SLIP [Was: McCoy is Right! New Mail Format to Start Now.]

[shamrock@netcom.com (Lucky Green)]

Black Unicorn wrote:

>So, I'm running a Mac //cx with a shell account at the moment.  I have a
>lowly 14.4k connection.

All I got is 9600.

>What solution do you have for the user who has no direct connection to
>the net, has merely a modem speed bandwidth, and is in a non-isdn area?
>
>I often need to pull large files over 3 megs into my shell account at
>high speeds.  (60-100 kb/sec)  Impossible with SLIP.

Well, perhaps I can interested you in QuickNet (16MEGAbps, thats an
Ethernet, two video channels and several phonelines, all running over the
very same 4 wires that are already in your wall) but in order for that to
become available, you have to help convince Congress that local telco
de-regulation is a Good Thing.


Seriously, how do you get 100 kbps over a 14.4 kbps line? Even with the
best compression you won't get that kind of throughput.

>Are you telling me that I can do this and still have the advantage of SLIP?

Whatever througput rate you get from the shell, you can get via SLIP.

>Forgive my ignorance, but you'll have to enlighten me.

Gladly :-)

>> >
>> >For reasons I just addressed in another post, I foresee being on a
>> >dial-up (not a SLIP or PPP, that is) for a while. And I have relatively
>> >few complaints about it. My service provider keeps the 9446 current
>> >newsgroups, provides ftp and suchlike tools, and I don't have to be a
>> >sysadmin. Frankly, if I have to choose between not being able to see
>> >someone's MIMEd GIF and becoming a Unix sysadmin for my own site, I'll
>> >skip the GIFs.
>
>Same balance for me when it comes to the transfer rate.

Lets assume for a moment that you get much faster throughput by zmodem'ing
a file from the shell than by ftp'ing it via SLIP (some users have reported
that zmodem from the shell is faster than ftp, but the differece is
marginal at best. I have never been able to verify the claim.)

Having tia on your shell account doesn't affect your ability to use the
shell in any way. If you are so inclined, you can still download files from
the shell as you did before. You can also turn the shell into a SLIP
connection with in seconds. Nothing lost, plenty gained.

[...]

>So how much am I expected to "shell out" ?

You don't have to shell out at all. If you ever need to use the shell (to
change your .profile, .plan, password, etc) you can just telnet to your
account. I usually just hang up and call via the terminal emulator the one
time per month I do that, but there really is not need to do so.

>I'll come around when I'm sure I'm not losing anything.
>
>Convince me.

As for MIME, which started this tread, no SLIP is needed, There are several
dial-up mailers that handle MIME just fine. As for SLIP, in many areas it
has become as cheap as a shell account. In San Francisco, SLIP is cheaper
than a shell account ($15/month flat rate). For those with an overpriced
local SLIP provider, or those who also want a shell there is TIA.

Convinced?


-- Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com>
   PGP encrypted mail preferred.