lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (11/28/84)
John, My homegrown versions of UUCP/mail/basic netnews are in good shape. As you know, it has taken me a LONG time to get everything working, since I did everything from scratch without any reference to Unix UUCP sources. If I'd known how hard it was going to be I never would have started, that's for sure. Anyway, I've been holding off release while I added functionality to the mail sending/reading/answering programs, including a good deal of 822 compatibility, special features for ARPANET/MILNET mail transfers, additional netnews handling functions, and loads of other similar niceties. There are three basic versions of the code. One is for Coherent (to be distributed by the people that sell Coherent). Another is for VMS (this one is supposed to be distributed by DEC but is on temporary hold). The third version is for MSDOS operating system based machines (this one I'll distribute myself unless someone makes me a terrific offer). Right now the only thing really holding up initial release of the MSDOS and Coherent versions is lack of installation and user level documentation. Initial releases will probably be made to some people with a "read.me" type doc for installation, since a lot of people have been putting pressure on me to release the MSDOS version even without nice looking docs and the code all seems to be working well. Yes, I hope to make some money from my code. I make no apologies for this. I decided to stop putting anything of much significance into the public domain. I made this decision after watching programs that I released into the P.D. get hopelessly mangled by "well-meaning" people who only succeeded in complicating and often breaking the code (then people would call ME asking why it didn't work!), and sometimes even sold by others without any reference to my original authorship. In any case, I plan to provide real support for my UUCP/mail/netnews package, and I hope to make enough to help reimburse me for the massive amount of unpaid time I put into the work. I'm a consultant and do not have a "steady" source of income, but I still have to pay the rent or the landlord will get very upset... Bye for now. --Lauren--
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (09/21/85)
I normally wouldn't reply directly to this group about this,
but I wanted to make a clarification in response to a number
of queries.
My rather comprehensive uucp/mail (uucp/822/domains)/basic netnews, etc.
package (UULINK) has indeed started limited distribution.
It is for MSDOS; I was able (with a LOT of work) to get the package to
run in 256K and within the framework of the MSDOS OS and filesystem.
Distribution must remain necessarily limited until I've got more
people to help me with distribution and support--I'm pretty much
at the limit of what I can handle right now by myself. I'm working
at getting more people to help me locally at this time.
If you've already contacted me about this (based on mentions in
other, more appropriate groups) I've already got your name.
Otherwise, if you want more information you can contact me directly
(direct netmail or preferably phone) if you wish. I do have a detailed
information blurb about the package, but (as I've stated in the past)
I don't really feel it would be appropriate to post on the network,
though I will send it to individuals on request. (Some people chastise
me about being too conservative about network use, but I feel it is
a privilege to use this network. I (personally) feel that
a conservative attitude regarding network use is least likely to abuse
the hospitality of the various sites who pay most of the costs to move
these messages!)
Thanks much.
--Lauren--
(213) 645-7200
{ihnp4, seismo, allegra, clyde, trwrb, ...}!vortex!lauren