Xref: utzoo alt.bbs:261 comp.misc:4285 Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!pacbell!amdahl!ames!haven!uvaarpa!hudson!bessel.acc.Virginia.EDU!gl8f From: gl8f@bessel.acc.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Newsgroups: alt.bbs,comp.misc Subject: Re: New Ideas in BBSes (No BS!) Keywords: BBS Client Server Network NOMSDOS Message-ID: <842@hudson.acc.virginia.edu> Date: 4 Dec 88 07:44:05 GMT References: <1217@cps3xx.UUCP> <2093@uokmax.UUCP> <2324@ddsw1.MCS.COM> Sender: news@hudson.acc.virginia.edu Reply-To: gl8f@bessel.acc.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Distribution: na Organization: Dept. of Astronomy, University of Virginia Lines: 40 In article <2324@ddsw1.MCS.COM> karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM(Karl Denninger) writes: [stuff deleted] > > Yep. Then there's the kicker -- many people don't have systems that can > handle it, even today, and those that DO will require a specialized client > software package -- one for EACH type or brand of system you support. With a nice standardized package like STDWIN, the server program can be written in C and should function with few changes on all hardware. Also, most personal computers (pc klones, st, amiga, mac, ][gs) can easily handle this sort of stuff. > Then there is the speed issue. A graphics interface might be viable > on a 9600-baud modem. Nonsense. Think of what you do to read messages on a BBS. You alternate looking at windows which display messages, and windows which contain a reply or new message you're typing. Almost all of that can be handled by the server program... the host need only transfer the message or transfer back the new message. And message transfer for the next message can be done while you are reading the current message. Although you're doing a graphical interface, the BBS need not know that where the windows are or that the user is scrolling through it, especially for a message reading window. All it needs to know is when the window is closed or when the user picks a menu item, such as "Next Message" or "Reply". There isn't much more information transfer here than in a normal BBS. Now you would have to port STDWIN or whatever to all the machines involved. This is a problem on PC's -- there isn't any such thing as a run-time for GEM or MS Windows that you can distribute free with a public domain program, is there? But I think that the hardware technology exists already, and most of the software technology also. -- greg ---------- Greg Lindahl internet: gl8f@virginia.edu University of Virginia Department of Astronomy bitnet: gl8f@virginia.bitnet "When a 300' dish falls in the woods, and nobody hears, does it make a sound?"