saa33413@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (01/22/90)
SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET writes: ------------------------------------start------------------------------------ A commercial package costs more money than ZLink and, of course, Kermit is free. If you want software which communicates with your host as a VT100 and can transfer files, then Kermit is hard to beat. -------------------------------------end------------------------------------- I don't buy that for a minute. I can't speak for Z-Link (I've never tried it because I can't find it anywhere), but Kermit, even in v3.86, is almost worthless. The thing is probably one of the most bug-ridden programs I've ever seen! For example, if you try to backspace to correct an error (say you want to "connect" instead of "set" an option), any other program would backspace with no problem. If it didn't, it would tell you it couldn't do what you wanted it to do. In any case, IT WOULDN'T CRASH THE SYSTEM, WHICH KERMIT DOES REGULARLY!!! As a relative newcomer to modems and such, trying to use Kermit was an exercise in frustration. I eventually gave up trying to use Kermit and used the software that came with the modems. I borrowed a friend's 300-baud modem for a while. While that software didn't offer terminal emulation, it at least was bug-free. When I got my AE DataLink 2400 for Christmas, I figured out the DataTerm program that came with it. It doesn't have VT-100, but it does have a bunch of other emulations (ADM 3A works with all the mainframes I use, and most BBSes don't offer terminal emulation anyway). These programs don't have Kermit download capability, but the UNIX machines here know XMODEM, which most terminal programs know. (The DataLink 2400 even has firmware on the card that knows XMODEM! You can't beat that!) The sad part of the whole story, tho', is that the Macintosh version of Kermit, v0.98B68, is almost seamless in operation--and it hasn't even been formally released yet! The Apple II version is is version 3.86, for cryin' out loud! This is criminal! (Maybe I shouldn't complain about something that's free, though--you get what you pay for! :-| ) BTW, where can you go to FTP a copy of Z-Link? I'd like to try it out. This machine is on Internet, so I can't get it if you give me a Bitnet address. ---------------------------------------- /| | Scott Alfter | _ |/_ | Internet: saa33413@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu | / \// \ | cs122aw@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu | / / Apple IIe: | free0066@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu | | | ---------------------------------------- | \ The power to | A keyboard--how quaint! | \ / be your best | --M. Scott, STIV | \_/\_/ ----------------------------------------