==================================================================== 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 __________________________________________________________________ November 20, 1991 No. 8 __________________________________________________________________ In this issue: Editors' Note Networks LIBRARIES, ROADS AND COMPUTER NETWORKS ... E. Jankowska-Lategano / M. Zielinski Polish Affairs THE MORNING AFTER ........................ J. Ulanski POLAND'S PROBLEMS IN BRIEF ............... M. Cypryk Resources LIST OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES ............. Z. Pasek POLAND - ELECTRONIC CONTACTS ............. M. Zielinski Chronicle ................................... D. Phillips The Back Page: Armageddon ................... J. Klimkowski Notes on Contributors About PIGULKI ===================================================================== EDITORS' NOTE In July, we left you for the summer with an editorial in issue 7 concluding "Let's shoot for full-blown Internet by mid-1992! See you in September!" Well, we were wrong on both counts. Caught between school and work commitments, our September deadline slipped. On the former goal, we were, happily, behind the times. By September, further progress was made in solidifying Poland's Internet links to Europe, and by early November, within 2 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first EARN link came up in Moscow. We won't try to guess the pace of connectivity growth. We'll support it by continuing to provide our readers with resource material (lists of contacts, addresses, other lists, etc.) for using the net. We also want to concentrate on factors which may impede network growth and on issues which this growth raises. The networks also need to be put to good use as well, and this includes discussion of the broader situtation in Poland and beyond. The low turnout in the recent election to the Sejm suggests that Poland faces a popular crisis of confidence in its evolution of a democratic system, and while we may not agree with some observers' prescriptions or attributions the fact remains that Poland is trying to force-grow democratic institutions which in other countries have had centuries to evolve. Facilitating exchange of information - social and political as well as technical - between societies can help Poles learn from other countries' mistakes. This is vital since Poland has little time to lose. To this end, it is also necessary that the monopoly of access to global information networks in Poland - a de facto monopoly of educational institutions and some businesspeople and professionals - be broken. We welcome future contributions addressing this task. Do widzenia. ========================================================================= LIBRARIES, ROADS and COMPUTER NETWORKS The inspiration for this article came from a rather dramatic note which appeared this April on the 'WROCLAW' discussion list [1]. Entitled "Very Bad News", it described the new accounting procedure established in the Wroclaw University Computing Center (the one which operates the Wroclaw EARN node PLWRTU11). Under this new procedure, the use of E-mail would be charged to the University Institutes, with the charges based on connection time, CPU time, I/O operations, etc. Some University employees already asked to be removed from the 'WROCLAW' discussion list, fearing the costs would be too much for their Institutes. A group in the Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry begun to make plans to buy a SparcStation and register it as an independent EARN node, which would be much less expensive in the long run. In the subsequent note, J. Janyszek, director of the Computing Center [2], only confirmed the situation explaining that it arose chiefly as a result of the general University accounting rules. Worldwide computer networks, as well as other generally available computer services (like electronic bulletin boards and searchable databases,) are very new phenomena which were virtually nonexistent some 10 years ago. They have been developing spontaneously and very rapidly in recent years. Internet for example, grew from an experimental net of the Department of Defense to a world largest computer network in several years. There is very little in way of tradition, and there are no obvious models on which to base the rules for the functioning of such services. It is therefore quite natural that confusion abounds and that different forms of funding such operations are being experimented with. In this article we will explore traditional public institutions, which could serve as models for developing rules for networks and computer services, and compare them with some existing computer operations. LIBRARIES and SCHOOLS The notion of a *public library* is usually understood in two ways - as a library that can be used by any member of a society or as a library supported by local taxes. The first type of a public library goes back to ancient Greece and Rome, where the libraries were funded for the use of the founder as well as scholars, students, priests and officials. Justus Lipsius in his "Brief Outline of the History of Libraries" (1607) mentions several ancient libraries opened to everyone; the library of Lucullus, described by Plutarch, the library of Cornelius Sulla and above all the library conceived by Julius Caesar, who wanted to "open to the public the greatest possible libraries of Greek and Latin books". It was eventually erected by Asinius Pollio in Rome in Atrium Libertatis, 39 B.C. Pliny, in his "Naturalis Historia", describes Pollio's library as the place which made "free to all the wisdom of all". By the end of the fourth century Rome had some 28-30 public libraries, which were available to all who could and would use them. During the Middle Ages there were many monastic libraries available to those who could read. In the 15th century Germany, France, England and Scotland numerous "town libraries" came into existence. The second type of a public libraries, supported by local taxes, originated with the Bill, enabling Town Councils to establish Public Libraries and Museums, passed in England in 1850. It encouraged the establishment of libraries by authorizing the levy of a 1/2 d. (penny) rate to buy land and buildings for libraries. In America the first modern public library was established in New Hampshire in 1833, but the first legislation concerning public libraries was enacted in 1848, authorizing the establishment of the Boston Public Library. A year later more New England states adopted laws authorizing cities and towns to establish free tax-supported libraries. Although through the years the format of written information has expanded to machine readable text, the idea of public access remains the same. A computer account makes accessible not only the catalogues of thousands of libraries throughout the world, but in many cases the text of literary works (like the full text of "La Divina Commedia", with commentaries, available on the Dartmouth Dante Database), reasearch-in- progress and a lot more. There are two major centers that collect and catalog machine readable data bases, one in Oxford and another at Rutgers University in New Jersey. We grew up with the notion that in a democratic society everybody has an opportunity for social advancement through hard work and learning. In most democratic societies education is free. In Western Europe "free" education extends to Universities; in the US the financing at the college is slightly different, with the financial support going to student rather than to the school (or to both, in case of state colleges). The societies are generally in agreement that they gain most by giving access to learning based NOT on the ability to pay, but at most on the propensity to learn; by giving everybody an equal opportunity for social progress. HIGHWAYS Through the ages roads and highways were built and maintained by communities. In England, by the statue of 1555, the parishes were responsible for repairing their own roads. The parishioners were obliged to work four days each year on public roads. Although most roads are now public, there are some places where fees (tolls) are collected on the roads. The differences are often regional. California has its "freeways" while the east coast has a number of "turnpikes". Similarly, the "autobahns" are free while there are tolls on the "autostrada". In general, modern tolls were meant to be temporary, to help build a new road or bridge. The state of Connecticut, for example, dismantled the toll barriers on Interstate 95 when the loan was paid back in 1988. The state of New York, on the other hand, reneged on the promise, and uses continuously rising tolls on lieu of taxes to finance other projects, such as airport and subway construction. Similar situation is in Italy, where the cost-conscious truck drivers avoid the expensive autostrada's, congesting local roads, while the tolls are used as a general source of revenue. In most places, however, the roads are free. They support the whole range of means of transportation, public and private, paid and free. It is, however, generally considered that if somebody can walk (pedal, drive, etc.) he should be free to wander about the land, using the available roads. ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARDS Electronic Bulletin Boards (BB) have proliferated enormously within the last 10 years. A typical BB is operated by a computer enthusiast, sometimes a club or a school, who essentially makes his computer available for the community, deriving satisfaction mostly from communication with others. Anybody can call a BB, and although most of them require you to register, very few, if any, charge for their use. Volunteerism is of course welcome, and those Bulletin Boards which are connected to a network expect the users to cover the (nominal) costs of telephone calls, used to exchange mail and files. They usually operate locally, are run on small PC's and Mac's, and are so popular that they certainly must serve some important community function. A typical BB has a discussion section, where anybody can join a topical discussion, ask a question or simply chat, and a file section used as a storage and exchange of public domain and shareware software. Fidonet is an example of a network of bulletin boards, where telephone lines are used as a transport medium. An increase in telephone activity between 1 and 2 AM can be attributed to Fido Bulletin Boards calling each other to exchange mail. This allows discussions to be shared nationwide or even worldwide (EchoMail), as well as to send mail within FidoNet or outside, to any other network. Bulletin Boards are probably the best source of expert opinion on virtually anything. Many local BB's run hundreds of discussions on every imaginable topic, and there is always somebody to volunteer his help and expertise. If the question cannot be answered locally, there are worldwide "discussion lists" in Fidonet, Bitnet, Usenet etc. POLAND-L and soc.culture.polish are examples of such lists devoted to Polish topics. FREENET Some bulletin boards transcend the local, small scale operation and become nationwide institutions. An example of such is the Cleveland Freenet, operated by the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). From a single line BB called "St. Silicon's Hospital and Information Dispensary" it grew to a 100 line and 360 simultaneous user project, with tens of thousands of users in the Cleveland area and nationwide. Freenet can be accesses by phone and from internet , and offers a large number of services, from on-line access to many university libraries, to E-mail, local and global newsgroups, joint telecomputing project with area schools, etc. Supported in terms of hardware by CWRU, and aided by grants from Information Systems Division of AT&T and by the Ohio Bell Telephone Company, it is run almost exclusively by the effort of numerous volunteers. Other "Freenets" based on the same concept and software appeared in other cities and the operation is being transformed into the National Public Telecomputing Network. In words of its creators [3], We believe we have reached the point where computer "literacy" has gotten high enough (and the cost of equipment low enough) that a [...] demand has formed for free, public-access, computerized information systems. Indeed, we believe we have reached a point where the question is no longer whether it will happen; the question is "who" and "when." Who will do it and when will it happen? The National Public Telecomputing Network exists to make free public access to computerized communications and information services a reality--to hand down a legacy to our children's children as great as the one handed to us. COMMERCIAL INFORMATION SERVICES Database distributors, such as Dialog or STN International, allow the user to search a multitude of databases, (like Chemical Abstracts or Medline), conveniently from his desk, using any personal computer or even a "dumb terminal". In principle it should make such databases very popular. However, there is a problem of pricing: in order to recover costs with a small number of users, the database providers keep the prices high. Usually the fee is per hour, in addition to per search and per display fees. Prices (STN) are typically $40 to $100 per hour, but go as high as $300 per hour (or $5/min). This may not be much for large industrial clients, but certainly places a burden on small businesses, colleges, and individual users. The price structure does not encourage experimenting, which would help to gain experience; it also does not entice the providers to make the searches simpler and more effective. A recent advice in "PC World" magazine [4] exemplifies such problems: Q. I need to do a lot of on-line research, but I can't afford huge bills. Would I be better off hiring a professional on-line researcher? A. [...] Before you start fumbling with one of those $100-an-hour information services, consider hiring an information broker. Their fees may ~seem~ steep, ($50 to $100 an hour, plus on-line costs), but if your research needs are extensive, a broker can prove to be a bargain. ... This clearly suggests the failure of big database providers to mass- markert an easy-to-use product for everyone. What "PC World" did not mention, is that this kind of service is provided by many public libraries. The New York Public Library subscribes to Dialog, Vutext, Questel and many other services and most librarians will do searches on the cost recovery basis (you pay only for the connect time and per print, not for the "information broker's" time) COMPUTER RESOURCES IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES In some colleges all students automatically obtain a computer account and have access to computerized university services, including local and global bulletin boards, E-mail, library catalogs, etc. In others, student access is limited to those taking courses requiring the use of computers. The access for faculty and administration in most colleges is free, with accounting usually based on CPU time, translated into dollars. The dollar amount does not represent real charges but so called "funny money", used only for accounting purposes. It seems that some kind of compromise has been reached between the need for strict numbers in accounting and a need for common sense on the other end. A recent survey [4] of 76 libraries in the U.S., Australia, Germany, Great Britain and Canada, posing a question for a desired structure for E-mail use brought following responses: 2 libraries: Metered Use Fees 5 libraries: Flat Fees 69 libraries: Nothing at All (funny money?) Rick Gates, Systems Librarian of the University of Oregon Library and author of the survey writes, "For the curious, the University of Oregon offers free e-mail to all faculty, staff and students using funny money for accounting purposes. In fact the money is SO funny that they're called 'Quasi-dollar Units for Access to Computing' or QUACs for all you Oregon Duck fans:-)" IN CONCLUSION ... The networks are often likened to roads. Senator Al Gore, a proponent of a fast national "data superhighway system" writes [5], It used to be that a nation's transportation infrastructure determined success in international economic competition. Nations with deep-water ports did better than nations unable to exploit the technology of ocean transportation. Canals, railroads, highways, water and sewer systems - the list is a long one - were infrastructure investments found, through experience, to provide tremendous leverage for improving nation's competitiveness. Today transportation is less important compared with other factors, such as the ability to move information [...]. We need a commitment to build the high-speed data highways. Their absence constitutes the largest single barrier to realizing the potential of the information age. One can also argue that computer networks are like libraries, because they allow access to publicly available information, stored in myriads of computers across the world. It would be somehow inconceivable to imagine a library charging its clients for the time spent among the books, with additional charge per linear foot of bookshelf traversed. This is what some computer service providers still do. Hovever, more and more information is available freely, or at only nominal cost. For example, using Internet, one can reach and search catalogues of some of the largest academic libraries, such as the University of California Library. The institution of public library is often referred to as a free university, where you can get knowledge and ACCESS to information free of charge. This notion may no longer be true, if we will not have a free access to the information that can be reached only electronically. The American Association of the Advancement of Science has just begun publishing a first medical journal that is accessible only through the electronic media. One can see an extreme proliferation of online journals, bulletin boards and other information that is available only to people who have access to an electronic mail account and of course a computer. The democratic society ought to make this information available to people who can use the information for the common good. The other day