==================================================================== 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 1 1992 ISSN 1060-9288 Number 13 ____________________________________________________________________ In this issue: Po Prostu UP IN SMOKE ....................................D. Phillips Polish Affairs POLAND - THE COUNTRY UNDER RECONSTRUCTION ......J. Drygalski THE POLISH COMPUTERIZATION PUZZLE ............. J. Kryt Network Resources A GUIDE TO NETWORK RESOURCES ...................M. Zielinski POLAND - ELECTRONIC CONTACTS .................. R. Maszkowski and M. Zielinski The Back Page Travelog: ANCIENT RITES AND SALUTATIONS ....... J. Klimkowski Notes on Contributors About PIGULKI ======================================================================== News Flash PIGULKI EXCLUSIVE: London Tabloid Exposes Piwo Plot LONDON APR 1 (Pigulki): A recent issue of the Daily Mirror has accused Donosy Magazine of conspiracy with the Party of Beer in Poland. The tabloid claimed that Donosy's published subscription price of a case of beer is actually a code for clandestine transfers of campaign funds from the US-based Brewers' Association, a front organization of the Bilderbergers, through the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, to the Party of Beer. The tabloid also claimed that the "X" Party of Poland's last presidential election was a stalking horse for Jerzy Urban's yet-to-be-announced Kleinfelter's Party (XXY). The story was printed in the first editions of the Mirror on Apr 1, but it ran under the feet of the Page 3 girl, and the piece was ignored until a novice priest called it to our attention. When contacts of ours in Warsaw showed the story to Pres. Walesa, he dismissed it as gossip and asked if the girl has ever visited Poland. ======================================================================== Po Prostu Dave Phillips UP IN SMOKE As an outsider, I haven't said much about what the Sejm has or hasn't been doing since the communists beat their sickles into dollar signs and cut deals to save their collective rumps and embezzled fortunes. I do have to admit, however, that I was pleased to find the Sejm take a solid stand on an issue near to my heart: their Feb.19 vote to ban tobacco and liquor ads. I lost my mother, Jeanette, last Fall to lung cancer. She had been living in a nursing home, unable to walk following an auto collision with a drunk driver a few years earlier (he rear-ended her car at a stoplight). Approaching her second anniversary in the nursing home, she suddenly became jaundiced, and doctors found a liver tumor, metasticized from an undetected primary lung tumor. She was gone within two weeks. Jeanette smoked all her adult life. Born in 1932, she grew up in an American society where smoking was mass marketed as urbane and sophisticated. In the late 1960s, while I was in middle school, we were subjected to lots of evidence that smoking leads to lung cancer. The US Congress voted to ban television ads for tobacco products in 1969 or so. What got to me was a film showed to us kids at school: John Wayne starred in the removal of one of his cancer-scarred lungs. The Duke made it pretty clear that smoking was bad for you, mister. From the earliest days of the Surgeon Generals' reports, fought tooth and nail by the Tobacco Lobby, I tried to convince Jeanette to stop smoking. Nothing worked. I used to open up her cartons and line the packs of Kents up the stairs, to show her how much she smoked. Minor annoyance. I put the heads of safety matches in the tips of the cigarettes in her open packs so they'd flare up when lit. Major annoyance, but no deterrence. She knew the evidence, she just could not make herself stop, she tried and couldn't. She was as old then as I am now. Over the years, she cut back somewhat, but the habit remained. I never started; to me it simply never made sense. I grew up in a cloud of secondary smoke, probably like Nowa Huta on a good day, but I never lit up. When Jeanette's legs started to go out from under her following the drunkard's collision, she went back to chimney status, despite diagnosed respiratory problems from a lifetime of smoking. During the surgery she hoped would restore her mobility, something happened. The doctors didn't/wouldn't say. I was on my way down to Philly to see her, but I wasn't there on that day. Her friend who saw her there said she was in surgery a long time, and she was in Neuro ICU much longer. There were cognitive deficits and despite a month in rehab she grew worse over the following year, until she needed a wheelchair and finally was losing full use of her hands and had trouble getting in and out of bed, in her mid-50s. The surgeon who cut her said to me a few days after the operation, "Your mother was a poor surgical risk," and took off for his native Italy for a scheduled visit. It is quite possible that her respiratory condition combined with complications during surgery led to more damage from anesthetic than the doctors had anticipated. When she finally entered the nursing home, in late 1990, she was the youngest person there. She fought boredom and pain by frequent hops into her motorized wheelchair, driving out to the home's courtyard for a smoke. For some time it was her only satisfaction, as she'd grown disgusted with her condition. I found myself on visits helping her into her chair, and later onto a reclining chair when her condition worsened, wheeling her into the lounge for a smoke. It got to the point where that was all she wanted. And then she died. A month later, I received an envelope forwarded from the nursing home. It looked very businesslike, from some "Survey center," or the like. Addressed to Jeanette, it offered her a chance to participate in a survey in cigarette consumption patterns and preferences, and if she wanted to be a more active participant, she could get free cigarettes in exchange for giving them feedback on the products. Needless to say, I wrote the outfit, telling them that Jeanette was unavailable for their survey, and why, and asking them whether they were an outright front for the tobacco industry, or just whores. It's been about four months or so since I wrote them, so I guess an answer isn't likely. According to a recent press stories [UPI, Mar 3], the Poles follow the Russians' dubious lead, with 40% of Polish adults smoking. The big transnational tobacco/foods conglomerates have been flapping their wings in the former Comecon countries like so many vultures, buying up local cigarette firms and positioning themselves to market Marlboros or Camels. A few points: 1. North Americans are smoking less, despite efforts by the tobacco mongers to hook a new generation here; 2. The tobacco multinationals view East-Central Europe and the CIS as a place to dump a generation's worth of cigarettes until demand (and purchasing power) picks up in the Peoples Republic of China. Until then they need Russia and Poland to absorb their supply. They'll rationalize this as "meeting consumer demand more efficiently at lower cost with higher quality," but it's bullshit. 3. While competition for market share will be the initial battle, eventually the issue will be to convince the next generation to start (or not to stop) smoking. In Germany, Philip Morris is sending out striking blondes out into the night carrying Mac PowerBooks. They enter a bar, hand out free cigarettes, and sit down next to a patron and run a quiz game on the PB. What do they win? More cigarettes, T-shirts and hats [Will Kreth, "Nocturnal Powerbooks Prowl," WIRED, 1.1, 1993, p.18]. This "interactive advertising" is probably the first of a slew of marketing ploys in both the wealthier and poorer parts of the new Europe. 4. Poland cannot afford the costs associated with high rates of cigarette smoking. Not only are the direct effects (lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc.) clearly known, and both debilitating and deadly, they are very expensive. In my mother's case, the last two weeks of her life -without any heroic measures (she did not want resuscitation) - led to more than a $15,000 hospital bill (this excludes the doctors' charges). Apart from medical care, the lost work, wasted human potential and human suffering are enormous burdens on a country with enough problems already. 5. Add to Poland's financial straits its environmental problems. Synergistic effects of smoking in the presence of environmental contamination have been sufficiently documented to convince some U.S. natural resource companies (producing powders) to require their employees to remain smoke-free even off the job. The rationale for this rule is that employees breathing in this powder were 3x more likely to develop lung diseases if they smoked than otherwise. Some of the stories I've heard of Poland's air pollution have made me cringe, and I used to live in Pittsburgh before the mills closed down. 6. For a country committed to equitable access to medical care and other essential services, the question inevitably arises of freedoms: freedom to smoke, freedom to drink to excess, etc. Assuming that individual actions cannot be legislated or enforced, the fact remains that society is committed in advance to care for smokers, drinkers, and drug addicts regardless of the fiction of individual responsibility. The only way to enforce individual responsibility without some measure of government intervention to guide social behavior would be the rather brutal treatment of smokers, alcoholics, and addicts when they *do* need care: "Sorry, but you were a smoker, you'll have to pay for your own care." Since most of us would not want to deny basic care to people no matter how foolish they (once) were, we are directly or indirectly stuck with the financial and other social costs of their illness. To pretend otherwise is silly. In the USA, health insurers give nonsmokers a premium discount, but it is more for show. In actuality, when the insurers decide they need more money, they ask for general rate increases, not differential ones. In Poland, even if medical care were privatized down the road, the problem of universal access to insurance would underscore the need to prevent illness, and the illnesses most easy to prevent are lifestyle related ones. The bottom line here is that Poles and Russians and the rest of Europe should begin in earnest to kick the habit and help us find new crops for the tobacco farmers in Virginia and the Carolinas. The hardest part will be retraining all those tobacco industry executives and middle managers. Perhaps they could work for some multinationals in Medellin; I bet they would fit right in. -dave phillips ======================================================================== Polish Affairs Jerzy Drygalski POLAND - THE COUNTRY UNDER RECONSTRUCTION Marek Cypryk talked to Dr Jerzy Drygalski, Vice-Minister of Property Restructuring, about the privatization process in Poland. Marek Cypryk: To start with, I would like you to introduce the current state of progress of privatization in Poland and its prospects. Jerzy Drygalski: It should be stressed first of all that in the years 1989-1991 the widely extended process of property restructuring was begun (I say in full consciousness: restructuring of property and not privatization, since I mean a much more general process). Actually, changes are being introduced in every field of the economy. The extent of the process and the rate of change are often underestimated in Poland. That is because the rate of privatization is usually measured by the number of enterprises sold by means of capital privatization. However this is but one part of the whole process. To substantiate this statement: property restructuring has already embraced 24% of the total number of state-run enterprises. These transformations consisted in either complete or partial selling of the enterprises or leasing them, turning of the enterprise's assets into joint-stock or conversion of the enterprise into a company. MC: Do you also include here the so-called commercialization, i.e. conversion into the companies owned by the Treasury ? JD: Yes, in so far as the majority of commercialized enterprises goes to the making of the Program of Universal Privatization. MC: I would like you to explain some expressions you used, to make them more comprehensible for the laity. What exactly are trade sales and leasing? JD: The Act of Privatization of State Enterprises of July 13, 1990 constitutes privatization and designates its two fundamental roads: the capital privatization that can be subdivided into a few paths, the so- called trade sales, public offering as well as combinations and the liquidation method. The term "liquidation" is unfortunate and it has led to numerous misunderstandings. In this case