Libris Britannia 4/science library(b).zip/science library(b)/PROGRAMM/SHAREWAR/3900A.ZIP/STARGAZR.EXE/STAR7.TXT

Text File | 1992-08-14 | 15KB | 311 lines

An Interview With Mark Herring

By Dan Snapper

Mark Herring is the "father" of BBS offline mail reading and the
creator of the .QWK message format.  Back in April of 1988 he
released the first offline mail reader and started the
revolution that has enabled the amazing growth of internationally
echoed message networks.

Known as "Sparky" to many of us, Mark has become a very succesful
shareware author, too.  His current products include the Qmail 4.0
door, QNet 3.0 network messaging software, PCB/FaxMail system, The
Pager Engine, DeLuxe² 1.25, and the recently released 1stReader
1.00.

We asked Sparky to share a brief history on himself and the
evolution of the offline mail reading system.  We also asked him
some questions about his experiences and views on shareware
today...

èSparky:

I've been calling bulletin board systems since my first call to
a Forum-80 back in March, 1979.  Since then the systems, of
course, have grown quite a lot.  I called that BBS using a 300
baud 'drop-in' modem (called a CAT modem) and the BBS had all of
160k of disk storage (and that included the OS and programs to
run it too!).

Like I said, I've been an enthusiast since then writing terminal
programs, one BBS system (for a TRS-80 Model III back in 1983)
and having fun.  In 1986, soon after PC-Pursuit was introduced,
I wrote a series of programs that would keep a database of
bulletin board systems around the country.  I could select the
BBS systems I wanted to call and the program would generate a
ProComm script file that would handle the work.  I could then go
to bed and have the script call these systems late at night, on
PC-Pursuit, to gather new messages (in a capture file), file
lists and it could also upload and download files
automatically.  It even kept a ratio list so we knew where to
send some files when the ratio got too much out of whack.

The systems that I called were all PCBoard systems because the
sysop couldn't change the prompts.  That meant that all of the
systems had the same prompts and the scripts would be reliable.
That was THE big reason I started working closely with PCBoard,
way back then.

I gave another copy of this system (we called it 'Rape and
Pillage') to Charles Grisamore and he and I would call 10-15
systems a night.  Then, around 5:00am, his system would switch
into a host mode where mine would call his, upload everything I
collected, he would send me everything he collected, and then
we'd hang up.  My system would then call two local bulletin
board systems (Radio Free Memphis and Unusual Situations) and
his would call another friend of ours to send him the same
collection of files.

I wrote a little 'reader' program that would let us read the
capture file and reply to messages.  Then, the next time we
called the system these messages would get uploaded to the
system.  So, in a sense, this was a 'prehistoric' Qmail system.

In February of 1987 another friend of mine, Jim Key, was
thinking of shutting down his PCBoard system so he could get a
system that interfaced with FIDO.  I remember calling him up one
night and asking him if any software was available to let
PCBoard echo messages. He wasn't aware of any - so I told him
I'd try and modify our R&P program.  I did and it worked, but it
was VERY crude.

Jim gave me a copy of a PCBoard message base and I reverse
engineered the file format and then wrote a program that
basically cloned ProComm's script language and provided echomail
transfers. That was the birth of PCB-ECHO around the end of
February.  The system was setup between Radio Free Memphis and
Unusual Situations, another PCBoard system based in Memphis and
run by Jim Pottkotter. Everything worked well for about a week
or so until I realized we needed to add a third system into the
works.  Echoing between two systems was easy but adding that
third system took a bit of work. In March we added a system from
California named 'Sleepy Hollow' to the group and things really
started moving.  Soon, systems like The Redundant Department of
Redundancy (Utah), Execnet (NY), LANS (IN), The Sound of Music
(NY), Farwest (British Columbia), Fleamarket (New Jersey), The
Toolshop (Arizona), Qmodem (Iowa), Ed Hopper's PCBoard (Texas),
Sparta PCBoard (New Jersey) all came together to create the
PCB-ECHO network. It was all hubbed out of Memphis on Jim Key's
40 megabyte Compaq 286 system.

