phipps@fortune.UUCP (01/24/84)
According to my documentation for PC-Talk II,
the latest in the PC-Talk line should be available from
Freeware
The Headlands Press, Inc.
P. O. Box 862
Tiburon, CA 94920
The program author, Andrew Fluegelman, can be reached by two public networks:
CompuServe 71435,1235
The Source TCP204
The usual way to get a copy of PC-Talk is
to send a blank formatted disk and an addressed postage-paid return mailer.
Program and documentation is sent by return mail.
PC-Talk is distributed on the "Freeware concept", which allows a user
to try the program at no cost or risk, and if satisfied with it,
send a donation later. The people behind this idea actually *encourage*
people to copy and distribute their programs. They are depending upon
the basic honesty that they think characterizes most microcomputer users.
I don't know how ordinary indefinite procrastination fits into their picture;
I took a really long time (over a year) to send my donation.
Note that PC-Talk is *not* in the public domain;
it is copyrighted by The Headlands Press, Inc.
I have used (and still use) PC-Talk II to communicate between my PC
and both VAXes and PR1ME mainframes. PC-Talk II works on DOS 1.1 and 2.0.
The program allows the PC to be used as a dumb terminal
or as a machine to transfer files to and from.
File transfer is performed by typing the mainframe system's
"copy" command (or its moral equivalent),
pressing ALT-R or ALT-T as appropriate to begin receiving or transmitting
the file, pressing CR to start the command you have typed on the mainframe,
and voila ! The file contents zoom past you on the screen
as they get transferred. The screen will not reflect the actual formatting
of lines in the file (files appear to be transferred in units
that are not simply multiple lines), but the transferred file
is assembled at its destination as an exact duplicate of the original
(I am having difficulty right now phrasing this accurately).
Pressing ALT-<whatever you pressed to begin> completes the transfer.
PC-Talk III is the successor to PC-Talk II, and is reputed to be even better.
Disclaimer: I have no connection whatsoever with the Freeware people
or Headlands Press. I am merely a satisfied user.
-- Clay Phipps
--
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