GTHEALL@PENNDRLN.BITNET (George A. Theall) (05/21/88)
As my recent request may hint at, I am one Rainbow user who
would like to see binary files emailed. It may seem strange, but
the telephone system in my office (where my machine is) will not
work with a modem! Until last year I could get almost anything
my little heart desired via DEC's MARLBORO system; now I can only
scarf generic MS-DOS programs off SIMTEL-20.
There are users located outside of the US; Israel, Switzerland,
and Finland have all been represented on INFO-DEC-MICRO recently. How
do those people access a bbs? I'd bet Rainbow-oriented systems are
virtually non-existant in their countries.
The ideal solution would be to set up something akin to a
LISTSERVer machine on some system with access to archives of this
group as well as programs. For those unfamiliar with the BITNET
side of things, a list server can accept either interactive or
mail messages and act on them automatically. Unfortunately, the code
for LISTSERV is written for VM/CMS systems, and requires a separate
account be set up on a system. Few of us on the net use CMS, and
even fewer have system privileges.
So, can we set up something similar? perhaps something that is
human-operated rather than automated? The users' group I run here at
Penn has a large collection of pd software, but that's fairly old
and no longer updated regularly. Our group also has space on the
Penn's Landing bbs for Rainbow software (215-898-8511, 8N1, non-business
hours), though the only stuff there now came from Bruce Jackson's
Rainbow Freeware book. I'd volunteer to help act as a clearinghouse
for Rainbow pd programs, but I won't do so without others doing the
same, say, on a regional basis. BTW, our pd library consists of
about 40 disks, and every program has been (briefly) summarized in a
document, which could be circulated on this net. [Please don't
send me requests for this document now].
Well, what can be done? I'm still committed to the Rainbow, and
I hope others on this net are too. Let's hear what the rest of you have
to say. Or are we just going to roll over and admit that the Rainbow
is a "mature product", one no longer in need of new software and/or
hardware?
George
P.S. Since I'll be out of the country from 5/30 to 7/12, I probably won't
be able to participate much more in this discussion. Hope there's a much
more vigorous Rainbow community when I return.
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