Subj : SBBS/W32 Kermit SABOTAGE
To   : NANCY BACKUS
From : MICHEL SAMSON
Date : Fri Nov 26 2004 10:13 pm

Hi Nancy,

    About "SBBS/W32 Kermit SABOTAGE" of November 22:

SH> Support for a platform has to come from users of that platform.
MS> ...the `MS-Kermit' terminal is OK on `SBBS'...  Was this a topic-
MS} steering attempt?...  ...Wayne Warthen's `Kermit for `Win-16/32'
MS} (which is FreeWare) just hangs the session and reveals how *WEAK*
MS} `SBBS's *INTERFACE* to external (`Kermit') protocol drivers can be!
SH> I have no data on Wayne Warthen's implementation.
MS> ...it can fly at over 25K7 cps...  It's a mid-nineties 3rd-party
MS> version where the `Kermit' packet-size is a thousand bytes...
SH> ...provide simple instructions...  All the SysOp will have to do is
SH> add the protocol driver.  We are not knowingly sabotaging kermit.
MS> `MSK.INI' was more "Ready-Made" in 2003 than Rob's setup is now!...
MS> Cut here --> -------[ http://public.sogetel.net/bicephale/MSK.INI ]-
SH> Not sure what the deal was...
MS> ...clues...  http://public.sogetel.net/bicephale/Vert-801.QWK.ZIP
SH> ...there is no reason to use a 7-bit paranoid Kermit.
MS> ...SysOps (like Gregg...) can't manage...  ...even if using Control
MS> Character Escaping costs a lot in terms of overhead...  ...transfer
MS} will be better than an hesitating `ZMoDem'...  ...i'm not liable
MS} for Rob's decision to render his `Kermit' support restrictive...
NB> ...the only* protocol that I could use with Telnet uploads was
NB> kermit (the slow original), as Zmodem only worked for downloads...

    I can see three main episodes in `Kermit's evolution:  the pre-1985
period in which `BBBS-Kermit' and `WC-Kermit' belong (these relics serve
anti-`Kermit' campaigns better if you ask me), the 1985-1995 period (the
FreeWare from Wayne Warthen belongs there) and then the post-1995 period
(where `Kermit' became a viable alternative to `ZMoDem' via ~TelNet~ for
*ALL* ~FOSSIL~-based BBS systems - and a few more, if an ~UART~ emulator
such as `SIO'/`VMoDem' happened to be available).  The `MSK.INI' feature
Stephen refered to was intended to DownGrade `MS-Kermit' just enough for
`WWKfW-16/32' to be supported, pre-1985 `Kermit' is out of this picture.

NB> I was very thankful to find
NB} that       ["that"=`MSK.INI' Nov. 9 "Kermit [7]-Bits Binary" item!?]
NB> 7-bit paranoid Kermit available...

    It's easy to get BBSers mixed up about the protocol so i must clear
this up.  The `Kermit' "7-Bits Binary" macro i refer to in `MSK.INI' and
`UlProt.ASC' is a completely separate topic and it's not on my wish-list
(not even Stephen's, i guess) to cripple `MS-Kermit' so much it would be
equivalent to a 3rd-party archaic implementation...  I do understand why
you appreciated having `WC-Kermit' when you needed it, nonetheless!  ;-)
                       ^^^^^^^^^
    My `MSK.INI' setup refers to a 7-Bits `MS-Kermit' option but that's
not definitive:  Rob Swindell pretends to produce setups from the top of
his head which he declares to be "Ready-Made" before the testing is over
but i don't;  more clearly, i could have called it "Fool-Proof" `Kermit'
or whatever but the point is i made this label reflect the feature TO BE
EVALUATED and, since it's Work-on-Progress, this is where i'm stuck now.

    I'll focus on choosing a proper label once i've determined what set
of `MS-Kermit' parameters allow participating `SBBS/W32' SysOps to offer
`WWKfW-16/32' support;  considering that it took fifteen months to agree
on publishing one single ~URL~, it won't be soon but they're free to use
only *BASIC* `MSK.INI' macros and to wait for others to finalize it all.

NB> ...I can now use Zmodem for my telnet uploads as well...

    Not everyone could resist the temptation to just run `{Commo}' over
`RLFossil' (which i've done on a regular basis for years), determination
is something i respect but the passage of time makes most frustrations a
bit irrelevant in the end...  At that rate, `Windows' might no longer be
a "popular alternative" when the time has come for you to migrate, hence
`WWKfW-16/32' won't help neither, i bet!  ;->  A Transgenic human of the
future probably won't require external devices to BBS but, until then, a
`Win-16/32' user who isn't satisfied with `ZMoDem' over ~TelNet~ has too
few FreeWares to toy with and no `SBBS' .INI supports `WWKfW-16/32' yet.

    As i wrote before, DOS ~TelNet~ `ZMoDem' or `Kermit' work for me so
`RLFossil'/`{Commo}' or sound `Kermit' setups are what i got to share in
order to promote BBSing, others may have unresolved issues of their own.

NB> Choices are good.

    They certainly are!  :)  The matter is often to get them supported,
though;  it doesn't help much when Stephen brings ~FTP~/~HTTP~ solutions
on topic and he doesn't point at any DOS-compatible servers, actually...

                                   Salutations,  ;->

                                   Michel Samson
                                   a/s Bicephale
                                   http://public.sogetel.net/bicephale/


... Rob's SBBS/Kermit:  use spare-time to try a subtle type of SABOTAGE!
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