[comp.sys.mac.comm] Request for info... update!

ez002644@castor.ucdavis.edu (Eric W. Douglas) (06/03/91)

A week ago, I posted the following request:

*****************************************************************
To all persons using a Macintosh terminal program:

I have started authoring what I hope will be a great  advance  in
remote  communications and the Macintosh. I am trying to create a
Mac communications program that fills the voids of ones that  are
currently available.

My program, when complete, will be designed primarily to communi-
cate  with  Unix  systems,  but will also be usable as a standard
vt102 terminal emulator, for connecting to BBS's, etc...

The request that I have for those of you who frequently  use  Mac
communications  programs  is  to send me email, and list what you
find to be the most common deficiency of most  terminal  applica-
tions.  Also, list what you would like to see in a communications
program. All ideas, no matter how off the wall they may  be,  are
welcome.
*****************************************************************

Since then, I have received many thoughts on what  would  be  the
most   useful   terminal  program  for  communicating  with  Unix
machines. The most dominating requests were:

     -Multi-Window emulation (such as MacLayers or uw)

     -Zmodem transfer protocol

     -True (good) vt100/102 emulation

     -Support for key remapping

     -Communications Toolbox Support

     -Resizeable windows

     -Scripting

All of these things sound real good to me too. This is why I  de-
cided  to  start  this  project, as most programs I have used are
substandard. I have used a lot of terminal programs, and most  of
them  are  good  for  what  purposes  they  claim to be. A lot of
"plain" terminal emulators that I have used do a good job of emu-
lating  single terminals... but hey, I don't want to have to quit
"vi" (or put it in the background) to compile  the  program  that
I'm  working  on... Therefore, multiple terminals is a must. Most
multiple terminal emulators I have used do a good job of handling
layer  processes,  but lack good "Mac-like" interfaces, and don't
do good terminal emulation.

The point in all this is that I want *your* feedback... 'cause  I
hope to see a lot of you using this program, and enjoying it.

With that in mind, I would  still  like  to  hear  any  comments,
suggestions,  etc...  on this project. I have set up some special
scripts for handling your letters concerning this program. I will
not  be  reading these letters immediately upon arrival, since my
mailbox has been flooded these past few days. Instead, they  will
all  be automatically saved, and I will download and print a hard
copy for reference. To accomplish this smoothly, please make sure
that your subject line reads like this example:

     [Subject] "Re: Request for info... (etc)"

With your suggestions, I hope to someday make getting things done
a little easier for all of us!

See seperate letter posted in this newsgroup about beta testers.

Thanks to:

Dave White 
David Faust  
Ephraim  Vishniac  
Steve  Dorner  
Richard Perlman
"shores@fergvax.unl.edu"  
"langer@control.uchicago.edu"
Andreas Magnusson 
Simon Tardell 
Ken Corey 
Richard  Tilley  
Philip E. Molloy
"lou@cs.rutgers.edu" 
Jouni Miettunen 
James R. Goodman
"mdr55fr@technion.technion.ac.il"    
"rprohask@orion.oac.uci.edu"
Ashwin Ram
Rick Zaccone
John Donerdoner
"ckd@eff.org"
Paul Hillman
John Andrews
William Ayer
Phil Giltner
Suvrit Varshney

Sorry if I left anyone out...

Eric W. Douglas                        *  ericd@caticsuf.csufresno.edu
Dept. of Computer Science              *  ericd@yosemite.csufresno.edu
California State University, Fresno    *  ez002644@deneb.ucdavis.edu