home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
kermit.columbia.edu
/
kermit.columbia.edu.tar
/
kermit.columbia.edu
/
e
/
newsn2.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-03-23
|
38KB
|
701 lines
Columbia University Center for Computing Activities
KERMIT NEWS
Volume 2, Number 1
November, 1987
NOTE: This is an online copy of Kermit News, which is printed and mailed
to thousands of subscribers on a periodic basis. To be added to the mailing
list, send your name and mailing address to:
Kermit News
Columbia University
Center for Computing Activities
612 West 115th Street
New York, NY 10025 (USA)
In This Issue...
Editor's Notes
Major New Releases
Kermit Around the World
Recent Release Summary
Order Form (omitted)
EDITOR'S NOTES
Christine Gianone
Columbia University, New York City
Kermit Distribution at Columbia University, and all around the world is, after
6 years, continuing to grow at a steady pace. There are currently Kermit
versions available for nearly 300 machines and operating systems, and hundreds
of versions are under development. Our complete distribution now requires five
2400-foot 9-track magnetic tapes (about 60 Megabytes of source code and
documentation).
Kermit has been shipped to each of the 50 states in the US and to more than 60
countries around the world. Although Columbia University Center for Computing
Activities has the most complete and up-to-date Kermit versions, we do not have
many of the computers on-site and cannot provide Kermit to users on native
media. We urge people to volunteer to distribute diskettes or submit a version
to a local user group and to inform us so that we can help others bypass the
tedious bootstrapping procedures.
Kermit has always been a voluntary effort, shared with prices to reflect
distribution costs. Please help us to continue this valuable service.
KERMIT IN PRINT
The book Kermit, A File Transfer Protocol, by Frank da Cruz, Digital Press
(1987), has been a success in its first year of publication, and is already
into its third printing. Unlike the Kermit manuals, the Kermit book provides
background, motivation, and history, plus tutorials in computers, file systems,
and data communication, including hints on cable building and troubleshooting.
There are numerous tables, figures, and illustrations, plus a glossary and an
index. The book also includes a Kermit command reference and the complete
Kermit protocol specification, with programming examples.
And be sure to look for our article, Evaluating RS-232 Communications Packages,
in a forthcoming issue of Data Communications Magazine.
KERMIT COMPETES
Kermit was selected as one of the 11 finalists for the First Andrew Fluegelman
Award. The award is given for ``a substantial, innovative contribution to the
personal computer community in commercial, shareware, or public domain
software''. Established in 1986 by PCW Communications Inc., the award
commemorates Fluegelman's contributions to the software field. Fluegelman
developed PC Talk, ``the first easy-to-use and powerful communications program
for the PC''. The annual award is made possible through a fund which was
established after his death in July, 1985. The award was granted to Tom
Jennings' FIDO, a bulletin board and mail system which includes the Kermit
protocol.
KERMIT AT DECUS SYMPOSIA
Kermit: Current Status, Future Directions, was the title of the session
conducted by myself at the Nashville Digital Equipment Corporation User Society
(DECUS) Symposium, which was attended by approximately 500 people. The session
began with some Kermit history, an overview of computer networks from which
Kermit files can be obtained, and how to get these Kermit versions from
Columbia by mail order. The current status of Kermit distribution and
development was discussed, and details about a number of particular Kermit
programs of special interest to DECUS attendees were addressed. Arrangements
were made for the authors of some of the most popular Kermit versions to be
given the platform as guest speakers. Frank da Cruz (who was greeted with
quite a reception) discussed DEC-20 and UNIX Kermits, and some Kermit
performance issues. Professor Joe Doupnik of Utah State University discussed
the new release of MS-DOS Kermit (2.30), which he had been working on for
nearly a year. Brian Nelson of the University of Toledo (who had previously
given a ``Getting Started with Kermit'' session) discussed his PDP-11 Kermit.
And Bob McQueen of Stevens Institute of Technology, talked briefly about
VAX/VMS Kermit. The session concluded with a question-and-answer period, and
much interest in continuing Kermit sessions at future DECUS symposia.
At press time, Frank and I are off to Tokyo at the invitation of Japan DECUS to
conduct Kermit presentations and courses, November 18-20. Even though Kermit
has become an international language in its own right, we will still have to
speak through an interpreter.
