According to some old FidoNews issues and other sources, echomail was introduced by Jeff Rush on 16 February 1986.

Carlos

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Carlos Navarro -> All skrev 2026-02-16 00:02:

According to some old FidoNews issues and other sources, echomail was introduced by Jeff Rush on 16 February 1986.

Then you probably didn't look well enough. The first issue was this:

Volume 1, Number 1 1 Dec 84

... and I'm sure it was distributed via echomail.


--

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

..

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16 Feb 2026 01:13, you wrote to me:

According to some old FidoNews issues and other sources, echomail
was introduced by Jeff Rush on 16 February 1986.

Then you probably didn't look well enough. The first issue was
this:

Volume 1, Number 1 1 Dec 84

... and I'm sure it was distributed via echomail.

The first mention of 'echomail' in FidoNews was:

[...] There's even a new wrinkle
in network mail, called Echomail, that will greatly expand the
whole meaning of FidoNet, if it doesn't break it first.

Editorial - FidoNews Volume 3, Number 13 - 31 March 1986

Carlos

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Carlos Navarro -> Bj”rn Felten skrev 2026-02-17 23:10:

The first mention of 'echomail' in FidoNews was:

Many things existed long before they were mentioned in a FidoNews article.

--

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

..

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* Origin: news://eljaco.se:4119 (2:203/2)

Hi Carlos,

On 2026-02-17 23:10:38, you wrote to Bj”rn Felten:

According to some old FidoNews issues and other sources, echomail
was introduced by Jeff Rush on 16 February 1986.

Then you probably didn't look well enough. The first issue was
this:

Volume 1, Number 1 1 Dec 84

... and I'm sure it was distributed via echomail.

The first mention of 'echomail' in FidoNews was:

[...] There's even a new wrinkle
in network mail, called Echomail, that will greatly expand the
whole meaning of FidoNet, if it doesn't break it first.

Editorial - FidoNews Volume 3, Number 13 - 31 March 1986

And fts-0004.001 calls it "The Conference Mail System". So you might want to search for that too. ;-)


Bye, Wilfred.

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16 Feb 26 00:02, you wrote to All:

According to some old FidoNews issues and other sources, echomail was introduced by Jeff Rush on 16 February 1986.

"In February 1986, Jeff Rush developed FidoNet's form of enews called
echomail. As very few FidoNetters were familiar with the Usenet, they were quite surprised at the popularity and rate of growth of echomail. Within
two weeks, an international echomail conference, MODULA-2, was propagated between Europe, Australia, and North America, and today the daily volume of compressed echomail is over eight megabytes. The social effects, both good
and bad, of echomail on the network parallel those of the Usenet."
--Randy Bush, FidoNet: Technology, Use, Tools, and History (1993)

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/163381.163383
or
https://www.fidonet.org/inet92_Randy_Bush.txt



"HISTORY OF THE CONFERENCE MAIL SYSTEM

In late 1985, Jeff Rush, a Fido sysop in Dallas, wanted a
convenient means of sharing ideas with the other Dallas sysops.
He created a system of programs he called Echomail, and the
Dallas sysops' Conference was born.

Within a short time sysops in other areas began hearing of this
marvelous new gadget and Echomail took on a life of its own.
Today, a scant year and a half later, the FidoNet public network
boasts a myriad of conferences varying in size from the dozen-or-
so participants in the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee
Conference to the Sysops' Conference with several hundred
participants. It is not uncommon for a node to carry 30 or more
conferences and share those conferences with 10 or more nodes."
--Bob Hartman, The Conference Mail System / FTS-0004 (1987)



* Origin: kakistocracy (2:280/464.47)

19 Feb 2026 11:40, you wrote to me:

And fts-0004.001 calls it "The Conference Mail System". So you might
want to search for that too. ;-)

I had already done just in case, but thanks for the suggestion. :-)

Carlos

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* Origin: cyberiada (2:341/234.1)

19 Feb 2026 18:55, you wrote to me:

"In February 1986, Jeff Rush developed FidoNet's form of enews called echomail. As very few FidoNetters were familiar with the Usenet, they were quite surprised at the popularity and rate of growth of echomail. Within two weeks, an international echomail conference, MODULA-2, was propagated between Europe, Australia, and North America, and today the daily volume of compressed echomail is over eight megabytes. The
social effects, both good and bad, of echomail on the network parallel those of the Usenet." --Randy Bush, FidoNet: Technology, Use, Tools,
and History (1993)

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/163381.163383
or
https://www.fidonet.org/inet92_Randy_Bush.txt

"HISTORY OF THE CONFERENCE MAIL SYSTEM

In late 1985, Jeff Rush, a Fido sysop in Dallas, wanted a convenient means of sharing ideas with the other Dallas sysops.
He created a system of programs he called Echomail, and the
Dallas sysops' Conference was born.

Within a short time sysops in other areas began hearing of this marvelous new gadget and Echomail took on a life of its own.
Today, a scant year and a half later, the FidoNet public network
boasts a myriad of conferences varying in size from the dozen-or-
so participants in the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee Conference to the Sysops' Conference with several hundred participants. It is not uncommon for a node to carry 30 or more conferences and share those conferences with 10 or more nodes."
--Bob Hartman, The Conference Mail System / FTS-0004 (1987)

Thanks Oli.

The date "19 February 1986" is considered the "anniversary of the introduction of Echomail by Jeff Rush" in FidoNews issues from 1990, 1991, 1998, and 1999, and the "anniversary of the invention of Echomail by Jeff Rush" in the 1996 issue.

So it seems that some sysops began using Jeff Rush's Echomail tool (*) around 1985 - maybe that was a beta version. And then in February 1986 it was announced or released to the public.

(*) Echomail was a set of programs, Scanmail and Tossmail (article by J. Brad Hicks in FidoNews Vol.3, N.24 - 23 June 1986)

Carlos

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