Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!syntron!jtsv16!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!BKNLVMS.BITNET!SHAFFERJ
From: SHAFFERJ@BKNLVMS.BITNET ("Jim Shaffer, Jr.")
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Kermit-65, SmartT, and program archives (!)
Message-ID: <8810121820.AA05237@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 12 Oct 88 14:34:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8810121820.AA05237
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 66

Well, looks like the annual run of terminal program questions has started.
I was asking all these sort of questions last year about this time.
But I eventually survived and found a workable configuration, so I figured
I'd let everybody know what I'm using.

I'm running Kermit-65, SmartT, and DOS 2.5 on an unmodified 130XE and a
SMM301 (I think) modem.  (It's the one that came out about the same time
as the XE line, if I remember rightly, before the latest one.  Tiny gray
box, direct Atari connect, 300 baud.)
I haven't had any problems in simply running that particular combination
(i.e., no apparent memory conflicts), but a few interesting things turned
up (none of which I'm complaining too loudly about -- it's a great way
to do VT100 emulation on an Atari!):
(1)  There is an immediately fatal memory conflict with the keypad driver.
     I have the source code to it, so I could recompile it if only I had the
     time to sit down and look at everything.
(2)  The reason I mention the keypad driver is because I'm not exactly
     thrilled with Kermit-65's key bindings.  But it DOES have keypad
     mode, i.e., all VT100 keypad keys are emulated.
(3)  If you hit the BREAK key accidentally, the system locks up.  This
     can sometimes be fixed by pounding on OPTION and/or ENTER.  I don't
     know if there's an exact sequence; I just mess with it each time
     it happens.  John Dunning (the author of Kermit-65) says he's
     aware of this.
(4)  Occasionally the system locks up unrecoverably after an hour or
     two of use.  This doesn't happen consistently and I'm not blaming
     it on any of the programs I'm running.  It very well could be my
     hardware.  I'm only mentioning it here in the remote possibility
     that it's the software.



Now, the part that I'm sure you've all been waiting for after reading the
subject line:  the Atari 8-bit Program Archives!

First, I don't have any idea if the archives are available somewhere on
the Internet for FTP.  If they are, then this message concerns only Bitnet
users and the rest of you can skip it.

There is an attempt being made to put the program archives from this
mailing list/newsgroup/whatever on a server on Bitnet.  Here they would
be available to any Bitnet site, or for that matter to any Internet
site, by merely sending a message by Mail or interactive facilities.
No TCP/IP required :-)  [Flame for the day:  RSCS s*cks.]

However, there is a definite impediment to rapid progress in the fact that
the only site willing to let us use their machine and the only person willing
to take care of maintaining the archives are a considerable number of nodes
away.  For those of you on the Internet, this means that the travel time
of a message or file can be rather long if the network is congested, and
that there's a high probability of short-term system failure somewhere
on the path.

Nevertheless, the program archives WILL be available on Bitnet!
Hopefully, most of them will be in place before the end of this year.
Right now things are still in a sort of testing (read: maintainer getting
used to the weird IBM system) stage.  Programs should start appearing
on the server in about a week.  I'll notify everyone when it would be
worthwhile to grab a copy of the filelist.  UUDECODE.LST will be the
first thing up, of course :-)

For those of you who know about such things, the address is LISTSERV@TCSVM
and the filelist is ATARI8-F.  For those of you who don't know about such
things, I'll explain later when it's actually worthwhile to get the filelist.

Jim