dave@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Dave Goldblatt) (10/28/88)
From article <632@stag.UUCP>, by to_stdnet@stag.UUCP: > From: thelake!steve@stag.UUCP (Steve Yelvington) > > > There was a note on Fidonet a couple of weeks ago from Peter Glasmacher, > who said he was porting Binkley (a Fidonet mailer program) to the ST using > Turbo C. Part of the process involves installing something called FOSSIL, > which stands for Fido-Opus System Standard Interface Level (or something > like that). On a PC, FOSSIL compensates for the deficiencies and variations > of MS-DOS, provides interrupt-driven communications services, and > generally creates a level playing field so the same software can run on a > wide variety of Intel-based computers, including such divergent machines > as the DEC Rainbow and the Z100. (I'm not sure what, if any, real benefit > there is to having FOSSIL compatibility on an Atari, but he's doing it.) > A FOSSIL driver (actually, it's Fido/Opus/Seadog Standard Interface Layer) is designed to allow software packages to run without modification on various PC systems. For example, the Zenith Z-100 does not support the IBM-PC BIOS screen or communication functions. By using the proper FOSSIL driver for your machine, however, a package (such as BinkleyTerm) can run on just about any (object code-compatible) system. For ST owners this means they can have a full-featured (ok -- no GEM interface standard; you'll have to add that. :-) FidoNet point system with very little modifications, assuming Turbo C on the ST is close to the MS-DOS implementation. All you'll have to do is develop a FOSSIL driver which meets the (version 5) standard, and possibly adjust the I/O module. Conceivably, you could use other systems (including BBS software) with the same FOSSIL, asuming you can get the source code. But since BinkleyTerm can be used to send and receive FidoNet messages and files, the only software really needed is something to convert to/from your current BBS message format, plus possibly a few other utilities (read: covering myself :-). Somewhere I saw mentioned that there was in fact a FidoNet compatible BBS available for the ST, which would be nice.. Disclaimer: I don't own an ST, though I sold them for years. Still have an Atari 800 (original edition), but now use a Clarkson-supplied Zenith. Still have faith in Atari, although I'm used to the disappointments. Anyone remember the Atari 815 double drive? (I actually used one -- I think Jerry White had one of the few released!) -dg-