Does anybody remember FIDOnet?
My first email address was provided by a local bulletin board that happened to be connected to FIDOnet and provided a gateway to the outside SMTP world.
I would sometimes chat with the BBS sysop when we were both online. When I told him I was using a hand-me-down 8088, he offered to give me a spare 386sx he had – a huge upgrade for me. He drove to my house to deliver the computer, since I was too young to drive, and my mother was very skeptical about me receiving gifts from some pre-internet stranger.
But there were no strings attached. It was just an act of generosity from a benevolent sysop to a curious kid.
These days, I think that spirit of generosity is mostly lost. Many people try to monetize every interaction. They build brands around themselves, in order to monetize some fictional identity.
But I haven't forgotten FIDOnet and its beneficent sysops. I hope to be as generous as the people who have benefited me.
dcs / dave
npub1cl…3rps5
2023-02-11 22:26:05
Author Public Key
npub1cldxy9f5shk0kxm90yk8nn3lum7wdmta3m6ndjcjr4aqcuewjt0sx3rps5Published at
2023-02-11 22:26:05Event JSON
{
"id": "f8d21f800f4332ce98208e0bb136421239350c1efa6f8ef3b474139aa3593736",
"pubkey": "c7da62153485ecfb1b65792c79ce3fe6fce6ed7d8ef536cb121d7a0c732e92df",
"created_at": 1676154365,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "Does anybody remember FIDOnet?\n\nMy first email address was provided by a local bulletin board that happened to be connected to FIDOnet and provided a gateway to the outside SMTP world.\n\nI would sometimes chat with the BBS sysop when we were both online. When I told him I was using a hand-me-down 8088, he offered to give me a spare 386sx he had – a huge upgrade for me. He drove to my house to deliver the computer, since I was too young to drive, and my mother was very skeptical about me receiving gifts from some pre-internet stranger.\n\nBut there were no strings attached. It was just an act of generosity from a benevolent sysop to a curious kid. \n\nThese days, I think that spirit of generosity is mostly lost. Many people try to monetize every interaction. They build brands around themselves, in order to monetize some fictional identity. \n\nBut I haven't forgotten FIDOnet and its beneficent sysops. I hope to be as generous as the people who have benefited me.",
"sig": "73a2da44df92f092b71c27941ee83082d4693a401671aca04a0c5e9ac80ffe4a2c37c26f1871e743d9cf7939fdcc5dc9b47a9f5a845fce055f821d831fc41ca1"
}