Re: FSP-10xx-1: BBSID Kludge Specification
By: Rob Swindell to All on Tue Dec 26 2023 03:05 pm

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FTSC FIDONET TECHNICAL STANDARDS COMMITTEE **********************************************************************

Publication: FSP-10xx
Revision: 2
Title: BBSID Kludge Specification
Author: Rob Swindell (1:103/705)
Date: 2023-12-29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Status of this document
-----------------------

This document is a Fidonet Standard Proposal (FSP), issued by its
author for the benefit of the Fidonet community.

This document specifies an optional Fidonet standard protocol for
the Fidonet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements.

This document is released to the public domain, and may be used,
copied or modified for any purpose whatever.


Contents
--------
1. Background
2. Definition
3. Deployment
4. References

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1. Background
-------------
Synchronet BBS software supports the optional storage and display
of character/block-graphic "avatars" for users of a BBS as well
as the authors of messages imported from message networks.

Other BBS software packages have also adopted the Synchronet avatar
specifications and distribution model. The technical details of
Synchronet avatars, including their sharing and storage formats,
are not within the scope of this document, but more information
can be found by following the links in the References section.

1.1 The Problem
---------------
The Synchronet user avatar data is not sent/stored with every
posted message, but rather the avatar data is communicated
out-of-band from networked discussion areas and the stored avatars
include metadata to allow them to be correlated with the authors
of messages that are subsequently locally-posted and received via
message network. This correlation is necessary in order to display
the proper stored avatar corresponding with each message's author.

Since avatars may be shared among BBSes using one of a number of
message networking technologies (e.g. QWK, NNTP, FidoNet), and a
BBS may have multiple FidoNet addresses (AKAs), a single
correlatable ID was saught to enable the identification of the
proper avatar to be displayed with the author of a networked
message, regardless of which FidoNet-technology-network address
from which the message was posted.

For example, a BBS may store an avatar for "Rob Swindell" at
1:103/705 (the FidoNet address of Vertrauen BBS) but would want
that same avatar to be displayed along with any messages received
from "Digital Man" at 21:1/183 (the fsxNet address of Vertrauen
BBS). Solving the correlation of user aliases and real names is
not within the scope of this document.

1.2 The Solution
----------------
Since BBSes that support QWK packet technology should already have a
globally unique ID (the so-called BBS-ID or "Board ID" from which
their QWK packet files are named), it made logical sense to reuse
this same ID as the method of correlating any message received via
FidoNet with the avatar data stored for the message author.

So Synchronet/SBBSecho includes the sysop-configured BBS-ID of the
originating system in the metadata of all messages exported to FidoNet
technology networks, in the form of a new kludge line: BBSID.

2. Definition
-------------
A control paragraph (AKA kludge line) that contains a FidoNet
node's BBS-ID has the format:

BBSID: <bbs-id>

Where <bbs-id> is a string of between 1 and 100 printable characters.

The current common practice is for FidoNet message control
paragraphs to be introduced with an ASCII 1 (SOH) character and
terminated with an ASCII 13 (CR) character.

Although a BBS sysop would best serve their users by having a
globally unique BBS-ID, there's no existing known method to insure
that is the case. So some creativity and research on the part of
the sysop is recommended when determining what their BBS-ID should
be and it should not be changed once the system usership has been
established.

3. Deployment
-------------
Synchronet and its FidoNet echomail program, SBBSecho, added BBSID
kludge line support in December of 2020 (w/SBBSecho v3.12). So it's
likely that the nodes of various FidoNet technology networks around
the world started importing and storing echomail messages with BBS-IDs
around this same time. So this document (from late 2023) finally
formally defines the intention and use of this new metadata.

It is possible that other uses for shared correlatable BBS-IDs within
the metadata of FidoNet netmail and echomail messages may come to
light in the future.


4. References
-------------
[Synchronet Avatars] https://wiki.synchro.net/module:avatars
[QWK Packets] https://wiki.synchro.net/ref:qwk
[Kludge Line] https://wiki.synchro.net/ref:fidonet_glossary#kludge_line
--
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #32:
Derek Smalls: [A jog?] We don't have time for that.
Norco, CA WX: 57.8øF, 83.0% humidity, 0 mph ESE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)