Subj : MakeNL v3.4.1 Release
To   : Roy Witt
From : Kees van Eeten
Date : Wed Jan 01 2014 21:17:44

Hello Roy!

01 Jan 14 12:57, you wrote to me:

 RW> You can test this by attempting to connect to 2:292/907...a PVT
 RW> -Unpublished- IP capable node.

 The point is, that when IP only nodes came into life, a choice had to be made
 what to put into the phone number field. Some were in favour of an all
 zero number, others were in favour of a specific pattern to specify an
 ip address. If a hostname was given an all zero's ip address was put
 in the phone number field.

 Some with knowledge in the international phone world were against the use
 of the tree zero preable, as this preable appears to be used for emegency
 services in some countries. Therefore some zones prefer the use of
 -Unpublished-. The nodelist compiler makenl by Ben Baker and its clone
 makenl_ng, has an internal test, that requires that where -Unpublished-
 is used, the Pvt tag should be placed at the beginning of the line.

 This is inconvenient for listings, that should start with Region, Host, Hub
 or Down.

 Then there are mailers like your, that gathers a lot of intelligence from
 the nodelist. It behaviour stems from POTS times and I think correctly
 refuses to directly to Pvt tagged zones. As a consequence it will also
 not connect to IPonly nodes that fly the Pvt tag.

 To solve this almost ten years ago start was made to add an option to
 makenl_ng the only nodelist compiler with availble source code.
 The option would disable the test that when -Unpublished- was noted
 as phnone number, the Pvt tag was not required.

 The ten years were used to convince many that makenl_ng was safe to use,
 but as the hardware and software environments are divers in Fidonet,
 bugs surfaced, that were only in specific environments. It is a shame that
 it has taken so long, but it is as it is.

 So when this whole exercise comes to an end, the nodelist line for the
 system that Bart runs, will have the Pvt tag removed, and your mailer
 will happily connect.

 As for me connecting to Bart's system, my mailer has no other other
 knowledge of what is in the nodelist, then I tell it. So if I provide the
 hostname or IP address that Bart uses, my mailer will connect.

 So to make a long story even longer, my interest in Allowunpub is to
 allow Region, Host and Hub together with -Unpublished-. For you it will
 open the possibillity for a direct connect to many system now having
 Pvt at the start of their nodelist line.

Kees

--- FPD v2.9.040207  GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5
 * Origin: As for me, all I know is that, I know nothing. (2:280/5003.4)

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