[comp.mail.uucp] UUPC and UULINK -- one experience

thomas@mvac.UUCP (Thomas Lapp) (03/18/89)

> I would like to hear about your experiences with running uucp on a PC.

> Please post some hints, more details of your experience of using
> UUPC program on a PC on comp.mail.uucp newsgroup.

> be rather interested in any/all information you can provide regarding
> a UUCP-compatable mailer for IBM's and clones.
 [ etc, etc.]

O.K, O.K, I hear and respond.  My point of view might be a little bit different
from yours since I have very little experience with uucp on 'real' *nix
machines before starting this adventure.

Just before getting off the 'net' (in this case, BITNET), I posted a query
asking about how I could connect to internet (generic) network after losing
my BITNET account.  Several postings came back (probably still left in
archives of comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest way back there) telling me about two
programs: UUPC and UULINK(*).  So I started looking for info on both.  To
shorten the story, I got an archived version of UUPC from a local bulletin
board (PC) and installed it on my (ugh!) two-floppy IBM computer.  I then 
got permission from a local *nix node to connect to them for uucp polling.
To tell you the truth, I never was terribly successful in getting this
program to operate fully.  It basically consists of setup files (to define
your username, system name, dial instructions to neighbor node -- you know,
uucp stuff!), and two executable programs written in C (Turbo C for the
IBM-PC, I believe).  The two programs are 'mail' and 'uuio'.  Mail does
what you think it does, and 'uuio' is used to transfer mail to/from the
neighbor node.  At this point the program is mainly for use in dialing out;
not much is there for dial-in access.

I had a lot of trouble in sending files -- often the uuio program missed
an ACK which was sent from the other node to a packet which was sent, and
would just hang (not recognising the NACKs being sent) until it timed-out.
Sometimes it would take up to one execution of the program per message to
go out.  Furthermore, all outgoing mail had to be sent before it would
receive any mail from the neighbor.

Lastly, I found that my favorite editor (Qedit) would not work with the
program correctly, and ended up having to use the line input mode of the
mail program (no editing capablities).  Thus, I looked to some other program
to solve my problems.

(in support of UUPC, I know there are other nodes out there on the net right
 now who are using some version of UUPC on a regular basis in production.
 Also, it was written as time permitted by the author(s), and they have not
 had much time to work on improvements).

UULINK
   I received and installed UULINK on a PC with a hard drive and have found
a world of difference between it and UUPC.  Of course there *should* be since
UULINK is a commercial product and fully written, debugged, and supported and
UUPC is freeware and supported on an as-is basis.

UULINK follows the same concepts: one program for reading mail, one for sending
mail, and a third for transferring mail between machines.  It also has a 'cron-
tab' feature which allows unattended operation of the connectivity as well as
allowing time-triggered programs (any PC program you want to start at a
particular time).  I have found that it 'looks and feels' a lot like the
readmail/vn commands available on true *nix machines.  If you have other
specific questions feel free to ask.  No guaruntees I'll have the answer, but
I'll try!  Best I can do is try to look it up in the manual :-).

DISCLAIMER: I have no connection to the authors of either UULINK or UUPC or
            any other interest in their products other than having used both
            of them.



(*) -- UULINK is a trademark of Lauren Weinstein and Vortex Technology
                         - tom
==============================================================================
(Nope, Reply will *not* work.  Choose one from below to use for replying to
 me).                                    -------------------------------------
uucp:     ...!udel!mvac!thomas          ! "..so when the machine truncates
Internet: mvac!thomas@udel.edu          !  excess bits, it throws them under
          or                            !  the raised floor." -- Fred Felber
          thomas%mvac.uucp@udel.edu     !  (so THAT's why there are raised
                                        !   floors in computer rooms...)
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arnaud@Alliant.COM (Alain Arnaud) (03/21/89)

I would like to install UULINK on my PC, I would like to know
where it can be purchased from ?