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RBBS-PC's SUPPORT POLICIES 4-1
4. RBBS-PC's SUPPORT POLICIES
-----------------------------
4.1 RBBS-PC's User Support Methods
---------------------------------
RBBS-PC is supported as well as any commercial product (even better than
some), albeit in a different way. Rather than a single source for
technical support, RBBS-PC distributes its help via a network of
volunteers. This section outlines the many ways you can find assistance in
setting up your RBBS-PC
Written documentation with RBBS, which you are reading. This is more
a reference than a guide for novices, however.
A book, "The Complete Electronic Bulletin Board Starter Kit",
published by Bantam Books and available at B. Dalton Bookstores. This
book covers installing RBBS-PC in detail, although the version
discussed is 15.1C. (Note that RBBS-PC remains upward compatible with
15.1C, and virtually everything in the book still applies.)
A commercial product, "RBBS-PC in a Box", a CD-ROM disc which has
thousands of shareware and public domain programs stored in compressed
format, and has RBBS-PC virtually pre-installed. You can be online
only minutes after installing the CD-ROM. For information and
ordering, contact Quanta Press, at (612) 641-0714.
Network mail. Both RBBS-Net and RelayNet have RBBS-PC support
conferences. For RBBS-Net, contract Rod Bowman (number listed below).
For RelayNet contact Greg Snyder (703-323-1782, data number).
Technical Support BBS. News, information, and answers to questions
about RBBS-PC are available at the following numbers:
(407) 627-6969
(407) 627-6862
Telephone support. When all else fails, you can place a voice call to
one of the authors. Since RBBS-PC SysOps should know how to use a
modem, voice calls should NOT be needed. The Technical Support BBS is
a much better medium for technical questions. However, if you MUST
make a voice call, dial (407) 627-9767. Usually, the phone will be
answered by a voice mail system. You can record questions and call
back later to hear answers. If you request that someone return your
call, we will call you COLLECT. Your best chance of having a human
answer the phone are between the hours of 7pm and 11pm (Eastern U.S.).
Support Boards. Support boards are BBS's where the SysOp:
- commits to running RBBS-PC for the foreseeable future
- has an at least one free, public line
- is regularly available for helping others
- makes the latest version of RBBS-PC available, either
electronically or by mail
Please realize that bulletin boards may cease to exist, or change their
phone numbers, and that other commitments can make people unavailable.
Bearing that in mind, the list of BBSs knowledgeable about RBBS-PC include:
Arizona
Tucson: Gene Lowry, Bigfoot RBBS. (602) 886-7943
RBBS-PC 17.3A TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 4-2
California
Colton: Rod Bowman, The PC Spectrum (tm). (714) 381-6013
Concord: Jon Martin, Aircomm. (415) 689-2090
LakePort: Randy Sun, Sigma Industries RBBS. (707) 263-8581
Connecticut
Trumbull: Tom Mack, The Second Ring. (203) 268-5315
Florida
Tampa: Dave Hacquebord, The Sunshine Board. (813) 887-3984 and
(813) 885-4659
Palm Beach Gardens: Doug Azzarito, Technology Consultants RBBS.
(407) 627-6969 and (407) 627-6862
Delray Beach: Mark Lautenschlager, Silicon Beach. (407) 276-6263
Kentucky
Lexington: Ronald Nutter, Bluegrass RBBS. (606) 272-0499 (Fill
out SysOp questionnaire)
Illinois
LaGrange: Loren Jones, RBBS-PC of Chicago. (708) 352-1035
Indiana
Bloomington: John Taylor, Indiana On-Line. (812) 332-RBBS
Maryland
Rockville: Roger Fajman, CPCUG Member's Information Exchange
(Capital PC Users Group). (301) 738-9060, 9 lines (Join
SysOp conference)
Nebraska
Broken Bow: Tom Hansen, Church Chatters. (308) 872-6112 and
872-3394.
Nevada
Reno: John Morris, (702) 746-1364.
Ohio
Tiffin: Don Smith, NorthWest OHIO BBS. (419) 448-1421.
Pennsylvania
Sharon Hill (Philadelphia): Mark Horninger, Electric Playground.
(215) 534-1466
Virginia
Arlington: Lee Pollard, Death Star. (301) 839-0705
Fairfax: Ken Goosens, Your Place. (703) 978-6360, 3 lines
Help by Topic: Ken Goosens maintains an interactive, on-line data base
of people who volunteer to help with RBBS-PC on particular topics.
