Hello mark.

17 Jun 07 20:03, you wrote to me:

 ml>> errrmmm... it has been my inderstanding, all these years, that
 ml>> the ability to run external packages was a major feature for
 ml>> things like this... something you would like to see? run an
 ml>> external that offers it... for instance, there's one or two
 ml>> message area replacements that i'm aware of... i know there are
 ml>> also a few file area replacements... i don't get it?

 JS>>      I guess I don't either then. If I had the choice of one
 JS>> piece of software that was capable of doing a number of things
 JS>> (Pots, Telnet, BinkP, Mail, Files, Ftp, Email, Etc.) I would be
 JS>> more apt to go with the single package than I would trying to get
 JS>> a number of differant programs to work together.

 ml> ahh, i closet Wildcat! sysop, eh? O:)

     I think I started out with WC just after v2 came out. I had the
WC BBS running on a 4.77Mhz 8088 with 768K of ram and my trusty 300b
modem.

 JS>> Not all of them as you well know operate using the same
 JS>> standards.

 ml> yes... very much so... my hybrid setup is a bit of a bitch to work
 ml> with and if i ever get off my behind and complete the "integration"
 ml> package i've toyed with over the years, it'll make things a lot
 ml> easier... but i don't know if that will ever happen... i'm still
 ml> dealing with coding burnout unless something really takes my interest
 ml> and even then, it is a tough haul...

 JS>> I think that is the reason packages like Winserver, Synchronet,
 JS>> MBSE, BBBS and the like are becoming more popular. Less work to
 JS>> get everything working correctly together.

 ml> yes, i understand that but it seems to me that that was part of the
 ml> mystique of being a (real?) sysop...

     Yup... Back in the good 'ole days when you fealt like ya had
accomplished something. Mainly I think because SysOp's had the task of
doing alot with a
lot less to work with. With today's BBS packages a SysOp doesn't HAVE to
know much about how the BBS actually does what it does. One BBS software
package
in particular only asks the SysOp a few simple questions and then installs
and sets up a running BBS waiting for it's first login. I had it installed
and online in less than ten minites.

 JS>> As it turned out a ended up registering several copies of
 JS>> Winserver and one of BBBS since my RA days. I have also installed
 JS>> and tested DB, Synchronet, and MBSE over the last year or so.

 ml> the only thing i'm really looking for, myself, at this point in time,
 ml> is something linux compatible without all the BS... textfile configs
 ml> are ok but i don't really like them... i dunno why but i find it
 ml> easier to fill in the blank when i know what something is used for...

     I have always been the type to take something apart to see what made
it work. My mother had a HAND in enticing me to to learn to fix what I broke
after I took apart our new 19in BW television at the ripe old age of eight.



 JS>>      Not too long ago for SnG's I tried to install IM 2.50 again.
 JS>> It wouldn't even load without generating an error. I think the
 JS>> last PC I had IM installed on was a 486-120 with 16-32 meg of
 JS>> ram. Some of the PC's here currently have 2-4 gig of ram and run
 JS>> at 2-3.2Ghz.

 ml> IM has had its own share of problems... it was abandoned before FD,
 ml> AIR... FD did go thru a complete rewrite that enabled it to be ported
 ml> to other platforms easier but then real life with a wife and children
 ml> appear to have gotten in the way... one can't pay the bills or feed
 ml> the family on barely meager shareware sales...

     One might be able to do lunch at McDonalds though. 

 JS>>      The lack of developement has kept many software packages
 JS>> stagnent and in some cases even unable to run at all unless you
 JS>> limit the hardware to the software's limitations.

 ml> or locate someone who can create a proper patch for them (ie: the
 ml> division by  zero errors)...

     Hey, I remember those.

 JS>>      Sadly, OS/2 is another example. I really enjoyed my OS/2
 JS>> days and recently tried to reinstall Warp4 on a PC here. First
 JS>> thing I was reminded of was that it couldn't deal with an HD
 JS>> larger than 8G and also had problems with the newer bios. Heck, I
 JS>> am not sure how many working floppy drives I still have in these
 JS>> PC's. In fact several never had a floppy drive installed

 ml> it has been well known for a long time that the easiest way to upgrade
 ml> hardware with OS/2 was to move existing and working installations to
 ml> the new hardware... it Warp 3/4 won't install on 64bit boxes but will
 ml> run fine if moved to a 64bit machine...

     I'll at some point get Warp installed on something here. I will just
have to rumage through the boxes of MB's and cards and put something together.

 JS>>>      Heck, I recently tried to register some Fidonet related
 JS>>> software that is no longer being developed but is be managed

 ml>> hunh? being managed? wottzat mean?

 JS>>      The software is not being developed but is owned by someone
 JS>> that is currently active and is offering support for the product.
 JS>> But they are refusing any new registrations.

 ml> sounds like allfix...

      Give the man a cookie.

 ml>  there was supposedly a coder who was looking at
 ml> things for that package so as to bring it up to current standards but
 ml> i never heard what happened there... i suspect that they simply gave
 ml> up... heck, they could have simply rewritten the thing and moved on ;)

 JS>>> and my registration was refused. The unregistered version of the
 JS>>> software is handicaped.

 ml>> you pointed this out to them and explained why you needed to
 ml>> register?

 JS>>      Yes I did. Actually I had registered the software some years
 JS>> ago but couldn't find the original key file. I acquired the most
 JS>> recent version from the year 2000 and decided to re-register the
 JS>> program. I was informed by the current owner that they were not
 JS>> currently accepting new registrations and did not know if or when
 JS>> they might be doing so again. So, I decided to go the Husky
 JS>> direction since this node is a MO system and I have no BBS
 JS>> installed.

 ml> i hear ya... i guess you couldn't have gotten a replacement key?

     I did ask. Seems the key generator is broken. 

 ml> i've thought about looking at the husky stuff but have found that
 ml> there are many things that it just doesn't do or done so differently
 ml> that i'd have problems trying to run it :(

     I'm going through that learning curve as we speak...err...type.

 ml> )\/(ark

 ml> (1:3634/12)

Jeff

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