we liquidate a state-run enterprise's legal form, we cross it off the register in order to partially or totally sell it, to contribute its capital to a company or to lease the enterprise. "Trade sale" means selling to domestic or foreign investors by means of invitation to negotiations, auction, competition of tenders etc. Whereas leasing is a kind of rent with the option of conveyance of property. That means the capital installments and additional charges being paid off, the title to the property is automatically conveyed to the lessee. MC: Coming back to the main question.... JD: Well, the restructuring has already embraced 24% of the enterprises. A certain paradox is the fact that as the privatization proceeds, the number of state enterprises increases. The reason is the enterprises are being divided. Privatization is related to restructuring. Next, we set in motion the whole series of programs. * The program of privatization of state agricultural sector is the largest of them. It covers 2000 enterprises, 400 000 workers (that makes 2 mln with the families included), 600 000 apartments, 4.5 mln ha of arable land, concentrated mainly in the north and west. This is an enormous operation which is being realized under the regulations of the Act of October 17, 1991 which was made to this end. A new fiduciary office came into being, the Agency of Agricultural Property of the Treasury, which has a wide range of authority. * The Program of Universal Privatization goes next. * The third is the program of privatization of banks. In the first stage 8 banks were appointed for privatization and some preliminary activities have been already performed. There exists a program of privatization of foreign trade offices too. A prepared program of reprivatization has been blocked for a year and a half in the Sejm - parliament's lower house - by a tangle, one could say "clinch" of interests. There is an advanced program of development of capital market, the stock exchange, we have a very good law of marketable securities, more than 20 bonds are being sold at the stock exchange. A network of broker's offices has been made and the brokers are being trained. Incidentally, not only the privatization of banks but development of the banking sector should be mentioned, as well as operations on the open market, the whole series of changes unnoticeable to the man on the street but of vital importance for building of a new economic system. Obviously the degrees of advancement of these processes vary. I would like to point out the relevant technical difficulties. Let us take the agrarian program I used to work on and know in detail. It is hard to imagine that most farm properties have no real-estate register, or they are in disorder. Owners advance their claims. Therefore costly and long-lasting proceedings have to be instituted to establish title to the land. Often the estate's borders are not fixed and a survey is required. Sometimes social tensions occur, there happens a question of communal or unwanted property or no demand for it. No reasonable land dealings are possible unless these matters are regulated. There is no remedy for it, these operations are very complex and they need time. MC: Since you have mentioned the privatization of State Farms... Do you have any vision of a structure of agricultural properties once this process is over? JD: No one knows for sure. A very serious debate (which is even leading to resolutions that the president of the Agency be removed) goes on in the Sejm whether family farms should be founded instead of State Farms or larger estates permitted. In my opinion, some larger estates will appear as a result of these transformations, probably first leased or administered, ranging from dozens to over one hundred hectares in size. MC: Has a limit been set on the size of properties? JD: No. If you add everything up and take a look at the whole, then you will be able to see that the entire country resembles a gigantic building site. Old walls are being taken apart, the foundations are being enlarged and new buildings are in the process of construction. This is a typical intermediate phase, after which a totally new structure will emerge. However, the complete truth about privatization is a bit more complex, since privatization - and this is often overlooked - entails a rapid development of private sector enterprise. In Poland, the private sector is evolving both rapidly and dynamically. Therefore, if we look at privatization from a wider perspective and realize that - apart from the sale of factories - one of its main objectives is the establishing of market-oriented institutions, then the final balance will, on the whole, be much more positive. It is helpful to underline a few other characteristics, namely, that our plan of privatization is attuned to the needs of the Polish economy - the number of paths on the road to privatization is considerable and this makes our scheme very different from the strategies adopted by our colleagues in neighboring countries. In my opinion, this is an important advantage. Such a multitude of options makes it possible to find a solution which takes every prominent factor - the size of the company, the specific character of a given branch of the industry, etc. - into account. Secondly, today's most universal path towards privatization gives a number of examples of a combination of initiatives, proceeding both from the rank and file - the trade unions and managers, as well as from founding institutions, mainly the Ministry of Property Restructuring. We have set in motion a certain process that now has its own dynamics, is governed by its own set of rules, and which cannot be slowed down or speeded up at will. As a matter of fact, every company is openly discussing the question of privatization. This became especially clear to me during the last quarter of 1992, when nearly twenty new applications for privatization were presented to me every week. Today, the whole process is slowing down. MC: Is this spontaneous, a result of the internal dynamics mentioned above, or can the public administration and its actions be held responsible? JD: Because this is a process involving the whole society, the role of office-holders from the Ministry of Property Restructuring and other founding institutions - provincial governors and ministers representing a particular branch of industry - is in many ways limited. The people taking part in the process include those whose rights are being abused; financial considerations also play a considerable part. Wherever big money is at stake you can be sure of big conflicts. The opinions of these people, their inclinations, and their investment preferences, constitute factors upon which a great deal depends. And today we are faced with growing social barriers, the most spectacular obstacle being the negative atmosphere surrounding privatization. This is slowly improving but we still have a long way to go before it can be described as positive. Because of such factors many companies are suspending - or backing out of - privatization. Influences of an altogether different nature also play a certain role. Namely, companies appear to have received contradictory statements from the Government. Hopes were raised that debts would be reduced, that a comprehensive industrial policy would be prepared, along with subsidies, tax cuts and other guarantees. As a result, companies have become less interested in privatization. After all, when you can count on assistance from the state, i.e. cheap credit, abolition of the popiwek and dywidenda taxes, restructuring loses its point. [Popiwek - the tax on excess pay increases in the public sector, introduced to curb the unchecked rise of salaries. Dywidenda - the tax on a companies fixed assets, designed to reduce the amount of economically inefficient assets being used.] Such a reaction is altogether understandable. Finally, there is one more factor of utmost importance: privatization has become the object of political manipulations. The whole process has come under close scrutiny. The opposition and other critics, having prepared a whole list of demagogic accusations, demand tighter control over the Ministry of Property Restructuring. Increased control entails a loss of flexibility and a paralysis of the procedure of making decisions. A classical example is the case of the paper which was lately sent by the Chief Board of Supervision to all founding institutions. The paper appeared to be very routine and simple - questions were asked about company names, book value, the values of leased assets, who undertook the decisions, which auditing firm was involved in evaluating, etc. All this looked like nothing out of the ordinary, but the number of applications for privatization dwindled overnight. MC: What is the official procedure involved in tendering such an application? JD: The whole matter is rather complex. In short, we may say that the founding institution sends us the application and we give it our stamp of approval. When a certain company is to be liquidated, the decision comes from the founding institution and, as before, we just give our approval. MC: Are the restructuring plans prepared by the companies? JD:: In most cases, yes. MC: Do these plans make any economic sense according to the Ministry of Property Restructuring? JD: Since these plans are prepared in adherence to the necessary legal procedure, it is impossible for them to be that discretional. Anyway, this is not a question of the economic content of such programs; rather, we are more concerned here with the technical aspects of a game in which each company is trying to get as much out of the State and Government as it possibly can. I would say in general the whole game is about money. The companies have a host of techniques at their disposal, i.e. "pumping" profits, creating so-called privatization funds, placing a certain amount of profits in various foundations or turning assets into joint-stock, leaving the "shell" loaded with debts and going into liquidation at the cost of its creditors. Indeed, companies on the verge of liquidation tend to undervalue their assets, since this is connected with the payment of capital installments. Reserves are often hidden and sometimes we are not even informed of binding legal and financial obligations. When companies prepare to go private, the plans they present to us often resemble dreams full of wishful thinking, indicating a remote awareness of economic realities. The assessments of their financial standing, being overtly optimistic, are a case in point. While we know what to expect while dealing with such companies, they in turn have an in-depth knowledge both of our weaknesses and of the existing legal loopholes. Usually they have 2-3 variants to be adapted to the changing circumstances. Well, this is what a normal market-oriented economy entails! As for our managerial staff, their quality is on the whole poor and as a result the privatization plans prepared by them are on the same, low, level. MC: Is the game you were talking about a result of an inadequate legal system, full of loopholes? JD: To some extent, yes. But I must add that we corrected the inadequacies of the legal system back in 1991, after a heated parliamentary debate on the Amendment to the State-Owned Companies Act. The role of the founding institutions, i.e. the provincial governors, ministers representing a particular branch of industry and the minister of industry, is all-important since these officials are ultimately in control of the companies. Without doubt, ingenuity and enterprise have a lot to accomplish in the aforementioned game. MC: You said earlier that the quality of our managerial staff is low. Can you substantiate this statement? JD: I used to be a member of the Board of Directors of a certain large company. The observations I made there taught me a great deal and not just because I gained first-hand knowledge of how a Board of Directors acts, but because I could see for myself how tradition-bound our managerial staff really are. Their main criterion was production and it was nearly impossible for them to concentrate on anything else. My colleagues on the Board and I demanded analyses and financial reports, we asked many uncomfortable questions concerning the coverage of losses, financial liquidity and the methods adopted for negotiations with banks. The first anticrisis plans which we prepared were deemed unacceptable. We tried to teach them the very basics of modern-day management, concentrating on finances, the market, sales and not just on production. This may appear as something quite obvious in the second year of reforms, but it does not have to be the case. As we found out, a company in which losses exceed profits