Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!ucbvax!DEVELOPMENT.WATSTAR.UWATERLOO.CA!erick From: erick@DEVELOPMENT.WATSTAR.UWATERLOO.CA Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc Subject: (none) Message-ID: <9105241647.AA08167@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> Date: 24 May 91 17:41:38 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The Internet Lines: 68 Subject: sockets ? Hjalmar Brismar wrote: > >Hi ! >Anybody know of a commercial or PD product for sockets under DOS ? > Every few days we see a programmer request for info about the various TCP/IP libraries. I think the following list gives a feel for the various options. If you have any comments/suggestions, *please* Email me and I'll update the text. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Free TCP/IP Libraries KA9Q or NOS Phil Karn wrote this impressive network program which includes BSD socket type i/o and multitasking. Converting UNIX <--> NOS is easy. If you wish to be doing several network things at the same time, say run a mail server and telnet, this is your best choice. Because it is full featured, NOS is large, it usually consumes about 400 - 600 K of memory in your machine. The source for existing applications is available and readable. There are restrictions against using NOS in commercial or government settings. Check the docs for more details. (Turbo C) FTP to flash.bellcore.com for source. NCSA This tcp kernal is the heart of NCSA TELNET/FTP and the origin of CUTCP's offerrings. NCSA uses an event driven programming model which makes programming much more difficult than the other packages mentioned here. NCSA includes very good terminal drivers for VT100 and 3270 emulation and has a nice look/feel. Take a look at the source for the sample applications. The kernal source looks a bit more forbidding. (MS C and Turbo C) FTP to zaphod.ncsa.uiuc.edu [141.142.20.50] for source. PCIP Started at MIT, PCIP has had many spinoffs including the commercial products >from Wollongong, Beame&Whiteside, Sun Microsystems, and FTP (where the original developers went) as well as the semi-commerical MD-DOS from Maryland. All of these products have been totally rewritten. The executables are relatively small. PCIP is pretty simple to program, but has not been devoted much interest over the last few years. I would recommend looking at the alternatives before deciding to use it. (MS C) FTP to husc6.harvard.edu Waterloo TCP Designed after the above systems, Waterloo TCP attempts to combine the ease of sockets (sort of like NOS, UNIX) with the simple configuration of NCSA and the small executables (usually about 30K). It is very simple to program and most BSD Unix source can be converted in a few hours. A programmers manual is available. (Turbo C) FTP to sunee.uwaterloo.ca [129.97.128.196] for source in pub/wattcp What would you use? Well, if I were: - planning a server which receives tcp sessions from around the world and I wish to dedicate a machine to the task - NOS - it has server features and multitasking - doing something which required terminal emulation - NCSA - it has excellent terminal emulation - user applications which need TCP/IP access but not terminal emulation - Waterloo TCP - small kernal and easy to program Best of Luck ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erick