So, from then on I was connected with Jim helping him manage
PCB-ECHO.  I fixed the bugs and helped a bit in the
administration.  Only Jim had the software that would let hub
the network - the other systems had the 'node' software.  So the
network was a 'star' type of design where you would soon max out
the number of systems available.  That limit was reached around
50 systems, and it didn't take too long to reach it.

In September of 1987 another friend of mine, Dan Mascheck, moved
from Memphis to a little town named Wharton, TX just sixty miles
outside of Houston, Texas.  He kept calling back home to RFM
(Radio Free Memphis) to keep up with the happenings and was
starting to feel light in the pockets due to the long distance
costs.  One night he called me and asked if there was something
I could do to help him out.

Back in 1985, during a vacation to The Smokey Mountains, I had
given some thought to what would happen to our hobby once
measured service was installed throughout the country.  I
reasoned it was obvious that if calls were to be measured in
units it was best to login, download as many messages and files
as you could, then log off and read the messages at your
leisure.  Then, call back and quickly upload the replies.

With this idea in mind I started creating The Qmail System for
Dan.  But I wasn't designing it for everyone, basically just for
him to use.  I took the PCBoard 12.x message base formats since
I reasoned it was quicker to just grab the messages rather than
translate them into another format.  And I remember designing
the format to the CONTROL.DAT file in about thirty minutes.  At
the time, I had NO IDEA that I was creating a standard.  If I
had known that, I would have given considerably more thought to
what I was doing.  But at the time I was helping a friend out
with a problem and not thinking much past that stage.

The original Qmail 'door' wasn't a door at all.  It tied into
PCBoard through the use of a download protocol.  If you wanted
to upload replies you would use the same protocol (maybe it was
the 'Q' protocol) to upload the replies.  I soon realized that a
door was going to be required so Dan could configure conferences
and his setup, so I had to figure out how to write a door.

Well, as work progressed on the door and the original Qmail
Reader a strange thing started happening.  Sysops who belonged
to PCB-ECHO started asking me about the system and told me
they'd buy it as soon as it was finished.  With echomail
becoming more popular, these one or two node systems were
getting overloaded by users calling in and reading mail
'online'.  The other obvious advantage to the Qmail design (but
one I had failed to realize when I started work on it) was that
it could get local users in and out much quicker so more users
could be serviced by a single node.

It turned out that with Qmail, I was in the right place at the
right time with the right idea.  By the time the system was
released on April 15th, 1988 we had 32 orders backlogged ready
for shipping.  I thought I'd be lucky to sell 100 doors in
total.  I had no idea that I'd still be at Qmail development
over four years later with 1,500 sysops owning the system and
over 13,500 copies of our offline mail reader registered.

Soon afterwards I realized that the Qmail Door would make an
excellent network hub so I created QNet software for other
PCBoard systems.  This introduced hierarchal networking and got
us away from the 'star' cluster used in PCB-ECHO.  Soon, other
networks were starting up - built around Qmail Door and QNet.

PCB-ECHO was transformed into the ILink network on September
22nd, 1988 when nine 'super regionals' got together and decided
that Andy Keeves would assume the new network administrator from
Jim Key.  Since then, ILink has grown under Andy's management
and other large networks have grown too.

Jim Key continued to run Radio Free Memphis until this year. The
system was closed in the spring.

èSTARgazer:

You've recently released a new mail reader called 1stReader.  How
does this product differ from other mail readers currently on the
market?

The other mail readers on the market today require that you
combine other programs together with them in order to perform
their full functions.  In other words, if you were to take
offline mail reader XYZ and give it to someone, they couldn't
use it by itself.  It requires a telecommunications program, a
file compression system, text editor, file listing program
(LIST) and other programs in order to work.

1stReader provides all of these programs in one easy-to-install
and use package.  The 'computer intelligence quotient' of the
user does not need to be at the 'expert' level.  Anyone who
knows which serial port is connected to their modem knows
everything that is required to use 1stReader.

Since we also created The Qmail Door, both packages work
together to make it easy for new users to download messages.
We've received one report that a seven-year-old has successfully
installed 1stReader and uses it to receive messages!  Now, try
that with any other offline mail package out there today.

