jacobson@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (R J Jacobson) (11/15/90)
I have spent nearly a year working with Red Ryder Host (now Second Sight) and Tabby 2.2 (mailer software for Fidonet). Our Plus died two weeks ago and I got the external hard drive up on my own SE/30 for that time. Then two days ago, the Tabby sofware got all kinds of cryptic errors with write access and corrupted files. I could not restore this, and then had BBS problems. My backup copy of the BBS (Second Site) and Tabby software was also bad. Thus I am back to square one. I did not set up this BBS but it is a setup by others. I do not have the inclination to try and set this up from scratch. I do not like SS nor Tabby they both seem foreign to the Mac interface concepts. I have also played with Mansion, Hermes and FBBS. None of these seem to be in line with the Mac way of doing things. What I am looking for is a very good commercial BBS package that is user friendly/intuitive (the mac way of things) both for the sysop and the user. I have heard of some packages that even do Mac graphics. Obviously such software is for the Mac only, but that is what I am looking for. This BBS is for a Mac user group. Also with Tabby we interfaced with fidonet. I know that Tabby is the only Mac software so far to work with fidonet. Are there any easier to use fidonet packages on the horizon, and if so do they work with a easier to use Mac BBS program. If fidonet is not a possibilty does a mailer package exist like Tabby that would interface a BBS with this network? There are a number of users in our Mac group that do not have access to machines on this network. So if I could find a good replacement to fidonet that instead interfaced this network(s) (ie News) with a BBS package on the Mac I think that having this access for my user group BBS would be a great improvement/substitute for the fidonet that only seems accessable from tabby. I did not set up tabby either (the fellow who did it for us died this summer) so I am not inclined to try and set this up from scratch since my hard drive and backups failed me. I do not find tabby any more Mac like (easy to use/intuitive). So are there alternatives like I am asking for, or am I out of luck? Feel free to post here, but I would like email directly on this subject. Thanks for your time and help! BITNET jacobson@uiucux1 ARPANET jacobson%uiucux1@a.cs.uiuc.edu CSNET jacobson%uiucux1@uiuc.csnet USENET [ihnp4,pur-ee,convex]uiucdcs!uiucuxc!uiucux1!jacobson Russ Jacobson Illinois Geological Survey Champaign, IL 61820 217-244-2425
scott@scotty (Scott Howard) (11/16/90)
Take a look at First BBS and Telefinder. Nova Link Pro will probably get mentioned in the discussion, but forget it- its been beta since '88. Neither package allows access to FidoNet or Externals. Both will cost several hundred dollars for the number of users the board supports.
res-nova-software@cup.portal.com (Greg Paul Herlihy) (11/17/90)
scott@scotty (Scott Howard) writes: >Take a look at First BBS and Telefinder. >Nova Link Pro will probably get mentioned in the discussion, >but forget it- its been beta since '88. >Neither package allows access to FidoNet or Externals. >Both will cost several hundred dollars for the number of users >the board supports. To be a bit more precise NovaLink Professional (NLP) has been under development since '88. The beta period refers to the interval between the time the program reaches full functional specification and final release. In our case, the departure of one of the two original developers, and our undertaking a contract version slowed the progress considerably. When I assumed co-responsibility for NLP's development in February, I revised the functional spec to make the program more competitive by adding ZMODEM, Tabby support, a retooled interface in keeping with Apple's human interface guidelines, an on-line product ordering service, graphics sound support, file attachments in mail -- it was essentially a complete rewrite. This is the version that is running at our customer sites and our support board currently. In fact the nature of BBS software is such that it is hard to test in secret. Back to the original poster's question, there is no product that really fulfills his request (yet). Writing BBS software is a difficult undertaking, they assume features more of operating systems than of applications. For niche markets, a product like Telefinder fits the bill, if cost is not a great consideration. Greg Herlihy Co-developer of NovaLink Professional Res Nova Software
macman@wpi.WPI.EDU (Chris Silverberg) (11/17/90)
In article <1990Nov15.204031.3749@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> scott@scotty (Scott Howard) writes: >Take a look at First BBS and Telefinder. >Neither package allows access to FidoNet or Externals. Not for long... TeleFinder will be Tabby compatible soon! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Chris Silverberg INTERNET: macman@wpi.wpi.edu Worcester Polytechnic Institute Main Street USA 508-832-7725 (sysop) America Online: Silverberg WMUG BBS 508-832-5844 (sysop) "Ask me about TeleFinder... A Macintosh BBS with a Macintosh interface"
macman@wpi.WPI.EDU (Chris Silverberg) (11/18/90)
GH> For niche markets, a product like Telefinder fits the bill, if cost
GH> is not a great consideration.
For user groups, cost should be no consideration at roughly $1 per user.
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Chris Silverberg INTERNET: macman@wpi.wpi.edu
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Main Street USA 508-832-7725 (sysop)
America Online: Silverberg WMUG BBS 508-832-5844 (sysop)
"Ask me about TeleFinder... A Macintosh BBS with a Macintosh interface"mrx@dhw68k.cts.com (Mark Murphy) (11/22/90)
In article <36012@cup.portal.com> res-nova-software@cup.portal.com (Greg Paul Herlihy) writes: >scott@scotty (Scott Howard) writes: > >>Take a look at First BBS and Telefinder. >>Nova Link Pro will probably get mentioned in the discussion, >>but forget it- its been beta since '88. >>Neither package allows access to FidoNet or Externals. >>Both will cost several hundred dollars for the number of users >>the board supports. > >To be a bit more precise NovaLink Professional (NLP) has been under >development since '88. The beta period refers to the interval between the >time the program reaches full functional specification and final release. >In our case, the departure of one of the two original developers, and >our undertaking a contract version slowed the progress considerably. > >When I assumed co-responsibility for NLP's development in February, >I revised the functional spec to make the program more competitive by >adding ZMODEM, Tabby support, a retooled interface in keeping with Apple's >human interface guidelines, an on-line product ordering service, graphics >sound support, file attachments in mail -- it was essentially a complete >rewrite. > But Greg, the last I checked NLP was STILL in beta testing! We all realize it takes a long time to develope a full blown BBS system... and I can imagine that you and your team have put many, many hours of work into NLP... but... an end user should beware of using beta software. There are a lot of risks involved in using beta software. Also, when running a BBS system... the sysop cannot afford to have any down time or loose crucial files (like a corrupt mail file). It frustrates the users of the system. So for a BBS to be successful, it must be dependable. Bottom line... beta BBS software is not for the novice sysop (sometimes not even for the experienced sysop). If NLP is still in beta, it is not the best idea to jump feet first into it. I have been using an old version of NL (b56) for quite some time and I like the over-all idea behind NL... but there are plenty of features that are missing... I hope NLP will be a more complete package. I look forward to its release... -- mark mrx@dhw68k.cts.com