Pine controversy

[Kenneth Applegate]

On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, Rich Littleton wrote:

> 
> Ken raises good points to be resolved.  I'd like to see SCN be able to be
> both user friendly, AND serve all its functions.
> 
> Is there a text e-mail that is this?
> 
> Rod said that it would be functionally not possible to build our own from
> scratch.  
> 
> Ken, what is out there in cyberspace in the e-mail category that might
> solve all concerns?
> 

Don't jump on me about "user-friendly" on this one, but there IS a
text-based email program available for PC's. It's called -- (drum roll) --
PC-Pine. I haven't used it for awhile, and back then it was strictly
DOS-based, but ran OK in a DOS Window on Win 3.1. There has also been some
later development of a Windows version, which I understand still looks
pretty text based. Anyway, the versions I used worked pretty well and in
much the same way as server based Pine, the only difference being that
when you accessed your PC-Pine INBOX, it connected to the network and went
off to grab the contents of your server INBOX [or any other mail folder
you specified on your server account].

PC Pine is a U of Washington creation, like Pine, and probably would be
available to a non-profit organization.

UW is including PC-Pine as the email program in their UWICK (UW Internet
Connectivity Kit) for this fall quarter. Since I work at the UW, I could
get a copy of PC-Pine and set it up on a Win 95 machine in the research
lab where I work, and do some testing in a real (even legit!) situation.

SCN should also pay attention to the UWICK package itself. The current
version is really slick. They package it on a CD, which you insert in your
Windows or Mac drive, and it uses a wizzard to go through an absolutely
painless 5 minute installation of networking and applications (telnet
terminal, ws-ftp, pc-pine) for either dial-up or hardwired connections.
The only thing you have to do is turn on your modem so it can get the
right setup parameters. At the end, it has set up all the networking
support so that when you launch any tcp/ip application, a dialer window
comes up, pre-configured for the UW numbers. Click on the one you want,
and everything else is automatic until the application starts.

Some of our SCN people who have connections with the the UW Computing &
Communications department (I don't!) should investigate what it would take
and cost for SCN to get a customized version of UWICK (SCNICK?!) for
setting up networking to SCN.

Ken 

> Later,
> 
> Rich
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> 
> *****  Unless stated otherwise, this message may be forwarded.  ******
> 
> On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, Kenneth Applegate wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, Joe Mabel wrote:
> > 
> > > That's all well & good, but if we say we don't give a damn about library 
> > > users, we don't give a damn about anyone with access to Windows, in my 
> > > view, at that point we become a hobbyist organization, and this isn't my 
> > > hobby.
> > > 
> > 
> > OK, so we will have a bunch of library computers running Windows 98 and
> > using IE or Netscape for a web based access to their services. Does that
> > mean we set up SCN email so it can use the email features of whatever
> > browser the library uses? Or do we try to get the library to install some
> > particular dedicated email program on all their machines?
> > 
> > And how do users and visitors access other services on SCN, using the
> > library environment?
> > 
> > Ken
> > 
> > Ken Applegate           How do you identify astronomers from Seattle? 
> > <starsrus at scn.org>      By the windshield wipers on their telescopes!
> > 
> > 
> 
> 

Ken Applegate           How do you identify astronomers from Seattle? 
<starsrus at scn.org>      By the windshield wipers on their telescopes!

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