al@ames.UUCP (Al Globus) (02/14/85)
Here's a digest of the stuff I got in response to a request for data
on using the Mac with UNIX. I removed the headers but otherwise did
no editing whatsoever. Versaterm seems the big winner - al globus
Since apple uses the tilde key for ESC, using mail can be a pain. The lack
of a DEL key is also inconvenient. To send these characters:
DEL = (command) 1
~ = (command) (shift) ~
Good hunting and pecking!
.... Carl Ballard
ITT Advanced Technology Center
Shelton, Conn.
You might take note that one of Fortune systems third party developers has
tied in the 32:16 with Applenet. The potential uses of this are enormous.
Already we have filetransfer operational. This opens the possibility of using the 32:16 for electronic mail, or even to emulate a hard disk on the applenet.
You should contact Richard Tung for details.
If you don't get deluged, let me know and I"ll pass you some notes on how I
use my Mac around Unix.
chuq
>From the ministry of silly talks: Chuq Von Rospach
{allegra,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA
Life, the Universe, and lots of other stuff is a trademark of AT&T Bell Labs
Every now and then something comes along that destroys long-cherished
notions of how the world is made. Such as thing is Versaterm.
I'm a text terminal user. I would never have a graphics terminal on my
desk, because graphics terminals have always done a lousy job of doing
text work. They were slow, or they had annoying long persistence
phosphors, or they painted fuzzy characters. There was always a price
to pay for being able to paint pictures on the screen. This is so no
longer.
I posted an article last week complaining about the lack of some file
transfer features in Versaterm. Since then, I have received an updated
version. I can now say that this is not only the finest terminal
emulator on the Macintosh today (faint praise, that) but easily the
best terminal software I have ever used on any computer. Versaterm, in
fact, makes the Macintosh one of the finest terminals I have ever
used.
Lonnie Abelbeck has made using the Macintosh as a terminal a pleasant
experience. The Mac works like a Mac should work. There's a good
sized memory buffer of text saved off the top of the screen, the list
of phone numbers resides under a menu, the communication settings are
automatically set when a number is called, there's a menu full of
macros. And the manual is almost completely unnecessary.
This program supports upload and download using plain ASCII, binary Xmodem,
text Xmodem (which filters out those hateful linefeeds) and Macterminal
Xmodem (which transfers both forks of the Macintosh file).
I have been able to do full screen editing using Vi at 9600 baud with
no trouble. Versaterm gives you the option + mouse cursor control that
Macterminal introduced. The versaterm version of this seems to work
much faster, and you can use it with either Vi or EMACS. When in Vi
(and other full screen editors), you must turn off XON/XOFF. When
listing anything at 9600 baud you must turn it on (Versaterm can handle
~7200 baud without flow control). The XON/XOFF switch is directly
under a menu, which makes it quick and easy to change.
Versaterm supports the add-on numeric keypad. It also allows you to
use the regular keypad for cursor control and function key purposes.
(This is the only thing I've seen that I needed manual to find out.)
It supports all the VT100 features that I use, which is enough to do
full screen editing, but I can't say how well it supports those
features I don't use (it doesn't claim to be a perfect VT100
emulator).
I cannot report on how well Versaterm works as a graphics terminal,
since I don't use graphics. I have used it to do simple pictures -
circles, squares, toriods. It seems to do the job. But I'll leave the
review of the Tektronix and the DG2000 emulators to those who better
understand them.
This excellent program is well worth its price, even if you only use it
in its VT100 mode. The addition of Tekronix and DG2000 emulation
easily make it a bargain. Future enhancements promise to make it even
better.
For those (like me) who have to deal with brain-damaged and/or toy
computers, Lonnie has indicated that future releases will include both
Macterminal-type delay-after-line, and MacTEP-type wait-for-prompt
ASCII upload. Programmable answerback and true 9600 baud operation are
goals I would urge on him.
You can buy Versaterm by sending $99 to:
Peripherals Computers & Supplies, Inc
2232 Perkiomen Avenue
Mt. Penn, PA 19606
(215) 779-0522
I recommend it.
THE USUAL DISCLAIMER:
I have no personal or financial ties with Lonnie Abelbeck or the
organization selling this product. My only interest is in good, quality
software for the Macintosh. This program sets high standards for the
Macintosh, and is well worth the time we have waited. I hope other Mac
developers take heed and do as well.
--
Hmm...
I've found a couple of good uses for the Mac in my environment. The most
useful is simply a smart terminal with me. I took it to Dallas, and it
allowed me to keep in communication with the home office quite nicely. I
also have it at home, so I can work when I get the motivation without
having to do things like go to work, put on clothes, etc...
