On Sat, 20 Sep 2025 00:27:11 -0400
"Alex Galiyev" (1:129/14.1) <Alex.Galiyev@p1.f14.n129.z1.fidonet> wrote:

FidoNet was shrinking anyway, but Ward's leadership made it worse.
His focus on control over change kept the network from adapting,
turning a slow decline into a steep collapse.

Much of it cannot be blamed on Ward. fidonet is decline. ftp is in
decline, gopher is in decline, http is incline.

What has caused this decline? advanced web technology, social media
sites, advance in cell phone technology.

Also, people who perpetuate this ridiculous war against Ward. I'm no
fan, but you've made your point so you can step down now.
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FidoNet fell from over 10,000 nodes in 2004 to just about 1,200 in 2025. The Internet was a big reason, but leadership struggles also pushed the network down. Ward Dossche, long-time coordinator, played a central part.

Year | Nodes | Bar -----+---------+-------------------------------------------------------------- 2004 | 10654 | ██████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ (10654)
2005 | 9475 | ██████████████████████████████████████████████████ (9475)
2006 | 8346 | ████████████████████████████████████████████ (8346) 2007 | 7369 | ██████████████████████████████████████ (7369) 2008 | 6710 | ███████████████████████████████████ (6710) 2009 | 6065 | █████████████████████████████████ (6065) 2010 | 5117 | █████████████████████████████ (5117) 2011 | 4394 | ██████████████████████████ (4394) 2012 | 3676 | ███████████████████████ (3676) 2013 | 3371 | ██████████████████████ (3371) 2014 | 2830 | ███████████████████ (2830) 2015 | 2526 | █████████████████ (2526) 2016 | 2462 | ████████████████ (2462) 2017 | 2000 | █████████████ (2000) 2018 | 1621 | ██████████ (1621) 2019 | 1563 | █████████ (1563) 2020 | 1468 | ████████ (1468) 2021 | 1452 | ████████ (1452) 2022 | 1486 | ████████ (1486) 2023 | 1359 | ███████ (1359) 2024 | 1249 | ██████ (1249) 2025 | 1209 | ██████ (1209) -----+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------

Timeline of Decline

2004-2006: Still thousands of nodes, but Ward's grip on Zone 2 meant power was concentrated. Critics say this discouraged fresh ideas.
2007-2010: Sharp drop toward 5,000 nodes. Instead of reform, politics dominated - many sysops walked away.
2011-2014: Numbers fell below 3,000. Zone fights and Ward's refusal to share control created more division.
2015-2020: Under 2,000 nodes. Internet-only tools existed, but slow adoption left FidoNet looking outdated.
2021-2025: About 1,200 nodes remain. By now Ward was less active, but his earlier hardline rule left lasting fractures.

In Short

FidoNet was shrinking anyway, but Ward's leadership made it worse. His focus on control over change kept the network from adapting, turning a slow decline into a steep collapse.

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