Kermit presentations are also planned for the Spring US DECUS Symposium in
Cincinnati, Ohio, May 16-20, 1987. See you there?
SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
The Software Publishers Association conference was held in Cambridge, MA, on
October 12, 1987. The SPA is an association of software producers and
distributors. Chris Stephenson of the University of Toronto conducted a
session titled Software from the Ivory Tower: Are Universities Producing
Products?. The panelists included Frank da Cruz and myself from Columbia (for
Kermit software), David Fuchs of Stanford University (Manager of the TEX
project), Ric Holt of the University of Toronto (developer of the Turing
programming language), and Bill McKeeman, a faculty member at Harvard
University.
The session was attended by representatives of companies like Apple, IBM, and
Commodore, and some reporters from the trade press. It exposed commercial
software vendors to how universities produce and ``market'' software. For many
corporate representatives, this was a first look at the broad range of projects
underway and how academic institutions deal with them.
KERMIT SEMINARS AND SHORT COURSES
Columbia University's Division of Special Programs offers noncredit seminars
for the beginner to the experienced computer user in the New York City area.
The Kermit series, conducted by Frank da Cruz and myself, is offered several
times a year and consists of three levels of instruction. Users who are new to
communications may attend the hands-on introductory session. Experienced
computer users may attend a fast-paced course. Technical managers, programmers
and software developers are exposed to more advanced Kermit usage, installation
and support.
Classes are held in the evening, on week-ends, and in full-day sessions for the
convenience of the busy professional. For course descriptions and schedules,
contact:
Columbia University
The Division of Special Programs
209 Lewisohn Hall
New York, NY 10027
(212) 280-2820
LONG PACKETS AND SLIDING WINDOWS
The Kermit protocol extensions described in the previous issue of the Kermit
Newsletter, long packets and sliding windows, are gradually taking root in our
collection of Kermit programs. Both extensions are designed to improve the
performance of Kermit file transfers. Long packets may be used to increase
file transfer speed over relatively clean and/or half duplex connections.
Sliding windows may be used only on full duplex connections, and are ideally
suited to connections with a long round-trip delay (such as satellite links).
Both extensions are described at length in the Kermit book.
Long packets are now suported by the following Kermit programs: MS-DOS Kermit
(version 2.29B and later); IBM 370 VM/CMS Kermit (version 3.1 and later); IBM
370 MVS/TSO Kermit (the Pascal version, 2.0 and later); C-Kermit for Unix,
VAX/VMS, etc (version 4E or later); PDP-11 Kermit for RSX, RSTS, RT11, and P/OS
(version 3.50 and later); Apple II DOS and ProDOS Kermit (version 3.75 and
later); CDC Cyber (Lehigh version 3.0 or later).
Sliding windows, which are much harder to program, are still relatively rare,
appearing to date only in the Prime PRIMOS minicomputer version, in one of the
CDC Cyber versions, and in various commercial or semicommercial MS-DOS PC
packages.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MS-DOS KERMIT 2.30
Version 2.30 of MS-DOS Kermit, prepared by Prof. Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State
University, is now available after a long period of development, testing, and
refinement. This program runs on the IBM PC and PS/2 families and compatibles,
with special versions also available for the DEC Rainbow, NEC APC3, and other
non-IBM compatibles, plus a generic MS-DOS version, and a special version for
Intel systems running iRMX-86 or -286.
Version 2.30 corrects three serious problems in 2.29: incompatibility with
certain internal modems, faulty handshake with half duplex systems during file
transfer, and inability to operate as a "remote" Kermit after CTTY COM1.
Version 2.30 also includes:
- Support for long packets, to improve the efficiency of file transfers with
other Kermit programs that support this option (listed above).
- Improved communication I/O performance.
- Operation over Netbios-compatible networks.
- A script language and raw file upload.
- Revised and expanded key definitions, including the ability to assign Kermit
"verbs" to keys.
- Error code return to DOS, for batch operation.
- Support for 8-bit and international character sets.
- Security features for server operation.
- Configurability for COM3 and COM4 expansion boards (IBM PC only).
- VT102 ANSI printer controls.
- Expanded screen rollback, macro, and key definition storage.
