Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!pro-sol.cts.com!mdavis
From: mdavis@pro-sol.cts.com (Morgan Davis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Proline Networking
Message-ID: <8905182336.AA05795@crash.cts.com>
Date: 18 May 89 18:54:30 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: pnet01!pro-sol!mdavis@nosc.mil
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 51

Network Comment: to #7274 by pnet01!crash!rutgers.edu!bpa!temvax!pacsbb!jlongen

> Todd Smith mentioned ProLine networking.  Originally, I thought that
> ProLine was BBS software.

It is, and then some.

> Is there now a network of ProLine nodes?

There has been a ProLine network since late 1985.

> Does this network deal mainly with Apple II stuff?

No, not just Apple II material.  ProLine systems are different from most BBSs
because they attract users from all different computer camps.  Since we have
gateways into UUCP (which allow us to receive Internet newsgroup traffic) our
sites can subscribe to a variety of newsfeeds, Apple and non-Apple types.

> If it is a network, how do you access it?

You'll see a lot of return addresses and signatures in messages from
Info-Apple that contain a "pro-" prefix before a site name.  You'll know
instantly that the site is a ProLine site.  Take a look at the headers and
signatures now and you'll see that there are quite a number of different
Apple-based ProLine systems that participate in the Internet.

To access the ProLine network you need to go through a gateway that runs the
P-Net software.  There is one that doesn't, but I don't know if the system
administrator is keen on the idea of the Internet piping traffic through his
UNIX box to get to his ProLine machine.  Known gateways are: crash!pnet01,
simasd!pnet07, and orbit!pnet51.  There may be others, but I can't recall 
all of them off the top of my head.  To get to any ProLine site, just get
your message to the gateway site like so:

        ...crash!pnet01!pro-xxxxx!username

where xxxxx is the ProLine node name.  We are registered in the .cts.com
domain, and all gateways (so far) reside within the UUCP network.

Our network also maintains an internal newsgroup called, appropriately enough,
"proline".  The group is mostly for ProLine system administrator's usage, but
it is a public feed.  If anyone out there in net land wants to receive this
feed, write to a sysop of a P-Net site to ask for a subscription.  (Since
P-Nets are on the fringe of the network, they're the best nodes for
redistribution of the "proline" newsfeed).

--Morgan Davis

UUCP: crash!pnet01!pro-sol!mdavis		ProLine:  mdavis@pro-sol
ARPA: crash!pnet01!pro-sol!mdavis@nosc.mil	MCI Mail: 137-6036
INET: mdavis@pro-sol.cts.com			APE, BIX: mdavis