On Mon, 21 Sep 1992 18:08:52 +0200 Eric Thomas said:
>
>Could you please expand on this statement? I'm afraid I simply don't
>understand what you are talking about. The line protocols used on BITNET
>were developed for IBM machines, so they are IBM-ish in nature, in much
>the same way that most Internet protocols are unix-ish in nature. There
>is nothing that can be done about that, as you said it is what makes
>BITNET BITNET and the Internet the Internet. Within that framework, could
>you please elaborate on what specific actions of CREN, EARN or any other
>cooperating network makes you think that BITNET is being developed as a
>"VM mainframe" network? When reviewing the recent changes volunteer
>developers like me introduced in their software, do you get the
>impression that these people are making the network more or less
>"VM-mainframe-oriented", and why?
If Bitnet is to be made more universal, then the syntax and availability of
the SENDFILE and TELL commands should be more consistant on non-VM systems.
I used to have access to two Vax VMS systems which were directly on Bitnet.
On one system, there was no SENDFILE feature at all. Being as though CREN
Eric, and others out there tout SENDFILE as a great Bitnet feature, they
should find this fact disturbing even if the fault is not CREN's. On the
second VMS system where I had Bitnet access, there was a send file
capability, but its syntax was totally different than the VM version. The
same situation was true with TELL. It was not available on one system, and
on the other system, its syntax was entirely different.
It seems to me that a network should have one set of commands for using its
services regardless of which operating system is used to access that
network. Of course, thi problem is also true of The Internet to a degree.
This problem with inconsistancy both in regard to The Internet and Bitnet
services probably comes from the fact that third party software providers
implement things in different ways. As an extreme example, consider that on
Unix and VM, one can send mail by typing MAIL userid@host, but in VMS' PMDF
mail package, one must type the address as in%"userid@host" and in PROFS,
which I've never used, the syntax may be something entirely different.
Stan Horwitz Internet: STAN @ VM.TEMPLE.EDU Bitnet: STAN @ TEMPLEVM
Temple University's Sr. Mainframe Consultant; Manager of the Help-Net
and Suggest lists; Listserv Postmaster
Standard disclaimers apply. One of these days I will make this sig file
look much nicer.
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