Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!tnc!m0154
From: m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.datacomm
Subject: Re: Prodigy
Keywords: garbage, trash net, hellfire
Message-ID: <736@tnc.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 91 18:59:53 GMT
References: <1991Feb20.034644.14053@infonode.ingr.com>
Reply-To: m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT)
Organization: The Next Challenge, Fairfax, Va.
Lines: 28


I used to have the prodigy software running on my wife's IBM PC-XT. 
One of the interesting problems a 'PD' prodigy program would have to
do is address their auto-patch scheme.  Ocassionally, the prodigy
service
downloads patches to the software (I presume they have some facility
for determining which version you are executing, IBM or Mac).

Hackers around here have hypothesized (from observing the software in
action on a PC/XT, 286PC, and Macs) that it is written in compiled
BASIC or some other threaded, interpreted language.  Therefore, the
MAC and IBM versions may actually be the same code, with a resident
interpreter on each machine.

Hacking a Prodigy-alike would require lots of work.  If nothing else,
determining the communications protocol would involve a serial data
snooper, and lots and lots of time.  The local hackers beleive that
the thing operates by sending action tokens (probably 2 bytes)
followed by one or more data tokens (probably also two bytes) for each
screen object (polygon, circle, text, etc) to be drawn.  The local
software seems to transmit back data in some type of burst mode (as
you fill up each text entry gadget, for example).

Other than the diffuculty of determining the protocol, it sould be
leagal to distribute such a thing, as long as each user has purchased
a Prodigy kit.

Wildstar