Re: [44net] On Allocations, PoPs, Proposals, and something called RF

On 04.08.21 at 05:50 Jeff Archambeault wrote via 44Net: Jeff, rest assured: You are not alone! While not having been an amateur operator during the golden age of packet radio, I always have been entangled with computers and Linux in particular. Nowadays I have a connection to the Austrian leg of the European HAMNET and I also have a small IP connected to 44net via IPIP. While it is great to know that I am connected to the largest radio only network at the same time it is a little frustrating because I am asking myself: What now? I understand myself as a tinkerer. I was hoping to learn about networking more than what I was able to do at home. It just doesn't make sense to use hefty routing protocols for my few servers in the shack. Soon I had to recognize that the "admins" already were doing the routing for me. Thank you, I appreciate the many work you have done! So what is left to do for me? Oh I can "use" the network. Sorry, I don't intend to sound sarcastic, but this isn't quite what I did expect. I can also use the internet at a very reasonable price. I even have wireless internet at a cost which isn't much more than my license fee. So why should I "use" the 44net then? What initially attracted my attention about 44net was that it promised to be a network for amateurs made by amateurs. I perceived a 44 address as the equivalent of my callsign in internet! Ok, I learned from the pro's that this possibly isn't a terribly good idea, because of routing problems. Yet the idea is still sitting in the back of my head: At least in AX.25 we indeed had the (globally unique) callsign as the network address. So, again, what can I do then with 44net? I could run a service! Ok, fine. While that certainly would be possible I can do the very same in the internet and if I am for some exclusivity I could even use an overlay network. I do not need an amateur license to do so. So indeed: Please keep in mind that we are a amateur radio centric group and that our primary interest should be RF. What I would dream of is a decentralized, resilient network of primarily RF links. As I believed this is the goal of 44net anyways. For me lowering the barrier does not necessarily mean to make my routing the simplest one can think of, but make it understandable. Make it so that I can read about it and learn how to do it myself. Do not hide away required information. Help provide a space where documentation can be found. Give incentives to keep documents well written and current. I admit that there is another class of amateurs as well, for which the 44net is "just another part of the internet", a very affordable though. A net that is specifically good for things like interconnection of repeaters and making accessible remote transmitters. These HAMs do not want (and should not need to) learn about routing issues. After digging through all the mails in this large thread I feel that a split of the net address space indeed would not be the worst idea. The reason for the split, however, should be different: 1) There should be the service oriented network, i.e., a network running all the services that need a "professional" approach, like webservers, echolink proxies, etc. The address space should be structured such that routing can be done with minimal effort. 2) And there should be the rest of the space which could be open for tinkering by HAMs interested in promoting the successors of packet radio via RF links. The answer whether this could be achieved with or without renumbering I leave to the pro's. Before closing my post I would like to ask if someone knows for a better place for discussing the successors of (new) packet radio than this list? vy 73 Roland, oe1rsa -- __________________________________________ _ _ | Roland Schwarz |_)(_ | | \__) | mailto:roland.schwarz@blackspace.at ________| http://www.blackspace.at