WHAT IS A COMMUNITY COMPUTER NETWORK The general consensus was that FreeNet is a tool to provide access to everyone -- for example, "store-front" access to the "underadvantaged"; to the non-computer elite, etc.... FreeNet is a type of community outreach programme that could bring those normally out of the loop in - a way of broadening participation. It is important to show potential users what a community-based network can do for them. There needs to be content or service of interest to people to lure them in and keep them in. People saw FreeNets as an education tool to help educate others about networks, computers, etc... A key issue brought up was "orientation to the FreeNet". Many felt that there should be a better orientation to the FreeNet community - Where to go for certain type of information, how to send e-mail, etc... instead of having to search endlessly through the menus for what you are looking for. ie., one participant stated, "It took me two months to find the Survival Guide" It was agreed that networks provide complementary information to the type of information we already received. HOW DOES FreeNet DIFFER FROM LOCAL BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS (BBS)? This question raised a lot of discussion, however there did not seem to be a consensus on what FreeNet is or what it should be. An analog was given that a FreeNet is to a BBS like a supermarket is to a corner grocery store. What's the reaction of local bulletin board systems to FreeNets? In the Osahawa/Toronto area, most had a hostile reaction. They barred any discussion of a FreeNet from their BBS's. In Ottawa, the reaction has been the opposite: BBS operators welcomed the advent of FreeNet. There has been a recognition that FreeNets and BBS's aren't in competition; they can be (and are) complementary. Presumably, the relationship can be symbiotic. Further discussion include the fact that a BBS is intended to be used more as a form of entertainment for individuals to retrieve files and to talk to people with similar interest, whereas the FreeNet gives this plus access to important information about and from the local community. Also, the information on a FreeNet is not controlled by a single individual, but by the community as a whole. One individual summarized these thoughts by saying that FreeNet is a platform on which everyone can dance There was a caution that a FreeNet should not look at its users or service providers as distinct and separate, but that it should consider the exchange of information as a two-way street. FreeNets should also accept the responsibility of being part of the community and refer to themselves as the community and not that they are serving a geographic community. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FreeNet AND THE LOCAL BBS? Members of the NCF indicated that at first they felt that many BBS operators were quite bitter towards FreeNet and how it might affect their pay per use facilities. It now appears that the relationship has been mended because due to an increase of more than 800% in modem sales, there are more users out there who want access to electronic information even if it is not free. FreeNets may be valuable to other BBS as a market-builder. COALITION POLITICS: SOURCES Robert Thompson noted that a FreeNet is really a coalition group, and that coalition groups have particular characteristics which have been studied extensively. He knows of a report on how to organize and run a coalition group, and he will try to make that available electronically over the FreeNet, perhaps in this "Conference" menu.