==================================================================== P I G U L K I an occasional electronic collection of news analysis, press reviews, and humor from/about Poland and the Polish community abroad __________________________________________________________________ April 20, 1992 ISSN 1060-9288 Number 10 __________________________________________________________________ In this issue: Networks PERSPECTIVES ON POLISH NETWORKING ........ J. Tuszynski THE PIONEER TRIP TO WASHINGTON ........... A. Smereczynski Polish Affairs THE POLISH POLITICAL SCENE TODAY ......... M. Cypryk Resources POLAND - ELECTRONIC CONTACTS ............. M. Zielinski The Back Page TRAVELOG: In the Polish Section of Hell... J. Klimkowski Notes on Contributors About PIGULKI ===================================================================== Networks Jack Tuszynski PERSPECTIVES ON POLISH NETWORKING The current state of the academic network in Poland is that it is operational but not state of the art. There are many difficulties and impediments between where Polish networking is now, and where we would all like it to be. The solutions to these deficiencies, and what needs to be done to overcome the roadblocks that Polish networking is now encountering remain an issue. Bitnet/EARN in Poland has been working for some time now. Daily e-mail editions like Donosy now come regularly from Warsaw based computers. The network is now connected to Poland. The network in Poland consists of a central IBM 3090 mainframe node in Warsaw, known as PLEARN, and peripheral IBM 4341 mini nodes in provincial universities. Communications consist of an undersea fiber optics line, which extends some 70 miles from Copenhagen, Denmark, known as DKEARN to Koszalin, a town on the Baltic coast. From Koszalin to Warsaw, communications take place by means of a 9600 bps telephone connection, leased from the PTT (Polish Telephone and Telegraph) ministry. The peripheral universities communicate with Warsaw by means of 9600 bps leased lines. The communications software used for this network is IBM based Bitnet/EARN. Recently, in Pigulki #8, Maciej Uhlig of the Silesian University in Katowice, presented an actual internet host table of Polish internet sites. The internet in Poland has started. However, for all practical intents and purposes, globally it is still in the experimental, setting up, stage. Locally however, several internet sites have been running successfully for some time now. Provincial universities, such as the Warsaw University, and the Krakow Cybernetics laboratory, where Krzysztof Heller resides, have set up small networks of Unix workstations, and have local area networks running that function as de-facto local internet sites. In several other universities, personal computer (Intel 386/486) based Servers and PC's running KA9Q software, which is a PC based router program, in computer labs have been set up, and their presence continues to proliferate. The big obstacle to development of the network in Poland is to find alternatives to the PTT 9600 bps communications bottleneck. Communications over these lines is rough and arranging them is arduous. Recently on the soc.culture.polish read news network, an ftp user of Warsaw resources complained of constantly being bumped off of the ftp server in Warsaw. Also, Maciej Uhlig in his Pigulki article cautioned that getting a PTT telephone connection for ones network is no easy task. The infrastructure of the Polish telephone network on which the academic computer networks depend is not good. Currently, Andrzej Zienkiewicz is working on arranging a 64KB satellite communications link between his University in Warsaw and a site in Sweden. Such a link would allow both the IBM mainframes and minis, as well as the internet hosts to communicate over such a line with their counterparts in Western Europe, and from there, the world. This line would provide a clear and crisp, high bandwidth, and independent channel to exist between the Polish network and the outside world. To launch a satellite into space costs hundreds of millions of dollars. Few companies or institutions could afford satellite links if they cost hundreds of millions of dollars apiece. Satellite communications are therefore broken up into less expensive communications lines that offer a user a fraction of the spacecraft's capacity. The Internet functions similarly. Few companies or institutions could afford to support or to justify a worldwide network of their own. But for the price of a local connection, they can acquire access to the internet network. For a company that sells local access to the internet, many inexpensive local connections add up. For instance, if 1000 companies are connected to the internet in a given area and pay $25 per month for the connection, then that adds up to $25,000 per month. For that kind of money, a company can buy a communications line which when broken up would support many smaller connections, say approximately 1000 9600 bps lines. Internet or BITNET/EARN access to the public, or to companies, or even large corporations is not available in Poland yet. This has got to change. As the base of computer users who are ready willing and able to pay for access to the network in Poland grows, the feasibility of sustaining a company that provides network access increases. Currently, only the university community delves into projects like setting up a nationwide internet network. And similarly, initially, in the early days of the internet, known then as the ARPA-net, a U.S. government military agency assumed the role of integrator. Polish universities should now be required to purchase their computer links from companies in their district that sell access to a nationwide internet system. A model company of this kind which functions in the Western world is UUNET. However, many other smaller, less expensive, and more competitive companies also flourish by selling local connections to the internet. Foreign companies, for instance UUNET as a model, should be encouraged to invest in the Polish internet. If universities solicited competitive bids to companies to provide their communications links, an internet business can be formed. But what if no local company exists which would sell access to the internet in a given city where a university resides? And no foreign network connection company is willing to expand its services there? The university should then purchase such a connection from local computer companies, even if it has to show them how to set up the connection that is to be sold. Even if the company sells the university a connection which can be procured directly form the PTT by the university, the university should still buy it from the business instead. A business is formed or supported that way. That business will then provide access to many other companies in the area, which would otherwise not be served, or which the university would have qualms about supporting, or lack of incentive to support. In a few years, chances are, that only a fraction of that company's business will come from the university. Who knows, some day in the future, as a result of access to the internet, local companies may set up communications links with Western firms to which they could export local programming skills and other services and do most of their professional communications over the internetwork. Caution must be maintained though. Bids for selling these links to the university should be competitive. Mechanisms must be in place to prevent affairs between the university and the company providing network access. For example, the company cannot be owned by the brother of the computer science department chairperson. To solve the 9600 bps PTT bottleneck, the university community will have to turn to the free enterprise marketplace to provide it with the access to the internet network that is needed for further growth, and enhanced communication ability. If the proposed computer companies grow, and their local customer base grows, only then will more advanced communications links be possible and feasible to acquire. Today the university community is faced with the problem of justifying the huge costs associated with setting up the proper network connections that they need to support the network. How much does Andrzej Zienkiewicz's proposed 64KB satellite communications link to Sweden cost per month? This may be good for the Warsaw University, but can every university in Poland afford such a connection? How about every business? The Polish university community needs a solution to the 9600bps PTT bottleneck. It may have no other choice but to share the cost with the free enterprise system. Perhaps the biggest deficiency which affects the Polish academic computing community is the wages paid to university computer professors and professionals. A government salary wage freeze for the past two years, known in Poland as the "popiwek" has severely affected Poland's network personnel. A university employee now earns approximately $150 per month. The starting wage for computer science professionals in Poland is about $280 per month these days. And a good