Special thanks to Joe for the tremendous amount of work and skill that went
into this new release, to Jim Sturdevant of A.C. Nielsen Co. for the initial
script implementation, and to the numerous other volunteers who contributed
support for other systems, fixes, ideas, and their time for testing. MS-DOS
Kermit diskettes are available from Columbia by mail order (see order form).
(As of press time, version 2.30 was being distributed in "beta test" form as
version 2.29C).
C-KERMIT 4E
Version 4E(067) of C-Kermit was released by Columbia University in September
1987. Like previous releases, this program includes support for most Unix
systems, VAX/VMS, the Apple Macintosh, and the Commodore Amiga. Version 4E
also includes new support for Data General AOS/VS and Apollo Aegis, contributed
by Phil Julian and Jack Rouse of the SAS Institute. The Macintosh code was
converted to Megamax C by Jim Noble of Planning Research Corp, so that for the
first time it can be built and modified directly on the Macintosh (future
releases will probably also include support for Lightspeed and MPW C on the
Mac). Version 4E includes several major (and many minor) bug fixes, and some
new features:
- Long packet protocol support for more efficient file transfers, plus other
performance improvements.
- The Unix version now executes its initialization file always, no matter how
invoked.
- File and terminal bytesize masks, to allow interaction with both 7-bit and
8-bit ASCII systems.
C-Kermit for Unix and VMS is distributed in C-language source form only.
Encoded executable files (along with suitable decoding procedures) are included
with the Macintosh, Amiga, and Data General versions. Future releases are
expected to include improved VAX/VMS and Macintosh support.
CMS KERMIT 3.1
Version 3.1 of CMS Kermit was released in September 1986 for IBM 370-series
mainframes running VM/CMS. This Kermit version includes contributions from
several people; Vace Kundakci of Columbia University, John Chandler of Harvard,
Bob Bolch of Triangle Universities, and Clark Frazier of the Harvard Business
School.
New features include extended-length packets, advanced server functions, file
attribute packets, improved performance and error recovery, support for 3705
linemode as well as connections through 7171-style protocol converters, plus
many bug fixes.
NIH MVS/TSO KERMIT
A new IBM 370-series mainframe MVS/TSO Kermit from the US National Institutes
of Health (NIH), was first announced in December, 1986. The program is written
in ``ALP'', which is a preprocessor for 370 assembly language developed at NIH.
The ALP preprocessor, also supplied, is written in PL/I. A hexadecimal-encoded
object file is also provided, along with an assembler program to decode it into
a binary object file; this can be linked with a tailorable module (written in
straight assembler) in which site dependencies, such as the ASCII/EBCDIC
translations, are specified.
Thanks to Roger Fajman at NIH for submitting this program to us. Roger
participated in the design with Dale Wright, who did the programming. The new
program has many advanced features over previous TSO Kermit versions, including
server mode, binary file transfer, file interruption, 8th-bit prefixing,
run-length encoding, alternate block check types. NIH TSO Kermit supports only
3705-style line mode connections.
PORTABLE IBM MAINFRAME KERMIT
John F. Chandler
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
The IBM 370 architecture can run quite a variety of operating systems, and many
of these systems, including CMS, GUTS, MTS, MUSIC, and TSO, have their own
implementations of Kermit. Some systems, in fact, have more than one, and
there are currently thirteen different Kermits listed for IBM 370's in the
Kermit distribution. A new development now promises to reduce the redundancy,
namely, a generic, portable Kermit-370. The new Kermit, like most of the
others now available, is descended from the original Kermit-CMS 1.0, but it
differs from all the others in that the system-specific functions (such as disk
I/O, file-system interaction, and terminal I/O) are segregated into a separate
section of code (and a separate list of macro definitions). The generic
(system-independent) sections of code are entirely re-entrant, and the same
mechanism for re-entrancy is available for the system-specific code as well.
Kermit-370 offers all the capabilities supported by Kermit-CMS 3.1, plus many
more. Among the capabilities are:
- Long-packet protocol with automatic adaptation of packet length to the noise
environment.
- Advanced Server functions plus commands for controlling another Kermit in
Server mode.
- Optional passing of invalid Kermit commands to the host operating system for
execution.
