Subj : Who is running FD as Telnet Mailer?
To   : mark lewis
From : Dran Draggore
Date : Sat Apr 02 2016 08:50 pm

  Re: Who is running FD as Telnet Mailer?
  By: mark lewis to Dran Draggore on Sat Apr 02 2016 09:35 am

 >  DD> You said you connect to Gert's BBS, which then redirects you to the
 >  DD> mailer ? -- that does not sound right. Usually it is the mailer that
 >  DD> answers first.
 >
 > it depends, really... some bbses can operate in shell-to-mailer mode... they
 > either answer the connection and shell to the mailer or they shell to the
 > mailer straight away and then accept a hot line after the mailer answers the
 > line and exits back to the bbs... pcboard and other similar bbses answer the
 > line and then switch to the mailer when they realize the connection is not a
 > human user...

Ah yes. RemoteAccess does shell-to-mailer mode to speed up the process. I
forgot about this.

 >  DD> If you are using a virtual modem with FrontDoor, then the system you
 >  DD> are connecting to should also be using a virtual modem. The rule is: a
 >  DD> virtual modem connects to another virtual modem - and a telnet
 >  DD> 'client' connects to a telnet 'server'.
 >
 > telnet-to-telnet, yes... but one could have a virtual modem that does ssh or
 > rlogin so they'll also need to connect to the proper end on the other
 > side... a
 > virtual modem is just a shim between software that is expecting to talk to
 > an  analogue modem and a different connection type that speaks another
 > language/protocol... kinda like a media convertor (aka cable modem, dsl
 > modem,  fiber optic to cat5)...

My point was to use an approach that minimised potential compatibility issues
by sticking as closely as possible to how things were meant to run. The virtual
modem's purpose is to substitute for an actual modem. The separation of the
modem, FOSSIL and BBS software has been rigorously tested, so deviating from
this paradigm is asking for trouble.

SSH/rlogin were added afterwards, probably during a time when companies were
transitioning from legacy systems. These new features are not relevant to
FrontDoor or what it expects from other mailers.

 >  DD> ADF is all you need these days. I only use BNU for nostalgia reasons.
 >  DD> Also, no point using X00 or anything that requires 'config.sys'(unless
 >  DD> you're running DOS/w3.x/w9x).
 >
 > if you rename x00.sys to x00.exe, you can load it from the command line...
 > no  config.sys necessary... x00 was specifically written to be able to do
 > this ;)

Wow, I did not know this. But in the spirit of authenticity, X00 belongs in
config.sys :)

 >  DD> Bleh. Do not waste your time with OS/2 :)
 >
 > why not? it works perfectly well over here... it has done so since OS/2 Warp
 > 3  Connect came out... we also don't have a bunch of scridiots trying to
 > tear it  down ;)

From a BBS perspective, because most doors are made for DOS. From a business
perspective, because OS/2 is dead. Does that make you feel like you have been
stabbed in the heart ? Heh.

.