computer scientist can on average earn about $500 per month in private industry. This has created a brain drain of talent from the universities. In September 1991 I received a letter from Maciej Uhlig. He was in a panic. After summer vacation, nobody returned to the university. He was maintaining the system alone. Everyone found a better paying job elsewhere. Furthermore, the high wages paid in the West for computer scientists dwarf those offered in Poland. In the U.S. for instance, the starting annual wage for a computer scientist is about $28,000 and the average wage is about $50,000 per year. Many competent people emigrate from Poland. Those who are left in Poland, those who run the network, are the skeleton crew. They are the few who refused to leave and stayed behind for various reasons despite the extremely low wages offered by the university. A solution to the Polish university wages problem can be found in the guaranteed student loan system in the United States. How can this be applied to the Polish system? First, selected fields of study should be chosen which the marketplace has selected naturally to pay a dividend upon completion of the studies. Second, an appropriate market price for the studies should be determined. For example, if the average wage of a computer scientist in Poland is $500 per month, then it is worthwhile for a student to acquire a degree in this field, and knowledge of the subject. If a price of $2000 per year for schooling will provide the student with a career in which he/she can earn 25% of that price per month, for the rest of their working lives, this is a good and solid investment. Third, reputable banking institutions should be chosen which can participate in a program which would offer loans for studies. So the government should set up a loan guarantee program for certain studies. Then allow the university institutions to offer wages competitive with free enterprise salaries for those studies. For example, say 30 students in a given computer class put up $2000 per year for their studies. That's $60,000 per year. Assuming overhead can be maintained at $20,000 per class, you can offer a yearly payment of $40,000 to a professor for every thirty students in a department. This pay would be comparable to pay that professors and computer professionals in California receive. The most competent people would flock to the university community. Many of us on the net in the West would love to go to Poland and work at school, if we were paid a decent wage. Of course there are the doubting Thomases. Some may find it ridiculous to pay a professor or computer professional what he/she is worth, in Poland, and they will try to stonewall the idea. They will say that the "popiwek" freezes government wages because if you offer the computer scientists $40,000 per year, all of the other professors in a school will strike unless they get the same wage. The music teachers for example, or the chemistry department people, the philosophy department, will all want to be paid the same. The "popiwek" is over. The democratic elections have chosen Olszewski as the leader of the government. And Olszewski's finance minister is strongly against the wage freeze. It will be abolished. That means that the computer science department can pay the professors and computer professionals it employs whatever it chooses. And the numbers add up. You will find that the U.S. higher education system, where many Polish professors and computer professionals have emigrated to recently, depends on the student loan system for much of its income. There are also two additional windfalls that make the student loan system a lucrative idea. Investors find that government guarantees of their investments are a wise and sound place to put their money. So it's good for the business financial community. And if you pay a computer scientist $40,000 per year in Poland, and put them in the %25 tax bracket, $10,000 of that money will find its way back into the government's hands. Of course much of this money will be used to pay for losses sustained by a given amount of expected bad loans that result from the program. But much of it will also be profit for the government. A solution to the academic wages problem for those professionals in the academic community in Poland assigned the task of building the computer networks exists. Specific subjects selected by the marketplace pay high dividends. Computer Science in Poland happens to be one of those subjects. Its potential should be tapped by means of a student loan program. The current state of the Polish network is that it is functioning, but not thriving yet. In order for the Polish academic network to prosper and flourish, several problems and obstacles must be overcome. Among them is the 9600 bps PTT communications bottleneck. Also, the ridiculously low wages paid to the people involved in designing, building, and maintaining the network hamper its development efforts. Solutions to the hindrances and impediments exist. Among them is a solution to the communications bottleneck problem which proposes to require universities to purchase their local internet connections from businesses in their districts instead of setting them up and maintaining them by themselves. Another solution to the low professor and professional wages obstacle would be to implement a student loan program, as it is practically administered in the United States. We all want to see the communications network in Poland improve to Western standards. This will take hard work and determination. But above all it requires creative ideas for financing its development. - Jack Tuszynski ============================================================================= Networks THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION'S PIONEER AWARDS On March 16 the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced the winners of the first Annual EFF Pioneer Awards. The Awards were for "substantial contributions to the field of computer based communications", and the winners were: Douglas C. Engelbart of Freemont, California, one of the main personalities in the personal computer field, responsible for such revolutionary concepts as mouse, windows and hypermedia. Robert Kahn of Reston, Virginia - the prime mover behind Arpanet, precursor of today's Internet, the largest, world-wide computer network. Tom Jennings of San Francicso, California, creator of FidoNet, the first popular, generally accessible network, consisting today of some 10 thousand Bulletin Boards across the world. Jim Warren of Woodside, California, active networker and organizer of the First Computer, Freedom and Privacy Conference. Andrzej Smereczynski of Warsaw, Poland, network "guru", to a large extent responsible for Poland's leap into the world-wide networking. The call for nominations for the award was distributed in the networks in December 1991. The Electronic Frontier Foundation was looking for people who "made a substantial contribution to the health, growth, accessibility, or freedom of computer-based communications". The jurors were: Dave Farber of the University of Pennsylvania Computer Science Department; Howard Rheingold, editor of The Whole Earth Review; Vint Cerf, head of CNRI; Professor Dorothy Denning, Chair of George Washington University's Computer Science Department; Esther Dyson, editor of Release 1.0, Steve Cisler of Apple Computer, and John Gilmore of Cygnus Support. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a volunteer, non-profit organization "committed to ensuring that the rules, regulations, and laws being applied to emerging communications technologies are in keeping with our society's highest traditions of the free and open flow of ideas and information while protecting personal privacy." Below is Andrzej Smereczynski's report from his trip to Washington to receive the Award, and his acceptance speech. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE PIONEER TRIP TO WASHINGTON by Andrzej Smereczynski The information on the Award reached me Monday morning, March 16, 1992. My colleague said, passing me on the corridor, "by the way, Smurf, you have won some American Pioneer Award." I rushed to my terminal, where I found a note from EFF's Communications Director, Gerard van der Leun informing me of the Award and inviting me for the ceremony which was to be held in Washington in just 3 days. I was somewhat in a shock, so I did not begin prepare for the trip until the next day. Thanks to Gerard, who was very efficient in making the arrangements, and who has send me a ticket, faxed a note to the US consulate etc., I was able to get the visa in a record time, and was ready to go in under 2 days. My wife Barbara was to accompany me in the trip. At the Dulles airport in Washington, where we landed Thursday, we were surprised by a big flag saying "Electronic Frontier Foundation", and even more, by my name properly spelled "Smereczynski" on a big board held by Gerard and his co-workers Chris and Helen from EFF. They took us to the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel. The same evening we went to the Washington EFF office where we met its President, Mitchel Kapor and Esther Dyson, a telecommunication specialist. We were amazed by Esther's thorough and detailed knowledge of the telecommunication in Poland. We have spent a wonderful evening with them. During our stay in the hotel, and later at the ceremony, we have met Polish journalists Jacek Kalabinski, Ryszard Piekarowicz from PAP, and Tadeusz Walendowski from VOA. The whole Thursday morning we were sightseeing Washington with our guide, Gerard van der Leun, visiting the Capitol, White House, Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. At 5:15 PM we were back at the hotel, where in the hotel's Orangery the award ceremony begun with the introduction of the jurors. Gerard presentation of the main goals of the Electronic Frontier foundation was followed by Mitchell Kapor's introduction of the 5 winners selected from thousands of candidates. Each received a modern-looking statue in a form of transparent hexagonal column wit the EFF logo suspended in it. Finally, each of us was given a chance to speak; my acceptance address follows. