Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!lll-crg!lll-lcc!unisoft!dual!ucbvax!seivax.pnet!TSA
From: TSA@seivax.pnet ("Todd Aven")
Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax
Subject: re: gateway mailers
Message-ID: <8611110826.AA15709@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Tue, 11-Nov-86 00:28:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8611110826.AA15709
Posted: Tue Nov 11 00:28:00 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 11-Nov-86 20:24:47 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 39
Approved: info-vax@sri-kl.arpa


I have not used GMAIL, so I don't know how good or bad it is.
As far as other mailers, I've tried the Software Tools MSG system
and PMDF/VMS-822 (recently offered on info-vax). While STM was
completely free, I found it quite difficult to set up to serve
as a transparent mailer for the situation where the only network
transport was BITNET. I loved the user interface (very UNIXy),
but the mailer really required more effort than I wanted to put
forth. Am I just brain-damaged?

I just got PMDF last week, and wow! I'm finally on the net! This
is a great package, cowboys and cowgirls. It's nice to get an
inexpensive product ($50) with plenty of good documentation, and
be able to get it running in just a couple of hours. The whole
thing is written in Pascal, and although I don't have the compiler,
I didn't need it at all! To get things running required editing
the configuration file which lists nodes and editing the script
file for Phonenet connections. Big deal. My big brother could have
done it.  There are one or two minor bugs, but I've already talked
with the developers and they are very responsive. No major bugs
at all. The only drawback I can see to using PMDF as a mailer on
your system (it can easily replace the Wollongong TCP/IP mailer and the
jNet Bitnet mailer) is that submission of mail creates one batch
job per message. The developers seemed in their documentation to
suggest that they were intentionally avoiding a daemon process, but
I think that is exactly what is needed (they allow for using a daemon
to poll, but not for submission). Are you listening, Ned and John?
But heck, I don't have all that much mail going in or out, anyway.

The bottom line? GMAIL apparently is free, but PMDF is as good as
free, and extremely well put together. You don't have to compile
anything. And the ability to network (in the sense of e-mail)
VMS/VAXen with nothing more than asynchronous lines is a godsend
(T: "My budget is unbelievably small."  Chorus: "How small is it, Todd?").
Try it, you'll like it.

Cheers,
Todd Aven
the Softwear Sweatshop