How to Use the FidoNet/Internet Gateways
              ========================================

                 Sending from Internet => FidoNet
                 --------------------------------

To send mail from an Internet Site TO a user that calls a Fido-Net system.:

 What you must know:
    1) The node number of the Fido-Net system that your friend calls.
    2) The *exact* UserName s/he logs in with.

 With these bits of information do the following (assuming that you are
 sending a NEW message and NOT just replying to a message you received).


 The address of a FidoNet Node looks like this: 1:107/309.0. Usually
 the .0 is left off, but it is there by default.
 That address can be translated as "Zone 1, Net 107, FidoNode 309,
 Point 0." or f309.n107.z1.fidonet.org - the "Fully Qualified
 Domain Name" of a FidoNode.

 Another example is 1:107/309.2 which would be written as
 p2.f309.n107.z1.fidonet.org (since there is a point number other than 0,
 we have to specify it). Note also that we are only using zone 1.
 This will also work for zones 2 and 3, just use z2 or z3 as appropriate.

 Note that FidoNet systems usually use a "Firstname Lastname" logon.
 You will need to express that as  First.Last, using a DOT in place of
 the SPACE.


    Addresses can be interpreted as:

       First.Last@[p###.]f###.n###.z#.fidonet.org       where:
         ^     ^     ^     ^    ^   ^   ^      ^
         |     |     |     |    |   |   `------`--- domain
         |     |     |     |    |   `---- Zone number (IMPORTANT)
         |     |     |     |    `-------- Net number
         |     |     |     `------------- Node number
         |     |     `------------------- Point number (optional)
         |     `------------------ User's LAST Name
         `------------------------ User's FIRST Name

  The Point number should *ONLY* be used if non-zero.

  The Domain Name Server (DNS) on the Internet for the .fidonet.org
  domain will tell your mail-server the IP-address of the MX-receiver
  for the gateway node that is handling traffic for that particular
  "Net" within FidoNet, *if* arrangements have been made for a specific
  gateway to handle ALL of the Net's traffic.
  
  As of March 1st, 1996, there is NO LONGER a "default MX"
  for *.z1.fidonet.org.  If arrangements have not been made with
  a gateway, there will be NO MX-record and therefore you cannot
  reach that system using this syntax!
  
  It would be advisable to query the DNS system if possible to see
  if there is a valid MX-record for the address you want to send to.
  If you are on a UNIX machine, you should be able to do that using
  'nslookup' by using the following syntax:

      $  nslookup -type=mx *.n###.z1.fidonet.org

  where you replace the '###' with the appropriate sub-domain number.

  If that command does NOT return a MX-record, then it means that
  any E-Mail to any such address *will* bounce since it does NOT have
  a gateway to go thru.


 Although the following syntaxes *may* have been advertised somewhere,
 they are ***NOT*** valid!

          user.name%fNODE.nNET.z1@fidonet.org

     (There is NO actual system named 'fidonet.org'.  That is the
     the domain-name under which FidoNet systems are mapped under
     the above scheme.  There is no MX-record for 'fidonet.org', so
     anything sent with this syntax *will* undoubtedly bounce!)

          user.name%fNODE.nNET.z1.fidonet.org@zeus.ieee.org

     (I'm getting *real* tired of folks trying to force traffic
     thru our News-Server.  Nobody was ever authorized to publish
     this in various FAQs and books all over the place!)