A PC Board Sysops Guide To How To Utilize the UUCP Maps The uucp maps contain information about a systems that are connected to the outside world. The intent of these files is to provide information for various software packages to find the routes between machines for the relay of electronic mail. Here's a typical map entry (mine): #N ehbbs #S AT&T 6386WGS MS DOS 3.30 PC Board 14.5A #O Ed Hopper's BBS #C Ed Hopper #E ed.hopper@ehbbs.hou.tx.us #T 713-997-9834 #P 3403 Jacquelyn, Pearland, Texas 77581 #L #R ehbbs, aka Ed Hopper's BBS, is a Public PC Board BBS system. It is #R accessible at 713-997-7575. Various connections including selected #R usenet newsgroups and a full feed from the ILink network are offered. #R A large selection of MS DOS shareware is also available. Offline .QWK #R formatted mail readers are supported via MarkMail 2.00 #U lobster, moxie, wrangler #W Ed Hopper 7/21/91 ehbbs lobster(DIRECT/3), moxie(DIRECT/3), uhnix1(DIRECT/3), wrangler(EVENING) The first entry (#N), is the unix system name. Even though I run under DOS, I still need a UNIX name for communications. These should be under 8 characters and should be lower case. #S - Indicates the type of system. #O - The organization, i.e., the name of the entity that operates the system. #C - Contact. Who do you call about communications with this system. #E - Email ID for the above named contact. #T - Voice telephone number for contact. #P - Mailing address for contact #L - Latitude and Logitude. #R - Remarks #U - Usenet "neighbors" #W - Who edited the last entry Following this, are the connections that the system maintains. In my case, I talk to four sites. "SO HOW DO I USE THIS TO FIND A FEED?", you ask. Review the entries for systems near you. Some will be very straight forward about it and will include a line like "USENET Feeds available" in the remarks section. That makes it a slam dunk, of course. But what if nobody says that? Well, then it's time to get on the phone and/or terminal and ask for help. You can send these people email from here (Ed Hopper's BBS) or give them a call on the phone. If they can't help you, ask them for a recommendation as to where to find a feed. Remember a few things, however: 1. Not everyone on the maps even receives Usenet. Some are there for email purposes only. 2. No one is obligated to help you, so politeness and salesmanship help. 3. A feed site has to hold Usenet files just for you. Therefore regular polling of their site is a big plus. I call my feed sites three times a day. You can really irritate a sys admin by not picking up your news for three or four days. 4. Modem speed can be an issue. If you are calling a Telebit site, you may run into some resistance. They'll want you to call at high speed. There are Telebit "Dual Standards" that support V.32 and/or V.32bis along with Telebit's proprietary PEP protocol, so it's not impossible to make the sys admin happy. If you want a big feed and can't find a compatible site, consider buying a Telebit for Usenet purposes. They can be had for a little over $550. DON'T buy a Telebit unless you have to, however. V.32bis is starting to take hold. 5. Sometimes a little "sugar" will get big cooperation. i.e., "what if I pay you an amount equal to the cost of a phone line each month?". 6. Consider the type of organization you are dealing with. It's amazing who will be cooperative and who won't be. In Houston, one university is a great help (Univ of Houston) and another (un-named) won't even give feeds to private systems owned by students or staff. It just depends. Some commercial organizations will help too. I get part of my feed, indirectly, from Compaq. Then there are private individuals who get feeds as well. 7. Commercial services like UUNET and PSI are there, as a last resort. UUNET is a first class organization. They charge a base fee of about $35 a month plus usage. You can connect via V.32 to Compuserve numbers and reach UUNET. They will serve as your "Internet Forwarder" and help you set up your domain address (i.e., "ehbbs.hou.tx.us"). To Contact UUNET: UUNET Communications, Inc. PO Box 2685 Fairfax VA 22031 Telephone:1 703 876 5050 Email address: uunet-request@uunet.uu.net Expect to Pay: $35/mo, plus $2.00 per hour connect charges. You pay LD. Or you can connect via V.32 on the Compuserve network, about $8.40/hour. PSI, Inc. These people offer a flat rate service in some areas. There are some restrictions on your use of their mail and news feeds. Quite candidly, I think some of their restrictions are unreasonable, but talk to them if you wish and judge for yourself. To contact PSI, Inc. Call:1-800-827-7482 or email to: all-info@psi.com Expect to Pay: $75.00 per month for mail and news There are no hourly charges, but they have local access numbers in about 40 cities, otherwise you pay long distance. Connections are V.32. I understand that Portal Communications also offers feeds as well. You can reach them at: Portal Communications Company 10385 Cherry Tree Lane Cupertino, CA 95014 Voice Telephone:1-408-973-9111 Fax Telephone:1-408-725-1580 email: cs@cup.portal.com