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE 'PIONEER OF THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER' ACCEPTANCE ADDRESS Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Friends from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I would like to express my appreciation to you for the received Pioneer of the Electronic Frontier Award. It is a great honor for me and I consider it your approval of our activity in the computer networking in the International area, in Poland, and in the Polish Academic Community, which is what I represent. Within this activity - crowned today with the Pioneer Award - there are hidden efforts of many people from Poland, from the United States and from other countries in Europe. In that group there are some whose attempts seemed to be impossible tasks at the time. Namely, to overcome the formal, and even political barriers. They have started the preparations a long time before we could set-up the first real computer network in Poland. You may have heard about the group "Bitnet to Poland" from which the PLEARN-L discussion group on UBVM node (SUNY at Buffalo) grew. The list of names of the people engaged in this noble enterprise is long and it would be difficult to mention all of them here at this moment. But they are kept in our hearts, particularly in mine, and will be always remembered. Their enthusiasm, boldness and professional skills brought us to the point where, despite of the obstacles inherited from the past, we could create a fully developed EARN/BITNET network in Poland. Later the Internet network was connected and spread out amazingly quickly, and other networks as well, forming a functioning web of computer networks in my country, linked to the outside world. And we did it within one and half year almost from scratch, which is the subject of our pride. I was lucky to be present in this movement almost from the very beginning and to put my personal efforts there. Moreover, my work appeared to be quite useful. It is a normal phenomenon that everything is changing. The group of people involved in our computer networking is now significantly larger, supplied with new, young men and women. We have started with them the next stage of the network development in which new, contemporary technologies would be applied in the Polish network. What I mean are faster satellite and digital data links, quicker and more reliable protocols. They will allow us to improve the effectiveness of the networks and to bring the standards which transform the network into a really open one, both on the external, international, and the internal links. Taking this opportunity I would like to express also some hopes that, considering the objectives of such development, all the remaining formal restrictions will be removed soon so that the computer network will allow people to communicate throughout the world without any barriers. It would be injustice and my personal fault if I did not mention here the Big Blue - IBM - who at the beginning let us select freely the most convenient networking technology. Then they gave us some help with its Academic Initiative and provided some assistance in the Internet development on the IBM hosts. The same pertains to other companies like DEC, Sun and others. I would like to say again the very, very warm words of thanks to the people from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for the Pioneer Award I am honored with and to express my great satisfaction that our work met the objectives of the Foundation and appeared to be praise-worthy. Thank you Andrzej Smereczynski ===================================================================== Polish Affairs Marek Cypryk THE POLISH POLITICAL SCENE TODAY In the end we have independence, we have democracy, but no euphoria shows up on the streets. We do *not* have a working economy, and this is the main problem. For years to come, it will cause sleepless nights for the politicians. Unfortunately, it is not the only problem. In the recent opinion poll of the popularity of Polish leaders, (Gazeta Wyborcza, Feb. 1 1992) the prime minister Olszewski fell behind Jaruzelski and even Gierek. It is a disquieting symptom, as it testifies to the crisis of trust in democratically elected government. Let us ponder on the reasons of this phenomenon. The period of 1945-98 broke the continuity of political traditions in Poland. All the independent political organizations were destroyed. The vacuum after the PZPR, the only party (besides the puppet ZSL and SD) having a professional apparatus and a developed organization, was filled by groups and activists having until now no contact with practical aspects of politics (at most with 'couch politics'). Tens of new parties without clearly defined ideology and action plans sprung up, completely unprepared for taking up the ruling of a 40 million nation. The political landscape became very difficult to sort out. Political parties in the *West* have an efficient organization and programs developed over many years, while in Poland, amateurism and a lack of wider concepts dominates. Also, the Western parties operate in most parts in a relative luxury of social balance. It is an important factor since democracy can be brittle and tends to crack in conditions of acute crisis. LEFT AND RIGHT While taking a look at the Polish political scene, one can notice that the division lines between parties do not correspond to schemes traditionally established in modern democracies. For example, parties are usually categorized as leftist or rightist, which not always makes obvious sense in Poland. The terms "left" and "right" relate roughly to the division of responsibilities between the state and the citizen, especially in the distribution of the national product and in social services. In short, the "left" tends to larger participation of the state in such decisions while the "right" tries to limit the state's role. Additionally, this division overlaps historical traditions of the particular society, and the substance of the terms leftist and rightist may differ considerably. There are also ideologies which cannot be classified according to such key. For example "nationalism", specifically stressing the term nation, usually does define itself in respect to the above issues; it can be leftist as well as rightist. It is even more difficult to classify the ecological movements (greens), a new phenomena without long tradition. The indiscriminate use of the "left-right" key leads to such paradoxes as defining the present government of J. Olszewski as right-centrist, while in reality its policy is more "leftist" than that of the former government. An attempt to characterize Polish parties in terms of their ideologies encounters serious difficulties. Firstly, it is difficult to find clear defining criteria. Secondly, many parties do not have a well defined identity and one suspects that they are transitory forms. Only SdRP and the nationalists appear to have a well defined ideology. The latter movement represents an extreme, unproductive form of nationalism, based on the notion of a Real Pole. The very fact that there are several parties of this orientation shows, how difficult it is to define a Real Pole, to say nothing of building on such a foundation, a vision of a state. SdRP I have some doubts whether the ideology of the SdRP is sufficiently clear. The party consists mostly of former members of PZPR, thus formally "communists". In reality members of PZPR represented all possible political orientations, since the predominant motive of joining the party was opportunism. Now those people, probably united by personal contacts, sense of honor, and wounded ambition, are reinforced by the pressures and attacks on them during the last years. The SdRP, assuming a state of permanent opposition, can afford the luxury of *not* formulating any concrete political program. It is therefore quite difficult to determine it's "degree of leftistness". The case for cooperation with the SdRP can be made, however, since it has a number of