FidoNet consists of approximately 30,000 systems world-wide which
comprise a network which exchanges mail and files via Modems using
a proprietary protocol.  They are connected for the purposes of
exchanging E-Mail to the Internet thru a series of gateway systems
which interact with the Internet via UUCP with cooperating UNIX-based
smart-hosts which act as their MX-receivers.
With a couple of exceptions, you cannot Telnet or FTP to a FidoNet
site, only communicate via E-Mail and Usenet News.


This is a list of the key documents regarding FidoNet and its gateways.
All of the files described herein are obtainable automatically thru
several methods.

For systems on the Internet:

1)  Via Anonymous-FTP from 'ftp.fidonet.org' in the /pub/fidonet/info
    directory.  (All FAQ files will be maintained in this directory.)
2)  Via 'gopher' server by connecting to 'gopher.fidonet.org'.
3)  Via an E-mail fileserver by sending E-mail to:
    'fileserver@ftp.fidonet.org' and simply listing the filenames
    (they must be in lower-case) in the body of the message.
    Your return address will be parsed from the "From:" or "Reply-To:"
    lines of the header of your message.
4)  By simply sending a dummy message to the alias shown at
    ftp.fidonet.org.

For FidoNet systems:

1)  Simply File-Request the FileName or Magic-Name from 1:1/31
2)  Send a dummy message to the 'alias' name on 1:1/31 and it
    will be send back thru the gateway to you.

FileName       Magic-Name/Alias   Description
--------       ----------------   -----------
info.txt       info               this file
uucphelp.txt   uucphelp           Instructions for using UUCP gateways
                                  to send E-mail from/to FidoNet with
                                  specifics for the gateway at 1:1/31
gateways.lst   gateways           List of sites approved for GUUCP flag
                                  and rules for obtaining that status.
fidonet.dns    dns                Copy of .fidonet.org Domain-Name-Server
                                  plenty of explanation in the comments
mx-rcvrs.faq   mx                 An Explanation of MX-receivers
gateappl.txt   gateappl           Application for Gateway Status
infogate.txt   infogate           Info on the operation of the gateway
                                  at 1:1/31.
                                  (If you're using it, READ it!)
joinfido.txt   joinfido           How to join FidoNet