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000263_news@columbia.edu _Wed Feb 7 12:15:31 2001.msg
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From: fdc@columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz)
Subject: Re: Unrecognized com port
Date: 7 Feb 2001 11:45:43 -0500
Organization: Columbia University
Message-ID: <95ru3n$gh3$1@watsol.cc.columbia.edu>
To: kermit.misc@columbia.edu
In article <ffb28t48m4noabb7anpcj3ipaa4kgcq37v@4ax.com>,
Rob S <robatwork@REMOVE.mail.com> wrote:
: On 6 Feb 2001 21:17:40 GMT, fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz) wrote:
:
: -You would need to give more details. Let's take both topics offline;
: -we'll contact you directly.
:
: Please don't, as this is of a lot of interest to me (and no doubt some
: others who live with the vaguries of windows...)
:
I realize everybody would like to use MS-DOS Kermit in Windows 9x and above
because it's free, whereas Kermit 95, which is what you should be using,
costs some money.
But the fact is that PCs are becoming increasingly hostile to MS-DOS Kermit,
which is -- please remember -- a 16-bit DOS application that does not have
access to 32-bit Windows drivers. These drivers are increasingly required for
new-fangled devices that we find on PCs -- Winmodems, USB devices, Plug-n-Play
devices, etc etc. I'm sure I will be chastised for saying this, but I must
say it anyway:
If you want to use MS-DOS Kermit in Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, or 2000 (or OS/2),
do so at your own risk. It might work in some cases, but in many others it
won't. Making it work when it does not is often impossible, and even when
possible, usually time-consuming and requiring considerable expertise about
PC/Windows internals.
Even if you can get it to work, remember that:
. It can only use real COM ports, or devices for which Windows provides 16-
(not 32-) bit drivers that perfectly mimic real COM ports (8250 or 16550A
UARTs). This, increasingly, leaves a lot of modern PC communication
devices out in the cold.
. It can not access long file names.
. It has its own built-in TCP/IP network stack, which can not be used at
the same time as the Windows TCP/IP network stack, at least not without
extraordinary measures.
We already have a product, Kermit 95:
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html
that "just works" in all these OS's, with all their "Win" devices and other
innovations. We have put 15 years of constant work into it (it's largely
based on C-Kermit which goes back to 1985). We recommend it and support it.
We do not recommend or support MS-DOS Kermit for Windows 95 and above.
Of course we do recommend and support MS-DOS Kermit for real DOS -- meaning
that you booted DOS, not Windows, and not that you are running Kermit in a
"DOS window" of Windows -- but even then there must be the caveat that
modern PCs often come with devices that MS-DOS Kermit does not know about:
just because you boot DOS on your brand-new PC doesn't mean that MS-DOS
Kermit can access your Winmodem.
As to the money issue... The fact that Kermit 95 costs money explains the
fact that we are still here and able to keep it current with the times. The
fact the MS-DOS Kermit is free explains why you don't see new releases any
more. Yes, Joe can answer the occasional question, but it's not his job.
Kermit 95 on the other hand, *is* our job. We are actually paid to develop
and support it. Thus when you use it (legally) we are, in a sense, your
employees, obligated to help you when you have questions or problems, as
any Kermit 95 user will tell you.
Time is money. If the time you spend trying to make MS-DOS Kermit work for
you in Windows 9x or above is worth more than the price of Kermit 95, you
might want to reconsider.
- Frank