- Support for 3705, 4994, 7171, Series/1, and 3708 front ends, with or without
VTAM.
- Optionally separate ASCII/EBCDIC translation for packet and disk I/O
- File attribute packets.
- Throughput statistics after each single or multiple file transfer.
- Nestable TAKE files with optional command echoing and halt-on-error.
As of this writing, Kermit-370 has been fully implemented for VM/CMS and
partially implemented for MVS/TSO. Sources and documentation are available to
anyone wishing to port Kermit-370 to other operating systems, either as a new
product or as a replacement for one of the existing implementations of Kermit.
When the TSO version is ready, it should be able to replace some of the older
TSO versions, in which a separate program was required for each kind of front
end (3705, 3708, 7171).
VAX/VMS KERMIT
VAX/VMS Kermit Version 3.3.111, contributed by Bob McQueen at Stevens Institute
of Technology, was released in April, 1987. This release is a maintenance
version only and does not contain any major development work. It has been
tested under VMS 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5 but will definitely not run under pre-4.0
releases of VMS (version 3.1 of VMS Kermit was the last version that would do
so and is kept on the Kermit distribution tape as VMSV31.HEX).
The major change is the addition of a TRANSMIT command for raw file upload.
There are also internal improvements and bug fixes involving the CONNECT
command, IBM mainframe communication, etc.
3.3.111 is probably the last release of this Bliss-32 Kermit version since
Stevens Institute no longer has the resources for continued development.
Unless a new VMS site running Bliss with Kermit expertise arises, the emphasis
for VMS Kermit will shift from Bliss to C. A new release of C-Kermit with
improved support for VMS is expected soon.
APPLE II DOS/PRODOS KERMIT
Version 3.75 of Apple II Kermit was released in April, 1987. This version was
developed by Ted Medin to run under both Apple DOS 3.3 and ProDos. It includes
new LOG, SERVER, and SET commands, the ability to do XON/XOFF, printer control,
VT52 emulation improvements, timeouts, support for various 80-column cards and
for a wide variety of communication cards, and it has extended-length packet
support.
The program is based on the previous release of Apple II Kermit, written in the
CROSS assembler language, and comes with a cross assember written in C to
assemble it. This cross assembler can be run on a Unix system (Berkeley or
Ultrix, and possibly any other 2's complement Unix system).
Version 3.79, released in October 1987, adds VT-100 emulation, support for the
Apple IIc and Apple IIgs, plus some other new functions.
MANY THINGS TO MANY PEOPLE
The following articles describe some of the ways Kermit is being used around
the world. Readers are encouraged to submit their own articles describing how
Kermit is being put to good, interesting or unusual uses. We would be
especially interested in stories about how Kermit is used to benefit humanity
(or other creatures), to foster international cooperation, or to make life
easier for the disabled. For many, Kermit is used for mundane purposes like
saving money. We'd like to hear about that too.
THE GREEN REVOLUTION
Georg Lindsey, CGNET, Palo Alto, CA
The ``green revolution'' of the 1970s has essentially doubled the world's
agricultural output, allowing millions of people to eat who once would have
starved. Genetic engineering has resulted in more productive, resilient, and
nutritional strains of wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, chick peas, sorghum, and
many other crops.
Research in these areas is coordinated from a consortium of 13 international
agricultural research centers sponsored by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Bank, and the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP). Its mandate is to support research
programs aimed at improving the quantity and quality of food production in
developing nations.
Some 130 remote outposts are located in over 70 countries. This group of
centers (known as the CGIAR) is foremost in the field, and represents the state
of the art in agricultural research. Experimental data, proposals, budgets,
purchase orders, funds transfers, travel schedules, etc., are communicated
among the centers and stations with a variety of methods including E-mail,
telex, telegraph, telephone, post, and courier.
The usage of electronic mail services (such as Dialcom) has been increasing
used since 1985 when the centers began to interconnect their various computer
resources -- VAX 780s, IBM PCs, IBM 4341s, HP 3000s, Apples, MACs, Tandys, etc.
The use of modern electronic communication has been shown to save the CGIAR
about $1 million per year by avoiding more costly methods such as telex and
courier.