thinks it can do without a marketing department! Secondly - and this is also connected with my personal observations - the inertia and lack of enterprise pervading the structures of many companies, the society's inability and unwillingness to accept change - in short, its conservatism, are factors fully illustrating the scope of the problem we are facing. Only some undereducated journalists and tradeunionists think that the Ministry of Property Restructuring can change everything at once with the help of a few acts. Strictly speaking, the main problem confronting Polish business enterprises is not the incompetence of office-holders nor a bad legal system. These factors do, of course, have their meaning but in truth, our companies are faced with a predicament which is world-wide - they produce obsolete and uncompetitive goods and are hardly efficient in the economic sense. A visit to the truck factory in Lublin was a great experience for me. I must add that this is a factory that managed to defend itself quite well: it was able to organize sales outlets for its products, it knew how to reach a deal with Peugeot and finally, it entered into business co-operation with Ukraine. But the foundries that I saw reminded me of the XIXth century ones - pig-iron was being poured into moulds by means of hand-held ladles. The air in this noisy factory was thick with dust. I saw "Zuk" vans, basically the same as they were thirty years ago. I must tell you that the whole experience, while illustrating the scale of our technical backwardness, was saddening. To modernize the "Zuk" van, to introduce it into the market and finally, to be able to compete with delivery vans produced by companies of international renown - these are the real problems. In order to develop a product you must have the necessary capital, the subsidaries which do all the research and tests, the know-how and last of all, you must have efficient production methods and a good sales plan. Many of us appear not to comprehend the full meaning of this, forgetting that the companies' top priority should be the sale of their products. In a market economy these products must be of the highest quality. You can not achieve any of this by simple restructuring. Privatization on its own will not change anything, apart from the title deeds. But can it change buildings, can it change people, their habits, knowledge and managerial skills? Will privatization by itself suddenly make products more competitive? To be sure, such thinking is naive in the extreme. And not only that: it is also very harmful, leading the society to ungrounded expectations. Such expectations hit back at privatization. Many disappointed people say: "After privatization everything was supposed to be so much better, but look, nothing has changed. You cheated us !" But in order to earn more you must first produce more and at lower costs. These truths - brutal as they may be - are very simple but they do not seem to be getting through to people. As I stated before, privatization is a social process, entailing a conflict of interests. But such a transformation of the economy also carries with it a destruction of the world in which we have lived. It is a destruction of the social security system, a disintegration of the established hierarchy, forcing us to change our habits and customs. Let us look at the miners, their case is typical. Up till now they were a privileged caste. The fact that they lost their prestige and social standing is more important than the pay-cuts alone. A blow has been dealt to a certain ethos and family tradition, and this is the main cause of their suffering. The Silesian miner was always the sole provider, his wife never needed to seek work; but today he finds that he can not maintain his family at the desired level. The old world is suddenly falling apart and many people are unable to find their place in this new and complex situation. I often participate in emotion-filled meetings with factory workers. Many of them ask me: "Minister, how can it be: our products always found a welcome market, people stood for hours in long queues to buy them, but nowadays nobody wants these goods anymore. This means that the Government has adopted a policy designed to bring our factory to ruin." They just cannot understand that their products used to be so "universal" with buyers because no other goods were available. The open economy and the free-market have changed all this. State-owned companies must face up to reality. I must say that most of them are trying to readjust, though some are more successful than others. The whole situation is very complicated - the old world has fallen to pieces and people are desperately attempting to regain their footholds. Some, having no ties with the preceding epoch, are achieving prodigious success. Take a look at the private sector which is developing rapidly. You may even say that the changes in trade, building, services and catering business are phenomenal. MC: But representatives of the private sector are also complaining about their difficulties. JD: Of course, their position is not easy. But do not forget that before 1989 our private sector also had many problems. These people had enormous profits. In Western Europe, where the profit margin is relatively small, the situation is altogether different. A meeting I had with a Dutch chicken-farmer proved to be very instructive. Having come to Poland looking for business contacts, he once asked me: "Doctor, how is it possible that I have a dozen chicken-coops and cannot afford a Mercedes, while over here chicken-farmers owning only one coop can?" To tell you the truth, the private sector has, at present, greater possibilities of development than the public one. And this stems not only from the fact that they do not pay the popiwek, dywidenda and many other taxes and social-funds, but above all, from the possibilities they have of concealing their real turn-over, sales revenues and profits. Our means of checking such statements are not up to the task. As a result the private sector can invest and develop without any hindrance, while at the same time the public sector deprived of these benefits is being closely scrutinized and controlled. MC: Then it is correct to say that the private sector is developing because of imperfections arising from our legal system? JD: To a certain extent you are correct, but I would like to point out that a "shady area", neglected by the legal system, is a world-wide phenomenon. This is so even in Germany, a country famous for its respect of the law. We have now arrived at the moral aspect of the process of restructuring and reallocation of properties. Capitalism was based on the Protestant ethos. A very interesting book has been written on the subject (...) The morale of the Polish private sector is very low. I would even say that the lack of certain principles has an extremely negative effect on our development. MC: I would like to ask you about the Program of Universal Privatization and how it compares with the plans adopted by neighboring countries, i.e. the Czechs and Russians. JD: The Russian program is indeed very universal, despite the fact that it is also relatively humble. At the moment it encompasses 200 - 300 companies, while the total number that it will restructure is 600. By comparison, our plan for the transformation of the State Farms alone includes about 2 000 companies. As far as privatization coupled with liquidation is concerned, I have already signed over 600 applications in accordance with article 37, and 800 in accordance with article 19. Therefore, when we discuss the Russian program we must remember to see things in proportion. Secondly, our approach is quite different from that of the Czechs, who, it is often said, are busy portioning out illusions. It is a well known fact that they divide a company's assets without any prior evaluation or restructuring. In truth, the Czechs have not yet begun to privatize their public sector. We want to give people a bundle of papers which have a real - not just a nominal - value. This can only be possible after the market has priced such papers and after the company has been restructured. Thus it is clear that our starting points lie on the opposite ends of the same scale. The Polish program consists of two phases. The first is concerned with the creation of national mutual investment funds. This is something well known to Western Europeans. Such funds are managed by firms chosen at auction, whose aim is to restructure the companies, to increase their value, but above all - to evaluate them. Only when such an assessment has been made - and this will take place a year after the inception of the fund - can the papers be distributed among the general public. Of course, the financial value of Polish companies is quite modest, therefore the amount of assets that every citizen may receive will not have greater economic meaning - their monetary value shall not exceed a few million zlotys. However, our other proposals, contained in the Amendment to the Privatization Act and in the "Enterprise Pact", stipulating that the workers of a firm which is being privatized may receive up to 10% of its stock or shares and that physical persons who make a capital investment will be rewarded with a reduction in their income-tax, are of considerable importance. Such a stipulation means that if you buy stocks on the exchange to the value of four salaries, then this will be deducted from your basis of taxation. The behaviour of the companies which will be managing the mutual funds is hard to predict. If a breach of contract occurs, then there is a problem of how these firms would account for the managed funds. As you can see, risk is unavoidable. This is especially true for the first period which is of paramount importance, at least as far as a new organization of the public sector is concerned. But I must add that the whole program has received the approval of experts. MC: The problem of *reprivatization* should have been resolved at the very beginning, in order to clear the foreground. Where does the crux of the matter lie and why is it taking so long to settle? JD: This is a question of the range of demands which we are ready to entertain. Some favor a very radical solution and would like to satisfy all of the requests made. Others, myself included, prefer the concept of limited reprivatization. And this is the heart of the matter. There is also a conflict concerning procedure and form, i.e. should the properties be returned in kind or in the shape of capital bonds. If in kind, then further problems appear. Naturally, some of these properties have been transformed or fallen into ruin, some have changed hands and so we must deal with the question of residency rights, the legal validity of claims, temporary accomodation and all the other requirements of the civil code. I would just like to remind you that a similar situation arose in the interwar period, because the Second Polish Republic did not satisfy all the demands either, i.e. properties confiscated after the January Uprising [1863] were not returned. The simple truth is that we can not afford large-scale reprivatization. MC: A great deal has been said lately about the institution of the Treasury. How could the introduction of such an institution help privatization ? JD: This matter is also being mystified. People think that the lack of an institution representing the Treasury is the cause of all evils - corruption, dishonesty, mistakes made during privatization. I may be exaggerating, but such an institution is commonly thought to be an answer to all our problems. This is very naive. The whole matter is obviously one of the most important problems of the entire economic and political system. During the past three years a process has been put into motion, the ultimate aim of which is to radically change the management system of the whole public sector. As you well know, the old anachronistic structure is still functioning. It is a relic, a left over of the command economy from the years 1980-81. But the heart of the system - the Central Planning Commission - has been torn out and communist-style party committees no longer have a say in economic affairs. The immediate result of this operation was that the public sector economy fell into 80 autonomously managed regions. If we say that today there is no government supported industrial policy, or that such a policy is not well defined and visible, then this is so because there are no means and no policy instruments with which such a country-wide scheme could be pursued. At the same time we can observe the unrestrained development of institutions characteristic of the market economy. It would be best to say that we are confronted