[nos-bbs] Copying files with packet

[George (Skip) VerDuin]

On Fri, 2005-07-01 at 09:58 -0700, Bill Vodall WA7NWP wrote:
> A long long long time ago, in another galaxy far away (Montana)
> I went through the steps to add FIDO net to my blazing 386sx16 Linux
> box.   Part of that process included tieing the FIDO system to the standard
Oh my!  I never thought I'd hear that name again.  I remember FIDO with
chagrin.  In my case, before I built a user base some cracker came along
and found he could lock up my system for fun - it was more appropriate
to pull the plug than fight the devil...
> UUCP Email delivery system I was using at the time.   I found it fascinating
> that it was possible to define different transport mechanism's (fido phone
> call...) for different email addresses -- like @fido.org.
> 
> Even though peace and harmony has been restored to the galaxy thanks
> to the universal force of TCP/IP -- I keep thinking of that old experience
> with alternate email delivery.   All the old tools for UUCP bundling and
> delivery of Email, files and news group postings are available for any stock
> Linux system.   The missing piece to make use of this with our amateur
> radio packet system is a generic file transfer mechanism over packet.  Something
> like scp or rcp or even uucp.   Say  ax25cp!
? Shades of Kermit, xmodem, ...  Seems like you have hit on a concept,
and if adding it brings us a step closer to "the tunnel" it may be a hot
item.  

I'd like to ask a corollary question - if TCP/IP will fit into an AX.25
envelope for delivery, why can't xnos attach to the network in a way
that nos provides an alternative route for whatever is happening in
TCP/IP land and thus you may now directly use all those Internet tools
even when the DSL, cable, ppp dialup, and that T1, fail?

Another thread here is now chatting on this issue, and there are good
points on overhead, bandwidth, etc, that severely limit data flow.
Seems that these things might solve with adjustment to the standard spec
for AX.25, permissible bandwidth, and things external (but related) to
nos.  For nos's contribution, finding a way to automate the process of
connecting, routing, kicking, (you add to the list), brings us to a
point where we might begin to gracefully retire some AX.25 tools like
BBS in favor of network tools like Evolution while using an existing
ax.25 infrastructure until (if ever) it is replaced with HF & VHF
spectrum TCP/IP digipeaters (that are not in place today?).  Why wait
until 802.11 moves from GHz to MHz, or scrap functional equipment?

It seems like you are right, no file transfers in general use in AX.25.
I wonder if you would rather use your Internet tools [peace & harmony]
over an existing AX.25 pathway so long as you can live with the transfer
speed.  I'm pointing to the tools you have contact with, and moving
AX.25 toward the invisible stuff that goes on in the background to glue
the network together.  Yeah, it changes nos a bit...

If the concept I just laid out is worth pursuing, then perhaps scripting
what a jnos sysop does after autoexec.nos is done would begin to allow
network handlers to use nos as a generic route and you to use your
favorite existing file copier.
> 
> So for example if the AC7YY que directory on my system had files, an regularly
> scheduled process could do something like:
> 
>   cd  $SPOOL/AC7YY
>   for i in * ; do
>     ax25cp $i AC7YY:$i
>   done
> 
> Hmmm.   The AC7YY could even be a script like NOS uses for mail forwarding instead of just
> a simple connect to a <CALL-SSID>
> 
> Once that file was at the AC7YY system, the contained messages would be uncompressed, unpacked
> and delivered.
> 
> Does anything like this AX25cp exist? --  Preferably for basic Linux AX25 but any other packet
> application would give us a good starting point.
Your question is worth a good consideration and answer.  I've gone off
on a tangent and asked if you would rather use "drag-n-drop" on your
desktop... (it rhymes?)  It may be a crazy idea, but I'm ready to work
toward it.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Bill - WA7NWP
> 
> 
> 
> 
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73
Skip