people experienced in running the government, who, although educated in Communism, could still prove useful. On the other hand one should be cautious since the tradition of the PZPR is still strong. There are disturbing connections with the former KPZR, which raise doubts of the SdRP's commitment to Poland's independence. The party has to decide whether it will continue with the tradition of the PZPR or make a turn towards a modern socialism. There are some signs that there is awareness of the need for such reorientation. Let us look at some other parties. THE AGRARIANS The traditionally strong agrarian movement is now divided into a number of fractions (PSL, SL, PLS "Solidarnosc and others) and it seems they haven't worked out a vision of the state, limiting their thinking to the problems of the farmers. The agrarian movement is a good example of how personal disputes weaken the political significance of a party: the agrarian delegates are about the most populous group in the Sejm (parliament) while their influence, proportionally is significantly less. ZChN My guess is that the ZChN (Zjednoczenie Chrzescijansko-Narodowe, Christian-National Federartion) is some continuation of National Democracy of the between-the-wars period, complemented by Christian phraseology. Whether this phraseology is treated seriously by the leaders of the ZChN, is not obvious to me, since they do not shun non-Christian intrigues and slanders, such as we have witnessed during the political fights in Lodz in 1989. To be fair, they were not alone using such methods. However, the society should expect a slightly different posture from a party so strongly stressing its connection with Catholicism. It is a party referring to an ideology with strong traditions in the Polish political scene. It differs from National Democracy in the lack of a deeper, holistic political vision to the measure of Roman Dmowski. The beliefs of the ZChN border on xenophobic, for example the agreements with the International Monetary Fund and European Community were questioned as making Poland "too dependent" on foreign capital. The ZChN accepts the influx of foreign capital with great difficulties, calling it "selling out Poland". KLD The Liberal-Democratic Congress declares a clearly defined ideological orientation. Modern liberalism is in the mainstream of western political thought and certainly it has a role to play in Poland. Unfortunately, it is weakly rooted in polish tradition. Also, the party is young and its leaders allow themselves to be drawn into political tactical games, losing some stature and authority in the process. UPR The Union of Real Politics has a clear, almost radical face. It is liberalism in its extreme, a la Milton Friedman. Its leaders with Janusz Korwin-Mikke claim that they have a recipe for healing the Polish economy. My doubts come from the fact that nobody in the world has dared to experiment with liberalism this radical. They proclaim their arguments so doggedly that I suspect them of dogmatism. The rest of the parties are complete political freaks: NSZZ "Solidarnosc" For NSZZ "Solidarnosc" to be represented in the Sejm as a political party is for me a total misunderstanding. Especially, that due to evolutionary processes "Solidarnosc" has lost much of its significance and is no more an unequivocal symbol of reforms. Anybody who represents in the Sejm both his party and "Solidarity" must show symptoms of split personality. UD The Democratic Union: under this unrevealing name, a group of intellectuals, converged around Tadeusz Mazowiecki and other former senior advisers to Lech Walesa, is hidden. The party is ideologically nonuniform. One can notice at least two fractions: liberal (or perhaps social- democratic) and the so called democratic right. What keeps these people together is the spirit of "Solidarity" of 1980-81 with its need to form a broad social front to overcome the crisis and the stress on high political culture and the moral aspects of politics. The main weakness of the Democratic Union is that it is a party of intellectuals, which have difficulty in establishing contacts with other social groups, with workers and farmers, as well as with the growing business circles. Its leaders are thought to be uppish and "besserwissers". Its ideological indecisiveness, which makes it difficult to work out a cohesive program, is also a source of its weakness. PC Porozumienie Centrum (The Centrist League) - the name suggests geometry rather than ideology. It is difficult indeed to define the ideological face of this party, since the term "center" as the middle ground between the left and the right says nothing about its program. The battle-cry of "decommunization" is certainly not enough for a party program. The PC was formed around Lech Walesa, essentially in opposition to the group focused around Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Bronislaw Geremek, which at the time had a strong influence on the state politics. Then, a concept of a strong presidential rule was formed. One can suspect that the activists forming the PC used the conflict between Walesa and Mazowiecki to fight for political influence. Today there appears a tendency of reapproachement between the PC and the UD. The Centrist League is also working on defining its ideological direction. KPN The Confederation of Independent Poland (Konferderacja Polski Niepodleglej) ought to dissolve itself if its creators treated the name seriously. The party has a muddled ideology with an eclectic program bordering on demagoguery. Its recipe to solve economical problems is to print money and withhold the debt payments. Its leaders make the impression that their main ambition is to stay on the front pages of the papers. X Party "X" - the mathematicians use "X" as a symbol of the unknown. Stanislaw Tyminski, a man from nowhere, probably decided to do the same. But how did it reach such popularity? A very interesting explanation of this phenomenon was presented by a politician from Papua. In his opinion it is a Polish form of the "Cargo Cult", popular in New Guinea. The Cargo Cult appeared with the first airplane flights over New Guinea. Its followers believe that the planes are God's messengers, bringing cargo of wealth. Instead of working, whole villages vigil around fires and mock landing strips waiting for cargo from heavens. The analogy is to the point - some social phenomena seem to be universal and work as well in Poland as in Papua. People expected from Tyminski a recipe for easy wealth, without sacrifice and hard work, and Tyminski claimed he had such recipe. Party "X" has its glory days behind it, but there are signs that the KPN is taking up its role. BEER LOVERS The Polish Party of Beer Lovers (Polska Partia Przyjaciol Piwa): Janusz Rewinski wanted to make a joke. People did not catch it and treated the happening seriously. I wonder if and when Rewinski will have to pay the piper. As a consolation one should add that such jokers could be found in all post-communist countries. In Czechoslovakia an Erotic Party was formed. (I like beer but I prefer our neighbors' joke). THE ALLIANCES Ideological chaos and a lack of political culture is especially evident in the tactical games of the parties, ruled only by the principle of an immediate gain. One day the parties reject any cooperation, only to form a coalition the very next day. Varying declarations of their leaders remind me of Orwell's novels and cannot possibly build social trust. The only constant is ZChN's dislike towards the Democratic Union. Demagoguery and opportunism of the politicians abound. An attractive gesture can bring a temporary popularity, so many go for easy shots. The politics of gesture dominates over the politics of deeds. The President himself realized how short-lived are such gains, when after his first year in office, people started to demand the promised hundred million zlotys for each. As a result of the parliamentary elections a coalition was formed among forces opposing the economic program of finance minister Leszek Balcerowicz. Each of the forces represented a particular constituency and each promised them something. As a result, the new government represents to a large degree people claiming entitlements. It is a big unknown to me, how in the present tragic budget situation those demands can be satisfied or even agreed upon. Finally after two months of deliberations, the government presented a new program. It did not differ in essence from the former governments programs. Probably there was no other option - the field for maneuver is rather small. But then what was the point in the election time hysteria, in threatening Balcerowicz with the State Tribunal, etc.? The responsibility for the social losses incurred by such campaign is partly with the present ruling coalition and personally on prime minister Olszewski, who took an active role in this campaign. All this results in growing disenchantment and alienation of the government, with which the majority of the society does not identify. This in turn causes many to turn away from active political life, and results in election absenteeism, increase in popularity of the SdRP and resistance to further sacrifices. THE PERSPECTIVES Following the events of the last 3 years I have come to the conclusion that it was very unfortunate for the "Solidarity" camp to dismantle so rapidly. The presidential elections played a major role in this process. I see at least three negative consequences of the Solidarity breakup: 1. As long as OKP (Citizen Parlamentary Club, now dissolved "Solidarity" fraction) was relatively monolithic, the post-communist camp was undergoing an advancing erosion. The so called "left" regained some moral standing and popularity when the "Solidarity" activists begun to throw dirt at each other. 