On Mon, 14 Sep 1992 14:57:34 +0200 Eric Thomas said:
>On Mon, 14 Sep 1992 08:28:42 EDT Stan Horwitz <[log in to unmask]> said:
>
>>Internet services such as FTP and  TALK are available tell fill this gap
>>and our MAIL software can dispatch files via Internet.
>
>FTP is great if  you are looking for an excuse to  twiddle your thumbs 15
>minutes at work while reading the  paper. TALK only works with one person
>at a time and is very slow,  plus your correspondent gets to see all your
>typos. Have you ever tried sending a MODULE file via mail?
 
Your statements regarding  FTP are wrong and  I must take issue  with them. I
have used  FTP on a variety  of platforms here  at Temple and at  my previous
employer,  the  University of  Pennsylvania.  Ftp  can transfer  huge  files,
binary  and text,  very  rapidly between  many types  of  systems. Delays  in
FTPing files  here are rare  so I don't understand  why anyone would  need to
twiddle one's  thumbs, unless  maybe your  network segment  is very  busy. In
fact, if we  dropped Bitnet, our FTP file transfers  would probably be faster
since we use Internet to send our  Bitnet traffic to Princeton now. If I were
to experience  a delay  in an  FTP transfer,  it would  only be  necessary to
twiddle my thumbs if I was using an  IBM system. On VMS or Unix, I could just
log in again  and work on something  else. One some systems,  the FTP process
can be bumped to the background without  logging in again. As such, delays in
file  transfers  are rarely  an  inconvenience.  The  fact  that FTP  is  not
proprietary  to any  one system  and was  designed to  work across  different
platforms enables me  to rapidly transfer files to/from the  PC, the Mac, and
the Unix workstation in my office to anyone on the Internet without having to
upload  them to  a  Bitnet host  first  to use  SENDFILE.  True, SENDFILE  is
superior compared to mailing binary files, but then again, FTP sends binaries
quite nicely and SENDFILE's RSCS heritage  sometimes limits the size of files
it can send and the number of columns a file can contain.
 
With regard to TALK, you are absolutely right, it does limit conversations to
two people. This is sometimes  a nicety because conversations between several
people at  once can get confusing.  For those who  need to chat with  lots of
people at once, there's the IRC package  which is to Internet what Chat is to
Bitnet. Being  very busy,  I don't  use either  of these  packages much  so I
cannot compare them any further.
 
While we are on the subject, a key disadvantage to Bitnet is its inability to
permit remote  login sessions. Bitnet  just doesn't follow the  client server
model of computing that's become so  popular lately. I still like Bitnet, but
I must be honest and say that it  is getting harder and harder for me to find
enough reasons to keep Bitnet here at Temple.
 
Once again, I  have to say that I  am not in authority at Temple  to make any
decisions regarding  which networks we use.  Even if I had  such authority, I
would  not necessarily  drop Bitnet.  My views  are entirely  my own  and not
necessarily those of my employer.
 
 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.