The ``CGNET'' now connects researchers in countries all over the world via
public data networks when available. From countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe,
Mali, Nepal, and Niger where these services are not available, there is direct
international dialing to an electronic mail service in London.
However, some stations are not able to initiate international calls. One
example is ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics) Research Center in Hyderabad, India. Messages that come in via E-Mail
from stations all over the world are relayed from CGNET Services International
in Palo Alto, California, to a VAX-11/780 in Hyderabad via Kermit.
As Richard Miller (formerly involved in the project) points out, ``It would be
understatement to say that the use of international direct dial telephone
between California and India is noisy. It's horrendous. However, by reducing
the packet size and twiddling a few other parameters, we have had very good
success.'' In west Africa, Kermit is used to relay point-to-point traffic to
Hyderabad and to other stations -- Naimey, Niger; Ouagadougou, Upper Volta (now
Burkima Faso); Bamako, Mali. As Richard observes, ``You've never really LIVED
until you try to get 1200 bps access out of Upper Volta or Niger!'' Sometimes
connections are so noisy that login cannot be accomplished within VMS's timeout
period. The appearance of error-correcting modems in recent years has
alleviated this problem.
An example of the kind of information that is transferred between these
stations is the results (to the research center in Mexico) of 104,000
experimental trials that are annually conducted in 74 countries. The results
of the consortium's research activity are collected by the centers and
published in journals and abstracts that are sent to the national agricultural
programs in each country (like the USDA in the United States), who pass the
information along to the farmers. Through use of the CGNET facilities, the
process of abstracting the information and getting it to the farmers was
reduced from six months to six weeks. The ultimate beneficiaries are the
people who are nourished by these crops.
KERMIT AIDS IN GIOTTO PROJECT
Paul de Broeck
ESOC, Darmstadt, West Germany
During the mornings of March 6 and 9, 1986, the Soviet spacecraft VEGA-1 and
VEGA-2 flew by Halley's comet at a distance of about 10,000 km. For this
event, a cooperation under the name ``pathfinder'' was established between the
spaceflight centre ``IKI'' in Moscow, and ESA's Operations Centre ESOC, located
in Darmstadt, West Germany. ESA's Giotto probe was scheduled to fly by
Halley's comet some days later, at a targeting distance of some 500 km.
American physicists had an experiment on-board the VEGA (a dust particle mass
spectrometer), the results of which were collected in Moscow during the VEGA
encounters. For transfer of their data to ESOC, Kermit was used. The results
of the experiments were collected onto an IBM PC's hard disc. The data was
then transferred using Kermit to ESOC on a 9.6 kbaud line from IKI in Moscow to
ESOC in Darmstadt. This enabled American and European scientists, gathered at
ESOC, to obtain their valuable data in Western Europe, and made a very quick
analysis possible.
This analysis was needed in order to estimate the dust hazard in the
neighbourhood of Halley, so that the scientists could agree upon a targeting
distance for Giotto -- this was decided to be 550 km.
Using also the information from the camera pictures taken from the VEGA
spacecraft, containing the position of Halley's nucleus, the flight dynamics
team at ESOC was able to improve considerably the orbit determination accuracy
of the comet, effectively removing an error of about 300 km in the target
distance.
During the night of 13 March 1986, Giotto performed its very successful fly-by
with Halley's comet, and it was found that the error remaining on the orbit of
the comet was only in the order of 20 km.
It is believed that the 1 Mbyte of science data which in total crossed the
``iron curtain'' -- through Kermit -- after the VEGA encounters, considerably
helped towards a safe and successful Giotto fly-by.
ESOC (European Space Operations Centre) is one part of the European Space
Agency (ESA). ESOC staff are responsible for controlling and sometimes
operating satellites after launch by the Ariane rocket. The computers that
have access to satellites naturally do not have any access to networks. Thanks
to Richard J. Waite of ESOC for contributing this article.
Kermit at the Center for Population and Family Health
Norman Weatherby, Ph.D.
Center for Population and Family Health
Columbia University, New York City
The Center for Population and Family Health (CPFH) in the Faculty of Medicine
of Columbia University has been using Kermit since 1982 in the United States,
Haiti, and Africa. Our goals are to improve family planning services and
maternal and child health in urban slums and rural areas through operations
research, service delivery, and technical assistance.