2. The fierce rivalry between politicians from the same camp, the corresponding poor political culture, demagoguery, and slander, puts in doubt the meaning and the achievements of the current reforms, and lowers the social resistance and determination to further sacrifices. At the same time, the gains for a particular politician and his party are doubtful. They waste their energy and time for quarrels, and such behavior only lower the authority of both quarreling parties (recall the recent conflict between Jerzy Kropiwnicki and Janusz Celinski). People seem to be totally fed up with such arguments and are not interested in who is right anymore. 3. The post-Solidarity forces obviously are not uniform. Various ideological options clash and I am furthest from the idea of dampening the discussion in the name of falsely interpreted unity. I believe however, that the *economical* and *international* situation is too dangerous for us to remain divided. The politicians error lies in underestimating those dangers. As for the international danger, I mean mainly the offensive of the conservative forces in Russia. Let us not forget that the Red Army is still in Poland and its removal encounters growing problems. Also, it is not obvious to everybody that the transformation of the communist economy into a free market one is a long process which may take tens of years and require further sacrifices. In the present conditions of a crisis of trust and of deteriorating living conditions, reactionary tendencies grow and the sentiments for returning to the overprotective state are on the rise. This would mean a disaster and the end of hopes for development and prosperity. And who knows, perhaps it could even lead once again to the loss of sovereignty. The key to a real independence and democracy is a strong economy, and to build such takes years. There is no certainty that History will give us this time; let us not waste that little time we have. In the meantime a clear vision of the state is lacking and there are no alternative economical plans (or at least the society does not know them). The Balcerowicz plan, with all its weaknesses, is the best one simply because there are no others: the parties are too involved in quarrels to develop meaningful programs. I believe that the situation requires mobilization of all the efforts for one goal: rebuilding the economy. All the ideological or personal differences should recede into the background. I propose some kind of zero option for the warring fractions, to form a broad coalition of all political forces having any influence in the society. A temporary coalition, to be sure, for the time needed to stabilize the economy. For such coalition to be successful one has to set priorities of goals and actions - to create a complete program taking into consideration previous experience, and there must be a team capable of realizing such program. Appropriate powers must be given to the government in the economical sphere, and the parliament has to work out a schedule starting with the most urgent problems of economy (and not waste time on less important topics, as it often happens today). And one more thing - we should not change the government every year. Within the last 2.5 years already the third team learns the art of governing; can we afford such school? A good program of reconstruction cannot be made without a thorough understanding of the aspirations of society, and its vision of the future. In our situation three possible ways are imaginable: 1. Return to a system conventionally called communism; for sure nobody wants it. 2. Transformations in the direction of democracy and market economy, or "capitalism". 3. Searching for the "third way" - neither capitalism nor communism, something the world has not seen yet. Surprisingly, we have just found it in Poland - not capitalism and not communism either, neither fish nor fowl. According to opinion polls and social studies, one can safely assume that nobody wants this "third way" either. We have to stick with capitalism then. Here also we have two possibilities: to throw the society into deep waters and watch, how it copes, or to make the changes gradually, with developed help from the protective state. In our circumstances the terms "left" and "right", if we are to use them at all, have meaning in terms of those two options: the slow changes with strong state interventionism is the way of the "left" while the "right" opts for quick changes. I would therefore classify as "leftist" the SdRP, Solidarnosc Pracy and partially the ZChN and the PLS, as "rightist" the KLD and the UPR, while the UD and the PC would be found in the "center". Both options have very serious drawbacks. The "deep water" option may simply cause drowning. The "slow" solution reminds one of somebody's idea for gradually changing the direction of traffic in England from left to right: trucks first. The consequences of either of them cannot be reasonably predicted. Those problems should be the subject of a serious, popular discussion. I expect the new coalitions to present such options and to choose the optimal solution. I repeat my appeal: let us first rebuild the economy; so, that we would not have to quote Wyspianski again. Marek Cypryk (translated by Marek Zielinski) (The Polish-language version of the article is available from the author, ). ========================================================================= Resources updated by Marek Zielinski POLAND - ELECTRONIC CONTACTS 1. EARN/BITNET nodes ##################################################### _________________________________________________________________________ |Nodename Institution, machine, operating system, | | Status contacts, telephones, comments | |_________________________________________________________________________| -------- - -------------- BIALYSTOK-------------------------------------- PLBIAL11 a Computation Centre of Bialystok Academic Community, at the Bialystok Technical University, BASF 7/38, VM Alicja Modrzejewska op. 885-224-111 x630 -------- - -------------- KATOWICE -------------------------------------- PLKTAE11 a Academy of Economics, Computing Center IBM4341 VM Henryk Laburda op. 832-588-606 PLKTUS11 a Silesian University, Computing Center IBM4341 VM Kasia Stephan, adm. 832-588-211 w.623 Krzysztof Kurczynski, op. -"- -------- - -------------- KRAKOW ---------------------------------------- PLKRCY11 a Academic Computing Center "Cyfronet" IBM4381 Witek Witkowski, adm. 12-341-766 w.37 Zdzislaw Pliszka op. 12-341-766 w.15 PLKAGH11 a University of Mining & Metallurgy, Comp. Center IBM4361 VM Ksawery Bogacz op. 12-338-100 w.2843 Tomek Polonczyk adm. -"- w.2885 -------- - -------------- LODZ ---------------------------------------- PLUNLO51 a University of Lodz VAX3300 VMS Marian Bielecki, adm. 42-784-176 -------- - -------------- LUBLIN ---------------------------------------- PLUMCS11 a Uniwersytet Marii Curie Sklodowskiej IBM4381 VM Andrzej Resztak adm. 81-376-240 Jarek Korzen op. 81-376-192 -------- - -------------- POZNAN ---------------------------------------- PLPUAM11 a Adam Mickiewicz University, Informatics Center IBM4381 Andrzej Szymczak op. 061-662-492 Dariusz Smoczynski adm. -"- PLPOTU51 a Poznan Polytechnic, Computing Center VAX VMS R. Jezierski op. 061-782-726 Z. Borowiec adm. -"- -------- - -------------- SZCZECIN -------------------------------------- PLSZUS11 a University of Szczecin, Informatics Center IBM4341 VM J. Kolasinski op. 91-788-65 Irena Winiarska adm. -"- -------- - -------------- TORUN ----------------------------------------- PLTUMK11 a Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika [Nicolaus Copernicus University], Academic Computing Center IBM4381 VM Zbigniew Szewczak adm. 856-260-17 w.70 -------- - -------------- WARSZAWA -------------------------------------- PLWMEN21 0 Ministry of Education, Computing Center IBM4341 Wladyslaw Latak op. 22-297-241 w.410 Slawomir Zaleski adm. -"- w. 565 Polish Academy of Sciences PLANIF61 a Institute of Physics SUN 4/75 SPARK-2 Piotr Bialokoziewicz 22-437-001 w.259 PLCAMK61 a Nicholaus Copernicus Astronomical Observatory Maciej Kozlowski adm. 22-411-086 Warsaw Technical University PLWATU21 a Informatics Center IBM4341 Janusz Pelc op. 22-21007-1512 Tadeusz Englert adm. -"- PLWATU22 a Fac. Civil Engineering, Computer Method Centre IBM4341 <#ap@plwatu22> Andrzej Piaskowski op. 22 257-508 Krzysztof Guterman adm.22 257-540 Warsaw University, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28, 00-927 Warsaw PLEARN a Informatics Center IBM3090 VM **Central Polish EARN node** PLWAUW12 0 Informatics Center IBM4341 VM/SP, experimental machine Andrzej Smereczynski adm. 22-200-381 Tadeusz Wegrzynowski dir. 22-263-345 Jola Tuszynska postmaster Malgosia Grabowska postmaster PLWAUW61 a Astronomical Observatory SUN SparcStation SunOS Andrzej Udalski adm. 22-294-011 Michal Szymanski op. -"- -------- - -------------- WROCLAW --------------------------------------- PLWRAE51 a Wroclaw Academy of Economy, Computer Center K-1840 (VAX) Stefan Zajac dir. 71-681-155 w.486 Wieslaw Borowski adm. PLWRUW11 a Wroclaw University, Informatics Institute IBM4341 Bogdan Bromirski adm. 71-402-300 Marek Stajszczyk op. 71-255-081 w.77 Wroclaw Technical University, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27 PLWRTU11 a Informatics Center IBM4341 VM PLWRTU51 0 Informatics Center VAX VMS Jarek Kurowski adm. 71-211-018 Jozef Janyszek op. -"- ____________________________________ Status: a = active 0 = non-active contact persons: adm. = node administrator op. = node operator In all EARN nodes there is an address where one can direct inquiries. The PLEARN node is also known under domain name plearn.edu.pl. 2. INTERNET addresses ################################################### 2.1 Domain Map Internet addresses are organized in a tree (below). Each machine has at least one numerical (IP) address. The full name of the "merkury" [148.81.1.1] is . The numbers in parentheses refer to the tree branches descibed in the next section, 2.2). pl-+--org--nask--------(8) | +--com--atm---------(merkury 148.81.1.1) | +--gov--ippt--------(9) | +--edu--+--astrouw--(14) | +--agh | +--camk-----(11) | +--ciopw----(16) | +--cyf-kr---(3) | +--fuw------(12) | +--ichf | +--ifj------(4) | +--ifpan---(10) | +--mimuw---(15) | +--ncu---(cc 192.124.116.2) | +--poz(5)+---oinov---(6) | | | +---ae--(7) | | | +---bgnov | +--pw(11)+---coi-----(17) | | | +---ia------(18) | +--tup------(oippuxv 150.254.3.1) | +--uj | +--uw-------(13) | +--us---+--u4a--(1) | +--b14a-(2) 2.2 Internet and IP addresses _________________________________________________________________________ |CITY Institution, Contacts, Domain name | |(Ref Nr.) name, IP address, type of computer, OS, comments | |_________________________________________________________________________| KATOWICE ----------------------------------------------------------------- SILESIAN UNIVERSITY, Computer Center info: Maciek Uhlig Domain: us.edu.pl (1) Domain: u4a.us.edu.pl router 155.158.2.2 s614 155.158.2.3 usctoux1 155.158.2.8 s602 155.158.2.5 s615 155.158.2.6 xterm 155.158.2.7 s606 155.158.2.4 (2) Domain: b14a.us.edu.pl tc 155.158.254.2 KRAKOW ------------------------------------------------------------------- ACADEMIC COMPUTING CENTER "Cyfronet" Contact: Krzysztof Gawel Jerzy Pawlus (3) Domain: cyf-kr.edu.pl Sun-4/40, Unix mg 149.156.2.8 nms 149.156.1.3 lfs 149.156.2.7 PC, DOS and UNIX isc 149.156.2.1 pc1 149.156.2.2 rtr 149.156.1.2 Convex C-120: krak 149.156.1.1 JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY, Institute of Physics ztc386a.ifuj.edu.pl m 149.156.64.10 SCO UNIX thrisc.ifuj.edu.pl m 149.156.64.3 IBM RISC/6000 JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY, Informatics Institute Contact: Krzysztof Heller JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY Nuclear Physics Institute info: Andrzej Sobala (4) Domain: ifj.edu.pl VAX Clusters chopin 192.86.14.9 vsk02 192.86.14.3 vsk05 192.86.14.6 svk1 192.86.14.1 vsk03 192.86.14.4 vsk06 192.86.14.7 vsk01 192.86.14.2 vsk04 192.86.14.5 vsk07 192.86.14.8 vsb01 MX vsb03 MX vsb02 MX vsb04 MX IBM RISC 6000: kuba 192.86.14.11 LODZ --------------------------------------------------------------------- LODZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Computer Center Contact: Stanislaw Starzak Pawel Gazicki Domain: ld.edu.pl zsku 192.153.127.1 POZNAN ------------------------------------------------------------------- POZNAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Contact: Krzysztof Kosarzrzycki Mikolaj Lubiatowski Domain tup.edu.pl; poz.edu.pl; poz.gov.pl oippuxv 150.254.3.1 Center for Computer Science (5) Domain: poz.edu.pl Novell LAN, servers & workstations: gwnvl 150.254.3.10 oippuxv 150.254.2.10 ucooipp 150.254.4.2 oippex1 150.254.3.4 oippuxv 150.254.3.1 waw-poz 150.254.2.9 oippnov 150.254.3.2 oippuxv 150.254.4.1 (6) Domain: oinov.poz.edu.pl gate-arc 150.254.11.1 telnet3 150.254.11.13 telnet6 150.254.11.16 telnet1 150.254.11.11 telnet4 150.254.11.14 telnet7 150.254.11.17 telnet2 150.254.11.12 telnet5 150.254.11.15 telnet8 150.254.11.18 ACADEMY OF ECONOMICS Domain: ae.poz.edu.pl (7) Contact: Michal Walczak uci1 150.254.36.1 uci1 150.254.4.4 novci1 MX TORUN -------------------------------------------------------------------- NICOLAUS COPERNICUS UNIVERSITY, Computer Center info: Zbyszek Szewczak Domain: ncu.edu.pl cc 192.124.116.2 i86 MS-DOS, telnet and ftp WARSAW ------------------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH and ACADEMIC COMPUTER NETWORK (NASK), to be tranformed into NASK Foundation collecting funds and administering the National Network. Contact: Tomasz Hofmokl dir. Irek Neska op. Janusz Motoszko op. Andrzej Zienkiewicz Wiktor Krzanowski (8) Domain: nask.org.pl Gandalf has a protocol converter to access other services and networks: DECNET, EARN, UNIS. Login and password: guest. Frodo and Bilbo: NeXT. frodo 148.81.16.50 bilbo 148.81.16.51 gandalf 148.81.16.49 gollum 148.81.16.20 ATM - Computer company Contact: Leszek Ziemiuk Domain: atm.com.pl merkury 148.81.1.1 POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES: Institute of Basic Problems of Technics (9) Domain: ippt.gov.pl exit 148.81.52.199 lkg2 148.81.52.50 spoko1 148.81.52.57 lka1 148.81.52.81 lkg3 148.81.52.51 syzyf 148.81.53.58 lka2 148.81.52.82 lks 148.81.52.10 zmit1 148.81.53.40 lka3 148.81.52.83 lksj 148.81.52.21 zmit2 148.81.53.52 lkb1 148.81.52.84 lksm 148.81.52.24 zmit3 148.81.53.200 lkb2 148.81.52.85 lksu 148.81.52.11 zmoc1 148.81.53.41 lkb3 148.81.52.86 lkt 148.81.52.80 zpe1 148.81.52.53 lkc1 148.81.52.87 mip1 148.81.53.59 ztk1 148.81.53.54 lkc2 148.81.52.88 pma1 148.81.52.23 ztoc1 148.81.53.55 lkc3 148.81.52.89 pro1 148.81.52.56 lkg1 148.81.52.22 psa1 148.81.52.30 POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES: Institute of Physical Chemistry Domain: ichf.edu.pl POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES: Institute of Physics Contact: Jacek Madajczyk Mariusz Olko (10) Domain: ifpan.edu.pl Sun-3 Unix alpha1 148.81.44.2 gamma1 148.81.44.6 theta1 148.81.44.9 beta1 148.81.44.3 delta1 148.81.44.7 theta2 148.81.44.10 beta2 148.81.44.4 delta2 148.81.44.8 beta3 148.81.44.5 sigma 148.81.44.1 POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES: Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center Contact: Maciek Kozlowski Zbyszek Loska Zbyszek Markiewicz Andrzej Kaczorowski (11) Domain: camk.edu.pl Sun - Sparc2 alfa 148.81.25.1 dzeta 148.81.25.5 beta 148.81.25.2 delta 148.81.25.4 gamma 148.81.25.3 PC's comp-6 148.81.24.6 room-113 148.81.25.113 room-127 148.81.25.127 comp-7 148.81.24.7 room-114 148.81.25.114 room-129 148.81.25.128 comp-8 148.81.24.8 room-115 148.81.25.115 room-129 148.81.25.129 comp-9 148.81.24.9 room-116a 148.81.25.116 room-130 148.81.25.130 comp-10 148.81.24.10 room-116b 148.81.25.216 room-131 148.81.25.131 comp-11 148.81.24.11 room-119 148.81.25.119 room-132 148.81.25.132 comp-11 148.81.25.50 room-121 148.81.25.121 room-133 148.81.25.133 comp-12 148.81.24.12 room-123 148.81.25.123 room-134 148.81.25.134 comp-13 148.81.24.13 room-124 148.81.25.124 room-135 148.81.25.135 room-111 148.81.25.111 room-125 148.81.25.125 WARSAW UNIVERSITY, Institute of Physics Contact: Rafal Pietrak Michal Jankowski Marcin Gromisz Jacek Blocki (12) Domain: fuw.edu.pl SUN Sparc, SLC, Sparc2, Iris cocos and fizyk: anonymous ftp, dir public. cocos 148.81.4.6 ccpu01 148.81.48.1 ccpuf1 148.81.48.101 fizyk 148.81.4.7 ccpu02 148.81.48.2 ccpuf2 148.81.48.102 fizyk2 148.81.4.16 ccpu03 148.81.48.3 sun4_sun4c_4_1_1 148.81.4.20 ccfs1 148.81.4.8 ccpu04 148.81.48.4 tasmak 148.81.6.150 cclan 148.81.4.17 ccpu05 148.81.48.5 thfs1 148.81.4.210 ccpi 148.81.4.19 ccpu06 148.81.48.6 VAX - VMS: hozavx 148.81.4.116 zfjavax 148.81.6.101 IBM RS-6000 Unix: ibmna35 148.81.4.115 Mac, Next macjack 148.81.6.165 macmaw 148.81.6.166 zorro 148.81.4.18 PC's 386na35 148.81.4.110 lanlab 148.81.6.163 solth 148.81.4.208 atbasf 148.81.4.124 las140 148.81.6.200 teodor 148.81.4.202 atvax 148.81.4.121 maciek 148.81.4.123 teofil 148.81.4.203 baj 148.81.6.167 magnes 148.81.6.154 teomat 148.81.4.213 ccio 148.81.4.5 marlewan 148.81.4.120 teomek 148.81.4.212 ccmg 148.81.4.3 marysia 148.81.4.206 terdan 148.81.4.109 ccmk 148.81.4.11 moon-44 148.81.4.12 theo1 148.81.4.201 ccpc 148.81.4.10 moon-45 148.81.4.13 theorix 148.81.4.200 ccrp 148.81.4.4 moon-46 148.81.4.14 wall 148.81.4.107 ccvi 148.81.4.1 morus 148.81.6.169 wasa1 148.81.6.159 ccws 148.81.4.2 muchorek 148.81.4.117 wasa2 148.81.6.160 cibor 148.81.4.108 neutron 148.81.6.71 wasa_t 148.81.6.161 cocos-test 148.81.4.98 neutron1 148.81.6.72 wgtja33 148.81.4.205 deloff 