fxa@BERLIN.ACSS.UMN.EDU ("Farhad Anklesaria") (05/17/89)
Some news on Macintosh E-Mail: We have developed a package for sending and receiving SMTP mail to/from Macs on AppleTalk networks. The package is in two parts: a front-end HyperCard stack that runs on the Macintosh and a back-end Post Office Protocol (POP2) server that runs on a Unix machine. If your Macs are connected to an AppleTalk network you must have a Kinetics fastpath to gateway between the AppleTalk network and the ethernet that your Unix host resides on. If your Mac is connected directly to ethernet, you don't need a fastpath. Each incoming mail message is added to the HyperCard mail stack as a new card. You compose outgoing mail from within the stack as well. With HyperCard we were able to design a really accessible user interface. The true test of a mail system's user interface is to try to get administrators and their secretaries to use it. By this measure the mail stack is a success; the top 50 administrators (Deans, the Provost, the President, and Vice Presidents) at the University are happily using this stack for e-mail. Unlike some of the mainframe-based e-mail solutions that were tried here in the past, the HyperCard stack is being used daily by non-technical people. The stack should be a fairly general solution to the "I want SMTP mail for my Mac" problem. The HyperCard stack talks to ANY Unix machine that has the sendmail and POP2 services. There are two versions of the HyperCard stack: one is built on top of the University of Michigan's CITI Mac/IP package, and the other is designed to use Apple's MacTCP package. Michigan's Mac/IP drivers are public domain, so everything is free (the TCP drivers, the HyperCardStack, and the POP2 server). Unfortunately, the combination of HyperCard and the Michigan Mac/IP drivers is more than will fit in a 1MB Mac. (Perhaps an excuse to upgrade your memory to at least 2MB?) The HyperCard stack that works with Apple's MacTCP drivers is also free but does not include Apple's MacTCP drivers...you have to get the Apple TCP drivers yourself. Apple offers a site-license for the MacTCP drivers, but it doesn't look like we can redistribute Apple's drivers. You can get a single user licence and copy of Apple's MacTCP drivers from APDA. Apple's driver is small enough that the driver and the HyperCard stack fit on a 1MB machine. Since a Unix box functions as a mail (POP2) server, Mac users need to have accounts on the Unix box (but need not have logins). Since most Unix boxes come with SMTP service (sendmail), all you need is a POP2 server... and we have a public domain version of POP2. We chose to use POP2 because IBM distributes POP2 client software for PCs connected to Token Ring networks that are gatewayed to ethernet, and there is also POP2 client software for PCs connected directly to ethernet. This means that one POP2 server can support Macs on AppleTalk or ethernet and PCs on ethernet or Token Ring. We are now beta testing this package. We'll put another note on the net when it's up for anonymous ftp. Farhad Anklesaria fxa@berlin.acss.umn.edu George Gonzalez grg@berlin.acss.umn.edu Mark McCahill mpm@berlin.acss.umn.edu Microcomputer and Workstation Networks Research Group University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN. (the land of 10,000 lakes, Prince, and mosquitos)
pasek@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (Michael A. Pasek) (05/19/89)
In article <8905162206.AA05738@berlin.acss.umn.edu> fxa@BERLIN.ACSS.UMN.EDU ("Farhad Anklesaria") writes: >We have developed a package for sending and receiving SMTP >mail to/from Macs on AppleTalk networks. The package is in >two parts: a front-end HyperCard stack that runs on the >Macintosh and a back-end Post Office Protocol (POP2) server >that runs on a Unix machine. If your Macs are connected to >an AppleTalk network you must have a Kinetics fastpath to >gateway between the AppleTalk network and the ethernet that >your Unix host resides on. If your Mac is connected directly >to ethernet, you don't need a fastpath. Not being familiar with the internals of either, I need to ask: Would it be possible to run your mail package through a Cayman GatorBox to provide the LocalTalk-to-Ethernet connection ? If you don't have one, you could check your package out on ours..... we're not too far away. One other question. You mention that incoming mail just becomes another card in the HyperCard stack. Does that mean Hypercard must be active in order for you to receive mail, or does your package add to the stack independent of Hypercard ? If so, are there potential problems if you are traversing the stack with HyperCard while receiving mail ? To sum up, your package sounds VERY interesting to me. M. A. Pasek Switching Software Development NCR Comten, Inc. (612) 638-7668 CNG Development 2700 N. Snelling Ave. pasek@c10sd3.StPaul.NCR.COM Roseville, MN 55113