Before Kermit was available, a major bottleneck in all programs assisted by the
CPFH was our inability to quickly and accurately transfer information between
computers. We conduct many market research surveys in Africa to get baseline
estimates of contraceptive use, immunization, and oral rehydration. It used to
take months to keypunch, edit, and read decks of cards into Columbia
University's IBM mainframe. By the time the data was analyzed, the programs
were in full operation. This delay meant that health care providers did not
have access to vital information about the population that they were serving.
They did not know, for example, how many mothers desired to begin using family
planning. Without such information, it was difficult to plan and carry out the
programs.
Now that microcomputers are installed in most of the programs in Haiti and
Africa, we quickly enter and edit research data and bring floppy disks to our
New York offices. Kermit is used to upload this data to the mainframe for
analysis, and the results are available before the health care programs are
underway. Followup data that serves to evaluate the effectiveness of
CPFH-assisted programs is also quickly entered, edited, transferred, and
analyzed so that we know the results soon after the programs have ended. Thus,
Kermit has all but eliminated our problems with the speed of information
transfer. We are able to design health care programs that match the needs of
the populations that they serve, and we quickly know results of our work.
More recently, CPFH-assisted programs have begun to use microcomputer-based
statistical packages (such as SPSS-PC). This has reduced our dependence on
mainframe computers for analysis. We now use mainframes primarily for
communications with other researchers through BITNET and for archival storage
of data. We continue to heavily use Kermit to transfer messages, documents,
and large datasets between microcomputers and mainframes. For example, we are
currently planning to use Kermit to communicate with colleagues at Johns
Hopkins University in our AIDS research efforts. No postal or document
delivery service is faster than the speed that we can achieve through
telecommunications.
In summary, Kermit has had a major and beneficial impact on the operations of
domestic and international programs that are assisted by the CPFH. This in
turn has helped to improve the health of women and children throughout the
world.
KERMIT IN ANTARCTICA
Frank da Cruz
Columbia University, New York City
Kermit is the primary communication software used between US research stations
in Antarctica -- Palmer, Siple, and South Pole Stations -- and a relay VAX/VMS
system in Florida, which in turn is accessed via Kermit by the principle
investigators of the various NSF-sponsored projects at the University of
Maryland, NOAA GMCC in Boulder, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Stanford
University.
According to Eric Siefka of ITT Antarctic Services in Paramus, NJ, the
Antarctic stations are linked with the Florida relay via NASA's ATS3 satellite,
which is 18 years old and provides a relatively noisy connection, especially
during aurora borealis or other atmospheric disturbance.
Research involves studies of the atmospheric layers -- ionosphere,
magnetosphere, ozone layer, etc -- their interactions, their effects on the
earth and its inhabitants (filtering of cosmic rays, telecommunications
applications, etc), and the effects of pollutants and other artifacts of
civilization. And daily meteorological data is sent to the National Weather
Service for forecasting.
Atmospheric data is collected using riometers (relative ionospheric opacity
meters), multichannel recorders, and other instruments, as well as from ice
core samples. The data is reduced on a PDP-11/73 and transferred once a day to
Florida using PDP-11 and VAX/VMS Kermits. IBM PC Kermit is used to transfer
PC-resident databases of inventory, supplies, logistics, and cargo. During the
9-month Antarctic winter night, when supply ships can't get in or out and
research staffs are otherwise cut off, the Antarctic crew takes inventory and
sends back the new counts so they can be supplied with the necessary scientific
equipment, food, fuel, and other supplies when the ice breaks in the Spring.
Meanwhile, scientific and inventory management programs are developed or
refined in the US and transferred to the Antarctic stations.
The Antarctic researchers have found Kermit more effective than other
protocols, particularly over the long-distance, noisy links they must use. The
user-settable parameters, particularly the timeout intervals, allow automatic
recovery of long file transfers even after 60-90 seconds of total signal loss.
Kermit is used whenever link conditions are noisy or data must be transferred
without error.
SUMMARY OF RECENT RELEASES
Here is a concise list of Kermit releases since the last Newsletter in August
1986. The notation (A:XYZ) means the version is available on tape A, as files
whose names start with XYZ. When more than one release of a program has
occurred since August 1986, only the latest one is mentioned.