with two, totally different methods of economic reasoning, one embodied in the "Enterprise Pact" and the other in the Commercial Code. We now face the task of introducing the modern, capitalistic management system, contained in the Commercial Code, into the public sector. But in order to do this, we must first have some kind of plan or vision which would help us in achieving our goal. An institution representing the Treasury appears to be the key to managing the entire public sector. However, when it comes to implementing this plan we must ask ourselves the fundamental question - is it feasible, can we really go through with it? Contrary to universal opinion, financial intervention on the part of the State may - at least during the first phase - increase rather than diminish, the chaos. We must realize that a complete reform of the system of management entails the passing of a great number of new acts and a total change in established procedures. In our opinion it is impossible to achieve all this with a single parliamentary act and this was the matter of argument with the Ministry of Finance. From the legal point of view everything is all right but when you look at the details involved in implementation you must realize that the plan does not stand a chance of success. There are certain natural limits to management and control. The most important thing is to keep track of the whole process and to make sure that we have enough control to steer it in the right direction. I myself, being in the center of events, know how difficult this is. I am under no illusions as to the means and policy instruments at the State's disposal. Another problem is also hindering the process of transformation, namely that assets are being "eaten away". Assets are being appropriated by the budget and divided so as to meet present needs. There is nothing left to manage. Over the past few years we have learned one important thing: not to construct ideal plans and solutions but to stimulate and assist the spontaneous processes already taking place in our economy. And we are doing just that. The basis of ownership supervision is already a de facto reality. I would like my department to become a Board representing the capital shares of the Treasury, as is the case in e.g. Italy. But, as I said before, the whole operation is very complex. MC: Finally, I would like to hear your opinion about the "Enterprise Pact". Two topics are currently very universal. One concerns the involvement of factory workers in the process of change, the fostering of feelings of "co-ownership," while the other relates to the common fear that the workers, not being able to appreciate and understand the economic forces at work, will not help change, but just get in its way. How does this problem present itself to you ? JD: At the moment it is impossible to give a definite answer. But I must say that we have to prepare ourselves for a multitude of different situations. Some trade unions will try to fight change, while others will actively participate in the whole process. The Pact as such is rather neutral, and everything depends on the people who shall be involved in its realization. The economic processes with which we are dealing in present-day Poland are already full of anarchy, and one of the dangers is that this "anarchic content" may increase. But there is also the possibility of quickening the pace of economic reform, and that is why the Government has entered into these discussions. Which tendency will prevail depends on the common sense, self-restraint and willingness to compromise of all the parties concerned. If the Pact should become an object of politicking and be treated as a prelude to the elections, we may well be the witnesses to a serious tragedy. However, if it is utilized as a comprehensive method of quickening the pace of change of the economic system, then it will stand an excellent chance of success. Incidentally, the whole problem serves as an interesting illustration of the fact that fool-proof and unreservedly correct solutions just do not exist. They can be good or bad, depending on the outside circumstances and the people who are to implement them. MC: Thank you for the interview. Translated by Anna Musialowicz ======================================================================== Polish Affairs Jacek Kryt THE POLISH COMPUTERIZATION PUZZLE FOR A BEGINNER An enthusiastic potential Polish recipient makes a simple request for a microcomputer. It may be a director of a school, a parish priest, a scientist, or your own niece. Computers are high on Santa's list. We see them on the display wherever we go. The "computer," this small magic box, with color screen and keyboard, its cable simply plugged into the wall outlet. I try the demo. "Please strike any key or the spacebar." I write and manipulate effortlessly text and graphics, perform complex financial planning, play games. A laser printer prints it noiselessly. I leave certain that it will give me hours of happy relaxed activity, while helping me to do useful work. "Please, do send me a computer." For a typical beginner to learn something about computers and use them mainly for word processing, a micro of any vintage will do. It does not have to be the fastest, most powerful and expensive. Help from a knowledgeable user of this particular computer and software speeds up the learning process for any micro, and saves frustration. Donors beware, do not be mean! Will he or she, in Poland going to be happy to get an older, used micro, this "old junk?" FOR THE PROFESSIONAL It is different when you try to provide a more powerful machine for a university administrative or academic computing center. One gets from the potential recipient a number of very precise technical questions. They want to know technical parameters, the probable length of future useful service and projected costs of repairs, maintenance or refurbishing. Also who is going to pay for that? With some luck, you may get from the donor decent technical documentation. If you can interpret it ... it may disclose the information they need. It happens that good equipment with scanty documentation is already on pallets. The original user (operator or programmer) left the company. Then it becomes very hard to know what, in what condition, with what chance of a successful reinstallation you plan to ship at a considerable trouble and expense for all involved. The risks are lower if the expertise for this equipment and programming already exists in Poland. Also, remember that for any software that you are shipping you must obtain from the copyright holder permission to use it without payment of a license fee. The Poles insist on that. NONSTANDARD HARDWARE This applies mainly to minicomputers and mainframes. The danger is great that someone not familiar with computers but asking for one, and accepting whatever is offered with joy, will wind up totally frustrated, searching in vain for technical or programming help, which may be available only in Paris or New York. This is particularly true for nonstandard and/or old equipment. It is easier with a micro. If it is a working micro, a good way to offer such equipment is to take it over yourself. Install it and spend a few days on helping the new user with the software. There is a chance that a local micro expert will maintain the hardware (see below). A JIGSAW PUZZLE OF VIEWS Here are recent comments mainly from the PLEARN-L discussion list, the tiny pieces of a complex jigsaw puzzle. The picture showing the desired outcome is missing. We face a laborious session. "We are looking for an institution or private individuals," writes the director of a public school, "who would donate or sell for a small amount of money their personal computers. We think that 286-class [systems] would do for our purpose. (e.g. second hand, but working micros, surplus caused by the purchase of up-to-date h/w)." "We shipped 91 Commodore C-64s" reported somebody from abroad. The recipient of these C-64s was a technically competent director of the centre for informatics education and application of computers from the board of education. In June 1992, four months after the receipt of this h/w he wrote that "now all (9) schools are using these computers regularly" ... He concluded his comments saying "We thank ... for this valuable gift (cenny dar). I wish to advise you that we have the requests from four more schools that would like to obtain similar computers." "In Warsaw the majority of schools have already some computers...Some have useless junk like e.g. C-64," comments from Warsaw a knowledgeable user, who plans to connect the schools to a server and provide them with access to educational software archives and Email. We learned from him that the same board of education in March 1993 are buying computers for themselves and intend to purchase 100 modems for planned school network. "...It is not a complete desert here, as some readers who do not know Polish reality seem to think," concludes our Warsaw friend. He advises us: "Any hardware, conceptually over 10 years old, you should better dump...One modern computer will be more useful than 10 old (przedpotopowe) ones...In Poland there is [a] certain quantity of current hardware, and many people who know how to use it properly. Do not hang on their necks the rocks of useless gifts..." "Of course I am aware of the fact that it is counterproductive using in education computer systems that are too old (no friendly graphical user interface)" commented a director of informatics center of a university of technology. He received secondhand equipment, dating from 1985 and is already installing it. A year ago, the expert from a top Polish technical committee reacted to the proposed donation of used equipment "...We use exclusively new (hardware), the best available on the market..." that brings something new on the Polish market. A year later this old equipment, after having worked for a year for users who accepted it at their own risk, got the official approval for the nationwide use. In the Feb. 5, 1993 issue of a bulletin of a university in Canada I read this sobering comment for those looking to obtain used PCs from universities: Faculty with 3270 terminals will be given opportunity to upgrade local PCs to network workstations; those without existing PCs may be able to acquire some of the older PCs displaced from the (student, state-of-the-art) laboratories." The academics added this incantation: In some cases at (this university) obsolete technological environment is exercising a powerful negative effect on curriculum development and graduate employment prospects. This, in turn, will impact program accreditation and enrollment. "Poland has 7 Convexes (expensive super computers) - two of them are C- 3210)," reports the manager of a Polish super computer center. The University of Toronto Cray supercomputer is gone. There was no money and not enough justification to pay the annual $1.5 million maintenance fee (or 10% of its original purchase price) for 1993. A closing remark comes from our Warsaw friend. "Contrary to popular opinion there is money in Poland for education (not big money, but still)." Is it possible that there is enough money for computing in Poland and not enough money in Canada? HOW MUCH MONEY IS ENOUGH? ECONOMIC NEEDS have no limits (Economics 101). The absolute urgent need of programmers and computer users for faster and more powerful hardware is a classic case. The Canadian experience convinces me that academics always threaten that the level of teaching will drop abysmally, that graduates will stand in the bread lines of the permanently unemployed...if their professors do not get the newest and the best computer hardware. Current equipment, with a resigned smile, they usually refer to as "junk." GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) is one of the metrics of production of a country. Imperfect as it is, it gives one a feel for the economic strength and standard of living of a country, and it allows for gross comparisons between countries. Poland's 1992 per capita GDP was US$ 1,660. It decreased by 1.5% in 1992; it is expected to grow by 2.4% in 1993, which is the fourth year of economic transformations. The GDP of Sweden, by comparison, in 1992 was US$ 29,600 with a negative rate of growth of 1.0%. How much time does Poland need to double its GDP? Western countries are happy if their GDPs' increase exceeds 3 to 4% per year. At the 4% compounded rate it would take close to 18 years to double the current value or to raise it from 1,660 to 3,320. At the rate of 8% just announced as the target for China, similar to the rate of growth of Pacific Rim tigers or Malaysia, it would take 9 years to double the GDP. How much time would