Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU!morgan
From: morgan@JESSICA.STANFORD.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.appletalk
Subject: Re: Appletalk for PC's?
Message-ID: <Added.YXUQE9y00UkT4Cw084@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 16 Nov 88 17:19:52 GMT
References: <640@gvgspd.GVG.TEK.COM>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 31


tektronix!gvgpsa!gvgspd!mam@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Mark A. Matthews)
writes:

> We've got some PC users here who covet the output of our
> Localtalk-connected Laserwriter.  We also have recently installed a
> Kinetics FastPath 4.  The PC's each have 3-Com ethernet cards.
> Therefore, a path exists between the Laserwriter and the PC's.  Is
> there Appletalk software available to take advantage of this sort of
> network? (i.e., the PC speaks Postscript to the LaserWriter via
> Appletalk over ethernet, through the FastPath, then the Localtalk.)

The traditional answer to the "EtherTalk for PCs" question has been
no, but perhaps there is hope on the horizon.  According to
yesterday's InfoWorld, The Sun Microsystems TOPS division (TOPS for
short) has just announced that its new version of TOPS/DOS will work
on Ethernet-attached PCs, as well as LocalTalk-attached.  The initial
release claims to support 3Com EtherLink II and EtherLink/MC (for
MicroChannel machines) [what, *not* the original EtherLink? grumble,
grumble].  Our TOPS salesperson was willing to guess that their
NetPrint package would share in this support, which would meet this
particular need.  Calloo callay O frabjous day.  We'll see if it
works.  It's still a wonder to me that no other company has leapt into
this game.

(I have no connection with TOPS, except that they brought the donuts
to a meeting here once.)

 - RL "Bob" Morgan
   Networking Systems
   Stanford