August-September 1986:
- Atari ST series GEM Kermit v1.02, in C, from Bernhard Nebel, Technische
Universitaet Berlin (A:AST).
- HP-1000 Kermit v1.98 for RTE-6 and RTE-A, written in SPL, contributed by
Paul Schumann of E-Systems Inc, Greenville, TX (D:HPM). Also available
on native media from Interex, the international HP user group.
- Sperry 1100 Kermit v2.5, assembler, from Paul Stevens at the University of
Wisconsin (D:UN).
- Microsoft Windows Kermit v1.0, in Microsoft C, from Bill Hall, Old Bridge,
NJ. This is a "bare bones" Kermit that can run in MS Windows
mouse-and-window environment, concurrent with other programs, on the IBM
PC family or any other PC that runs MS Windows (A:WIN).
- IBM System/370-series mainframe Kermit 3.1 for VM/CMS, in assembler.
Supports both linemode and full screen connections. Described on page
3. (B:CMS).
- Honeywell 6000 Kermit for DTSS, in "Virtual PL/I", from Dartmouth College
(D:DTS).
October-December 1986:
- Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 4 Kermit v5.2 for TRSDOS, in assember, from
Gregg Wonderly, Oklahoma State University (A:M4).
- HP9845 Kermit v1.00, in BASIC, from Martin J. Rootes, Sheffield City
Polytechnic, UK (C:HP9).
- Gould/SEL MPX/32 Kermit v2.3, in Fortran 77, from Simulation Associates Inc
(D:GM2).
January-March 1987:
- DEC Rainbow Kermit, a special version with VT220 emulation, hot keys, pop-up
menus, 20 rollback screens, etc, by Dave Knoell, Basic American Food
Company, Vacaville, CA (B:MSVRB2).
- Microdata PICK/REALITY Kermit v0.2C, in DATA/BASIC, from Joe Fisher, Austin,
TX (D:PIC).
- CIE 680/XX REGULUS Kermit, in C, from David S. Lawyer, Univ. of California
at Irvine (C:CIE).
- MODCOMP Classic MAX IV Kermit vA.0 in Fortran, from Bob Borgeson, Setpoint
Inc, Brecksville, OH (D:MOD).
- Computervision Kermit v1.21, in Fortran S, from Val Jawks, Brigham Young
University, Provo, UT (D:CV).
- Texas Instruments Explorer Kermit 1.0, in Lisp, from Brian Carb and Steve
Ford of UNISYS Corp, Bluebell, PA, a joint effort between TI and Sperry
Corp (C:EXP).
- Motorola 6809 Kermit, for FLEX-09 or SK*DOS, in C, from Jur van der Burg,
Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (C:FL).
- Apollo Aegis Kermit in Pascal, separate versions from Marconi Space Systems
(2.7) and Control Data Corp (2.8), in Pascal (C:APO and C:AP2).
- Perkin-Elmer/Concurrent/Interdata 3200 OS32 Kermit v1.0, in Fortran, from
C.J. Miller, Louisiana State University (D:PE2).
- Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II TRSDOS Kermit, from Serge Kruk, Systemes
Temps Reel, St.-Laurent, PQ, Canada (A:TR2).
- Data General Eclipse RDOS Kermit in BASIC from Remi Castonguay (D:RD2).
April-June 1987:
- DEC VAX/VMS Kermit v3.3.111, in Bliss, from Bob McQueen, Stevens Institute
of Technology, described on page 4 (B:VMS).
- Commodore 64/128 Kermit v2.0(57), from Ray Moody, Purdue University.
Includes VT52 and VT100 emulation, plus support for the 80-column screen of
the Commodore 128 (A:C64).
- Intel Development System ISIS Kermit, in PL/M, from William Boyd, Hughes
Aircraft, Fullerton, CA (C:MD).
- IBM System/370-series mainframe MVS/TSO Kermit 1.0, the original primitive
TSO version in assembler, modified to support the 3708 front end by G.S.
Mendelson, Sungard Central Computer Facility, Philadelphia, PA (B:TS3).
- CDC Cyber NOS 2.4 Kermit, written in Compass, from A. Ballard and P. Jarvis,
Imperial College, London, UK. Includes sliding windows (D:NOS).
