kdb@macaw.intercon.com (Kurt Baumann) (04/09/90)
In article <21713@cs.yale.edu>, kauffman-jon@CS.YALE.EDU (Jon Kauffman) writes: > > I'd love to see a leaner, tty-window implementation of rrn using the NCSA or > MacTCP stuff, but I suppose lots of us would. (I guess I should stop > whining and start coding :-) ) NNTP makes a working-but-not-optimal > rrn pretty straightforward (or at least I thought so when I wrote a !very! > sub-optimal one a few years ago), so eager coders shouldn't be > frightened. It's actually a good way to get one's feet wet in > text-based communication protocols like SMTP and FTP. > Why have a tty-window implementation of rrn when you can have a full fledged Mac interface version? Our commercial version does just that. If you are going to do a tty-window implementation why waste your time, just login with telnet..:-) You get the same "features" that way. Our stuff allows you to click on groups see the index, click on a note and see the contents of it. All with the ability to edit text just as you would on a Mac... In fact this is being posted with it. Take care. Kurt Baumann InterCon Systems Corporation--
humtech@ucschu.UCSC.EDU (Mark Frost) (04/09/90)
In article <21713@cs.yale.edu> kauffman-jon@CS.YALE.EDU (Jon Kauffman) writes: >In article <1990Apr5.194010.4207@intercon.com> kdb@macaw.intercon.com (Kurt Baumann) writes: > >> Well APDA is selling a HyperCard stack that allows you to connect to a NNTP >> server and read mail. It's a bit slow but it is servicable. >> I believe that they sell the package for about >> $50-100. > >I should add that the newsreader is very serviceable on machines >of > 1M of RAM, but its performance on <= 1M machines is less than robust. > I dunno. I've run the NewsStack on a IICX with 5.5Meg and it was unbelievably slow. It's the only mac program I've ever run in which I've clicked on a button and waited several seconds for a response. I think it's keen for a demo stack, but it's just too slow for normal use. When given the choice, I'd much rather read news from UNIX as it's much faster. What I've been hoping for is a solution using MacX - Apple's X-window emulator (when/if it comes out). I would assume that someone has written an X-window newsreader. Just pie in the sky, I guess... Mark Frost Office of the the Computing Director Humanities Division University of California at Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, California 95064 (408) 459-4603 Internet: humtech@ucschu.UCSC.EDU Bitnet: humtech@ucschu.bitnet Uucp: ...!ucbvax!ucscc!ucschu!humtech
jln@acns.nwu.edu (John Norstad) (04/09/90)
In article <2427@darkstar.ucsc.edu> humtech@ucschu.UCSC.EDU (Mark Frost) writes: > I dunno. I've run the NewsStack on a IICX with 5.5Meg and it was unbelievably > slow. It's the only mac program I've ever run in which I've clicked on a > button and waited several seconds for a response. I think it's keen for a > demo stack, but it's just too slow for normal use. When given the choice, I'd > much rather read news from UNIX as it's much faster. While NetNews is definitely not the fastest program around, I found it quite serviceable on my old Mac II, and more than adequate on my new IIci. In both cases I can read news much faster than logging on to our slow UNIX box. And it's SO much nicer than either "notes" or "rn" that I'd use it even if it were much slower. I very strongly suspect that much of the slowness of NetNews is attributable to the NNTP protocol traffic, and is inevitable. I've seen similar slowness on UNIX boxes accessing the news over the network with NNTP. Some of the slowness is due to the complex HyperCard scripts, but not all of it. Amanda Walker's Mac newsreader is also very nice, and it's faster than NetNews. It's part of Intercon's commerical TCP Connect product. > What I've been hoping for is a solution using MacX - Apple's X-window > emulator (when/if it comes out). I would assume that someone has written > an X-window newsreader. Just pie in the sky, I guess... There is an X news reader called "xrn". My office partner uses it on his SPARC. It's nice, but I don't like it as much as Netnews. I think that the main reason I don't like it as much as NetNews is because I don't like X as much as the Mac. I'm a BIG fan of NetNews. You can get it for free via anonymous FTP from apple.com, I believe. (Well, it does require MacTCP, which is not free, but you can't have everything.) It's also available on AppleLink, and for a small fee from APDA. Look for the HyperCard TCP/IP XCMD package - NetNews comes with it as a demo of how to use the XCMDs. One of the neatest things about NetNews here at Northwestern is that it is being used by people who can't handle UNIX, but know and love their Macs. For example, my boss is now a news junky. John Norstad Academic Computing and Network Services Northwestern University jln@acns.nwu.edu
amanda@mermaid.intercon.com (Amanda Walker) (04/10/90)
In article <6177@accuvax.nwu.edu>, jln@acns.nwu.edu (John Norstad) writes: > Amanda Walker's Mac newsreader is also very nice, and it's faster than > NetNews. It's part of Intercon's commerical TCP Connect product. Why thank you :-). The limiting overhead in the NNTP stack seems to be the HyperTalk overhead, since it is using generic TCP XCMDs and doing things like scanning for result codes, et al., in HyperTalk. It's a very impressive MacTCP demo, but I found it far too slow for day-to-day use. I do admit I'm biased, however--my newsreader is almost instantaneous talking to a lightly loaded 20 MIPS NNTP server over Ethernet... Besides, it has kill files :-). Peace, -- Amanda Walker, InterCon Systems Corporation -- "Y'know, you can't have, like, a light, without a dark to stick it in... You know what I'm sayin'?" --Arlo Guthrie
barnett@grymoire.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) (04/11/90)
I am trying to resolve an issue about the Hypercard NNTP newsreader on the MacTCP Hypercard stack. ($20 thru APDA). A friend told me that this stack is available through Applelink. However, talking to Apple directly I find out that it SHOULD NOT BE available through AppleLink. So - is Apple going to sue Apple? Or is my information wrong somewhere? Can someone clarify this? -- Bruce G. Barnett barnett@crd.ge.com uunet!crdgw1!barnett
oberst@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Daniel J. Oberst) (04/11/90)
The NetNews Stack in a IIfx with an Ethernet card smokes along quite nicely!! Dan Oberst
oberst@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Daniel J. Oberst) (04/11/90)
xrn gives much of the point&click functionality that the NetNews Stack has, but it makes assumptions about screen real estate. you can run it with MacX (when it gets released) but its only barely usable on anything less than a portrait or two-page display since it wants to put subject lines in a top window, buttons in between and text on the bottom. Dan Oberst