From: sdw@meaddata.com (Stephen Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.bbs.misc,alt.bbs
Subject: Re: RoboBoard BBS
Date: 1 Jan 1993 22:06:22 GMT
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
NNTP-Posting-Host: bugatti.meaddata.com
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Note that I am putting together software for a turn-key bbs/public
access Unix system.

My text interface, at this point, is a multi-screen manager (screen),
elm or pine for mail, tin for News, utree (like xtree) for file
browsing and downloading, IRC for chatting, and optional Unix command
line or menu to applications.

I include a satellite feed of Internet Netnews, from Pagesat.

I have been thinking of how to support graphics:

Scott Sturgis (ssturgis@netcom.com) wrote:
..
: Here I believe lies the problem .. it uses PROPRIETARY graphics standard.
: I have looked at Roboboard, Darkstar and others. They are nice to some
: extent. But I think that most will be met with limited success until the
: bbs world comes up with some kind of UNIVERSAL graphics standard instead
: of PROPRIETARY standard.
I agree.  I was thinking about this and realized that X-windows would
be perfect.  It is completely standardized, deals with varying styles
of hardware, is very compact and efficient, has public domain source,
has commercial implementations, has serial/dialup support from various
people.  It also puts very little burden on the server side and allows
for standard text applications to run in Xterms.

Of course, the commercial packages for DOS are fairly expensive (with
TCP/IP, at least $400-500).

There is an interesting turn of events however: Linux is extremely
compact, has full X11R5 (newest) support, is free, etc.  There is also
a program to allow simple serial X access to almost any Unix system.
(Without slip/ppp or root access!)

It appears to be feasible, and I am trying now to complete, to have
a stripped down Linux and X binaries/fonts on 2 bootable floppies,
with (hopefully) optional additional files on the DOS partition of
your harddrive.

This would give users a painless, cheap X-Windows connection to a Unix
bbs.  The client requirements (as I see them now) are 1 3.5 1.44MB
drive, 2(doubtful)-4MB ram, 386(something), some kind of VGA, any mouse.

It should be noted that many workstation (at work) users would love to
have remote X-windows cheaply...

: 
: This goes back to the old scenario where the user has to have 16 comm
: packages on their machine...one for each PROPRIETARY system.
You can't get any more standard than X!
: 
: I think the guys working on these systems are providing a valuable service
: in their research. But I think that once a common standard (or until some
: of the MAJOR players in BBS software agree on something) the majory will
: not adopt many of these.

You can get commercial (and possibly PD) X-windows for any system
advanced (big) enough to run it.

Please email me if you are interested.  When everything is stable
enough, I will be contacting the 100+ people who have expressed
interest so far.

sdw
--
Stephen D. Williams  Local Internet Gateway Co.; SDW Systems 513 496-5223APager
LIG dev./sales       Internet: sdw@world.std.com CIS 76244.210@compuserve.com
OO R&D Source Dist.  By Horse: 10028 Village Tree Ct., Miamisburg, OH 45342
GNU Support          ICBM: 39 34N 85 15W I love it when a plan comes together