Fidonet Rules

Fidonet (or FidoNet as a WikiName) was/is a world-wide hobbyist communications network that was started by an anarchist (TomJennings) who specified only two rules for behavior.

Don't be excessively annoying.
Don't be easily annoyed.

There were lots of other operational and organizational rules that came along afterward, but these two rules formed the base of much of everything else. The ambiguity of these rules (what is "annoying") is actually a strength, because it recognizes that not everyone has the same threshold for annoyance.

The first rule is one most people don't have a problem with. Telling others not to be annoying is easy. It's the second rule where things get interesting. Telling people not to be "excessively annoyed" recognizes that in any public exchange of ideas, there is likely going to be something that annoys you. Maybe you should increase your threshold of annoyance.

Wiki participants can benefit from FidonetRules (and WaterCoolerRules too).

--JohnPassaniti

Actually, FidoNet is the correct spelling although it is frequently degenerated into Fidonet including by my pedantic self. And if you want to read the full rules, see http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?FidonetPolicyFour (which you can also find on the flakier http://fidonet.fidonet.org/policy4.txt). P4 has some case studies you may want to read. -- SunirShah

I was part of FidoNet for several years, and left as our local net (2613) started to break up as a result of cheap access to the Internet. My partner, Phillip Dampier, rose from node to Hub Coordinator to Net Coordinator to Region Coordinator (region 13 if anyone cares anymore), so I saw how Policy Four was applied at a variety of levels. While the rules and case studies in Policy Four were certainly relevant to FidoNet, the case studies there don't seem to have much relevance for Wiki. The two rules that start this page are really what set the tone for nearly everything that happened in FidoNet. -- JohnPassaniti

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