Eternal September for months (before Google Groups stopped) with a view to importing them into Fidonet technology messagebase. It wouldn't be Fidonet itself though - I don't want someone to be able to denodelist me. So more like Usenet in that respect. I have been hesitant to be dependent on software I don't understand. Even when I use Windows with millions of lines of code, I am conscious of what I am doing and which task can continue without Windows or the Internet. I stick to text and I use micro-emacs. I have the source for it. It runs under PDOS/386. I have a grasp of that. It's written in C90. I know that language. All the tools I use to build and run msged are written in C90. There is only a very small amount of assembler required. And I have initial proof at least that nothing changes when moving to the mainframe. I was pleasantly surprised when parted and mkdosfs were happy to create a FAT filesystem in EBCDIC right out of the box. Like Danny said it that video - it doesn't need to be a multi-billion dollar government project. This was done by hobbyists - Fidonet itself was done by hobbyists. But - now what? He said that the alternative could be built by "the people in this room". Was it built? Who is it waiting on to make a decision? I've got my own alternative that isn't as sophisticated as what he was after, and since it was a "simple matter of programming", I didn't need anyone's permission and just went ahead and did it. I haven't actually started using it though - I've just been focused on making sure the technology exists. Anyone I talk to is far more interested in making Tik-Tok videos than exchanging text messages with me in a manner that will survive if the Internet dies. But the (a) backstop exists - in some form. Someone described me as a "computer prepper" or something like that. I have in the back of my mind what happens if Putin wipes out Europe/North America but leaves where I currently live (Philippines) intact. I can get the software side operational (assuming the existence of a BIOS/UEFI or I use Android/Linux as a glorified BIOS), but not the hardware side. I'm also conscious of what I would do if I was faced with a mainframe with a card reader etc, but no software. If we're restarting computer technology after a nuclear war, card readers may be a thing again - it's unclear to me what the situation is. My current mainframe solution (z/PDOS - not generic) has a truly massive CCW chain to load itself from a card reader, so I may need to fine-tune that if I'm going to hand-punch the cards. BFN. Paul. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
