Hello mark,

On Monday July 02 2018 14:07, you wrote to me:

 MV>>>> Classic POTS mailers can't "dial internet numbers" anyway. They
 MV>>>> can only dial numbers on the public telephone system.

 MV>> By definition.

 ml> the inclusion of "POTS" is the only reason... no traditional FTN
 ml> mailer identified itself as a "POTS Mailer"...

Of course. When POTS was the only game in toen, there was no need tp explicitly
call them POTS mailers. That addendum only came after POTS was the only game in
town.

 MV>> If your FrontDoor needs a fossil to dial POTS nodes, then it is
 MV>> incomplete.

 ml> no, it is not... no moreso than a BBS that requires a FOSSIL driver...

I once run a very simple BBS, It was a script written in Telix, the script
language for a popular terminal programme who's name I have forgotten. No
fossil...

 ml> FrontDoor and RemoteAccess BBS both require a FOSSIL driver to
 ml> communicate with real and virtual serial devices...

FOSSIL --> Fido Opus Seadog Serial Interface Layer.

A fossil was needed to make use of the advanced features of the 16550 UART. It
is a HARDWARE interface. Calling a virtual interface a FOSSIL is an abuse of
terms.

 MV>> My InterMail did not need a fossil. It could deal with the UART
 MV>> all by itself.

 ml> interesting... so you didn't have to load BNU or x00?

Indeed, no need for that. InterMail had the functionality build in. There was
an option for using an external FOSSIL, but I never saw any advantage in that.

 ml> if that's the case, that's the first major difference between
 ml> intermail and frontdoor since the code-splitting...

Possibly.

 MV>> If your FrontDoor can dial internet nodes with an advanced
 MV>> fossil, then the combination is more than a classic POTS mailer.

 ml> there is no ""advanced FOSSIL""... there is the FOSSIL... it talks to
 ml> the COM ports, real and virtual...

No. What do you think the second 'S' in FOSSIL stands for?

If it talks to virtual ports, than it is not a FOSSIL, but something else.

 ml> there is no difference between the COM ports as far as the mailer or
 ml> BBS are concerned...

I can make a gadget that has wheels that can go on a railway track. I can put
my car on it and have the wheels of the car drive the railroad wheels of the
gadget. I can then drive my car on railroad tracks. But that does not make my
car a train.


Cheers, Michiel

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