I was sitting at home at my PC, chatting on RELAY with a student from Toronto and another from Helsinki. We were still at the University, but this time it was a GLOBAL University. Computer networks have radically transformed the way people learn and communicate; they became a new medium for transport of thoughts, ideas and information. McLuhan's "global village" is not an abstract future concept anymore, it is here and now. The sweeping growth of electronic networks and services, replacing the traditional ones, is inevitable. It would be very unfortunate if in the process the great ideas of the civilized world were forgotten, and the access to those networks and services was to be limited only to those who can afford to pay for each minute of their use. Ewa Jankowska - Lategano and Marek Zielinski -------------------- REFERENCES: [1] Marek Samoc , DISCUSSION LIST OF ALUMNI OF WROCLAW UNIVERSITIES WROCLAW , 26 Apr 91 08:25:59 MET [2] Jozef Janyszek , DISCUSSION LIST OF ALUMNI OF WROCLAW UNIVERSITIES WROCLAW , 27 Apr 1991 10:19:01 MET [3] Freenet, menu choice 2, "What is NPTN" [4] PC World, October 1991, p. 269. [5] Al Gore, "Infrastructure for the Global Village", Scientific American, September 1991, pp. 150-153. ====================================================================== POLISH AFFAIRS THE MORNING AFTER Writing a letter from Poland today, I cannot think of any subject other than the recent elections - the first free and democratic elections to our Sejm (Parliament) after World War II. Especially, that an echo came back to Poland from the surrounding world: WHY? Of course, why the commies did so well! Did they? The 12% of the 40% of the attendance means that something like 5% of all the eligible voters cast their ballots for SLD. I would hesitate to call them winners... . This result is similar to the number of votes gained by their leader during the presidential election one year ago - and there were no alarms then. The only conclusion I can draw is that the electorate of the commies is stable, dutifully participating in elections. It is no wonder, taking into account their fear of decommunization promised by some right-wing parties and, just before the election, by the President. I know some people, whom nobody would suspect of pro-communist orientation, who were voting for the commies as a protest against clericalism which, they fear, begins to dominate our political scene. I don't suspect, however, that such motivation (cut off your nose to spite your face) was frequent. So, following this reasoning, I would call this election a defeat of the democratic movements rather than a victory of ~ancien regime~. Defeat - not because the largest post-Solidarity party, the Democratic Union, obtained hardly more voices than the commies. In fact, all the post- Solidarity parties, from left to right, have all together a vast majority in the Parliament (there are at least 8 parties but no one is really dominant). The disaster is because of such a low participation in the elections. Or, rather, because so many people see no perspective and do not believe that they can really influence their own future. It is not an optimistic prognosis for a society which should now, and in the foreseeable future, be very active and work hard, in order to avoid degradation to the 5th world level. However, I would not blame those who boycotted the election on October 27th. The politicians (?) from all these 60 or 70 parties (?) were not able to present any clear program. The situation in Poland is really no fun, and in fact I appreciate that so many people, although strongly touched by the situation, decided NOT to vote for the demagogic parties (like commies, or some nationalistic abbreviations). Seeing no alternative to the present economic policy, they preferred to stay at home. This conclusion does not give us much consolation - we still have those politicians, now members of the Parliament, who cannot communicate with most of our society. Let us hope that at least they can communicate with each other. Today, more than two weeks after the election, watching the games played by the leaders of our "main" parties (it is enough to have 6 percent of the chairs in the lower chamber of the Parliament to have a distinction of a "main" party) I have an impression that only the President has a feeling of the gravity of the situation. God save the Parliament! (... and us, by the way). 12 November 1991 Jacek Ulanski ===================================================================== POLISH AFFAIRS POLAND's PROBLEMS IN BRIEF These remarks may seem obvious for Polish readers (although possibly controversial), but I hope they might be of some interest for English speaking readers of PIGULKI. The English version was made possible by Mike White from CMU, who helped me a lot in translating it from Polish. THE PROBLEMS WITH THE UNIONS The strong position of trade unions in the present-day political life in Poland comes from the Solidarity tradition of the early eighties. At that time, the most convenient (and effective) method of fighting communism was to organize trade unions. In modern industrial societies, unions do not play as much an important role as they used to some 30 years ago. Examples which show that unions can be a factor in restraining the economic growth include the British unions of the 70's and the US steel industry. In the present Polish economic crisis, which is compounded by great difficulties associated with the fundamental reconstruction of the entire social and economical structure, strong trade unions can be a particular danger. The unions, which until recently were the locomotive of progress, can now become its brakes. In its initial phase (before the martial law), "Solidarity" was much more than a trade union - it was a social movement pressing for general reforms. This aspect has all but disappeared recently and the union character of "Solidarity" is now dominant. This evolution had several causes. The disappearance of the common internal enemy, communism, enforcing the unity of the people, was probably the major factor. Competition from the OPZZ(*) and pressure from workers threatened by layoffs certainly contributed to the change in the union character. More and more often Solidarity has been forced to support strikes where workers demanded higher wages, without realizing that the strikes indirectly counteract the very reforms which are supposed to bring improvement in the living standard. THE PROBLEMS WITH PRIVATIZATION Privatization is the key element of reform. There can be no market economy without private ownership; there can be no privatization without capital. The Polish society does not have sufficient reserves of capital. Moreover, various problems from both sides make the importation of capital even more difficult. The privatization of every company has to be undertaken very carefully; rushed sales can only cause a complete collapse of the market. Each company has to be inventoried and evaluated in 'western' style, something quite foreign to the "old time" managers. There are difficulties with pricing assets. In Western eyes, most of our industry appears to be junk. Experts say that it is impossible to prepare for the privatization more than 50 companies, out of a total amount of approximately ten thousand, per year. A significant proportion of the society resists the influx of capital from abroad, fearing that Poland is being "sold out". Foreign investors are also reluctant, lacking trust in the economic stability of Poland, and being repelled by ailing communication and telecommunication, obsolete economic regulations, inefficient banks, strong trade unions, etc. For those reasons, the process is very slow and probably cannot be accelerated. THE MORAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE What I am referring to is the work ethics and social values which constitute an important factor in the efficient functioning of civilization. Poland suffers from a lack of these values today. Dishonesty is a common problem in all social spheres: employers, employees and tradesmen. Professional ethics are gone. The scale of this demoralization is well illustrated by the fact that unreliability and tardiness are not recognized as blameworthy at all. As a legacy of communism, common opinion exists, that some goods like jobs, a basic salary, fringe benefits and medical care should be provided to everybody regardless of his (her) attitude towards work and towards the other members of society. Another commonly accepted, but fatal, opinion that some saviours will solve our problems without any effort or costs paid by the people. An ideal political system would be one in which people work as little possible, as in communism, and earn as much money as they would in capitalist society. It appears as the opposite is going to be true. Essential changes in consciousness will take at least one generation. THE PROBLEMS WITH THE CHURCH The catholic Church hierarchy has buckled up to politics and tries to build a Utopia of Morality. In practice, attempts to realize a utopia have always led to misfortune or at least to total confusion. The social role of the