skl@van-bc.UUCP (Samuel Lam) (11/15/87)
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August 9, 1987 uupc Questions and Answers uupc Development
The following is some commonly asked questions about uupc and, of
course, the answers to these questions.
1. What does "uupc" stands for?
It is an acronym for "UUcp for PC's", but it is also a pun on
uucp, which is in turn an acronym for "Unix to Unix CoPy".
2. What does uupc do?
It gives a personal computer the capability to become a
"node" in the UUCP (or a similar) network and exchange
information such as electronic mail and USENET news with
other computers on that network.
3. What personal computers does uupc runs on?
Currently it is available for the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST,
Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC (and compatibles) with DOS. More
computers and operating systems will be able run uupc in the
near future. (IBM PC with MINIX is a likely next candidate.)
4. Does uupc require me to leave my computer on all day to wait
for incoming mail?
No. Most people only use uupc to call up their neighbouring
system to send and/or pickup mail at times convenient to
them. Outgoing mail are also spooled to disk and do not need
to be send immediately to your neighbouring system after it
is composed.
However, uupc can also be set up on a personal computer to
wait for incoming call continuously and act as a "mail-hub"
to relay messages for other systems if you choose.
5. What do I need to have to get uupc up and running on one of
the above personal computers?
You need a neighbouring system to communicate with. This
system can be either a UNIX system, another personal computer
running uupc, or any other system that can talk UUCP's 'g'
protocol.
You would also need to have the appropriate C compiler for
your personal computer if you have received only the source
for uupc.
6. Is the source to uupc publicly available?
Yes. It was posted to the USENET newsgroup comp.sources.misc
in August 1987 and is available from (at least) any site
which archives this newsgroup. If you have trouble locating
a copy of the uupc sources, please drop uupc Development a
note through one of the e-mail addresses listed at the end of
this file.
7. What does the uupc software consists of?
It consists of two programs, uupc and pcmail. uupc is an automated
files transfer program, similar to /usr/lib/uucico in UUCP,
and mail is a mailer user-interface, like mail(1) in UNIX.
8. What are the typical use of these programs?
uu is used to accept incoming file relayed to you through
your neighbouring machine and deliver outgoing file to your
neighbouring machine for forwarding to other machines. In
most cases these "files" contain electronic messages which
are to be used with the mail program.
pcmail is used to read incoming mail delivered by uu, and
compose outgoing mail for delivery with uu. However, it can
also be used to transfer files to/from other systems that is
reachable through electronic mail.
9. What do I need to do to get uupc running on my personal
computer?
You would need to obtain the binaries of uupc for your
computer by either compiling the uupc sources on your machine
or obtaining the uupc binaries from someone who has a copy.
You would also need to arrange to have your neighbouring
system to recognize your system as one of their neighbouring
systems in the network. The procedures for this varies, you
should contact the people who manage your neighbouring system
for about details.
10. Does uupc supports more than one neighbouring systems?
Yes, it can support multiple neighbouring systems. The mail
software will currently always route outgoing mail through
one of these systems, but a future version of this software
will allow multiple forwarding machines for outgoing mail.
11. Is uupc the same program on all systems it runs on, or is it
actually a different program for each of the systems?
It is the same program across all systems, with the exception
of the system-dependent code, which is different from system
to system.
The user-interface and command line options for uupc are also
uniform across all the systems it runs on, so there is no
need to learn a new program when you use uupc on a different
computer. The uniform user-interface also makes it easier to
use uupc on different computers at the same time.
12. If I don't like the mail program's simple user-interface, are
there any alternatives?
Since a mailbox can be easily converted to a simple text
file, alternative mailer can be easily written to accomodate
different needs. At the very least, you will be able to use
your favorite text-editor to read your incoming message and
compose your outgoing message.
Future release of uupc will include mailers for the different
systems which will take advantage of special features only
availabe on the systems they run on (e.g. window and mouse).
13. What if I want to port uupc to another personal computer not
presently support by uupc?
First you should read the file UUPORT.INF, which should be
available from the same source you obtained this file from.
If you cannot locate a copy of this file, then please send a
request for it to uucp Development at one of the e-mail
addresses listed at the end of this file.
After you have read the above file and decided that you still
want to do a port of uupc to a new machine/operating systems,
please drop uupc Development a note at one of the the e-mail
addresses listed at the end of this file. This way we will
at least be able to save each other from duplicated efforts.
Who knows? We might even have a version for ready for your
system when you call to tell us that you are about to begin
your port.
14. Who/what is the "UUPC Development Team"?
The original software (dcp) was done by Richard H. Lamb.
Modified to run on the Mac by Stuart Lynne.
Atari ST by Lawrence Harris.
Amiga by Jeff Lydiatt.
IBM-PC/MS-DOS by Samual Lam.
VMS (not available yet) by Lawrence Harris.
15. What is the copyright status and distribution policy of uupc?
The dcp portions of uupc are Copyright (c) Richard H. Lamb.
Modifications Copyright (c) Stuart Lynne.
Mail, PCMail Copyright (c) Stuart Lynne.
Mac software Copyright (c) Stuart Lynne.
Amiga software Copyright (c) Jeff Lydiatt.
Atari software Copyright (c) Lawrence Harris.
IBM-PC/MS-DOS software Copyright (c) Samuel Lam.
In general we are promoting the use of this software on a
"public domain" basis. You can use for your own use, and
can give copies of the source code to anyone, provided you
provide this information to them.
16. If I have more questions, comments, or suggestions about
uupc, where should I send them?
Please send them all to us at uupc Development at one of the
e-mail addresses listed below. We also welcome any bug fixes
and improved/new code for uupc that you might want to share.
uupc Development can be reached at the following e-mail address:
uupc@van-bc.UUCP
This is routed to the uupc mailing list and a local news group
for discussion of uupc software.
To join the mailing list send a request to:
uupc-request@van-bc.uucp
17. Can I get the binaries of uupc mailed to me?
Yes and no.
No, we cannot e-mail binaries to you at this time.
Yes, if you send a self-addressed and stamped (international
coupon) mailer with appropriate diskettes (2) we will attempt to
return them to you with the appropriate version of the software.
We plan to make a binary posting to the appropriate USENET
comp.binaries.* newsgroups in the late fall, or early next year
when the software is a bit more functional, better documented
and easier to install and operate without the sources.
Mail your disks to:
UUPC Request
c/o Stuart Lynne
225B Evergreen Drive
Port Moody, BC,
Canada, V3H 1S1
____________________
--
Samuel Lam <Samuel.Lam@van-bc.UUCP> or
{ihnp4!alberta,watmath,uw-beaver}!ubc-vision!van-bc!skl