Call Ken's BBS, and use the QUESTIONNAIRE function to search for
someone in your area who can help. Some of the topics listed are:
Auto Maintenance File Mgt System (FMS) Protocols
BASIC File maintenance Questionnaires
Batch Files HST Quick Basic
CD-ROM Hardware Setup
Communication LANTASTIC SmartText
Compiling Modems Startup
RBBS-PC's SUPPORT POLICIES 4-3
Conferences Network Sub-boards
Configuration Novell Netware Submenus
Desktop Publishing PC-Slaves Time Lock
DESQview PUI Uploads
Doors Personal downloads User Interface
DoubleDOS Programming Utilities
Most Bulletin Board Software is dedicated to making money for its authors.
No matter how much the authors love the work, it endures only so long as
the hope of income continues.
RBBS-PC is given away for free, and depends not on the flow of money, but
on the continuing dedication and generosity of people who volunteer to help
support and enhance it as a public service, and share their labor of love
with others for the benefit of all.
The commitment of the coordinating authors of RBBS-PC is to:
- fix any problems, on a priority basis
- steadily refine and enhance RBBS-PC to better serve the needs of its
users
- help support and coordinate contributions, testing, and releases
RBBS-PC should be bug free, period. If there are any problems with it, we
want to know. We want people to use RBBS, not because it is free, but
because it is the best bulletin board available.
Professional Tech Support: While RBBS-PC remains an "all-volunteer"
effort, BBSs run by corporations may find security in "paying" for
support. If your corporation desires 24-hour, quick-response help,
contact Doug Azzarito at (407) 627-9767. You will be referred to
someone who can offer a support plan that will satisfy any corporate
user.
4.2 RBBS-PC's Vendor Support Policy
-----------------------------------
While a great deal of care was taken to make RBBS-PC as flexible as
possible, supporting a wide range of computers and modems, the program was
designed with the IBM PC (or compatible) and Hayes Smartmodem (or
compatible) in mind. Many of RBBS-PC's default values assume this
combination, and it is certainly this combination which requires the least
effort to bring online.
The philosophy of RBBS-PC is outlined in section 1.1 of the RBBS-PC
documentation. Those who contribute to RBBS-PC do so without any hope of
monetary reward. In fact, great lengths are taken to assure that neither
those involved with the development of RBBS-PC, nor anyone who distributes
RBBS-PC, does so for personal gain or to promote a specific product at the
expense of other products.
If the hardware you are using is not part of the "base-line" hardware and
RBBS-PC doesn't work, your only recourse is to either modify RBBS-PC to
meet your particular needs (that's why the source code is distributed), or
contact your vendor and ask him to either fix his hardware or modify
RBBS-PC (via .MRG/.DOC files) to support his hardware.
Since 1984, RBBS-PC has become something of an "industry standard." As
such, several manufacturers have requested that support for their
RBBS-PC 17.3A TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 4-4
particular hardware and/or software be incorporated into RBBS-PC. These
vendors have had three choices:
1. Obtain a copy of the BASIC source code by sending $8 to the Capital PC
User Group's Software Exchange. The source code allows the vendor to
determine what is required to be "RBBS-PC compatible." Who better knows
the quirks of the manufacturer's product than the manufacturer? RBBS-PC's
limited license specifically permits the distribution of ".MRG" files that
would allow RBBS-PC to run with whatever idiomatic quirks a specific
vendor's product exhibited. The advantage to the manufacturer is that they
are in complete control and need not make the .MRG "universal" (i.e. it
need only support their product). The disadvantage is that new releases of
RBBS-PC come out every six to eight months and the vendor would have to
review each release to make sure the new releases and his .MRG files were
compatible. Of course, as with any other RBBS-PC operator, casual
telephone support is available to these vendors.
2. Supply the necessary equipment or software on a loan or gift basis to
be used in the testing of future releases of RBBS-PC. This approach has
been actively DISCOURAGED for three fundamental reasons.
1. The vendor perceives he has "paid" for on-going support by the loan or
donation of the product. This is not the case because RBBS-PC's
development is an all-volunteer activity. As such, it is possible
that none of those involved with the development of RBBS-PC may have
the time or expertise sufficient to assure compatibility of the
specific vendor's product with future releases of RBBS-PC. About all
that can be done is to give the vendor our "best effort" to assure
compatibility, and advise when it can not be made compatible.
2. The particular product may not have a universal applicability to
RBBS-PC users and/or may not be of interest to those who regularly
contribute to the development of RBBS-PC. Both of these conditions
must exist before any vendor's product is incorporated into the
RBBS-PC development cycle.
