The QWKNET concept
By Keith Yox
The QWKNET program is copyright (c) 1993 by Keith Yox
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QWKNET, by itself, has no security checking.  For that reason, any QWKable
conference can be accessed and linked by anyone.  This can pose problems to
SysOps who wish their conference(s) to be local.  One possible solution would
be to not make the conference(s) QWkable, but that would eliminate those that
participate solely offline.  Another solution would be to limit access to 
offenders, but that does not keep them from signing on using a different name.
Whatever the case may be, there are possible problems caused by the use (or
rather, abuse) of the QWKNET program.  However, the purpose of this file is
to outline the things that can be done using the program, not the problems it
might cause.  Hopefully, after reading this file, you will find that the
possibilities outweigh the potential problems.

First of all, in any "network" involving QWKNET, I prefer to call individual
systems "link" rather than nodes.  A traditional network usually has a rather
rigid structure, and conferences are "network conferences"- meaning belong to,
are created and removed by, the network coordinators.  This minimizes the role
of the individual BBS.  The open-ended structure of QWKNET allows, in any 
network, the announcement of a conference, its owner (home BBS), and QWK conf
number, for the purpose of extended the range of its (the conference's)
contributors.  Any system which receives this announcement may then carry the
conference by either directly connecting with the home system or by connecting
with a system that is carrying the conference.  In the end, a network of those
systems carrying the conference is created.  The role of each individual 
system is as strong as its membership, following, and level of acitvity.

With this software, QWKNET, other networks are easily gated.  Not only can 
entire networks be merged into the QWKNET environment, but they can be merged
into each other.  As a result QWKNET takes care of its own as well as helps
the growth of messaging networks in general.