Poland need to make it 20 times bigger, i.e., to catch up with Sweden? SALARIES: Table I below shows some typical monthly pay rates in Poland. In comparison, a Canadian professor earns probably US$ 4,000, or 13-20 times more. The minimum wage in Ontario, $4/hour, yields 640 per month. An unemployed mail room clerk here receives $ 832 per month. In Spring 1992 the Warsaw University of Technology did not have enough money to pay their academic staff. Will smaller universities, schools or public schools have enough? Are they better off? ____________________________________________ Table 1. Polish salaries (Sources: Polityka Jan 30, 1993 and Donosy) Occupation Monthly Salary (US Dollars) University Professor 194-312 University Assistant 82 Charwoman 118 Retirement pension 65 minimum Disability pension 49 minimum _________________________________________ The above comparisons are imperfect. Economists tell me that a better analysis would consider Comparative Consumer Purchasing Power. It amounts to saying that, with their low wages, the Poles can live more comfortably at home than in the West. TO SHIP OR NOT TO SHIP? SHIPPING BY CONTAINER: (N.B. Costs are in US dollars.) The cost of getting a 40 foot (12 m) container to its destination in Poland amounts to approximately 3,200 dollars (of which 729 in Poland). The container is 8.67 feet high, 8.34 wide 39.5 long. The approximate cost of shipping 1 kg of books is 6.4 cents; the space of 1 cubic foot costs 1.12 dollars. The cost of shipping IBM3277-2 or 3278-2 terminals including the cost of 6.00 for the box was about 16.80 per terminal. Disk drives, tape drives, printers, etc., we enclosed in strong plywood boxes to protect them; it also allows the use of space on top of them for other heavy cargo (books). We packed the cargo tight, leaving no space for shifting or swaying. The total weight of the container may not exceed 60 K pounds in Canada, 45K in USA. The costs do not include what we got for free: warehouse space for assembly of the cargo, materials and labour to protect heavy hardware for shipment, and many hours of donated work. SENDING A SINGLE MICRO: The cost of shipment from Toronto to a school was 61 dollars, for 35 kg. It was a 286-10 MHz, 640 KB RAM, two floppy drives and 20 MB hard disk. It had a Packard Bell mono TTL monitor, an EPSON FX80 printer and the 101 key keyboard. The school director was very happy. PRICES OF EQUIPMENT IN POLAND: We have to find out what is the price of a used IBM 3277 or its equivalent in Poland. Can we buy them there for 16.80 a piece? If so, we will rather send the money. On March 26,1993 we obtained the price of the same micro configuration in both Warsaw and in Toronto. A 486DX/33 with 4MB RAM, 14" color SVGA monitor, 120 MB hard drive, 1.44 and 1.2 MB diskette drives, and a standard keyboard was priced at $1,778 in Warsaw and $1,392 in Toronto. A 24-pin LQ570 printer was priced at $444 and $345 dollars, respectively. For imported minis and mainframes, with vendor profit margins slashed to the bone, their prices in hard currency in Poland can not vary greatly from Western prices. Vendors must cover their costs. There may be differences, however, caused by heavy or absent custom duties. In 1992 there was (is?) no Polish duty on computers and parts imported from European Community. There was (is?) a 15% duty on parts imported from other countries including Taiwan! Are minis and mainframes cheaper in Poland? Will there be enough money in the Polish educational system to buy computers that they need? WHO IS DONATING COMPUTERS IN THE USA: Contact East West Education Foundation, 49 Temple Place, Boston MA 02111, telephone (617) 542-1234, fax 542-3333. A not-for- profit corporation, East West shipped in 1991/92 five laptops to Lodz plus six PCs as mentioned in their newsletter to other places. Since that time they probably shipped more. They have the support from Sendzimir Foundation and received a grant of 220,000 dollars from the National Endowment for Democracy. Their director is Alex Randall. The person dealing with Polish donations is Mike Robinson. They give a tax- deductible receipt. IN CANADA: Please email me any requests for information about The Committee for Technological Cooperation with Poland established 3 years ago. It is a group of volunteers from the Association of Polish Engineers in Canada; it is audited by the Canadian Polish Congress and issues the tax-creditable receipts. It has no paid personnel. Its objective is to assist in promoting communications and cooperation between Polish and Canadian initiatives, and to support desirable transformations in Poland, mainly in the areas of technology, economics and education. We send professionals to teach, we help those who come here and whom we may put in touch with proper contacts. We ship lots of textbooks, some PCs, minis, mainframes and telecommunication equipment (modems). We obtain them as donations, and arrange for shipment using funds from charitable donations by Polish Canadians and their associations. These are not huge quantities, but so was the amount of 24,000 dollars available for expenses over the past three years. Email me your snail mail address, and you will get the most recent information about the Committee of which I am the treasurer. We cannot guarantee which university or school will get whatever we will succeed to obtain. We get a large number of letters with requests for PCs. It may be easier to obtain a mainframe than a PC now. My address is: Jacek Kryt, 4 Ptarmigan Cr., Don Mills, Ont., M3A 1W3. Canada. CONCLUSIONS It seems to me from observations in many areas, that many Polish expectations are too optimistic. The West wants to help, and promises a lot. Its politicians, however, have many genuine problems of their own, and their constituents are very vocal in reminding them about their internal priorities. There are also external priorities around the globe. Thus when all is said and done about Poland, a lot more is said than done. The experience will show how hard and smart will the Poles work, to double Polish GDP or their Comparative Consumer Purchasing Power. Is it going to take 10 years? Then it is still a long way from doubling to catching up with the West. Sure enough, there is in the budget some money for education in Poland. Polish workers are afraid of computers, layoffs and unemployment. This is an imminent danger. The argument about the need for Poland to be competitive in the world markets is distant for them now. Will they agree to spending this money on computers? The private sector, however, trying to compete with the West will use computers. I think that there is relatively little money for computers. The best universities and centres, to have heir appetite wetted for more, will get some donations from vendors who this way develop bridgeheads for their future market. The remainder of the educational system will have to survive on a restricted hardware diet. Thus the shipment and/or purchase of older used equipment by us for Poland's educational system should be helpful. We will also continue to ship books. For some time to come, it will be a good way to help universities in Poland. We can ship for 10 cents a good textbook, weighing 1.5 kg. Such a new textbook costs easily 40-48 dollars. Do Polish libraries and schools need so many English texts? Probably they do. There are other forms of helping Polish transformations. You will find them. Just watch the scene around you. This is the picture I have been able to assemble of the Polish computerization jigsaw puzzle here in Toronto. Do you see it the same way? - Jacek Kryt ======================================================================= Network Resources by Marek Zielinski A GUIDE TO NETWORK RESOURCES Part 2. Services The Cyberspace Matrix has grown up enormously during the last year and it begins more and more to resemble our old friend - the *computer*. A computer which now spans the whole globe. Just like old batch systems (perhaps a card deck with a FORTRAN program) were replaced by interactive text systems, only to be supplanted by Mac or Windows type graphic user interfaces (GUIs), the network automata are now being replaced by interactive systems, and graphic user interfaces are just around the corner. Perhaps the best example of communing with the whole Cyberspace is Gopher's Veronica. Asked to provide information on a specific topic, it performs a search and presents you with a menu of choices. Each entry connects you to a different resource, which could be a text file, another menu, a database, etc., and each of them may belong to a server in a different country. You pick your resource without worrying where does the Matrix take it from - the other side of the street or the other continent. The functions of the Cyberspace Matrix can be roughly divided into the categories of Database and Network Services, Discussion Lists/Bulletin Boards and Chats. DATABASE SERVICES There are three competing models for interactive Internet services: 1) The MENU. If you've used Lotus 123 or any Windows application you have used menus. From a presented list of choices you select one, leading to another list of selections. If you are lucky, you eventually reach the function or data you were looking for. Gopher is based on the Menu model. 2) HYPERTEXT. This model was also popularized in Mac/Windows GUI. In essence it is a text (story, manual) containing nested references to other documents, dictionaries etc., such that those secondary documents are immediately accessible. Rather than reading a document to the end you get involved in deeper and deeper levels of digressions. This is usually fine in a manual, which you do not intend to read anyway, but search for a information and you don't even know, if it exists. WWW uses the hypertext model 3) SEARCHable Databases. This model comes from established electronic databases, such as Chemical Abstracts, or Library catalogs. The databases can be searched for a single key word or, using an intricate boolean search, for combinations of words from different categories. Whois, Netfind, Wais, Veronica, Archie and Knowbot belong to this group. GOPHER Gopher is now by far the most popular and universal Internet service. Through its unlimited hierarchy of menus it gives one access to virtually all other interactive database services: it will connect you to your favorite library catalog, allow you to search textual databases using Wais, use Archie, connect to a WWW server, extract a text or binary file and more. Gopher was originally developed in April 1991 by the University of Minnesota. It is merely 2 years old now, and it is already used by the whole world. Gopher refers basically to two different functions, seamlessly sewn together. The first Gopher function is a local, very often campus-based information system. Through a set of menus (which are easy to build and maintain) it provides information on college life for example, such as course offerings, job opportunities or local restaurants. Some menu entries, however, refer not to local information but point to other sources. The second Gopher function is to "burrow" the Cyberspace seeking the information or service you desire. Menu entry "Other Gophers" gives you a listing of gophers sorted by continent, country or alphabetically. You can select a Finnish gopher and find where is the best "Liha Palakka" in Lappeenraanta, or the Torun gopher to get the latest issue of Pigulki. If you don't know where to look, there is Veronica (another gopher menu entry) which allows you to do boolean search of all the menu titles in all the gophers in the world. To use gopher you should preferably have a gopher client on your system - there are programs running on PC's, Macintoshes, VAXes and many others. If you don't have one yet, you may telnet to one of the "public" gopher sites like gopher.unt.edu or gopher.sunet.se (login as gopher). The client gopher program connects you with a gopher server - a default one or the one you specify, eg. tirana.berkeley.edu. You will see a menu of choices, and you can begin exploring the "Gopherspace". Gopher is intertwined with other Internet services: ftp, telnet, WWW, Wais, it can perform an Archie search, and connect you to a multitude of terminal- based services such as non-gopher campus information systems, library catalogs etc. You don't need to look for them elsewhere, they are built right in. VERONICA Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) is an internal Gopher function allowing one to search the MENUs of all Gophers for a single keyword or a boolean combination of words. The results of the search is presented as a regular Gopher menu, customized to contain only entries relevant to the search. The search for "pigulki" yields menu