3. The price of the loaned or donated products (usually 3 to 5 such
products) in no way can even begin to compensate for the hundreds (if
not thousands) of development hours required to support other than
"base-line" hardware.
3. Establish an on-going institutional commitment to maintain a dialogue
between the vendor's engineering group and the RBBS-PC development team
along with supplying the necessary equipment or software on a loan or gift
basis to be used in the testing of future releases of RBBS-PC. This
approach has been actively ENCOURAGED for three different and fundamental
reasons.
1. The vendor overtly makes an institutional commitment to jointly
participate in the development of RBBS-PC. The vendor has the
opportunity to supplement the all-volunteer activity that is the basis
for RBBS-PC development by choosing to either modify their current or
future products to be compatible with RBBS-PC or to supply software
that ensures compatibility with RBBS-PC. This benefits all RBBS-PC
users.
2. The particular products that fall into this category are required to
have a universal applicability to RBBS-PC users (i.e. multi-tasking
DOS, networking, 2400 or greater baud capability, error-free
RBBS-PC's SUPPORT POLICIES 4-5
protocols, etc.). Also, a regular contributor to RBBS-PC's
development must be geographically located close to the vendor's
development engineers to assure a timely dialogue. Further, any
regular contributor to RBBS-PC's development who accepts the
responsibility for assuring RBBS-PC's compatibility with a particular
vendor's product must be willing to do so solely on a volunteer basis
over an extended period of time and in such a way as not to exclude
other vendor's products. Only when all these conditions exist is any
vendor's product a candidate to be incorporated into the RBBS-PC
development cycle. This assures that the RBBS-PC user community has a
feed-back mechanism to the vendor's product development and design
teams and the vendor is assured of a matching long-term commitment
from the RBBS-PC development team.
3. The vendor recognizes that the price of the loaned or donated products
(usually 3 to 5 such products) is minuscule compared with the hundreds
(if not thousands) of man-hours that may be required from both the
RBBS-PC development team as well as the vendor's engineers. This
assures that the vendors who choose this third approach are committed
to the PC user community. It is precisely this type of commitment
that RBBS-PC's USERWARE concept is designed to encourage (from both
users and vendors)
Many vendors have chosen to make this third type of commitment to RBBS-PC.
We hope each of them will continue their support. In turn, we hope RBBS-PC
SysOps and users will show their appreciation of the vendors' support.
Some of these vendors are (alphabetically):
Alloy Computer Products, Inc.
165 Forest Street
Marlboro, MA 01752
(508) 481-7711
Ark Electronic Products, Inc.
325 W. Hibiscus Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32901
(407) 724-5260
Corvus Systems, Inc.
2100 Corvus Drive
San Jose, California 95124
(408) 559-7000
The Forbin Project (c/o John Friel III)
4945 Colfax Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55409
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.
5923 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
Norcross, Georgia 30092
(404) 449-8791
International Business Machines Corporation
(Internal Zip Code 2900)
P.O. Box 1328
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
(305) 998-2000
Microcom, Inc.
RBBS-PC 17.3A TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL 4-6
1400A Providence Highway
Norwood, MA 02062
(617) 762-9310
Multi-Tech Systems, Inc.
82 Second Avenue, S.E.
New Brighton, Minnesota 55112
(612) 631-3550
Orchid Technology
4790 Westinghouse Drive
Fremont, CA 94539
(415) 490-8586
PC-SIG
1030 E. Duane Ave Suite D
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 730-9291
Prometheus Products Incorporated
4545 Cushing Parkway
Fremont, CA 94538
(415) 490-2370
Quarterdeck Office Systems
150 Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(213) 392-9701
Racal-Vadic
1525 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, California 95035
(408) 774-0810
The Software Link, Inc.
8601 Dunwoody Place
Suite 336
Atlanta, GA 30338
(404) 998-0700
System Enhancement Associates
21 New Street
Wayne, NJ 07470
(201) 473-5153
U.S. Robotics, Inc.
Skokie, Illinois 60076
(312) 982-5010
Users who feel that they have benefitted or who appreciate such commitment
to the user community should write or call the above vendors and tell them
so, especially if such a commitment influenced the purchase of their
products. Similarly, if any user feels that other vendor should make a
similar commitment to RBBS-PC and the user community, write to that vendor
and send a copy of your letter to the following address:
Ken Goosens
5020 Portsmouth Road
Fairfax, VA 22032
RBBS-PC's SUPPORT POLICIES 4-7
Section 20 describes the RBBS-PC standard interface for protocol drivers.
All vendors of proprietary protocols who would like to have them added to
future releases of RBBS-PC need do is simply conform to this interface.