GMW@psuvm.BITNET (05/30/85)
Here at Penn State, we can get Kermits for any machine straight from
Columbia Univ. through BITNET. Any BITNET site running VM/CMS can get the
c64 version by saying "tell kermsrv at cuvma send c64* *" . This will fill
up your disk space with about 20 files, including source, binary, and
documentation for C64-Kermit. To find out what other Kermits are available,
you can say "tell kermsrv at cuvma dir", and you'll get the current list.
For those of you without direct access to BITNET, I'd be happy to e-mail
the appropriate files to you, or post them to the net if I get swamped. Be
aware that bootstrapping it is not trivial, and requires at least a relocatable
monitor like Supermon. The authors have included complete booting instructions
and a simple Basic routine to download the files from your mainframe.
C64-Kermit is written in CROSS assembler. There is also a FORTH version
available, but I don't have FORTH, so I haven't tried it.
George Weaver
Penn State Astronomy Dept.
GMW at PSUVM.BITNET
...!allegra!psuvax1!gmw@psuvm.bitnet
cuda@ihuxf.UUCP (Mike Nelson) (05/31/85)
Ok, I bite my tongue and show my ignorance. What is KERMIT and what is it used for? Mike Nelson ihlpg!cuda AT&T Bell Labs Il
GMW@psuvm.BITNET (06/05/85)
From "The Kermit File Transfer Protocol", Columbia University Center
for Computing Activities:
KERMIT is a protocol for transferring sequential files
between computers of all sizes over ordinary asynchronous
telecommunication lines using packets, checksums, and
retransmission to promote data integrity. KERMIT is
non-proprietary, thoroughly documented, well tested, and
in wide use.
Kermit programs are ones which implement the Kermit protocol.
Essentially, they allow data to be transferred between any machines while
achieving high immunity to such environmental factors as line noise, line
outages, and different processing speeds of the two machines. This is
accomplished by bundling data into 'packets', which include a sync marker,
packet number for detecting lost packets, packet length, the actual data,
and a checksum for verifying the correctness of the data. The receiving
Kermit unbundles the packets and verifies the packet number, length, and
checksum. If an error is detected, the receiving Kermit sends a message
to the sending Kermit requesting that the bad packet be resent. If no
errors are detected, an acknowledgement is sent to the sending Kermit for
that packet, and the next packet is sent.
Kermits are available for most mainframes, minis, and micros. Thus,
you can transfer files from your 64 to a VAX, Macintosh, or Cray with the
same amount of effort. Kermit was conceived and written by Frank da Cruz
at Columbia University. (Bless you, Frank.) It is available free to any
individual or institution, except for explicitly commercial purposes. It
also comes with a plea that it be used "only for peaceful and benevolent
purposes".
George M. Weaver
Penn State Astronomy Dept.
GMW at PSUVM.BITNET
...!allegra!psuvax1!gmw@psuvm.bitnet