Setup Instructions for the Fidonet/IP Point Package - Rev 1.3 (5 August 2000)
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A. Introduction

   The online world is changing. In 1994 Fidonet was at its high point with
   nearly 40,000 nodes (member systems) world-wide. It was the largest of the
   many bbs networks that created the online community.
   Along came the Internet with its graphical and easy to use interfaces, its
   lightning fast speed and the power of commerce behind it.
   Fidonet appeared to many as a horse and buggy compared to the modern
   Internet.
   However, while the Internet is a fast developing and easy to use
   technology, it does not offer the community that makes up Fidonet. 
   So, for the old-time Fidonetter, and the new-time Internetter, here's the
   solution:

   Fidonet via IP

   Fidonet via IP allows you to participate in Fidonet echos, receive files,
   and generally do everything you can do via a regular dial-up system, even
   if you are hundreds or thousands of kilometers away from a dial-up Fidonet
   system. All you need is a dial-up Internet account.

   This particular package includes a Windows95/98/NT Fidonet Point System
   called F.I.P.S., short for Fidonet Integrated Point System, developed by
   Oliver Weindl and Johann Weinzierl in Germany. F.I.P.S. has all kinds of
   bells and whistles that you can explore. It is a solid program that
   includes a message editor, nodelist compiler, TIC file processor, bbs, etc.
   F.I.P.S. in and by itself is a great traditional Fidonet program.

   Today, July 2000, F.I.P.S. development has been assumed by Thomas Winter
   and is freeware. 
	
   In order to connect to Fidonet systems over the Internet I have included
   a great program called BinkD, developed by Dima Maloff in Russia. It
   functions as both a TCP/IP mailer and Fidonet transfer protocol.

   The third component is a program called FA, written by Almaz Sharipov from
   Russia. FA converts the F.I.P.S. style outbound into something that BinkD 
   understands.

B. Setup
   
   Print out a copy of these instructions to follow along easily. There's really very
   little to it...

   1. Install F.I.P.S. 
   1.1  Simply double-click on the file called FIPS11C2.EXE
        At the prompt enter the temporary directory to be used for the F.I.P.S.
        installation files. That can be any directory on your drive. I recommend
        an empty directory for easy removal of the files after installation.
        After the files are extracted change into that directory and run SETUP.EXE
        When prompted for a destination directory accept the default:  C:\FIPS
        If you use another drive or directory you will need to change some of the 
        configuration files later.  
   1.2  When prompted enter your name, your point name (anything you want), your location,
        point number (get this from your "boss node") and your "boss node" information.
    
   2.  Copy BinkD95 and BinkD.cfg to the C:\FIPS directory. Open the BinkD.cfg file and
       edit the following fields:
       address  - this is your complete fidonet address Zone:Net/Node.Point
       sysname  - this is the same system name you used in your F.I.P.S. Setup
       location - Your City, State, Country
       sysop    - Your Name
       node	- Your Boss Node's Fidonet address, IP Number of URL, and password

       If you are not in Zone 1 change the default Zone Number behind the domain statement
		domain fidonet c:\\fips\\out 1 <-

    3. Copy FA.FPS, FACFG.ALM and FA.EXE to the C:\FIPS directory. Edit FA.FPS and FACFG.ALM
       to reflect the proper directories, if needed. You can do this with any regular editor,
       such as NOTEPAD or the DOS program EDIT.

    4. Create a sub-directory called C:\FIPS\OUT

    5. Run FIPS.EXE  Go to ACTIONS -> SCRIPTS -> SCRIPT EDITOR
       Under PUSHBUTTON DEFINITION click on the "..." button and select FA.FPS
       Close the field.

    6. Copy BP.BAT to the C:\FIPS directory.


C. Using the Point System

     Use F.I.P.S. to write, read, toss and scan your messages. F.I.P.S. has many more functions
     which you can learn through the extensive help files. After writing a message in F.I.P.S.
     push the script button you assigned to FA.FPS. This will create the outbound files to be
     send out. Then run the BP.BAT file. This initiates the Internet transfer.

     -> Note: In order for a poll to succeed you must prepare some sort of an outbound packet.

     After completion of the transfer run the tosser included in F.I.P.S. if you received any
     files from your boss node.

You can contact me via Fidonet or Internet e-mail:

David Moufarrege, 1:2613/404.0
david@you-have-mail.com


Enjoy!

For a listing of IP-capable Fidonet systems and more informations visit 
                            
                             http://home.nrh.de/fido/index.shtml.de

or see the BINKD.TXT file included into this archive. This file can be used as quasi nodelist
by using the include statement in BINKD.CFG.

Also included in this archive is a ZIP file (bd093h_crc_win32_i386.zip) with an 
updated Win32 version of BinkD written and compiled by Tobias Ernst (http://www.physcip.uni-stuttgart.de/tobi/binkd). 

I have not tested this version, but it theoretically should work. 

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any direct or indirect damage to your system 
resulting from your attempts to use software described in this text. I did not write any of the
programs included in this package nor am I connected to any of the authors.
This setup has worked on my system. There's no guarantee it will work on yours.       
       
		 