148.81.4.150 neutron2 148.81.6.73 wwega 148.81.6.162 donosy 148.81.4.100 neutron3 148.81.6.74 xenna 148.81.6.168 drukarz 148.81.4.15 newhost 148.81.4.99 xray1 148.81.6.70 exit 148.81.4.97 numerix3 148.81.6.152 xtmodem 148.81.4.122 exit-2 148.81.4.96 numerix4 148.81.6.153 zeusik 148.81.4.111 filip 148.81.4.126 opt 148.81.6.50 zfcs 148.81.6.157 franek 148.81.6.155 p8ania 148.81.4.170 zfcst150 148.81.6.170 gaj 148.81.6.156 p8as 148.81.4.172 zfczel386 148.81.4.125 grzes 148.81.4.119 piwnica 148.81.6.51 zfja-gate 148.81.6.100 iftuw 148.81.4.209 pok19 148.81.4.106 zfwe-at1 148.81.4.113 iza 148.81.6.151 pokorski 148.81.4.204 zfwe-at2 148.81.4.114 jez 148.81.4.171 randd 148.81.4.118 zfwe-sek 148.81.4.112 kabaret 148.81.4.102 randolf 148.81.6.164 zrj 148.81.6.201 kalinka 148.81.4.214 sekretarz 148.81.4.130 zygmunt 148.81.4.207 krolikow 148.81.4.127 semc 148.81.6.158 WARSAW UNIVERSITY, Informatics Center contact: Irek Neska Janusz Motoszk (13) Domain: uw.edu.pl PC's; camk and fizyka has anonymous ftp and telnet. Others serve as routers to other cities. astro-ciuw192.102.225.18 fizyka 148.81.16.1 katowice 148.81.16.6 camk 148.81.16.3 fuw-ciuw 192.102.225.6 mim 148.81.16.8 camk-ciuw 192.102.225.22 gandalf 148.81.16.49 oauw 148.81.16.2 ciuw-astro192.102.225.17 ichf 148.81.16.9 plearnx 148.81.16.48 ciuw-camk 192.102.225.21 ifpan 148.81.16.4 politechnika 148.81.16.7 ciuw-fuw 192.102.225.5 ippt 148.81.16.10 poznan 148.81.16.5 WARSAW UNIVERSITY, Astronomical Observatory Contact: Andrzej Udalski Michal Szymanski (14) Domain: astrouw.edu.pl Sun Sparc: sirius 148.81.8.1 orion 148.81.8.18 PC's, mostly Unix algol 148.81.8.8 cetus 148.81.8.23 polaris 148.81.8.24 alkor 148.81.8.14 deneb 148.81.8.7 pollux 148.81.8.10 altair 148.81.8.4 galaxy 148.81.8.254 procyon 148.81.8.5 antares 148.81.8.20 genetyka 148.81.8.101 regulus 148.81.8.17 arktur 148.81.8.16 leo 148.81.8.19 rigel 148.81.8.6 canopus 148.81.8.3 libra 148.81.8.21 spica 148.81.8.13 capella 148.81.8.11 mira 148.81.8.15 taurus 148.81.8.22 castor 148.81.8.9 mizar 148.81.8.12 vega 148.81.8.2 WARSAW UNIVERSITY, Mathematics, Informatics, Mechanics departments. Contact: Staszek Kurpiewski Jerzy Wrobel (15) Domain: mimuw.edu.pl Sun etc. - Unix sonny 148.81.13.1 melkor 148.81.12.1 PC's pc132a 148.81.13.28 spider13 148.81.13.31 xt3 148.81.12.5 pc132b 148.81.13.27 xt0 148.81.12.2 xt4 148.81.12.6 pc133a 148.81.13.30 xt1 148.81.12.3 xt5 148.81.12.7 pc133b 148.81.13.29 xt2 148.81.12.4 WARSAW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Contact: Roman Adamiec Andrzej Szymanski (16) Domain: pw.edu.pl coi-elka 192.102.225.221 csd.ia 148.81.31.1 impan-coi 192.102.225.218 coi-impan 192.102.225.217 elka-coi 192.102.225.222 WARSAW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, Informatics Center Contact: Roman Adamiec (17) Domain: coipw.edu.pl or coi.pw.edu.pl PC's - DOS and UNIX europa 148.81.28.2 oberon 148.81.28.8 r01 148.81.28.51 io 148.81.28.1 r00 148.81.28.50 rhea MX WARSAW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, Institute of Automatics. Contact: Roman Adamiec (18) Domain: ia.pw.edu.pl Sun 4 - Unix csd 148.81.31.1 csd2 148.81.31.3 csd4 148.81.31.5 csd1 148.81.31.2 csd3 148.81.31.4 WROCLAW ------------------------------------------------------------------ WROCLAW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Institute of Technical Cybernetics Contact: Witold Paluszynski ict.pwr.pl MX _______________________________ Machines connected to Internet proper are listed with their IP (numerical) addresses, and are expected to be accessible interactively as well as by mail. Letters MX instead of IP addres means that mail exchange (MX) records are defined only (go ahead and send mail), but no interactive access is possible on Internet. 3. Fidonet ############################################################### _________________________________________________________________________ |Node: Name: Location: Sysop: Phone: | |_________________________________________________________________________| 2:480/12 SM-Net Bydgoszcz Mariusz Boronski 48-52-417-352 2:480/18 POLSUNG Bydgoszcz Dariusz Bagnucki 48-52-229-402 2:480/15 Technical Univ. Gdansk Mariusz Matuszek 48-58-472-109 2:480/25 PiKus BBS Gliwice Wojciech Apel 48-32-374-848 2:480/5 BitART BBS Krakow Tomasz Polys 48-12-335-486 2:480/22 Peter's BBS Krakow Piotr Walczak 48-12-362-222 2:480/11 Snoopy BBS Lodz Jan Waliszewski 48-42-336-573 2:480/4 Month BBS Warszawa Andrzej Bursztynski 48-22-291-578 2:480/7 FTI_BBS Warszawa Rafal Wiosna 48-2-635-5904 2:480/10 Home of PCQ Warszawa Jan Stozek 48-22-410-374 2:480/13 Spectrum BBS Warszawa Tomasz Bursze 48-22-256-965 2:480/16 USERS' BBS Warszawa Jacek Marczewski 48-22-213-224 2:480/19 Bajtek BBS Warszawa Rafal Wiosna 48-2-635-5904 2:480/21 AKME BBS Warszawa Pawel Miesojedow 48-22-315-889 2:480/23 Galaxy BBS Warszawa Jarek Wojcik 48-2-643-1010 2:480/20 Mehama BBS Wroclaw Ludwig Schuette 48-71-218-943 The node addressing is given in Fido style, . Mail is gatewayed to internet, and the equivalent domain style address is where a,b,c,d are the corresponding point, fidonode, network and zone numbers. The point is optional and defaults to p0 if not specified. For example an address to the user Jan Kowalski with an account in drQ BBS in Krakow is: . ------------------------------------ Many thanks to Andrzej Smereczynski for updates on EARN; to Chris Heller , Marek Kisielewicz , Krzysztof Kosarzycki Maciek Kozlowski , Irek Neska Rafal Pietrak , Andrzej Sobala and Maciek Uhlig for help in updating the Internet list and to Grzegorz Kochaniak for the list of FidoNet nodes. =========================================================================== PIGULKI'S BACK PAGE Jurek Klimkowski TRAVELOG In the Polish Section of Hell I was taking a bubble bath with a lady friend. Stimulating back rub filled my body with joy. My eyes, although closed, were generating visions of the gorgeous vistas of the Appalachia. Old buildings of Richmond showed once again their splendid facades. Forests of Virginia... All what, for the last fourteen years, formed the background of my crazy life became some wild, fiddle music and a turning kaleidoscope. In the whirlwind, the silhouette of my body upside-down, left or right, in front of a scintillating background looked lost and hopeless. Aggravated, I said very loudly, "Stop these fractals and show me the sense of it all!" My companion's voice rung with concern: "Are you once again talking to your demons, darling?" Her long arms moved towards my stubby neck, something sharp touched the skin on my back, but all I could really feel was a desperate need of a crystal ball. "Oh, demons", I turned to whisper,"show me the deepest sense of my anxiety!" and opened my eyes. There was an acute pain where her hands used to touch me, as if some claws were grabbing me by my neck. Our jacuzzi spew throngs of huge black feathers which clung to her body. Her sensuous lips turned into a beak. She said "fine," in a soft, feminine voice. "I'll show you what you need to see." A colorful, mirrored tunnel opened up above the tub. (By now my companion was completely changed into a large condor.) She lifted my body and I was rushed past vultures, bats, snakes, spider webs and black cats filling the passage. * At the gate guarded by a creature that could only be described as the Dragon of Wawel, I was left shivering and dripping foam and water. Looking for something to cover my body, I was observing the beast which was waking up. It was huge, green and fat. The dragon gave me an angry look, yawned, cursed a couple of times and started getting up. Finally he pushed some switch, spat on the ground and pulled a hand-held sign from the corner of his den. Loud sounds of a splendid "polonaise" march filled the place while the beast started the joyous, sexy dance of an auto-show girl. The sign read: "Hell: Polisz Sekcjon". The dancer was smiling with an unabashed enthusiasm, its fat body moved to the left. An elevator type door open just in front of me. I walked past the monster, he just shouted after me:"Goodness gracious, Klimkowski, at long last. How much dough were you makin' in Virginia?" Absorbed by my new adventure I didn't have time to say good-bye to my "brotherly dragon." * * A fellow Richmonder, Mr. Poe, stood by my side. "Welcome", he said, "we are slightly into the future so that you could see what is of interest to you and your generation. The Polish section was located here because the darkest place in Hell is reserved for those who in the midst of a moral crisis..." "That's just great." I said, for the rest of the sentence he was about to say sounded awfully familiar. He continued: "You are always thinking about the Polish Hell and that appears to be the source of your problems. Don't worry, my friend. No Eternal Fire is used here, lost souls are condemned to their mutual company, political discussions and the cigarette smoke. What is surprising, though, is that faced with such a flux of lost souls from Poland and their corrupting influence on the personnel here, our Supreme Council offered each of the "Poles" 30 extra years of sojourn on Earth provided they go back to their native country. It