From: cybrspc!wwiv!84-500@cs.umn.edu (sysadmin#lost.cojones.com ('Bart' Prentice) #84 @500)
Newsgroups: alt.bbs
Subject: Re: Vbbs                 
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 92 13:35:13 GMT

1270-503@wwiv.cojones.com (slewis#whitebase.ukp.com (Scott Lewis) #1270 @503) writes:

> * BBS Intelligence reported Adol Christain saying this about Vbbs: 
> 
>  AC> So did anyone ever get VBBS working with USENet?  I coulden't so
>  AC> I  broke down and ran waffle.  Oh well, now I miss VBBS, and want to
>  AC> run  Waffle as a door (I don't know if it is possible).  Anyways, I was
>  AC> on the  author's board and tried mailing out, and it never made it.  I
>  AC> don't  think even the author's board ever got it working right.  Shame.
> 
>         Did you register VBBS?  You cannot use any network other than
>         their propietary VirtualNET network until AFTER registering.
>         When you register, you are mailed the programs needed to
>         interface Waffle with VBBS.  Waffle is used to call out for
>         Usenet mail, and then it's converted right into the VBBS message
>         base.

VBBS can net with Waffle. . . sorta.  Its like, not really.  If all you
want is to see messages written on one system appear on the other, well
then you can net them.  Thats about it.

Not only do you have to register VBBS, but you also have to register Waffle
because you do NOT get a bunch of good files to network with.  You have to
get the UUCICO and related files from Waffle.  Basically, you have to
install a cut-down version in order to gate.  Better just run it as a door.

Heres where the fun starts.  VBBS users are listed as (for example)
usr14@virtual.bbs.com.  Anyone see the problem?  Here, I'll use another
example: usr69@virtual.bbs.com.  Now you get the picture?  No names
afterwards, no nothing.  Thats just the beginning.

There is absolutely *NO* (make that **NO**) provision to strip ANSI or
8-bit ASCII from VBBS mail or posts.  Is there any confusion on this
point?  The hardcoded ANSI is easy enough to strip, just by finding the ESC
and killing that, but VBBS uses "heart-coded" ANSI to speed up
transmission.  Basically, heart-codes work by reducing the ANSI code to two
characters and converting the code into the escape-sequence if the
individual user selects ANSI: ON.  Heart-coded ANSI is also easy to strip.

Next problem is that silly 8-bit IBM ASCII.  Can't use it in UseNet.  Can't
sell it.  Can't strip it without a lot of heartache.  Unix don't want it.
Apple II-GSs have been known to hard-up with the right character.  To make
matters worse, VBBS has built-in QWK-packet offline mail reader support,
and EVERY QWK-compatable mail reader I've ever seen uses 8-bit ASCII as
part of it's default .sig - and you can't change this without spending cash
to register the program.

Bad Thing.

The author knows about these problems but is not very amenable to fixing
them in the current decade.  As far as he seems to be concerned, UUCP
should just go away, and UseNet should not be mixed with VBBS.  He also
won't release the format for his networking packets without purchase of the
source code for his network software.  Basically, he doesn't want to write
decent gateway software and he doesn't want anyone else doing it first.

 *     "Bart" Prentice  -/-  Net-Monkey  -/-  Flight Medic  -/-  Student     *
 * Internet> sysadmin@lost.cojones.com *or* .!uunet!coldbox!lostbox!sysadmin *
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