entries, containing this word, from several gophers storing "Pigulki"; selecting one of them brings you the whole issue. ARCHIE Archie is a search service for locating files stored in the anonymous ftp archives around the world. Telnet archie.ans.net or archie.funet.fi (there are more archie sites) and login as archie. If you know the name of program stored somewhere on the net, and want to find it, Archie is for you. Archie is available also via Gopher. WAIS Wais (Wide Area Information Service) is a search service for large text databases. All over the Cyberspace people and organizations are busy collecting data files on every imaginable topic, from Aids to ZIP codes, and make those databases publicly accessible. Wais is a sophisticated program allowing one to do boolean searches on one or many such indexed databases. Telnet quake.think.com (login wais) or... use Gopher. WWW WWW (World Wide Web) is a wide area Hypermedia database service. The ambition of its creators is to join all information into one large hypertext (or rather hypermedia, since graphics or sound files are also included). WWW databases include topics from Aeronautics to Social Sciences and more. To experiment with WWW telnet to eies2.njit.edu or info.funet.fi (login www) or use Gopher. KNOWBOT Provides directory service. Queries a number of network directory services such as NIC, CSNET, MCIMAIL and X.500 to find E-mail address and other information on users. Telnet nri.reston.va.us port 185 or use Gopher. NETFIND Network directory service. Uses a complex algorithm trying to locate person, for which a name and a rough description of the institution is known (eg. John Doe Colorado University). Telnet bruno.cs.colorado.edu - login netfind, or use Gopher. WHOIS System network function, found in Unix and many other Internet hosts. Queries the default database (eg. NIC) for Internet data, nodes, user names and institutions. No boolean searches. Usage: "whois keyword" where "keyword" is a person name, institution etc. or a unique "handle" assigned by NIC. The European database RIPE can be also searched using Gopher tools (Wais, WWW, whois), telnet whois.ripe.net. Whois can be also accessed by Gopher. LISTSERVs Listservs (and sister Netservs) are multifunction network automata residing on BITNET/EARN nodes, although generally accessible to everybody. They have a number of clones on the Internet (eg. netlib, info-server@nnsc.nsf.net, mail-server@nisc.sri.com or linux-actiwists- request@niksula.hut.fi etc.). In their database functions Listservs act as depository of various files, notebooks of discussion groups, software and other. Listservs are located on all major Bitnet nodes (PLEARN and BITNIC among many others) and accept interactive and mail commands. Listserv and most clones will accept the command HELP or INFO in the first line of the e-mail, replying with more or less detailed instructions. The command SENDME LISTSERV FILELIST sent to listserv@bitnic will cause a reply with a listing of files available on this node. More sophisticated database searches are also possible. Listservs will also subscribe you to one of many discussion groups or E- Journals: for detail see below. DISCUSSION LISTS / BULLETIN BOARDS Discussion lists are global vehicles for information exchange and discussion. They come in large variety of topics, languages, and rules of conduct. They can be unmoderated, which means all input is automatically distributed to list members, or moderated, with various degrees of editing. They are distributed by mail, in which case they are called listserv lists, or on a Usenet NEWS system (known there as newsgroups). NEWS is an interactive system where one can select one or more groups for your "news client" to request from a server (you have to subscribe to receive a Listserv List). Many listserv lists are mirrored as News. To subscribe to a list (eg. PLEARN-L) you send a message (E- mail) to the appropriate LISTSERV (in this case LISTSERV@UBVM) with the command "SUBSCRIBE PLEARN-L Your_Full_Name". To *contribute* to the list, you send your text message to the list, eg. to PLEARN-L@UBVM. The constant annoyance (perhaps a testimony to user-unfriendliness of this system) is a stream of commands like "Subscribe" directed to the list and distributed to all hundred or thousand subscribers, so remember: COMMANDS go to an automaton, the Listserv, contributions for people go to a particular List. Lists not based on Listserv may have other rules: the "command" message will be read either by an automaton or by a human. My latest "unsubscribe" request to info-nets-request@think.com met with a response from Robert Kravitz, the list owner: "I think I'm a person, although some disagree :-)...". If you are not sure, try the "help" command and/or a polite request for help - hopefully one of them will be answered. One does not subscribe to Newsgroups, all are available for reading, although the system administrator may select only some groups depending on demand and disk space. You can contribute to a group using the same client news program which retrieves and displays them. The contributions, called "articles", have usually a limited lifetime depending on the storage size. There are also "local" Bulletin Boards, accessible via Internet, which have similar functions as "free standing" BB's. The Zamfield's list of Internet BBS can be retrieved by ftp from Wuarchive.wustl.edu in directory /pub. Cleveland Freenet is a notable example of a large size, freely accessible Bulletin Board with enormous amounts of activities and information (telnet freenet-in-a@cwru.edu). CHATS If you are not satisfied with exchanging notes and articles, and yearn for more intimate contact with other netters, there are several versions of chats. Most popular are Bitnet's RELAY and Internet's IRC (Internet Relay Chat). In both of them, after reading a a short help file you register using your real name, select a nickname, choose one of many channels and begin broadcasting. Whatever you write is sent to all chatters on your channel. It is polite to begin with general greetings, after which you are on your own. Channels have numbers (in Relay) or names (in IRC) and often explicit topics. They can be public, private or unlisted. One can send "private" message to one person, ask the system to "ignore" another and "invite" a user logged on but not in the chat yet - the help information explains those and many other commands. To use RELAY one takes advantage of the Bitnet's interactive commands (eg. TELL in VM, SEND in VMS etc.). The commands and messages are sent to the nearest RELAY server. The commands are preceded wit a slash; /HELP gives you the command listing. To discover your nearest RELAY send a command /SERVERS to any RELAY (eg. MASRELAY@UBVM). Once you register and select a channel, all text not preceded with a "/" is broadcast to the channel's participants. To use IRC, the irc client has to be installed on your system. The commands are similar, although the "/" may not be required on all the systems. To be continued Marek Zielinski ===================================================================== Network Resources updated by Rafal Maszkowski and Marek Zielinski POLAND - ELECTRONIC CONTACTS 31 March 1993 1. EARN/BITNET ############################################################ The Plearn Nodetree represents schematically the hierarchical tree of the Polish section of EARN. Note, that no two nodes in the same column communicate directly - the transmission of mail, files and messages goes always through the higher level node. For example a message from the University of Mining and Metallurgy to the Poznan Technical University travels the following route: PLKAGH11 - PLKRCY11 - PLEARN - PLPUAM11 - PLPOTU51. 1.1. PLEARN Nodetree SEARN--PLEARN--+--PLANIF61 | +--PLBIAL11 | +--PLCAMK61 | +--PLKRCY11--+--PLKAGH11 | | | +--PLKRCY52 | +--PLKTUS11-----PLKTAE11 | +--PLPUAM11--+--PLPOTU51 | | | +--PLSZUS11 | +--PLTUMK11 | +--PLUMCS11 | +--PLUNLO51 | +--PLWATU21 | +--PLWAUW61 | +--PLWRTU11--+--PLWRAE51 | +--PLWRTU51 | +--PLWRUW11 1.2. EARN/BITNET nodes _________________________________________________________________________ |Nodename Institution, machine, operating system, Internet address | | 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. 12-341-124 Zdzislaw Pliszka op. 12-341-025 On Internet as earn.cyf-kr.edu.pl [148.81.18.5] PLKAGH11 a University of Mining & Metallurgy, Comp. Center IBM4361 VM Janusz Pilch adm. 12-338-100 Tomek Polonczyk op. -"- w.2885 Addressable also as plkagh11.uci.agh.edu.pl -------- - -------------- LODZ ---------------------------------------- PLUNLO51 a University of Lodz VAX3300 VMS Marian Bieniecki, adm. 42-784-176 On Internet as krysia.u.lod.edu.pl [193.59.1.1] -------- - -------------- LUBLIN ---------------------------------------- PLUMCS11 a Uniwersytet Marii Curie Sklodowskiej IBM4381 VM Andrzej Resztak adm. 81-376-240 Jarek Korzen op. 81-376-192 On Internet as plumcs11.umcs.lublin.pl [192.147.37.100] -------- - -------------- 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 On Internet as vm.cc.torun.edu.pl [158.75.1.15] -------- - -------------- WARSZAWA -------------------------------------- Polish Academy of Sciences PLANIF61 a Institute of Physics SUN 4/75 Sparc-2 Piotr Bialokoziewicz 22-437-001 w.259 PLCAMK61 a Nicholaus Copernicus Astronomical Observatory Maciej Kozlowski adm. 22-411-086 Addressable also as camk.edu.pl Warsaw Technical University PLWATU21 a Informatics Center IBM4341 Janusz Pelc op. 22-21007-1512 Tadeusz Englert adm. -"- Warsaw University, Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28, 00-927 Warsaw PLEARN a Informatics Center IBM3090 VM **Central Polish EARN node** On Internet as plearn.edu.pl [148.81.18.1] Andrzej Smereczynski adm. 22-200-381 ext.448 Tadeusz Wegrzynowski dir. 22-263-345 Danuta Burzynska postmaster Malgosia Grabowska postmaster PLWAUW61 a Astronomical Observatory SUN Sparc Station 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 On Internet as plwrtu11.ci-pwr.wroc.edu.pl [156.17.1.11] 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. 2. INTERNET ############################################################## The list below is designed as an aid in locating E-mail contacts. Part 2.1 presents a map of the Polish Internet domain, part 2.2 lists the institutions with Internet connections, names and addresses of contact persons, and information how to address mail. In some cases the electronic address is common for the whole domain, in others one has to send mail to a particular machine. The publicly accesible machines (anonymous ftp, telnet, Bulletin Boards) are listed as well. 2.1 Domain Map The Internet domain names are organized in a tree. The 'fully qualified domain name' is obtained by travelling along the branches of the tree, from the end-point back to the root. For example with the IP address 153.19.1.254 is known to the world as . The numbers in parentheses refer to the domains described in section 2.2. Unlike the Plearn connection scheme above, the Internet Domain map does not indicate direct connections between nodes, but only a logical name construction scheme. pl-+--com--+--atm--------(WA01) | | | +--nask-------(WA02) | +--gov--+--cup--------(WA26) | | | +--cyf--------(OT01) | | | +--icso-------(PO07) | | | +--impan------(WA28) | | | +--ippt-------(WA03) | | | +--kbn--------(WA31) | | | +--nencki-----(WA27) | | | +--poz--------(PO01) | +--org--nask----------(WA02) | +--gda--univ----------(GD01) | +--lublin-+-umcs-------(LU01) | | | +-pol--------(LU02) | | | +-ar---------(LU03) | | | +-kul--------(LU04) | +--pwr----------------(WR01) | +--edu--+--agh---+----ftj-------(KR08) | | | +----ia--------(KR09) | | | +----ics-------(KR06) | | | +----icslab----(KR17) | | | +----metal-----(KR10) | | | +----uci-------(KR07) | +--astrouw--------------(WA09) | +--byd---+----amb-------(BY02) | | | +----atr-------(BY01) | | | +----wsp-------(BY03) | +--camk-----------------(WA06) | +--cyf-kr---------------(KR01) | +--fuw------------------(WA07) | +--gliwice-+------------(GL01) | | | +--eto-------(GL02) | | | +--iinf------(GL03) | | | +--iele------(GL04) | +--ichf-----------------(WA04) | +--ifj------------------(KR04) | +--ifpan----------------(WA05) | +--lod----+---am--------(LO03) | | + +---p---------(LO01) | | + +---u---------(LO02) | +--mimuw--+-------------(WA10) | | | +--appli------(WA19) | +--ncu------------------(TO01) | +--pk-------------------(KR12) | +--poz-(PO01)-ae--------(PO06) | | | +----ieittp----(PO03) | | | +----ikwn------(PO05) | | | +----oinov-----(PO02) | | | +----pol-------(PO02) | | | +----tu--------(PO04) | +--pw----+----ca--------(WA20) | | | +----ch--------(WA21) | | | +----coi-------(WA11) | | | +----gik-------(WA22) | | | +----ia-(WA12)-yp | | | +----if--------(WA16) | | | +----ii--------(WA15) | | | +----il--------(WA17) | | | +----imio------(WA25) | | | +----ipe-------(WA14) | | | +----ire-------(WA23) | | | +----it--------(WA18) | | | +----meil------(WA24) | | | +----tele------(WA13) | +-torun--+----astri-----(TO05) | | | +----cc--------(TO03) | | | +----mat-------(TO02) | | | +----phys------(TO04) | +--tup------------------(PO01) | +--uj---+-----if--------(KR02) | | | +-----ii--------(KR03) | | | +-----im--------(KR13) | | + +-----oa--------(KR11) | +--us---+-----cto-------(KA01) | | | +-----ich-------(KA02) | +--uw---+---------------(WA08) | | | +-----biogeo----(WA30) | | | +-----camk------(WA08) | | | +-----chem------(WA32) | | | +-----psych-----(WA29) | +--wroc-+-----ch-pwr----(WR02) | +-----ci-pwr----(WR03) | +-----ict-pwr---(WR01) | +-----impwr-----(WR04) | +-----immt-pwr--(WR05) | +-----ists-pwr--(WR06) 2.2 Internet addresses __________________________________________________________________________ |CITY Institution, Contacts, Domain name(s) | |(Ref) where to send mail; publicly accessible machines | |_________________________________________________________________________| BYDGOSZCZ------------------------------------------------------------------- ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE, Institute of Mathematics and Physics Contact: Janusz Szykowny, Krzysztof Sobiecki Zbyszek Szewczak (BY01) Domain: atr.byd.edu.pl Mail: routbyd.atr.byd.edu.pl - i86 KA9Q/MS-DOS MEDICAL ACADEMY Contact: Zbigniew Piszcz (BY02) Domain: amb.byd.edu.pl PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY Contact: Slawomir Grondkowski (BY03) Domain: wsp.byd.edu.pl GDANSK ------------------------------------------------------------------- GDANSK UNIVERSITY ul. Bazynskiego 1a, 80-952 Gdansk Contact: Marek Karkowski tel. (58)-41-52-41 ext.276 Domain: gda.pl (GD01) Domain: univ.gda.pl Mail: halina.univ.gda.pl GLIWICE ----------------------------------------------------------------- SILESIAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Computer Center Pstrowskiego 16, 44-100 Gliwice Contact: (GL01) Domain: gliwice.edu.pl Warning: previous domain gliwice.pl is being changed to gliwice.edu.pl; try the other if first doesn't work. Mail: jacek.gliwice.edu.pl, oeto.edu.gliwice.pl, gleto3.gliwice.edu.pl Computer Center (GL02) Domain: eto.gliwice.edu.pl Informatics Institute (GL03) Domain: iinf.gliwice.edu.pl Institute of Electronics Contact: Witold Baran (GL04) Domain: iele.gliwice.edu.pl KATOWICE ----------------------------------------------------------------- SILESIAN UNIVERSITY Contact: Maciek Uhlig Domain: us.edu.pl Computer Center (KA01) Domain: cto.us.edu.pl Mail: apollo.cto.us.edu.pl, atena.cto.us.edu.pl, herkules.cto.us.edu.pl, hermes.cto.us.edu.pl, mars.cto.us.edu.pl, zeus.cto.us.edu.pl Institute of Chemistry (KA02) Domain: ich.us.edu.pl Mail: tc.ich.us.edu.pl KRAKOW ------------------------------------------------------------------- ACADEMIC COMPUTER CENTRE CYFRONET-CRACOW Contact: Jerzy Pawlus Krzysztof Gawel Adam Krzyzek (KR01) Domain, mail: cyf-kr.edu.pl earn.cyf-kr.edu.pl - another address of plkrcy11.bitnet JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY Contact: , * = if,ii,oa Domain: uj.edu.pl Institute of Physics Contact: Krzysztof Heller (KR02) Domain, mail: if.uj.edu.pl Mail: ztc386a.if.uj.edu.pl, trisc.if.uj.edu.pl - Teoretical Physics pkpf.if.uj.edu.pl, agnes.if.uj.edu.pl - General Physics zfs.if.uj.edu.pl - Solid State Physics jetta.if.uj.edu.pl - anonymous ftp Informatics Institute Contact: Krzysztof Heller (KR03) Domain, mail: ii.uj.edu.pl Institute of Mathematics Contact: Marek Slocinski (KR13) Domain: im.uj.edu.pl sigma.im.uj.edu.pl - anonymous ftp Astronomical Observatory (KR11) Domain, mail: oa.uj.edu.pl NUCLEAR PHYSICS INSTITUTE Contact: Andrzej Sobala (KR04) Domain: ifj.edu.pl Mail: chopin.ifj.edu.pl, kuba.ifj.edu.pl, vsk01.ifj.edu.pl to vsk07.ifj.edu.pl, vsb02.ifj.edu.pl to vsb04.ifj.edu.pl UNIVERSITY OF MINING AND METALLURGY Domain: agh.edu.pl Contact: Szymon Sokol Institute of Computer Science Contact: Andrzej Krol (KR06) Domain: ics.agh.edu.pl Mail: crocus.ics.agh.edu.pl, daisy.ics.agh.edu.pl, lily.ics.agh.edu.pl, rose.ics.agh.edu.pl, tulip.ics.agh.edu.pl University Computer Center Contact: Szymon Sokol (KR07) Domain, mail: uci.agh.edu.pl plkagh11.uci.agh.edu.pl = another address of PLKAGH11.bitnet, mail only galaxy.uci.agh.edu.pl - anonymous ftp, gopher Faculty of Physics and Nuclear Techiques Contact: Marek Ciechanowski (KR08) Domain, mail: ftj.agh.edu.pl Automatics Institute Contact: Wojciech Chmiel (KR09) Domain: ia.agh.edu.pl Mail: earth.ia.agh.edu.pl, biocyb.ia.agh.edu.pl Institute of Computer Science - laboratory (KR17) Domain, : icslab.agh.edu.pl Metalurgy Institute Contact: Krzysztof Wilk (KR10) Domain, mail: metal.agh.edu.pl KRACOW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Contact: (KR12) Domain: pk.edu.pl - not working yet (92.11) LODZ --------------------------------------------------------------------- LODZ TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Institute of Computer Networks Contact: Konrad Plich Stanislaw Starzak Piotr Wilk (LO01) Domain: p.lod.edu.pl Mail: zsku.p.lod.edu.pl zsku.p.lod.edu.pl, anonymous ftp UNIVERSITY OF LODZ Contact: Marian Bieniecki (LO02) Domain: u.lod.edu.pl krysia.u.lod.edu.pl = another address of plunlo51.bitnet Department of Crystallography Contact: Piotr Sobczynski Solid State Physics Department Contact: Marian Bieniecki Cosmic Radiation Institute Contact: Mail: zpk.u.lod.edu.pl MEDICAL ACADEMY Contact: (LO03) Domain: am.lod.edu.pl LUBLIN ------------------------------------------------------------------- MARIA CURIE SKLODOWSKA UNIVERSITY Contact: Piotr Rozmej Phone: (81) 37-61-90 (LU01) Domain: umcs.lublin.pl Mail: zio1u.umcs.lublin.pl plumcs11.umcs.lublin.pl = another address of plumcs11.bitnet LUBLIN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (LU02) Domain: pol.lublin.pl ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE (LU03) Domain: ar.lublin.pl CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF LUBLIN (LU04) Domain: kul.lublin.pl OTWOCK - SWIERK ---------------------------------------------------------- INSTITUTE OF ATOMIC ENERGY Computer Centre Cyfronet Contact: , (OT01) Domain, mail: cyf.gov.pl Mail: cx2.cyf.gov.pl POZNAN ------------------------------------------------------------------- POZNAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Mikolaj Lubiatowski (PO01) Domain poz.edu.pl, tup.edu.pl, poz.gov.pl Mail: oippuxv.poz.edu.pl Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department of Control, Robotics and Computer Science pl. Sklodowskiej-Curie 5, 60-965 Poznan Contact: Krzysztof Kosarzycki (PO02) Domain: oinov.poz.edu.pl, pol.poz.edu.pl Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Electronics & Communications 3A Piotrowo Street, Poznan Contact: Rafal Krenz (PO03) Domain: ieitpp.poz.edu.pl Mail: cygnus.ieitpp.poz.edu.pl Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Informatics 3A Piotrowo Street Contact: Ryszard Jezierski (PO04) Domain: tu.poz.edu.pl Mail: perseus.tu.poz.edu.pl INSTITUTE OF NATURAL FIBRES Wojska Polskiego 71 B, 60-630 Poznan Contact: Dobroslawa Gucia (PO05) Domain: ikwn.poz.gov.pl UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS Al. Niepodleglosci 10, Poznan Contact: Michal Walczak (PO06) Domain: ae.poz.edu.pl Mail uci1.ae.poz.edu.pl, novci1.ae.poz.edu.pl, nvlig.ae.poz.edu.pl gopher.ae.poz.edu.pl - gopher MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY Institute of Heavy Organic Synthesis (PO07) Domain: icso.gov.pl Mail: icm2.icso.gov.pl TORUN -------------------------------------------------------------------- NICOLAUS COPERNICUS UNIVERSITY Contact: Zbyszek Szewczak (TO01) Domain: ncu.edu.pl, torun.edu.pl Mail: cc.ncu.edu.pl cc.ncu.edu.pl - anonymous telnet and ftp Institute of Astronomy Contact : Jerzy Borkowski (TO05) Domain: astri.torun.edu.pl Computer Center Contact: Maja Gorecka (TO03) Domain, mail: cc.torun.edu.pl vm.cc.torun.edu.pl = another address of pltumk11.bitnet ftp.cc.torun.edu.pl - anonymous ftp vm.cc.torun.edu.pl - gopher Institute of Mathematics Contact: Tomasz Wolniewicz (TO02) Domain, mail: mat.torun.edu.pl gopher.torun.edu.pl - gopher Institute of Physics Contact: Jacek Kobus Darek Dyl (TO04) Domain: phys.torun.edu.pl Mail: risc.phys.torun.edu.pl WARSAW ------------------------------------------------------------------- ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING Inc., (ATM - a computer company) Contact: Leszek Zieniuk , (WA01) Domain, mail: atm.com.pl merkury.atm.com.pl - anonymous ftp RESEARCH and ACADEMIC COMPUTER NETWORK (NASK), The NASK Foundation administering the National Network. Contact: Tomasz Hofmokl dir. Irek Neska op. Janusz Motoszko op. Andrzej Zienkiewicz Wiktor Krzanowski (WA02) Domain, mail: nask.org.pl gandalf.nask.org.pl has a protocol converter to access other services and networks: EARN, Decnet via VAX. Login and password: guest. In EARN you can reach PLBIAL11 (not working yet), PLTUMK11 and PLUMCS11 through PVM from CIUW. frodo.nask.org.pl - anonymous ftp, main Internet router statistics NASK Service Domain, mail: nask.com.pl POLISH ACADEMY of SCIENCES Institute of Fundamental Technological Research Swietokrzyska 21, 00-049 Warszawa Contact: Marek Pokulniewicz (WA03) Domain, mail: ippt.gov.pl Institute of Physical Chemistry (WA04) Domain: ichf.edu.pl Mail: charon.ichf.edu.pl Institute of Mathematics (WA28) Domain, mail: impan.gov.pl Institute of Physics Contact: Jacek Madajczyk Mariusz Olko (WA05) Domain: ifpan.edu.pl Mail: sigma.ifpan.edu.pl, beta1.ifpan.edu.pl Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Contact: msikora@nencki.gov.pl (WA27) Domain, mail: nencki.gov.pl Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center Contact: Maciek Kozlowski Zbyszek Loska Zbyszek Markiewicz Andrzej Kaczorowski (WA06) Domain, mail: camk.edu.pl alfa.camk.edu.pl - anonymous ftp storing PIGULKI, dir: pub/pigulki; GUST archive WARSAW UNIVERSITY Institute of Physics Contact: Rafal Pietrak Michal Jankowski Marcin Gromisz Jacek Blocki (WA07) Domain, mail: fuw.edu.pl Mail: hozavax.fuw.edu.pl - VAX-4000/VMS, ibmna35.fuw.edu.pl- IBM-RISC/6000 Aix, ccfs1.fuw.edu.pl - Sparc Station, thfs1.fuw.edu.pl - Sparc, zfja-gate.fuw.edu.pl - Nuclear Physics Institute ftp.fuw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp, dir public gopher.fuw.edu.pl, ccfs1.fuw.edu.pl - gopher zfja-gate.fuw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp, PA0GRI Informatics Center Contact: Irek Neska Janusz Motoszko (WA08) Domain, mail: camk.uw.edu.pl camk.uw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp and telnet. plearn.edu.pl = another address of plearn.bitnet, gopher Astronomical Observatory Contact: Andrzej Udalski Michal Szymanski (WA09) Domain: astrouw.edu.pl Mail: sirius.astrouw.edu.pl, orion.astrouw.edu.pl sirius.astrouw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp, Acta Astronomica archive Mathematics, Informatics, Mechanics departments. Contact: Staszek Kurpiewski Jerzy Wrobel (WA10) Domain, mail: mimuw.edu.pl ftp.mimuw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp Mail to DECNET: %.decnet.edu.pl@mimuw.edu.pl may be: ciuwtr; cyfrtr; ghost, iiuw1 (MIMUW); gleto1, gleto2 (Gliwice); glibib; krak11; krak8k; krakow; krysia; lodz, lodz1 (Lodz Tech. Univ.); mainvx; mv2000; mv3100; mvii; mviic; nask1 (CIUW Warsaw); odyn (UAM Poznan); pwvax1, pwvax2 (Warsaw Tech. Univ.); ucirtr; uwrtr; wrocv Contact: system or operator, e.g. system%gleto2.decnet.edu.pl@mimuw.edu.pl Mail from DECNET to Internet: ghost::"user@internet.host" Institute of Applied Mathematics Contact: (WA19) Domain, mail: appli.mimuw.edu.pl Biophysics and Biochemistry Departments Contact: Antek Laczkowski (WA30) Domain: biogeo.uw.edu.pl Mail: asp.biogeo.uw.edu.pl Department of Psychology Contact: (WA29) Domain: psych.uw.edu.pl Mail: psych1.psych.uw.edu.pl, psych2.psych.uw.edu.pl Chemistry Department Contact: (WA32) Domain, mail: chem.uw.edu.pl WARSAW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Contact: Roman Adamiec Domain: pw.edu.pl Central Administration (WA20) Domain: ca.pw.edu.pl Faculty of Chemistry (WA21) Domain: ch.pw.edu.pl Computing Center Contact: Roman Adamiec Andrzej Szymanski (WA11) Domain, mail: coi.pw.edu.pl titan.coi.pw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp Institute of Automatics, Fac. of Electronics Contact: Jerzy Sobczyk (WA12) Domain, mail: ia.pw.edu.pl ftp.ia.pw.edu.pl - anonymous ftp gopher.ia.pw.edu.pl - gopher Physics Institute, FTiMS (WA16) Domain: if.pw.edu.pl Informatics Institute (WA15) Domain, mail: ii.pw.edu.pl Faculty of Civil Engineering (WA17) Domain: il.pw.edu.pl Instityte of Micro- and Optoelectronics, Faculty of Electronics (WA25) Domain, mail: imio.pw.edu.pl Institute