# Fidonet

27 Hacker News commenters recommended Fidonet and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 6 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Old store-and-forward network that relayed messages worldwide over dial-up, recommended for the community and friendships it fostered.

## Why people recommend it

- Community, friends and local gatherings (5 comments): "the offline nature of fidonet helped me stay glued to the computer and actively participate in dozens of communities" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47323225)) "I have very fond memories of fidonet: discussions, friends made, parties held." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48372388)) "I miss the quality of EchoMail conversations with friends around the world." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47328037))
- Felt like magic to exchange messages (4 comments): "It was really magical in those toll-call days to see messages that had relayed across the entire country in just a couple days" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48376426)) "Exchanging messages with people on the other side of the world felt like magic at the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47322610)) "it was magic when you connected and saw something was coming in" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46147926))
- Useful knowledge and user-friendly tools (3 comments): "Store-and-forward, hierarchical organization, scheduled transmissions, working over dial-up and radio links, everything is there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46680730)) "Fido was actually better at this and the tool chain much more user-friendly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45823968)) "FidoNet and BBS provided me with access to a wealth of knowledge" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324518))
- Unmatched by Usenet or later forums (3 comments): "I loved Fidonet and I've not come across any Usenet group, discussion email list or web forum that quite hits the same mark." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47322127)) "FidoNet was a simply wonderful innovation, and it was a reflection of the creativity of its author" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47322703)) "It was utterly revolutionary for us - more than the internet that came later really." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48372297))

## What people warn about

- Doubts it works in disorganized environments (1 comments): "Wouldn't it fall down completely when operating in the ever-shifting and inherently disorganized environment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46682552))
- Echoes limited to one net or region (1 comments): "Think of how FidoNet echoes tended to be limited to a specific net or region" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49661665))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Fidonet", https://hackerapproved.com/p/fidonet/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).