Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!usc!apple!agate!eos!shelby!msi.umn.edu!noc.MR.NET!vax2.gac.edu!nopH From: nop@mcs-server.gac.edu (Jay Carlson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Citadel for the Amiga Message-ID: Date: 21 Nov 90 00:58:57 GMT References: <25506@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> <46998@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> Organization: Gustavus Adolphus College Lines: 62 Nntp-Posting-Host: mcs-server.gac.edu In-reply-to: v092mgp5@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu's message of 19 Nov 90 17:53:24 GMTLines: 62 In article <46998@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> v092mgp5@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott K Wood) writes: > In article <25506@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>, cr1@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Anubis) writes... >> Hi....Anyone know anything about Citadel BBS for the Amiga? Where I can >> get source code? Utilities available? Things like that? > The BBS software, utilities, and complete docs are available for > FTP at abcfd20.larc.nasa.gov (128.155.23.64) in the > /incoming/amiga/Swamp/citadelbbs directory. I don't think you can get > the source code from anyone but the author. That package is Citadel-68k, a terribly direct port from the MS-DOS BBS Citadel-86. The policy of the author of Cit-86 has been no public access to source code. While I can somewhat understand his reasons for keeping the public away from source, his decision has meant a lack of competition and progress for Cit-86 and its derivitive Cit-68k. Cit-68k has huge performance problems due to unbuffered output to the console---on the Amiga, character-by-character output is highly CPU intensive. Many parts of Cit-68k show gross inattention to CPU usage; it is impossible to use other applications while the BBS is up. Several times, I have shown simple mods that would ease the Amiga port's performance problem to the Cit-68k team; they rejected them without consideration. This is not the sign of a project responsive to its users. A related system, Stadel, was originally ported to the Atari ST from free sources. Its author, Eric Parsons, added quite a few features to it, and ported it to the PC. In many ways, Stadel is superior to Cit-86, but the most important advantage is source code. Eric got out of the development business around eight months ago and placed the sources to Stadel 3.4a in the public domain. A few other BBS systems are built on top of Stadel code, and there is an active developer's community. I've completed a port of 3.4a to the Amiga with mods to improve multitasking performance drastically. It uses the cclib.library to cut disk and memory usage. The arp.library is used for utility functions and program launching. The system is workable as is, but I would feel bad releasing source code without another rewrite. For example, the code is Manx-dependent right now. I would prefer to isolate Amiga and Manx dependencies so that the code can be built with freely available tools on the Amiga, PC, or the ST. Unfortunately, lightning took out my modem and my serial port, so I have no way of testing certain new changes. If anyone is interested in running the beta binary, or getting what source code I have, please contact me. Amiga mods would be distributed under the GNU Public License for now; the cleaned-up 3.4a source code itself, of course, remains in the public domain. > Scott > BITNET : v092mgp5@ubvms.bitnet > INTERNET : v092mgp5@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu -- // Jay Carlson \X/ nop@gac.edu "Excuse me--I'm just trying to find the _bridge_. Has anybody seen the bridge?"