From: fxmlk@acad3.alaska.edu (KIENENBERGER MIKE L)
Subject: Re: Internet <-> Bitnet Talk connection?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41.UAC
Organization: University of Alaska - Fairbanks
Follow-Up: alt.dev.null
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 20:30:00 GMT

In article <BvppvE.B5r@rice.edu>, schafer@is.rice.edu (Richard Alan Schafer) writes...
>In article <6OCT199201005067@acad3.alaska.edu>, fxmlk@acad3.alaska.edu
>(KIENENBERGER MIKE L) writes:
>|> In article <1992Oct6.074020.14449@news.acns.nwu.edu>,
>|> eepmatt@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Matthew Friedman) writes...
>|> >A number of questions involving the Bitnet:
>|> 
>|> First the easy questions:
>|> 
>|> >2) Is there an equivilent to internet's telnet for machines on the bitnet?
>|> I'm
>|> >told (by someone unsure) that there is not.
>|> 
>|> There is not.  However, some bitnet machines are also on a decnet.  For
>|> instance, the University of Alaska computer system is connected to (or was)
>|> the University of Washington (Seattle) and one could type "SET HOST
>|> <machine>"
>|> and log into any of the machines in the network (This was pretty amazing
>|> way
>|> back before internet reached our university!)
> 
>Sorry, this is simply not true.  Many BITNET hosts are also accessible via the
>Internet, supporting both telnet, ftp, smtp, and other familiar tools.  You
>will need to obtain the domain name for the BITNET host, since it will be
>different than its BITNET name, which is limited to 8 characters.  For example
>my IBM mainframe is RICEVM1 on BITNET, but RICEVM1.RICE.EDU to the Internet.

Well, yes, that is true, but I doubt if the original questioner was asking
whether he could telnet to machines on the Internet.

>Mike is correct in that some BITNET hosts are decnet-connected, but remember
>that's an underlying transport protocol, not strictly speaking a network.

True enough.  Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

>|> >1) Is there a way to establish an interactive connection between an
>|> internet
>|> >account and a bitnet account? My talk program does not recognise the bitnet
>|> |> >host as a legitimate name.
>|> 
>|> Short Answer: No.
>|> 
>|> Long Answer: Yes. However, you have to
>|> 1) find a machine that is on both bitnet and internet,
>|> 2) write a program that understands an interactive message under both
>|> networks
>|>    and can translate the messages.
>|> 3) run the program on the machine meantioned in 1).
> 
>There are several of these programs running around, for everything from VMS
>to IBM VM/CMS systems that I've heard of.  

Really?  I've never heard about or seen any of them. Are you sure that you
are not just looking at variants of the Bitnet SEND/TELL command?

Most CMS systems that I know of run Bitnet.

Aside from my own program, I'd not heard of anything else that did
realtime interactive messaging between internet and bitnet.

> True.  BITNET people will tell you (with some justification) that these
> are frequently just what they want, since these interactive messages are
> used to send commands to servers.

The bitnet SEND command (at least on VMS) just seems nicer.  It's not as
versatile, but it has a smoothness that "write" and "talk" just don't
seem to possess. IMO, of course.

=============================================================================
-Mike Kienenberger                       FXMLK@ALASKA           (BITNet)
 Academic Computing                      FXMLK@acad3.alaska.edu (Internet)
 University of Alaska-Fairbanks
 "I'm a computer programmer....<link><link><kludge><kludge> say-no-more!"
Newsgroups: alt.internet.services