of Basic Electronics (WA14) Domain, mail: ipe.pw.edu.pl Institute of Radioelectronics, Fac. of Electronics (WA23) Domain, mail: ire.pw.edu.pl Transportation Institute (WA18) Domain: it.pw.edu.pl Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography (WA22) Domain: gik.pw.edu.pl Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Eng. (WA24) Domain: meil.pw.edu.pl Institute of Telecommunication, Fac. of Electronics Contact: Leszek Wronski (WA13) Domain, mail: tele.pw.edu.pl CENTRAL PLANNING OFFICE Data Processing Center (WA26) Domain: cup.gov.pl Mail: ci1.cup.gov.pl COMMITTEE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (WA31) Domain: kbn.gov.pl WROCLAW ------------------------------------------------------------------ WROCLAW TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY Institute of Technical Cybernetics Contact: Witold Paluszynski (WR01) Domain: ict-pwr.wroc.edu.pl Mail: ict.pwr.pl (mail only) Computing Centre (WR03) Domain: ci-pwr.wroc.edu.pl plwrtu11.ci-pwr.wroc.edu.pl - another address of plwrtu11.bitnet Chemistry Contact: Krzysztof Rohleder (WR02) Domain: ch-pwr.wroc.edu.pl Mail: kchf-1.ch-pwr.wroc.edu.pl, kchk-1.ch-pwr.wroc.edu.pl Mathematics Institute (WR04) Domain: impwr.wroc.edu.pl Institute of Materials Science and Technical Mechanics (WR05) Domain: immt-pwr.wroc.edu.pl (WR06) Domain: ists-pwr.wroc.edu.pl 3. Fidonet ############################################################### _________________________________________________________________________ |Node: Name: Location: Sysop: Phone: | |_________________________________________________________________________| 2:481/1 SM-Net Bydgoszcz Mariusz Boronski 48-52-411222 2:481/3 POLSUNG Bydgoszcz Dariusz Bagnucki 48-52-229402 2:481/4 ATR BBS Bydgoszcz Piotr Michal Kruza 48-52-438629 2:481/2 Technical Univ. Gdansk Mariusz Matuszek 48-58-472109 2:480/25 PiK'us BBS Gliwice Wojciech Apel 48-32-374848 2:480/5 BitART BBS Krakow Tomasz Polys 48-12-335486 2:480/22 Peter's BBS Krakow Piotr Walczak 48-12-362222 2:480/26 MIKROKOMPUTERY SA Krakow Maciej Piotrowski 48-12-218777 2:480/28 QUMAK BBS Krakow Jacek Piotrowski 48-12-223886 2:480/11 Snoopy BBS Lodz Jan Waliszewski 48-42-336573 2:480/3 PlUUG Warszawa Andrzej Mazurkiewicz 48-2-6415876 2:480/4 MONTH BBS Warszawa Andrzej Bursztynski 48-22-291578 2:480/7 FTI BBS Warszawa Michal Szokolo 48-2-6355904 2:480/10 Home of PCQ Warszawa Jan Stozek 48-22-410374 2:480/13 Spectrum BBS Warszawa Tomasz Bursze 48-22-256965 2:480/16 USERS' BBS Warszawa Jacek Marczewski 48-22-213224 2:480/19 Bajtek/FTI BBS Warszawa Michal Szokolo 48-2-6355904 2:480/21 AKME BBS Warszawa Pawel Miesojedow 48-22-315889 2:480/23 Galaxy BBS Warszawa Jarek Wojcik 48-2-6431010 2:480/24 G.B.L. Medlink Warszawa Michal Szokolo 48-22-497632 2:480/30 IMPERIAL Warszawa Krzysztof Mlynarski 48-22-176658 2:480/31 OPEN_THE_SKY #1 Warszawa Andrzej Bacinski 48-22-250263 2:480/33 Home of AMiga Warszawa Rafal Wiosna 48-22-339649 2:480/20 Mehama BBS Wroclaw Ludwig Schuette 48-71-218943 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 BitART BBS in Krakow is: . 4. Publicly accessible sites and servers ################################# Gophers: Select the Gopher from the world gopher list, or use your gopher client with one of the addresses below: galaxy.uci.agh.edu.pl University of Mining and Metallurgy, Cracow gopher.ae.poz.edu.pl University of Economics, Poznan gopher.fuw.edu.pl Warsaw University, Physics Dept. gopher.ia.pw.edu.pl Warsaw Univ. of Technology, Inst. of Automatic Control gopher.torun.edu.pl Nicolas Copernicus University in Torun plearn.edu.pl Warsaw University vm.cc.torun.edu.pl University of Nicolaus Copernicus, Inst. Math., Torun Anonymus ftp sites: login as anonymous, give your E-address as password alfa.camk.edu.pl - Pigulki, GUST archive camk.uw.edu.pl - also telnet. cc.ncu.edu.pl - KA9Q, telnet frodo.nask.org.pl - main Internet router statistics, Pigulki ftp.cc.torun.edu.pl - also telnet ftp.fuw.edu.pl - Donosy archive ftp.ia.pw.edu.pl - unix docs. galaxy.uci.agh.edu.pl - Gopher, Pigulki, books, journals, humor, more. jetta.if.uj.edu.pl - vartious programs and docs. merkury.atm.com.pl sigma.im.uj.edu.pl sirius.astrouw.edu.pl - Acta Astronomica archive titan.coi.pw.edu.pl - zfja-gate.fuw.edu.pl - PA0GRI zsku.p.lod.edu.pl - Pigulki Listservs: send E-mail with the word HELP in first line to obtain instructions. listserv@ia.pw.edu.pl listserv@if.uj.edu.pl listserv@plearn.bitnet, listserv@plearn.edu.pl listserv@plpotu51.bitnet listserv@pltumk11.bitnet, listserv@vm.cc.torun.edu.pl listserv@plwrtu11.bitnet, listserv@plwrtu11.ci-pwr.wroc.edu.pl listserv@uci.agh.edu.pl polip-request@fuw.edu.pl ----------------- Many thanks to Andrzej Smereczynski for updates on EARN and to Marian Bieniecki, Krzysztof Heller, Konrad Plich, Marian Soida, Marek Samoc, Mariusz Sokolowski for help in updating the Internet list. Please send changes and corrections to Rafal Maszkowski . =================================================================== Pigulki's Back Page Jurek Klimkowski Travelog: ANCIENT RITES AND SALUTATIONS I shall forever miss Soviet choir music. Many of these so called "worker's anthems" were carefully crafted pieces of a very good work. Sung by rows upon rows of young, breasted, blond girls backed by more rows of young, working-class-looking young males, this music exuded very positive emotions. Strength and hope emanated for as long as various celebrations lasted. Our neutral reality was punctuated by a large number of these festivities so that a view of the front row of the choir, taking a deep breath between lines of a song, would entice our parents to do more of the same. Even if one didn't quite enjoy the spectacle, there was always a choice of killing time by observing the edges of the red scarves of the girls in the front row. Against the white background of their blouses, the corners of that neck apparel moved up and down, up and down until the show ended after an hour or two. The music was thunderous, loud and essentially Wagnerian. After all, what these songs were about was no laughing matter, and we were all subscribing to the Marxist synthesis of the history of the working class. Even if gift parcels from the relatives in the West suggested some ongoing changes in the status of this class, our understanding of the past remained immutable. So we spent time listening to choirs, bored, yet secure in our little world. Only the heroic aspect of songs turned to be more and more hollow. The Valkyrian tint, always present in the celebration, suggested that all these anthems were not unlike the heroic song lemmings should be singing before their final jump. Here's the purpose - here's the precipice. By the end of 60', at least in Poland, the elation was gone. Price hikes, Levi-Strauss jeans, mid-life crisis of our parents, student unrest, and Jimi Hendrix seeped poison into our festivities. It was as if in the Roman times most lions turned out to be vegetarian. Crowds in a large amphitheatre, Christians and lions on the stage ... and nothing. Yet, state-ordered ceremonies, be it the Anniversary of the October Revolution, or an inspection of pigeon entrails, are rooted in their absurdity. Even after their entertainment value is completely gone, feasts continue ad nauseam. ...The last one I saw in Poland was the Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. With some help from my dear classmates, we managed to make the choir giggle a lot so that a very joyful, bacchanalian twist was added to the old routine. Therefore, it was the last one for me, for I was banned from celebrating in public. The next one, equally impressive show, I saw was on American TV... On the steps of Capitol Hill, under the aegis of the Moral Majority, there they were: rows upon rows of young, breasted, blond girls backed by more rows of young, simple-looking young males singing their hearts out. Hurray! Interrupting the music which as usual exuded very positive, soul-lifting emotions, their sponsor, the Rev. Dr. Jerry Falwell, stated that this was a celebration of FREEDOM, which could not happen in the Soviet Union. And yet, all I saw was the edges of the girls' scarves in the front row against the white background of their blouses. The corners of their neck apparel moved up and down, up and down until the show ended after an hour, or two. I shall forever miss American, patriotic choir music. Many of these so called... 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 and a contributing editor of PIGULKI. He was a co-founder and editor of POGLADY, Solidarity magazine of Lodz (1980-81). Jerzy Drygalski is an economist, graduated in 1989 from the Lodz University. In the Mazowiecki government he was given the task of privatizing the Polish press concern RSW-Prasa, and was dealing with privatization ever since. Presently Jurek holds a position of Vice-Minister of Property Restructuring in Polish Government. 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. Jacek Kryt (FCTY7475@RyeVm.Ryerson.Ca) is a retired professor from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. Since 1967 he has taught in the area of Computerized Business Information Systems and manage- ment, first in the school of business, currently in continuing education. He graduated from SGH Warsaw, University of Brussels, and the University of Toronto. He is the Treasurer of the Committee for Technological Cooperation with Poland, based in Toronto. Rafal Maszkowski (rzm@mat.torun.edu.pl) graduated this year from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. His speciality is astronomy, his hobby - travelling the Netland. Presently he works at the Onsala Space Observatory at the Chalmers Polytechnic in Goteborg. He is also the sysop of the NCU BBS in Torun. Anna Musialowicz graduated in English studies from the Lodz University and is now a co-owner of the Interpreters and Translators Agency ALIANS in Lodz. She is also interested in mountain climbing and broadly defined ecology. Dave Phillips (davep@acsu.buffalo.edu) is a doctoral candidate in geography (urban and regional analysis) at SUNY at Buffalo. He was a cofounder of the EARN-Poland Link Discussion Group in 1987 and of the PLEARN-L discussion list in 1990. A contributing editor of Pigulki, he is also master operator of Buffalo's relay (masrelay@ubvm). 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: Dave Phillips (davep@acsu.buffalo.edu) Oceania: Marek Samoc (mjs111@phys.anu.edu.au) Europe, Africa: Marek Zielinski (zielinski@acfcluster.nyu.edu) 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) POSTSCRIPT EDITION: PIGULKI is available in ASCII and in printable POSTSCRIPT forms. The ASCII version is distributed by E-mail, the Postscript edition is available by anonymous ftp, by E-mail and using Gopher. For instructions see below under Back Issues. BACK ISSUES: * ANONYMOUS FTP: The sites at alfa.camk.edu.pl, galaxy.uci.agh.edu.pl, info.in2p3.fr, laserspark.anu.edu.au, tirana.berkeley.edu and zsku.p.lod.edu.pl store back issues in subdirectory /pub/pigulki. Log in as 'anonymous' and give your E-address as password. ASCII files have extension pub, Posctscript files have extension ps. * MAIL: Send mail to netlib@alfa.camk.edu.pl with the line 'send index from pigulki' to obtain the list of available files, and with the line 'send pigulk13.pub from pigulki' to obtain eg. the current ASCII issue. For Postscript substitute ps for pub. * GOPHER: In your Gopher's list of Other Gophers locate "University of Mining and Metallurgy, Cracow", or "Uniwersytet Kalifornijski, Berkeley", and find "Public access files/pigulki" or "Publications/pigulki" menu entries. Or connect directly to or using your gopher client. PIGULKI's editors are grateful to Maciek Kozlowski of the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center in Warsaw , to Jaroslaw Strzalkowski of the University of Mining and Metallurgy in Krakow , to Wojtek Wojcik of the Centre de Calcul of Lyon , to Marek Samoc of Australian National University in Canberra , to Zbigniew J. Pasek from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and for Konrad Pilch from Lodz Technical University for making space available to archive Pigulki. LEGAL BITS: PIGULKI is distributed free of charge to masochistic readers who request it from an authorized distributor or ftp site (above). Signed articles are Copyright (c) 1993 by their authors. PIGULKI may not be copied or retransmitted without prior permission by the editors and notification of your local public health authorities. Permission to excerpt is granted in advance for academic use, provided there is full attribution and concurrent notification of the editors. 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. ========================================================================== .