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From: PIRARD%vm1.ulg.ac.be@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Andr'e PIRARD)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: Price of FTP Inc.'s Stuff
Message-ID: <9103010424.aa16909@louie.udel.edu>
Date: 1 Mar 91 08:42:44 GMT
References: <usc!cs.utexas.edu!helios!ewillis@UCSD.EDU>
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On Tue, 26 Feb 91 17:33:52 GMT Edward Dean Willis said:
>...
>5) Most of the users who responded consider the PC-TCP package very
>reliable and use it as a "reference standard". Several commended
>FTP Incs. work on establishing the packet driver standard. I think
>that the base package is pretty good stuff. I just wish it were under
>the $250 mark so that we could buy it without having to go through
>state purchasing.

Many commercial products build on the FTP Inc's stack.
And I wish more public domain software did use their socket library too,
at least as an option, instead of each including their own TCP code.
On one hand, buying only the kernel is more affordable.
On the other, the PC is badly in need of some house cleaning with a standard.
See the ease of installing MacTCP administratively, then letting the user
install the application he chooses.
DESQview/X builds on PC/TCP, for one. In the process, they've managed to
write a front end of the kernel to allow *multitasking* of PC/TCP compliant
applications under plain DESQview (It's distributed for test, but I haven't
tried it yet due to problems with PC/TCP's reseller, not FTP Inc.).
If this can be done for Windows too, once for all, wouldn't it be lovely
networking?

I let the discussion open, though.
Is there another socket interface candidate for a PC standard?

Andr'e PIRARD             SEGI, Univ. de Li`ege
B26 - Sart Tilman         B-4000 Li`ege 1 (Belgium)
pirard@vm1.ulg.ac.be  or  PIRARD%BLIULG11.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU