silvert@dalcs.UUCP (Bill Silvert) (06/18/86)
There is some confusion here about whether the kermit in the developer's kit is in the public domain. The manual seems to say it is (right on the title page), but we would like to make sure before passing it on to anyone else. To avert any flames about the superiority of xmodem -- some of us work on Unix mainframes that support kermit but not xmodem, and would like to use SOMETHING for errorfree downloading from the net.
sansom@trwrb.UUCP (Richard Sansom) (06/20/86)
With regard to the question about Kermit being in the public domain,
the following lines are from the official Columbia University Kermit
distribution package:
"Kermit is a voluntary effort. Although the Kermit protocol was
designed by us at Columbia and many of the Kermit programs were
written by us, the majority of programs were contributed from
elsewhere..."
"The software, sources, and documentation remain free. Kermit is
distributed in this manner with the understanding that it will
never be sold as a product per se. This is done in the hope that
use of Kermit will become widespread enough to make communications
between any two computers a real possibility rather than a pipedream."
"Kermit is non-proprietary, thoroughly documented, and in wide use."
Does this help you any? If not, then I would say (in my opinion)
that the version of Kermit supplied with the developer's kit is very
close (if not identical) to the sample Kermit program supplied in the
back of the Kermit protocol manual (written in C). If this is the
case, then it _is_ in the public domain.
Richard E. Sansom
TRW Electronics & Defense Sector
{...decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!trwrb!sansomjohn@moncol.UUCP (John Ruschmeyer) (06/20/86)
In article <1984@dalcs.UUCP> silvert@dalcs.UUCP (Bill Silvert) writes: >There is some confusion here about whether the kermit in the developer's >kit is in the public domain. The manual seems to say it is (right on >the title page), but we would like to make sure before passing it on to >anyone else. The following is quoted from the material distributed with the KERMIT distribution from Columbia University: -----------------------------start of quote---------------------------------- Although KERMIT is free and available to anyone who requests it, it is not in the "public domain". The protocol, the manuals, the Columbia implementations, and many of the contributed implementations bear copyright notices dated 1981 or later, and include a legend like Copyright (C) 1985, Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. Permission is granted to any individual or institution to use, copy, or redistribute this software so long as it is not sold for profit, provided this copyright notice is retained. The copyright notice is to protect KERMIT, Columbia University, and the various contributors from having their work usurped by others and sold as a product. In addition, the covering letter which we include with a KERMIT tape states that KERMIT can be passed along to others; "we ask only that profit not be your goal, credit be given where it is due, and that new material be sent back to us so that we can maintain a definitive and comprehensive set of KERMIT implementations". ------------------------------- end of quote -------------------------------- The document goes on to mention that you can do thing things like include KERMIT support in a commercial package, but it doesn't seem like that applies in this case. In short, there should be no problem as long you don't make money on it. >To avert any flames about the superiority of xmodem -- some of us work >on Unix mainframes that support kermit but not xmodem, and would like to >use SOMETHING for errorfree downloading from the net. The major advantages to XMODEM are a)that it is more likely to be supported by a given system and b)that on any given file it tends to be faster than KERMIT. The increased speed is due to larger packet size (128 vs 94 bytes), less packet overhead, and the lack of character encoding (which is why an 8-bit data path is needed). Actually, however, XMODEM is in many ways inferior to KERMIT, just more supported in the real world. In particular, XMODEM transfers require an 8-bit data path (no parity) and make no provision for sending batches of files. (The latter problem is addressed by XMODEM-based protocols such as MODEM7, TELELINK, YMODEM, and ZMODEM.) Further, KERMIT can be implemented on many machines (such as IBM mainframes) where KERMIT could never be implemented. BTW, there are implementations of XMODEM available which do run under UNIX. Check net.sources and mod.sources for programs named UMODEM and rz/sz (or rb/sb).
ralph@brueer.UUCP (06/24/86)
In article <1984@dalcs.UUCP> silvert@dalcs.UUCP writes: >There is some confusion here about whether the kermit in the developer's >kit is in the public domain. The manual seems to say it is (right on >the title page), but we would like to make sure before passing it on to >anyone else. > I think I'm right in saying that Kermit is not public domain, but is copyright Columbia University. Columbia's policy is that anyone using or writing a Kermit should make it available to others on request for no charge (except for postage/handling/media costs). This policy may even extend to the sources. As I see it, you should be able to pass the binary on to anyone, provided you don't sell it. Perhaps Neil@Atari could clarify this ?? BTW, The Columbia CP/M Kermit distribution includes a 'Generic' version that works on any CP/M machine that uses the I/O byte properly. I have run it under the ST CP/M emulator with no problem at all... It's actually a damn sight more friendly than the Dev Kit Kermit and it runs at about the same speed :-) :-) I guess the limiting factor is disk access time. Anyone wanna copy ?? I also picked up a PD 8080 assembler and hex loader from the Kermit distribution. They also work fine under the Emulator... Ralph Mitchell -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ralph Mitchell | VOICE: +44 895 74000 Ext 2561 Computer Centre | ARPA: ralph%ee.brunel.ac.uk@ucl-cs.arpa Brunel University | UUCP: ...!mcvax!ukc!ee.brunel.ac.uk!ralph Uxbridge | JANET: ralph@uk.ac.brunel.ee UB8 3PH | UNITED KINGDOM | "Noli illegitemi carborundum" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=