èSTARgazer:

What method(s) do you currently use to market your products?

èSparky:

We use the 'demoware' concept.  1stReader normally handles up to
400 messages per conference.  But, in it's 'demo' mode it will
only let you read up to twenty messages per conference.  We feel
that 20 messages is more than enough to find out if you like the
reader and how it operates.  We do not disable any other feature
in the 'demo' mode.

Demoware seems to work pretty well for us.  It lets anyone who
is serious about registering the product evaluate the features
of the system and yet provides an incentive for registration.

I've seen where some sysops have objected to 1stReader's
'crippling' (as they call it) and will not let it be posted on
their systems.  I view the 'demoware' concept just like a
subscription to a bulletin board system.  If the caller likes
the bulletin board system, after a brief evaluation period, they
must pay money to have full access to the BBS.  There is no
difference between this method and 1stReader's 'demoware'
concept.

Qmail Door, when it's finally released, will also be available
using the 'demoware' concept.  QNet, on the other hand, uses
traditional or 'classic' shareware methods.  When you evaluate
QNet you have the entire system at your disposal, just like a
registered version.

èSTARgazer:

Why use different marketing methods for different products?
Isn't this sort of inconsistent?

èSparky:

Not really.  We consider QNet to be a 'leader' for sales of the
door and reader.  In other words, why purchase an offline mail
door and/or offline mail reader if the volume of mail on the
bulletin board system doesn't justify it's purchase?

If we allow sysops to use QNet fully in a demo mode, then they
will begin to build up large conferences on their own systems by
connecting with other echomail networks.  And that soon drives
up the demand for an offline mail system.  Our hope is that they
remember where they received QNet from and come back to us for
the offline mail products.

èSTARgazer:

You obviously feel that different products can require different
marketing methods.  What experience(s) have lead you to choose
the method you're now using for distribution of DeLuxe² and
1stReader?

èSparky:

When we released the first Qmail Reader back in April 1988, it
was released under 'classic' shareware.  By June we had over 80
Qmail Doors sold but only FIFTEEN Qmail readers registered.  I
can still remember the day I made the decision - I was in
Kennett, Missouri on business.

There are two methods that can be used to provide incentives to
register a product.  The first method is the 'carrot' approach -
when you register our product we give you a better one for your
use.  The second method is the 'stick'.  This basically ends up
with you policing conferences and finding people who continue to
use the offline mail reader but do not register it.  You then
beat them over the head with your 'stick' getting them to
register the product.

Now, you'll catch a lot more flies if you use honey than vinegar
goes the old saying, and I believe in that.  So, we decided to
create Qmail DeLuxe and give it to those who registered the
shareware offline mail reader.  Within three weeks of DeLuxe's
availability we had over three hundred registrations!

My philosophy is that you go with what works.  In our case, we
found that the incentive method worked well.  You don't kill the
goose that lays the golden eggs.  Using this method we've
registered over 13,500 copies of our offline mail reader.

We've extended the concept even further with our new 1stReader
product.  When you are finished using the product in its demo
mode, the reader asks the user if they wish to register the
product right now using their credit card.  They can then fill
out an order form in the program and using the
telecommunications module built into the reader, it calls a
computer in our offices dedicated to nothing but processing
orders.

When they call our online order processing system, 1stReader
uploads their order (encrypted in a zip file for protection) and
then waits while our system unpacks the order and examines it.
Then, the user waits about 30 seconds while the system calls out
to the credit card clearing house on the second serial port's
modem. This software checks to make sure the card number is not
stolen and that there is sufficient credit available to complete
the sale.  If the sale was approved then the user can download
the 1ST.KEY file so the can immediately use 1stReader (as a
by-product, our checking account gets deposited with the money
within 72 hours as well).

This gives the user 'instant satisfaction'.  For the one minute
phone call they can begin using 1stReader immediately.  We also
send along a THANK.YOU file that thanks the user for the order.
So far, the system has worked WELL BEYOND our expectations
proving once again that if you make product registration simple
and easy, you'll get a better return on the work invested.

We also are about to institute dealer programs so sysops can
sell 1stReader to their own users.  We've come up with what I
think is a unique sales method based on our online order system.