Church, especially in a society shaken by serious problems, is as the arbiter of widely understood morality. That's how I see it. However, the leaders of the Polish Church are trying to influence the form of the state, exerting pressure on the Parliament, government and possibly the President as well. This pressure has been effective enough. An example of this is the way religion has been introduced to public schools. Politicians are apparently afraid of a loss of popularity. It seems to me that the society, although it's almost entirely catholic, judges this activity of the Church critically. Participation in the political game can quickly destroy the common respect which the Church gained in the time of communism. INTERNATONAL AFFAIRS - SOVIETS AND GERMANS Once sovereignty was regained, our geopolitical point of view has radically changed. Foreign affairs became meaningful (and luckily they have been managed very prudently). Economics has become an important factor in foreign relations. The public opinion in Poland is that the geographic position of the country was considered to be a place between the devil and the sea. The real situation is more complex. We have to count equally on the Germans (for their economic aid, capital, technologies) and the Russians (for trade). Trade with the Soviets is a hope for Polish economics. Poland has little chance to penetrate other markets with its obsolete products. Paradoxically, being a former vassal of Russia, we desired the disintegration of the Empire. As an independent country, we want the Soviets to improve their economy so that they will be able to buy our products. Soviet internal policy is of less importance. (In this respect, we approach principles of Western politics). Independent of traditional prejudices, we are fated to coexistence with our neighbors. It can be clearly seen that when Germany became involved in the problem with East Germany, it was not interested in helping Poland. On the other hand, the break-down in the Soviet Union quickly drove us into a serious budget deficit. THE POLITICAL LANSCAPE I hoped, as many others, that the leaders of the anticommunistic opposition would blunder together through the hardest time. However, national unity was impossible to maintain. My hope was probably quite unrealistic, because all over the world people fight and compete with each other as far as the power is concerned. The problem is that Polish society does not have the structure of a typical democratic society yet. The parties haven't developed their elites, serious programs haven't been formulated and most conflicts have their sources in personal resentments and ambitions. The clashes run deeper than in Western democracy, partially because of the fact that the stakes are much higher. Western systems are well established so that the differences among politicians are of minor importance. In Central Europe, politicians play not only for power and prestige, but also for the new shape of the state and for an honored place in the History. Moreover, inside of the volcano, where everything is forming anew, political elites are not defined, and everybody (almost) can become a star. In all of this turmoil, various grotesque groups appear, such as the Polish Party of Beer Friends, the Party of the Mind, International Anarchists, and the enigmatic Party X of Tyminski whose gatherings and bulletins are secret. The beautiful word 'compromise' seems to be forgotten in the quarrels of the ambitious leaders of these organizations which sometimes number no more than a couple hundred members. For simple people, this can cause a desire for the strong hand of a dictator. On that background, there exists, to my knowledge, a few basic orientations which can, in some circumstances, decisively influence the form of the state. They are: - reactionaries - former communist party, police, and army officers, who are said to have hidden some arms and who desire to restore the Ancient Regime; I don't think they are able to attempt a coup d'etat; their activity can be conditioned by the situation in the USSR. - nationalists - who tend towards a quasi-dictatorship system, similar to that ruled by gen. Franco or marshall Pilsudski, based on a market economy (and police); Porozumienie Centrum (the Consent of Centrists) and some nationalistic groups seem to lean toward that solution. - democrats - whose program mostly resembles western social democracy; the leading party of this orientation is Unia Demokratyczna (Democratic Union) of Mazowiecki. I would like to stress that the above systematics are quite inaccurate as the border lines between the political orientations are. These conflicts result in growing confusion among the people who feel discouraged to participate in democratic life. Nevertheless, the double- quick process of the formation of a political landscape on a former desert is fascinating. THE PROBLEM WITH RECAPITULATION In communist times, the process of reformation seemed to be quite simple. The understanding of how difficult our situation is, has come only recently. Nobody can predict what may arise in the future. The former trust that societies get wiser after having experienced misfortune and misery, turned out to be wrong. There are several unknowns in today's situation in central european countries. To name a few: instability, backward economies, undefined political trends, revaluation of social consciousness and, of course, outside factors. No other country has ever experienced the transformation from communism to a democratic system. (A Chinese curse says: may you live in interesting times). Fortunately enough, nobody in Poland openly questions the principles of democracy and a market economy, therefore, I still hope that some time we will "return to Europe". - Marek Cypryk (*) OPZZ - trade unions in Poland controlled by communists ========================================================================== POLAND - ELECTRONIC CONTACTS updated by Marek Zielinski 1. Active EARN/BITNET nodes --------------------------------------------- PLEARN Warsaw University [Uniwersytet Warszawski] Informatics Center (central EARN node in Poland). Can be also addressed as 'plearn.pl'. contact: Andrzej Smereczynski, node administrator postmasters: - Jola Tuszynska, also and Malgosia Grabowska, also PLKRCY11 Cyfronet (Academic Computing Center), Krakow contact: Witek Witkowski, node administrator PLKTUS11 Silesian University [Uniwersytet Slaski w Katowicach], Computing Center contact: Kasia Stephan, node administarator. Krzysztof Kurczynski, operator PLUMCS11 Uniwersytet Marii Curie Sklodowskiej, Lublin contact: Andrzej Resztak, node administrator. PLWAUW61 Warsaw University, Astronomical Observatory PLWRAE51 Wroclaw Academy of Economics [Akademia Ekonomiczna we Wroclawiu] PLWRTU11 Wroclaw Technical University [Politechnika Wroclawska] Informatics Center postmaster: contact: Jarek Kurowski, node administrator. PLWRUW11 Wroclaw University, Informatics Institute. contact: Bogdan Bromirski, node administrator. PLPUAM11 Informatics Center of the Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan postmaster: Przemyslaw Stolarski PLPOTU51 Poznan Polytechnic [Politechnika Poznanska] PLTUMK11 Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika [Nicolaus Copernicus University], Torun - Academic Computing Center. contact: Zbigniew Szewczak, node admin. PLWATU21 Informatics Center of the Warsaw Technical University postmaster: Janusz Pelc 2. EARN/BITNET nodes known to the network, but not active yet ----------- PLSZUS11 University of Szczecin, Informatics Center postmaster: J. Kolasinski PLWAAN51 Institute of Informatics, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw postmaster: ????@plwaan51 - Romuald Zawodniak PLWRTU51 Wroclaw Technical University [Politechnika Wroclawska] Informatics Center postmaster: Jarek Kurowski PLWAUW12 Informatics Center of Warsaw University contact: Andrzej Smereczynski, node administrator 3. Internet ------------------------------------------------------- ict.pwr.pl Institute of Technical Cybernetics, Wroclaw Technical University contact: Marek Kisielewicz, system administrator ztc386a.ifuj.edu.pl Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Krakow. [149.156.64.10] SCO UNIX thrisc.ifuj.edu.pl Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Krakow. [149.156.64.3] IBM RISC/6000 isc.cyf-kr.edu.pl Cyfronet Krakow. [149.156.2.1] Interactive UNIX krak.cyf-kr.edu.pl Cyfronet Krakow. [149.156.1.1] Convex C-120 ?????? Warsaw University, Informatics Center [148.81.4.4] ,5,6,115,102,163 %sand.decnet@uxplgw.cern.ch Jagiellonian University, Krakow %chopin.decnet@uxplgw.cern.ch -"- contact: , a group account of High Energy Physics Laboratory, UJ Information on new Internet connections was provided by Chris Heller. Poland has already an internet connectivity with the rest of Europe, but not with USA. The IP (numerical) addresses are given in brackets, where known. 