- Lilith Workstation Medos Kermit v1.0, in Modula-2, from Matthias Aebi,
University of Zuerich, Switzerland (C:M2).
- Acorn BBC Micro Kermit v1.45 from Alan Phillips, Lancaster University, UK
(C:BBC).
- Sinclair QL Kermit v1.10, in C, from Robert Coughlan, Liverpool University,
UK, and enhanced by Jonathan Marten, Farnborough, Hampshire, UK (C:QLK), and
another Sinclair QL Kermit, in BCPL, from David Harper, Liverpool University
(C:QL2).
- HP86/87 Kermit v1.01, in BASIC, from Martin Rootes, Sheffield City
Polytechnic, UK (C:HP8).
- ICP PC Quattro Kermit for Concurrent CP/M-86, from Chris Lock, Nottingham
University, UK (C:CN8).
- Tripos Kermit, in BCPL, from G. Selwyn of Metacomco Ltd, UK (C:TRI).
- Acorn Cambridge Workstation PANOS Kermit, in C, from Acorn Computers Ltd, UK
(C:AC).
- ICL 2900 VME Kermit v1.01, in S3, from Bath University, UK (D:VME).
- Harris H100 VOS Kermit v1.04, from Skipp Russell, Washington University
(D:H10).
- Texas Instruments 990 DX10 Kermit v1.0, in Pascal, from Paul Madaus, Johnson
Controls, Milwaukee, WI (D:TI9).
- Motorola 68000 OS-9 Kermit v.1.0.00, in assembler, from Roberto Bagnara,
Bologna University, Italy (C:K6). One implementation of a new portable 68000
Kermit.
July-November 1987:
- Intel RMX-86 and RMX-286 Kermit v2.29C from Jack Bryans at California State
University at Long Beach, an adaptation of MS-DOS Kermit to RMX (A:MSTRM).
- CP/M-80 Kermit 4.08, from Bertil Schou, Loughborough University, UK, for a
wide variety of CP/M-80 systems, in LASM (A:CPX).
- CDC Cyber NOS Kermit v3.3, in Fortran 5, from Steve Roseman, Lehigh
University (D:CD3).
- DEC PDP-11 Kermit v3.58 for RSX11M, RSX11M+, RSTS/E, RT11, TSX+, IAS, P/OS,
Pro/RT, etc, from Brian Nelson, University of Toledo (B:K11).
- C-Kermit 4E(067), for Unix, VAX/VMS, DG AOS, the Apple Macintosh, the
Commodore Amiga, Apollo, etc, from Frank da Cruz, Columbia University,
described on page 3 (B:XK).
- IBM System/370-series mainframe MVS/TSO Kermit 1.1A, in assembler/ALP, from
Roger Fajman, US National Institutes of Health. Many advanced features, but
supports linemode TTY connections only. Described on page 3 (B:TSN).
- IBM System/370-series mainframe MVS/TSO Kermit 2.3, in Pascal, from Fritz
Buetikofer, University of Bern, Switzerland. Many advanced features, but
supports linemode only (B:TS2).
- Convergent Technologies NGEN CTOS Kermit v1.02, in C (based on C-Kermit
4.2), from Joel Dunn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. May also
run on Burroughs B-20 systems (C:CT).
- Apple II DOS and ProDOS Kermit v3.79, from Ted Medin, described on page 4
(A:APP).
- Turbo Pascal Kermit v2.8 for the IBM PC family, from Victor Lee, Queens
University, Kingston, Ontario. Includes Tektronix emulation and some support
for the Kaypro II and Apple II (A:QK).
- HP264x Kermit v1.2, in assembler, from John Chandler, Harvard University
(C:HP2).
- MS-DOS Kermit v2.30 for the IBM PC and PS/2 families, compatibles, the DEC
Rainbow, NEC APC3, and many other DOS machines, from Joe R. Doupnik, Utah
State University. Described on page 2 (A:MS).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kermit News is published periodically free of charge by Columbia University,
Center for Computing Activities,
612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025, USA.
Editor: Christine Gianone
The Kermit file transfer protocol is named after Kermit the Frog, star of the
television series The Muppet Show, used by permission of Henson Associates,
Inc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------