was in vain, all of them refused." "Perhaps they knew what to expect," came my comment. My body was now clad in court jester red-and-white outfit, buffoon's caduceus in my hand. I kept silent for a while observing ghosts gathering around us. Many faces were familiar; mostly professors and teachers I knew from my Warsaw years. We exchanged very polite bows. My eyes rested on my high school's sex goddess, who ignored me just as she used to do before. I wanted to punish her, make her chew hay or something, so that she would for once acknowledge my presence. Turning to the ghosts gathered around me I said; "I'm sure why the politicians ended up here, and I am not really interested in all this clergy, but economists elude me, somehow, Edgar." "Jerzy, for about seventy years, with a six year intermission for the War, Poland lived off the inflationary premiums of its exports and, to some extent, used an economic blackmail rooted in its geopolitical situation. However, economists obfuscated these facts and they never devised any way of preventing the onslaught of the inflation, which is now pestering the whole nation. For all that they now rot in Hell." * * * His voice was already fading, so I only managed to say something about the forgiveness being the pivot of our guilt-ridden souls while some heavenly warmth spread over my whole body. Long blond hair fell over my face. I gathered these hair in my hand and pushed them aside. Big breasts leaned against flabby muscles of my torso. Some wet snout begun searching for my lips. Upon leaning my head backwards I glimpsed on a beautiful face next to mine. The girl pressed harder and straight into my ear she whispered: "Beatrice" "Bongiorno!" came my embarrassed response. She started talking and caressing me at the same time. Her point was, more or less, that she gave me the Sun, the light and the lightness of thoughts Poles are so seldom exposed to. It was her presumption that she opened for me the World based on the Decameron, rather then the one based on the Decalog. She was the fluke and the laughter of the conversations I had over a glass of wine. Her red blood pulsated in the gracious bodies of the Renaissance madonnas and ultra-fine curvatures of Rubens' cherubs. Beatrice shielded me from the grayness of Poland and the slow decay of values and beliefs... "Just a moment, Beatrice" I interceded, "so in the midst of a moral crisis, I remained aloof, if not indifferent." ...but she evaporated the very same moment. * * * * My head was aching, I was lying in the dust. A tattered scarecrow was leaning over me looking at my caduceus. At an instant, he swapped it for a French horn that was hanging on a thick cord. This didn't bother me a bit, for I was intensely thinking about the Polish Hell. It finally came to me that all the issues at hand fell into the same moral category. Whatever one wanted to focus on; the fate of the unborn, the all-time dissidents imbedded in the political structure, the corrupt rain men of Poland or the emigrant Poles dutifully paying their mortgages in distant lands; in the midst of the moral crisis they all remained effectively indifferent. Moreover, the ones who looked for the culprits of this or that, called for revenge, blamed Jews, trade unions, communists ... everybody, they fed the nation with a karma of the substitute issues. Nobody dared to show the people the pain the abrogation of the skewed historical process had to generate. In fact, even the standard problem of the crime and the punishment had to be based, in the new situation, upon an imported morality, or the process would lead the country into the abyss of yet another socioeconomic experiment. The key had to be in the Polish Emigrant Ward of Hell. The straw man shook the caduceus, little bells rung merrily. I looked upon him and made an acid remark: "You are not going to sing, are you?" He just looked straight into my eyes and recited: "...but I beg all of you, the ones still living, don't loose your hope and rise the nation's candle of enlightenment, and when the need comes, make your life worth giving, just like the stones God has brought for your people's defense embankment." - jurek klimkowski ============================================================================ NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Marek Cypryk (mcypryk@plearn.bitnet) is a scientist (polymer chemistry) in the Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Lodz, Poland. He was a co-founder and editor of POGLADY, Solidarity magazine of Lodz (1980-81). Marek has just joined the PIGULKI team as a contributing editor. Jurek Klimkowski (jleleno@cabell.vcu.edu) lives in Glen Allen, VA. His "travelogues" graced the POLAND-L list in 1990. He is Pigulki's Back Page Editor. Andrzej Smereczynski of Warsaw, Poland is the Head of the System Programming Group in the Informatics Center of Warsaw University and the EARN Network Country Coordinator for Poland. He is The network guru in Poland; after setting up the PLERN node he has traveled around the country to prepare the computers in other cities for connection to the network. In March 1992 he has received the first Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award 'for substantial contributions to the field of computer based communications'. Andrzej is called 'papa Smurf' by his friends and collegues at the Informatics Center. Jack Tuszynski is a Systems Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He received his B.S. in Computer Science from Cal State Los Angeles in 1984, and his M.S. in Computer Science from Cal State Northridge in 1990. He has worked in private industry with Locus Corporation Los Angeles (subcontractor on IBM's AIX project), for Locus Company of Japan (OS/2-Unix merge project), and as a programmer. He is fluent in Polish, English, and some Spanish and Esperanto. Maciej Uhlig (uhlig@plktus11) is the software vice-director in the Computer Center of the Silesian University in Katowice. He runs the EARN node PLKTUS11 and recently completed the first Internet-connected LAN in Katowice. He is a pioneer member of the Internet Society, a new international membership organization to promote the use of the Internet for research and scholarly communication and collaboration. Marek Zielinski (zielinski@acfcluster.nyu.edu) of Rego Park, NY is a chemist and a contributing editor of Pigulki. He was a founding member of the EARN-Poland link discussion group in 1987, and was co-founder and editor of POGLADY, Solidarity magazine of Lodz (1980-81). ========================================================================= ABOUT PIGULKI Editors EMAIL Marek Cypryk (Lodz, Poland) mcypryk@plearn.bitnet Jerzy Klimkowski (Glen Allen, VA, USA) jleleno@cabell.vcu.edu Dave Phillips (Kenmore, NY, USA) davep@acsu.buffalo.edu Jacek Ulanski (Lodz, Poland) julanski@plearn.bitnet Marek Zielinski (Rego Park, NY, USA) zielinski@acfcluster.nyu.edu Production Editor, Postscript edition Wojtek Hempel (Rego Park, NY, USA) PIGULKI Authorized Distributors North America Florida: Andrew Mossberg (aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu) Other N.America: Dave Phillips (davep@acsu.buffalo.edu) Oceania: Marek Samoc (mjs111@phys.anu.edu.au) Europe: Sweden/Poland: Marek Chudoba (d87-wch@nada.kth.se) Other Europe: Marek Zielinski (zielinski@acfcluster.nyu.edu) Africa: Marek Zielinski " " PIGULKI is also available from the NCU BBS in Torun, located in the Student Government of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. Its sysop is Rafal Maszkowski, ; the BBS is accessible 24 hours at 48-56-14252 (2400, N81, MNP5) BACK ISSUES: * ELECTRONIC MAIL: To obtain Pigulki issue 4, for example, mail the following message to netlib@mthvax.cs.miami.edu: send pigulki.004 from poland * ANONYMOUS FTP: Sites in Miami and Warsaw archive Pigulki. Unix users may ftp to mthvax.cs.miami.edu (weeknights and evenings US Eastern time only, please), subdirectory poland, to obtain Pigulki in compressed form. The site at alfa.camk.edu.pl stores back issues in plain text in subdirectory pub. As always, log in as 'anonymous' and give your E-address as password. PIGULKI's editors are grateful to Andrew Mossberg, editor of the South Florida Environmental Reader, and to Maciek Kozlowski of the Nicolaus Copernicus Center for making space available to archive Pigulki. POSTSCTIPT EDITION: Beginning with this issue PIGULKI will also be available in a printable Postscript form. We will continue to distribute the ASCII edition by E-mail as before. The Postscript edition will be available by ftp and by mail. NOTE: PIGULKI is distributed free of charge to masochistic readers who request it (send requests to an authorized distributor above). All signed articles are Copyright (c) 1992 by their authors. PIGULKI may not be copied or retransmitted without prior permission by the editors and notification of your local public health authorities. Your articles, letters, threats, denunciations are welcome; please send them to any editor you can find who'll admit being one. We reserve the right to edit for brevity. ========================================================================== .