Related to that is the wordprocessing. I have both MacWrite and the MDS
(Macintosh Development System-- not yet released, but available with the
Mac C compiler). MDS comes with a vi like editor and Macwrite is a pretty
powerful word processor. I can upload text to the Mac, work on it (in
either form as convenient) and then download it again. When I was in
dallas, I sent out daily updates to various people on what was going on
that allowed us to pass new information around much quicker than I could
hav otherwise. I have a Macwrite to nroff/troff conversion program that
allows me to take formatted documents (with some loss of information) and
format them into intelligible unix documents.
I'm starting to use the Mac for project planning-- I am hoping to have
MacProject Real Soon Now (as soon as the PO goes through) and I'll be
keeping track of things with it. I'm still using the Unix system for
calendars, phone books, etc.... mainly because I keep the Mac at home most
of the time and it isn't as accessible as it could be. Now, when I get a
Mac at work, too, and only have to lug disks that changes... *grin*
If you want more details, drop me a note.
chuq
They make real nice terminals (particularly if you use VersaTerm and
macput/get). Sumacc/C is a nice cross development system.
From roger Tue Feb 5 10:51:06 1985
To: al
Subject: Mac -> UNIX
Cc: barry
Al,
Read your note on the net and, since I have been using the
mac and MacTerminal with both Unix systems thought I would men-
tion a couple things. First, in general the vt100 terminal works
well enough to be usable, though I've heard that to run on VMS
one needs the numeric key pad. Second, it is slow! The screen up-
date is 1200 baud or less, even though I run on 9600 baud connec-
tion through the micom. Third, there seems to be no way to stop
the disk from periodically updating itself. It will do this even
when told not to save lines off the top. A very annoying feature
as these updates interrupt communications for as long as 10-20
seconds and happen fairly often. Fourth, there is no EASY way to
get a file from Unix to the mac. The process is straightforward,
but requires that you quit MacTerminal to get a long file over.
Fifth, there is no indication of how full the capture buffer is.
It is very annoying to suddenly find that the buffer is full and
no more will be saved. Sixth, the autowraparound doesn't work sa-
tisfactorily on Unix command lines. Lines will wrap, but if you
try to backspace to correct a mistake, the cursor will not wrap
back to the previous line, even though continued backspacing will
delete characters from that line. You quickly lose track of what
you are deleting. Seventh, a personal quirk I suppose. I often
lose the underling cursor while editing a text file. I don't like
the blinking rectangle. Why doesn't the mac allow one a steady
cursor. I would prefer a non-blinking rectangle for most editing.
Eighth, a mac problem, not a Mac- Terminal problem. The tilde key
is a three-key key (shift-command-tilde). Comes from the lack of
an ESC key. Ninth, not really a problem or a complaint, more of
an observation. Most of the features of the mac will remain use-
less until some graphic drivers are developed for Unix. I under-
stand that there are terminal emulation packages for the mac that
emulate a Tektronix 4014 or some such graphic terminal that Unix
recognizes. A termcap definition for the mac that included some
references to the quickdraw routines would be nice. Even a good
graphic emulation package would be satisfactory. While on this
point, I would like more compatability between the mac's software
(e.g. MacWrite) and the Unix system and its peripherals (e.g.
laser printer). Tenth and final point, I am not even tempted to
go back to a standard terminal! I am not bothered by the small
screen or small print (though a 60 line terminal would be nice)
and quite like the black on white, never having been a great fan
of either green or orange. I also like a configuration that gives
me local computing power. I guess that, in general, I expect more
from the mac then I've seen so far with MacTerminal, and expect
that there will be more and better communications packages in the
not-to-distant future. But then such has always been the hope of
mac users since the beginning - When will we see [better]
software?
Roger Remington
Helpful hint: when preparing longish or often-repeated command lines, you can
write them on the Notepad (using the Mac's nifty screen editor), then paste
them to the output stream. Example: if you want to macput many (but not all)
of the files in a Unix directory, just do an 'ls', copy the output of ls to the
Notepad, edit out the files you don't want, stick '; macput' in front of each
remaining file, then just paste the Notepad to the output stream and go for a
cup of coffee. Judicious use of desk accessories with a terminal emulator
makes the Mac a REALLY smart terminal.
David D. Levine (...decvax!tektronix!orca!davidl) [UUCP]
(orca!davidl.tektronix@csnet-relay.csnet) [ARPA]bobj@unisoft.UUCP (Bob Jung) (02/15/85)
Speaking of Mac and Unix.... Does anyone have any details on the Mac projects at SUN Microsystems and Apollo that a friend told me about? Has anyone developed Blit-like software for the Mac? Bob Jung ucbvax!unisoft!bobj