4. Fidonet ------------------------------------------------------- Node: Name: Location: Sysop: Phone: 2:480/3 PlUUG Warszawa Andrzej Mazurkiewicz 48-2-641-5876 2:480/4 Month BBS Warszawa Andrzej Bursztynski 48-22-291-578 2:480/5 drQ BBS Krakow Tomasz Polys 48-12-119-645 2:480/6 HorNET BBS Poznan Zbigniew Borowiec 48-61-773-976 2:480/10 Home of PCQ Warszawa Jan Stozek 48-22-410-374 2:480/11 Snoopy BBS Lodz Jan Waliszewski 48-42-336-573 2:480/12 SM-Net Bydgoszcz Mariusz Boronski 48-52-417-352 2:480/13 Spectrum BBS Warszawa Tomasz Bursze 48-22-256-965 2:480/14 Click BBS Warszawa Pawel Miasojedow 48-22-199-969 2:480/15 Technical Univ. Gdansk Mariusz Matuszek 48-58-472-109 2:480/16 USERS' BBS Warszawa Jacek Marczewski 48-22-213-224 2:480/17 Next BBS Warszawa Marcin Benke 48-22-205-955 2:480/18 POLSUNG Bydgoszcz Dariusz Bagnucki 48-52-229-402 2:480/19 Bajtek BBS Warszawa Rafal Wiosna 48-2-635-5904 2:480/22 Peter's BBS Krakow Piotr Walczak 48-12-362-222 Updated list provided by Grzegorz Kochaniak . The node addressing is given in Fido style, . Mail is gatewayed to internet, and the equivalent domain style address is where a,b,c,d are the corresponding point, fidonode, network and zone numbers. The point is optional and defaults to p0 if not specified. For example an address to the user Jan Kowalski with an account in drQ BBS in Krakow is: . ------------------------------------ 4. On-line directory of computer networks in Eastern and Central Europe. Barbara Hardy maintains a list of electronic contacts (nodes and BBSes, associated administrators, postmasters, etc.) in Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, and the Soviet Union. She is presently working on the new, updated version. To requests the list, or to send any updates or corrections, send mail to Barbara at one of the addresses: or . ========================================================================= SUMMARY OF POLISH-BASED LISTSERV LISTS, JUNE 1991 (all at LISTSERV@PLEARN) AGENCJA A TOP MANAGEMENT OF THE POLISH EARN AGENCJA CHEM-L AFFAIRS OF CHEMISTRY DEPT. AT WARSAW UNIVERSITY, CHEM-L CIUW-L DISTRIBUTION LIST OF THE NEWS CIUW-L MIMUW-L Affairs of Warsaw U. Fac. of Math., Informatics and Mech. MIMUW-L NASK-BOD AFFAIRS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ACADEMIC NETWORKS IN POLAND NASK-BOD PL-BOD AFFAIRS OF THE MANAGEMENT OF EARN NETWORK IN POLAND PL-BOD PL-NOG Polish network operation group affairs PL-NOG TEST-L A TEST LIST FOR EXPERIMENTS WITH THE NETNEWS SOFTWARE. TEST-L WROCLAW DISCUSSION LIST OF ALUMNI OF WROCLAW UNIVERSITIES WROCLAW You may obtain an updated, annotated list by mailing the following message to Listserv@plearn: list detail ========================================================================== = = = LIST OF ELECTRONIC (COMPUTER-ACCESIBLE) RESOURCES = = = = Compiled by Zbigniew J. Pasek = = University of Michigan, Ann Arbor = = Last update : November 18, 1991 = ========================================================================== Newsgroups ========== soc.culture.bulgaria (in the making) soc.culture.europe soc.culture.german soc.culture.jewish soc.culture.magyar soc.culture.misc soc.culture.polish soc.culture.romania (in the making) soc.culture.soviet soc.culture.yugoslavia talk.politics.soviet access to the newsgroups depends on your local system, but usually there is a program like rn (ReadNews). Commercial news service (you can get them if your node administrators, or you yourself, subscribe for a fee ) clari.news.hot.east_europe clarinews@clarinet.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Listervers ========== -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: numbers of subscribers listed below were checked on the last update. Still, they should be considered as approximate, due to continuous subscribership fluctuations (general growth trend). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BALT-L Baltic Republics news and development list number of subscribers : 396 BALT-L is an online forum devoted to communications to, and about, the Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It aims to further networking with those countries, in two senses of that word: the technical one of establishing the basic links to permit electronic communications; and the softer definition of a network of people building up people-to-people contacts and working together on matters of common interest. A core aim of this list is to foster practical projects. List is moderated. BALT-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu Owner: JMYHG@UOTTAWA (Jean-Michel Thizy) Owner: AEB_BEVAN@VAX.ACS.OPEN.AC.UK (Edis Bevan) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BERWRO-L Discussion of Berkeley/Wroclaw Activities List. There is an occasional English-language newsletter distributed to the subscribers, of which editor is Marek@ced.berkely.edu (Marek Zelazkiewicz) number of subscribers : 44 BERWRO-L@UBVM.bitnet Listserv@UBVM.bitnet Owner: CJGUR@UCCMVSA.bitnet (Chet Grycz) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN Newsletter with the news mainly from Czechoslovakia Does not exist anymore, has merged with MidEur-L. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHEM-L Afairs of Chemistry Dept. Warsaw University Access limited mainly to the graduates of this department due to limited disk space (contact list owner before subscribing !) number of subscribers : 52 CHEM-L@PLEARN.bitnet LISTSERV@PLEARN.bitnet Owner: CKJ25@PLEARN (Jan Radomski) Owner: radomski@mond1.ccrc.uga.edu (Jan Radomski) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DONOSY Daily news bulletin from Poland number of subscribers : over 2000 English and Polish versions are both avaialble. Distribution in US : przemek@ndcvx.cc.nd.edu (Przemek Klosowski) Rest of the world : Donosy@Plearn.bitnet -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DO....! Daily news bulletin from Poland. In Polish. number of subscribers : ? Temporarily distribution is suspended due to some technical problems (one-way communication works though) Distribution : Internet: (Rafal Sztencel) Distribution : Bitnet: (Rafal Sztencel) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DYRDYMALKI Weekly digest from the daily Polish press Distributed automatically for the participants of the Poland-L list or on request (in Polish) number of subscribers : 266 + 40 Editor: zbigniew@caen.engin.umich.edu (Zbigniew J. Pasek) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- EUEARN-L which is specifically about computers and communications in the same geographical area as Mideur-L. It is to be mainly in English, but all East European languages are accepted. Its aims are the same as SUEARN (Soviet computer nets) and PLEARN (Polish nets). It will be technically oriented by social and economic impacts of Computers on society would also be accepable for discussion. number of subscribers: 2 (have just been created) EUEARN-L@ubvm.bitnet EUEARN-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu Owner: gfrajkor@ccs.carleton.ca (Jan George Frajkor) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUNGARIAN ELECTRONIC RESOURCES There exists a mail server where one can get information about the Hungarian electronic resources, i.e. discussion lists, newsletters, etc. Most of the available information is in Hungarian If you want to know more, send a mail to: contacts@phoenix.princeton.edu In the subject field write only: XMAIL The text of the letter is merely: HELP all -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUNGARY Hungarian Discussion List number of subscribers : 248 The Hungarian Discussion List exists to circulate information in a timely manner about a country in the midst of the historic upheavals occurring in Eastern and Central Europe. Editor: HCF2HUNG@ucsbuxa (Eric Dahlin) Owner: 9531HEND@UCSBVM (Jason B. Hendrix) Owner: hcf2hung@ucsbuxa (Eric Dahlin) HUNGARY@UCSBVM.BITNET LISTSERV@UCSBVM.BITNET -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INFO-RUSS This news-group is run from the computers at Johns Hopkins University. It is intended to serve as a medium for informal communication in Russian-speaking (or having related interests) community (both in the US and worldwide). A user (who may not necessarily be a subscriber) can use this news group for any kind of request, announcement, statement, etc. number of subscribers : 248 info-russ@smarty.ece.jhu.edu Owner : sasha@super.ece.jhu.edu (Alexander E. Kaplan) sasha@ecn.purdue.edu To subscribe - write to owner, to broadcast the message - send it to the newsgroup address -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIDEUR-L Mailing list for discussion of Middle European politics, etc. number of subscribers : 211 An unmoderated list concerning the history, culture, politics and current affairs of those countries lying between the Mediterranean/ Adriatic and the Baltic Seas, and between the German/Austrian borders and the Soviet Union. The emphasis is particularly on the nationalities policies of these countries, their economic development, their possible union or disunion, and their place in a united Europe. Cross-posting with lists concerning West Europe/ Germany and the USSR is encouraged where the topics bear directly on Middle Europe. MIDEUR-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu Owner: gfrajkor@CCS.CARLETON.CA (Jan George Frajkor) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MIMUW-L semi-private list of the Warsaw University Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics number of subscribers : 30 MIMUW-L@PLEARN.BITNET Listserv@PLEARN.bitnet Owner : WIADMIM@PLEARN.bitnet (Janusz S. Bien) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PIGULKI Digest on the net news from Poland, irregular. Recent volumes were 70K in average To get a copy contact one of the following people: zielinsk@nyuacf.bitnet (Marek Zielinki) davep@acsu.buffalo.edu (Dave Philips) Unix users and others with uncompress s/w may use the anonymous ftp at mthvax.cs.miami.edu (weeknights and evenings US Eastern time only, please) to obtain back issues from subdirectory poland. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEARN-L Mailing list for discussion of possible Poland <-> EARN network traffic. number of subscribers : 178 PLEARN-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu Owner: davep@acsu.buffalo.edu (Dave Phillips) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLAND-L Mailing list devoted to the discussion of Polish culture and events. We are interested in all subjects related to Poland, Polish Americans and Eastern Europe (related to Poland). There are a few e-magazines distributed to subscribers of this list: 'Pajac', irregular humor magazine, 'Dyrdymalki', weekly digest from the Polish press, List is not moderated. number of subscribers : 275 POLAND-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu Owner: michal@gs58.sp.cs.cmu.edu (Michal Prussak) Owner: wowoc@acs.ucalgary.ca (Witold Owoc) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RUSSIA Russia (Russia and her neighbors list) is dedicated to the civil and thoughful exchange and analysis of information regarding Russia and her neighbors. Russia is a moderated list with no gateways to any other ListServ lists or Usenet newsgroups. number of subscribers : 358 RUSSIA@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU Listserv@IndyCMS.IUPUI.edu Owner : IJBH200@IndyVAX.IUPUI.Edu (John Harlan) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RUSSIAN Russian language issues list number of subscribers : 128 This list is dedicated to the discussion of Russian language issues, including but not limited to Russian language, linguistics, grammar, translations and literature. The preferred language of discussion is Russian, but submissions in English will also be accepted. RUSSIAN@ASUACAD.bitnet LISTSERV@ASUACAD.bitnet Owner: ISPAJW@ASUACAD (Andrew Wollert) Owner: ICSPROFS@ASUACAD (Cindy Brown) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RUSTEX-L Russian TeX list number of subscribers : 302 RusTeX-L was started in September 1989 to facilitate the work on the Russian language version of the TeX typesetting system, but related technical topics are often discussed on the list: other Russian text processing systems, thesauri, spell checkers, Russian keyboard layout, and e-mail to Soviet sites. This list is limited to technical topics only: any articles of political nature (including the discussion of COCOM restrictions on technology transfers) should be directed to another list or newsgroup (e.g., talk.politics.soviet). A collection of RusTeX-related software (METAFONT sources for Cyrillic fonts, Russian hyphenation patterns, et al) and mailing list archives are kept on UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu RUSTEX-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu. LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu. Owner: DLV@CUNYVMS1 (Dimitri Vulis) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCS-L SCS-L (soc.culture.soviet via ListServ) is a ListServ access and distribution point for the Usenet newsgroup, soc.culture.soviet. It is designed to allow network users without Usenet newsgroup feed access to read and contribute to soc.culture.soviet via ListServ. number of subscribers : 49 SCS-L@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU Listserv@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU Owner : IJBH200@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU (John B Harlan) IJBH200@INDYVAX.IUPUI.EDU (John B Harlan) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEELANGS Slavic & E. European Languages & literatures list number of subscribers : 103 SEELANGS@CUNYVM.cuny.edu SEELANGS@CUNYVM.BITNET LISTSERV@CUNYVM.cuny.edu Owner: BIGCU@CUNYVM.cuny.edu (Bill) Owner : SEELC@CUNYVM.cuny.edu (Robert) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SLOVAK-L Mailing list for discussion of Slovak culture, etc. Has the same aims as the Mideur and Poland lists, but specifically concerning Slovakia. number of subscribers : 135 SLOVAK-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu Owner: gfrajkor@ccs.carleton.ca (Jan George Frajkor) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPOJRZENIA A weekly journal, semi-moderated (mostly the volume of submissions is limited), devoted to Polish culture, history, politics, etc. In Polish and, occasionally, in English. In average, each edition is about 35K in volume. number of subscribers : 120 Subscription inquiries and submissions should be sent to krzystek@u.washington.edu (Jerzy Krzystek) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUEARN-L Connecting the USSR to Internet digest number of subscribers : 726 SUEARN-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu. LISTSERV@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu. Owner : MEYSTMA@DUVM (Mike Meystel) Owner : DLV@CUNYVMS1 (Dimitri Vulis) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- TPS-L TPS-L (talk.politics.soviet via ListServ) is a ListServ access and distribution point for the Usenet newsgroup, talk.politics.soviet. It is designed to allow network users without Usenet newsgroup feed access to read and contribute to talk.politics.soviet via ListServ. number of subscribers : 108 Owner : IJBH200@IndyVAX.IUPUI.Edu (John B Harlan) TPS-L@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU Listserv@INDYCMS.IUPUI.EDU -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VAL-L A discussion/commentary list covering, but not limited to, "changes in the Communist countries," ranging from Cuba and Vietnam to the USS primarily. number of subscribers : 165 VAL-L@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu Listserv@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu Owner: CDELL@UMKCVAX1 Valentine Michael Smith CDELL@UMKCVAX1.BITNET -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WROCLAW Distribution of information from Wroclaw, Poland not a discussion group, distributes weekly bulletin in Polish called "Socjety Journal" number of subscribers : 98 WROCLAW@PLEARN.BITNET Listserv@PLEARN.bitnet Owner: MISIAK@PLWRTU11 (PAWEL MISIAK) Owner: CHEMAREK@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu (MAREK SAMOC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9NOV89-L The Berlin Wall event-related list number of subscribers : 156 A list to exchange information, opinions, expectations regarding the recent events in the German Democratic republic. The name of the list reflects the historical date when the Wall got a reasonable number of holes. LISTSERV@DB0TUI11.BITNET LISTSERV%DB0TUI11.BITNET@tubvm.cs.tu-berlin.de Owner: axel@avalanche.cs.tu-berlin.de (Axel Mahler) Owner: GSCHWIND@DB0TUI11 (Gerard Gschwind) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few words about LISTSERVERS ============================= A list server can be viewed as a process of rapid automatic electronic mail circulation controlled by a computer program called Revised LISTSERV, installed on a mainframe computer. The program maintains a list of the e-mail addresses of all the subscribers to a particular discussion group. It receives electronic mail messages from any of the subscribers, and then automatically forwards those messages to all other subscribers in the group (it also depends whether the list is moderated or not). Each list server has two e-mail addresses, each for a different purpose. You send command to the list server address and messages to the group address. To subscribe, send the following command to LISTSERV@node.domain.etc via mail or interactive message: SUB List-L your_full_name where "your_full_name" is your name. (NOT your network userID ). For example SUB List-L John Doe Useful commands: Signoff List-L unsubscribes you from the list Index List-L sends a list of the available archive files Get List-L filetype retrieves selected file (but this method does not work for people using computers under UNIX (as someone explained to me that's because the files are too big and cannot get through the gateways but if you are working under VMS everything should work just fine) Review List-L returns the network address and the names of all subscribers (if not restricted) Info genintro retrieves 'General Introduction Guide' Set List-L nomail temporarily cuts off the mail delivery Set List-L mail reinstates mail delivery List global sends a list of all lists known to the server Also important: if you have Internet address, mail to Listserver on its Internet address, not on its Bitnet address. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anonymous ftp sites =================== freebie.engin.umich.edu 141.212.66.36 /pub/misc/polish PolTeX, infos on Eastern Europe net, Polish radio, bookstores and other stuff golem 128.200.29.9 /pub/polish/polmac Polish fonts for the Mac moxie.oswego.edu 129.3.20.3 /pub/COUP archive containing stuff related to Soviet coup in August of 1991 msdos.archive.umich.edu 141.211.164.153 /msdos/foreign_lang/russian /msdos/dos_fonts/cyryllic /mac/system.extensions/font and lots of other goodies... mthvax.cs.miami.edu 129.171.32.5 /poland archive for "Pigulki" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- And finally a couple more sources, and even though they are of a VERY general nature I opted for including them here, for it may interest many people looking for electronic resources of different natures... List of all lists ================= To keep people up to date on the large number of such lists, there is a mailing-list for list-of-lists \update notices/. Copies of the list itself are not sent to the world at large, but for those internet users who seriously intend to copy the updated versions when updated, a brief notice will be sent when a new version is available. For those liaisons at Internet sites who maintain or redistribute copies for their own networks (DECNet, Xerox, BitNet, MailNet, etc.) and can't reach the master by ARPANet FTP, the complete new file will be sent if necessary. File copies will not normally be sent to individual users, either ARPANet or internet. To get on the list (or to submit updates to existing mailing-lists or add new ones), send requests to interest-groups-request@nisc.sri.com. Coordinator: nisc@nisc.sri.com There is also a compilation of of academic e-mail conferences available via anonymous ftp from . This directory contains conferences grouped by the field. List of electronic journals =========================== This list contains over 500 scholarly lists, about 30 journals and over 60 newsletters. It is available in ascii text form by sending e-mail message to Comserve@Rpiecs (Bitnet) or Comserve@Vm.Ecs.Rpi.Edu (Internet) with the following command appearing in the first line of the message: Send EJournl1 Sources Send EJournl2 Sources No other words, punctuation, or symbols should appear in the body of the message. Comserve is an automated system for file retrieval it will acknowledge receipt of your message and let you know that the files have been sent to you. List of anonymous FTP sites =========================== List of anonymous ftp archive sites is distributed automatically once a month. The list is posted to comp.misc and computer.sources.wanted and is also distributed via anonymous ftp from pilot.njin.net (128.6.7.38). Be warned it is a huge file. List of Internet Libraries ========================== List of the library computer systems accesible over the Internet electronic network is available on a following listserver: Listserv@unmvm.bitnet To retrieve a copy of the list ( but be warned this is a VERY big file !) send a note or a command to the listserver at the e-mail address given above. The body of the note or command should say "GET INTERNET LIBRARY". ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since some of the information contained above changes on a monthly, even weekly basis, I keep the current copy in electronic form. The current version of this article will be made available (although is not updated very often) through the anonymous ftp at in the directory /pub/misc/polish. This list is also available (courtesy of John Harlan ) for retrieval from ListServ@IndyCMS (CREN) / ListServ@ IndyCMS.IUPUI.Edu (Internet) by sending the following command as the *body* of an e-mail or interactive message to ListServ: GET MOTHEROF ALLLISTS Provided as a public service by Zbigniew J. Pasek. Last update: November 18, 1991 ========================================================================== CHRONICLE JUL 24 1991 - FIRST WARSAW NON-IBM NODE ON EARN A July 24, 1991 PLEARN-L posting by Jan P. Radomski of Warsaw University noted that node PLWAUW61, just come on line from the Astronomical Observatory of Warsaw University, is a SUN SparcStation running UREP. 12 SEP 1991 - Poland Joined Internet [Excerpted with poster's permission from PLEARN-L, 12 Sept 1991 posting by Krzysztof Heller ]: TO ALL YOU INTERNET LOVERS OUT THERE Let me announce with pleasure that finally, since a few days, we are connected to the Internet. Thanks to the efforts of Rafal Pietrak from Warsaw and Jan Sorensen from Kopenhagen the Warsaw-Kopenhagen line runs IP (using SLIP) and provides rather slow, but working connectivity. At the same time Marcin Gromisz configured the sendmail at the LAN complex of Hoza street Warsaw in such a clever way that all the users have the address user@fuw.edu.pl no matter which machine they use and where they actually sit (hosts are host.fuw.edu.pl). Unfortunately, so far it is just European connectivity - we are registered at the RIPE database and have connect status 'on'. The US connectivity is unclear at the moment, but the problems are purely administrative, and not technical. We hope to clear it up soon. The second connected site is Krakow, where the domains are: 149.156.1 - Academic Computing Centre Cyfronet 149.156.64 - Inst. of Physics, Jagellonian University By pure coincidence 11-12 September there was a TCP/IP meeting in Torun where the happy news was announced. The interest in connecting to POLIP naturally grew and we expect three more sites (Poznan, Katowice and Torun) to join pretty quickly. In Warsaw the Technical University and the Computer Science Department, in Krakow the Computer Science and maybe some other departments are in the process of connecting. We have a Domain Name Server at cocos.fuw.edu.pl (148.81.4.6). At the moment it is just a test machine, running locally, it will be fully connected as a secondary DNS for .pl soon (the primary is in Kopenhagen now) and will be changed to primary as soon as possible - i.e. if it runs without problems for a few days as a secondary. The anonymous ftp is possible at fizyk.fuw.edu.pl (148.81.4.7), directory /public. It keeps rfc's, KA9Q and some other stuff. 6 NOV 1991 - FIRST RUSSIAN EARN NODE CONNECTED On Nov. 7, 1991, Elizabeth Porteneuve shared with PLEARN-L EARN Pres. Frode Greisen's Nov. 6 announcement that: ...the EARN link to Moscow is now installed. You will be able to communicate with the first EARN node in the USSR the Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry in Moscow as soon as your node - and the nodes between you and Moscow - have installed the 9011 version of the routing tables. [Netpeople: please send notices of changes, new services, etc. for in- clusion in this section to Dave Phillips at davep@acsu.buffalo.edu] ==================================================================== PIGULKI'S BACK PAGE TRAVELOG Armageddon, or Lord of yore cometh and saveth his flock. [ ... ain't he comin' yet ? ...] It all started so slowly. Small, hardly noticeable changes in the coat the buffalo grew in late fall. Nightingales singing out of tune. Prairie dogs digging their burroughs a lot deeper than usual. Trees shedding still-green leaves... early. Strange and sinister winds, hither blowing to the West, thither to the East. As if the Master couldn't decide which way was better. In the Red Sea a black beluga was patrolling the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It looked alarmingly out of place. Local seamen maintained that from their feluccas they could hear the sea mammal grinding its teeth and murmuring to itself: "Read my flips: No new loxes". It was generally perceived as a harbinger of bad times... Neither the World did see - nor could the oldest people recall - miracles like these. Even usually apathetic Canadians took off their heavy furs and got involved in a heated argument about the nature of their own federalism. This world of ours entered the stage of perpetual anxiety, miracles and perplexing events. Just like the one reported from the formerly communist permafrost where Russian scientists dug out a deepfrozen corpse. This body was so perfectly preserved, that its strange clothes revealed foreign origins. Moreover, left in a dugout hut, the corpse thawed and came back to life. The inevitable happened, the "sleeper" spoke: "Bog jest z Napoleonem, Napoleon-z nami" and soon disintegrated. Too much stress, or too much fluid pressure... One witness shouted: "A Lithuanian!" Everybody else shouted: "Yeltsin, Yeltsin!" Experts on mummy confessions could not be found, because the dreaded KGB, in cooperation with its Western counterparts, held a benefit hot dog cookout. It was done under a gracious slogan: TO FALLEN COMRADES, COPINS AND BUDDIES. A visible change of World dynamics. Democracy was winning fast. The crowd shouted: "Democracy, democracy! We want normal democracy!" One person shouted: "God is in details!" Strong winds carried maple leaves to China, yellow ribbons to Saudi Arabia, Deutschemarks to Vladivostok. Over Vatican a beautiful, naked Scandinavian lady tourist was blown. Liberty, that's what it was! Hope of eternal peace and prosperity sparkled the Colgate smile. Yes, it all became so clear! The whole situation acquired a simple, essentially two-dimensional structure. The x-axis represented one-dimensional capitalism, and therefore was to be called "the real axis". The y-axis, perpendicular to the latter, represented the religious side of human life and was referred to as "the imaginary axis", or "this-is-why axis." In front of millions of witnesses this XOY plane rotated and shook, until it achieved steady, horizontal position. It was ready! One witness shouted: "Elementary mathematics!", while everyone else shouted: "Miracle, miracle!". The new situation required new order, so that things would appear even more clear to the enthused populace. To this end, above the plane, a Heavenly Blue Sphere tangent to this plane at the origin of the coordinate system was placed. Innumerable rays were coming from the sphere's upper pole aiming at individual points of the plane. The distance between the individual points was now associated with, hopefully, the shortest distance of locations on the sphere where the rays, on their way to these points, pierced the sphere. Simply put, the future became neither real, nor imaginary, but divine and not a soul was supposed to raise above the plane, certainly not above the height of the upper pole. One observer shouted: "Poland is straight down!", while everyone else shouted: "The Pope is a Pole!" This Neo-Platonic new world order did not please one other person. A shy country girl in the crowd asked: "A kaj-ze jest ta Polska?" The skeptic commented: "By loosing the sight of our past we are losing our future!" The crowd roared: "But we got the Heavenly Blue Sphere!" On the National Ground Hog Day, which was February 2, a ground hog poked out of its hole and burped; the war was to continue toward its apocalyptic finale, Czechs were supposed to sell Skoda to Volkswagen AG and all Hungarians were condemned to continue their frantic, light-bulb dance on GE-Tungsram commercials. A long parade of leaders and their sidekicks was to travel to all former East-bloc countries. At each stop the were to point into the sky saying: "Out of this blue sky a gigantic bra, full of all imaginable goodies, will fall into open arms of the brave people of Central and Eastern Europe." One skeptic was to respond: "This religion is called `cargoism' and is well known in remote parts of Polynesia,", but the crowd was to shout: "We already see this bra, it's a Polka-dot bikini!" In this little Poland of ours, in a "heavenly touchpoint", since it was placed directly under the Heavenly Blue Sphere, things really changed for the better. Many beautiful churches were built and sumptuously equipped. Priests' residences became princely. [Only the omnipresent paintings of the "original" saints, skinny, poor, in their tattered clothes, suggested that it may have been them who had to lay the money down for all this great, new real estate.] Commerce picked-up instantly. Just as the capitalist creed required, the (paying) customer could get anything he wanted. Stores and kiosks became full of goods. The Horn of Plenty had a leak exactly above the geometric center of Europe. Especially in Warsaw, this city blessed by history, goods simply flowed out onto streets and squares. The largest markets of them all was formed around the wedding-cake-shaped Palace of Culture. World's largest caravansaries, or Lechistan Hilton emerged on the banks of Vistula, and in order to meet the demand large contingents of traveling merchants were dispatched worldwide. Therefore, old trails of Mediterranean contraband were revived. Some followed Marco Polo, others Danzig soap-merchant Zablocki. In fact, people wearing red, four-cornered hats with ostrich feathers, became a common sight on the top of the China Wall and in Bangkok porno shops. Moreover, at any given day, there are more Poles in Turkey now than in times when General Bem enjoyed the Sultan's protection. The crowd shouted: "The world is watching Poland!", while the skeptic commented: "We'd better watch the world." Superpowers decided to shed their antediluvian militarism and to become nicepowers. Their might will now on derive not from the strength of their military or their industrial prowess, but from the radiant smiles of elected officials, diplomats and likes. Olive branches were to become the primary tools of international diplomacy and, led by nicepowers, humanity was to walk under the rainbow arch toward happiness. But... there was a problem with this march. People were so eager to reach the good side of life that the nicepowers risked being trampled. The threat was quite real, because once-mighty became weak. One nicepower had its industry already so dilapidated that it was widely referred to as having a pre-marxist industrial base, while the other reverted its school system to the pre-Columbian era. And while they were wondering what to do a stupid, regional war broke out. Surely, there were some elements of a just cause in it, but this war could hardly have been qualified as the ultimate battle between Good and Evil. Although, at least one person took it all to heart; for there were reports of sighting of a man dressed in "biblical clothes" wandering through the battlefields of the Middle East. It has been said that he was very distressed and was looking at the carnage, and the gargantuan waste of human life. Suddenly he dropped on his knees and reportedly cried: "Father, do you hear me? All these sufferings, I thought we had a deal!" In response a thunder struck, dark clouds and fumes parted, Earth trembled and an angry voice from above roared: "I am still trying, but can't you see how bloody difficult it is?" - jurek klimkowski ============================================================================ NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Marek Cypryk (mcypryk@plearn.bitnet) is a scientist (polymer chemistry) in the Centre of Molecular and Macromolecular Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Lodz, Poland. He was a co-founder and editor of POGLADY, Solidarity magazine of Lodz (1980-81). Ewa Jankowska-Lategano (bm.ncd@rlg.bitnet) is a librarian in the New York Public Library. She is in charge of the on-line searching and CD-rom databases in the General Research Division. Jurek Klimkowski (jleleno@oliver.vcu.edu) lives in Glen Allen, VA. His "travelogues" graced the POLAND-L list in 1990. He is Pigulki's Back Page Editor. Zbigniew Jan Pasek (zbigniew@caen.engin.umich.edu) is a doctoral student at the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics at the U. of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. Professional interests in robotics and manufacturing automation. He maintains files related to Polish issues at the anonymous ftp site at the UofM , directory /pub/misc/polish. He also edits "Dyrdymalki", a weekly digest derived from the Polish press. Dave Phillips (davep@acsu.buffalo.edu) of Kenmore, NY is a doctoral student in geography (urban and regional analysis) at SUNY-Buffalo. He helped found the EARN-Poland link discussion group in 1987 and started the PLEARN-L discussion list in 1990. He's a contributing editor of Pigulki, and assistant masterop of Buffalo's Relay. 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). Jacek Ulanski (julanski@plearn.bitnet) is a physicist and philosopher. He works in the Polymer Institute of Lodz Politechnic and is a contributing editor of Pigulki. ========================================================================= ABOUT PIGULKI Editors Jerzy Klimkowski (Glen Allen, VA, VA) email: jleleno@oliver.vcu.edu Dave Phillips (Kenmore, NY, USA) email: davep@acsu.buffalo.edu Jacek Ulanski (Lodz, Poland) email: julanski@plearn.bitnet Marek Zielinski (Rego Park, NY, USA) email: zielinski@acfcluster.nyu.edu PIGULKI Authorized Distributors North America FLORIDA: Andrew Mossberg (aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu) OTHER N.AMERICA: Dave Phillips (davep@acsu.buffalo.edu) Oceania: Marek Samoc (mjs111@phys.anu.edu.au) Europe: Sweden/Poland: Marek Chudoba (d87-wch@nada.kth.se) Other Europe: Marek Zielinski (zielinski@acfcluster.nyu.edu) BACK ISSUES: * To obtain Pigulki issue 4, for example, mail the following message to netlib@mthvax.cs.miami.edu: send pigulki.004 from poland * Unix users and others with uncompress s/w may use the anon. ftp at mthvax.cs.miami.edu (weeknights and evenings US Eastern time only, please) to obtain back issues from subdirectory poland. Other users should use the mail request method (above). PIGULKI's editors are grateful to Andrew Mossberg, editor of the South Florida Environmental Reader, for making space available to archive Pigulki on this facility. NOTE: PIGULKI is distributed free of charge to masochistic readers who request it (send requests to an authorized distributor above). All signed articles are Copyright (c) 1991 by their authors. PIGULKI may not be copied or retransmitted without prior permission by the editors and notification of your local public health authorities. Your articles, letters, threats, denunciations are welcome; please send them to any editor you can find who'll admit being one. We reserve the right to edit for brevity. ========================================================================== .