February 10, 1992    uupc 3.0 Questions and Answers     uupc Development


The following is some commonly asked questions about uupc and, of course,
the answers to these questions. Some details in the following answers are
specific to uupc 3.0 running on the Macintosh; many are generic to other
versions of uupc as well.


 1. What does "uupc" stands for?

    It is an acronym for "UUcp for PC's", but it is also a pun on
    uucp, which is in turn an acronym for "Unix to Unix CoPy".

 2. What does uupc do?

    It gives a personal computer the capability to become a
    "node" in the UUCP (or a similar) network and exchange
    information such as electronic mail and USENET news with
    other computers on that network.

 3. What personal computers does uupc runs on?

    Currently it is available for the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST,
    Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC (and compatibles) with DOS.  More
    computers and operating systems will be able run uupc in the
    near future.
	
 4. Does uupc require me to leave my computer on all day to wait
    for incoming mail?

    No.  Most people only use uupc to call up their neighbouring
    system to send and/or pickup mail at times convenient to
    them.  Outgoing mail are also spooled to disk and do not need
    to be send immediately to your neighbouring system after it
    is composed.

    However, uupc can also be set up on a personal computer to
    wait for incoming call continuously and act as a "mail-hub"
    to relay messages for other systems if you choose.

 5. What do I need to have to get uupc up and running on one of
    the above personal computers?

    You need a neighbouring system to communicate with.  This
    system can be either a UNIX system, another personal computer
    running uupc, or any other system that can talk UUCP's 'g'
    protocol.

    You would also need to have the appropriate C compiler for
    your personal computer if you have received only the source
    for uupc.

 6. Is the source to uupc publicly available?

    Yes.  It was posted to the USENET newsgroup comp.sources.misc
    in August 1987 and is available from (at least) any site
    which archives this newsgroup.  If you have trouble locating
    a copy of the uupc sources, please drop uupc Development a
    note through one of the e-mail addresses listed at the end of
    this file.  [Source code for uupc 3.0 for the Macintosh is
	being posted to the Info-Mac mailing list and should be
	available in the /info-mac directory at SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.Edu]

 7. What does the uupc software consists of?

    It consists of two programs, uupc and pcmail.  uupc is an automated
    files transfer program, similar to /usr/lib/uucico in UUCP,
    and pcmail is a mailer user-interface, like mail(1) in UNIX.

 8. What are the typical use of these programs?

    uupc is used to accept incoming file relayed to you through
    your neighbouring machine and deliver outgoing file to your
    neighbouring machine for forwarding to other machines.  In
    most cases these "files" contain electronic messages which
    are to be used with the mail program.

    pcmail is used to read incoming mail delivered by uu, and
    compose outgoing mail for delivery with uu.  However, it can
    also be used to transfer files to/from other systems that is
    reachable through electronic mail.

 9. What do I need to do to get uupc running on my personal
    computer?

    You would need to obtain the binaries of uupc for your
    computer by either compiling the uupc sources on your machine
    or obtaining the uupc binaries from someone who has a copy.

    You would also need to arrange to have your neighbouring
    system to recognize your system as one of their neighbouring
    systems in the network.  The procedures for this varies, you
    should contact the people who manage your neighbouring system
    for about details.

10. Does uupc supports more than one neighbouring systems?

    Yes, it can support multiple neighbouring systems.  The mail
	software can be configured to deliver mail directly to some
	or all of your neighbouring systems.  Mail for systems to which
	you are not directly connected is routed to a specific one of
	your neighbouring systems (known as your "MAILSERVICE" neighbour)
	which is assumed to be able to route mail to arbitrary
	destinations.

11. Is uupc the same program on all systems it runs on, or is it
    actually a different program for each of the systems?
	
	It used to be the same on all systems.  Here's how things once
	were:

   "It is the same program across all systems, with the exception
    of the system-dependent code, which is different from system
    to system.

   "The user-interface and command line options for uupc are also
    uniform across all the systems it runs on, so there is no
    need to learn a new program when you use uupc on a different
    computer.  The uniform user-interface also makes it easier to
    use uupc on different computers at the same time."
	
	That may still be true in non-Macintosh environments.  The
	Macintosh version of uupc 3.0 has a very different interface,
	though, because the Mac has no native command-line interpreter
	and "expects" programs to run within a windows-and-menus
	environment.  uupc 3.0 for the Macintosh has a real Macintosh
	user interface, and is MultiFinder-friendly.
	
	The "guts" of uupc 3.0 are quite similar in most respects to the
	older versions of uupc and to other uupc ports.  However, many
	changes have been made in order to support the Mac user interface,
	improve performance, and add useful features.

12. If I don't like the mail program's simple user-interface, are
    there any alternatives?

    Since a mailbox can be easily converted to a simple text
    file, alternative mailer can be easily written to accomodate
    different needs.  At the very least, you will be able to use
    your favorite text-editor to read your incoming message and
    compose your outgoing message.

    Future release of uupc may include mailers for the different
    systems which will take advantage of special features only
    available on the systems they run on (e.g. window and mouse).
	
	[An window-and-mouse mailer is available for use with uupc 3.0
	 on the Macintosh.  This mailer, known as Fernmail, is distributed
	 separately, and is "shareware" rather than "freeware".  Contact
	 its author, Dave Platt (dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us) for further
	 information.
	 
	 Recent versions of Steve Dorner's Eudora mailer are compatible
	 with uupc 3.0.  Contact Steve at s-dorner@uiuc.edu for information.]

13. What if I want to port uupc to another personal computer not
    presently support by uupc?

    First you should read the file UUPORT.INF, which should be
    available from the same source you obtained this file from.
    If you cannot locate a copy of this file, then please send a
    request for it to uucp Development at one of the e-mail
    addresses listed at the end of this file.

    After you have read the above file and decided that you still
    want to do a port of uupc to a new machine/operating systems,
    please drop uupc Development a note at one of the the e-mail
    addresses listed at the end of this file.  This way we will
    at least be able to save each other from duplicated efforts.
    Who knows?  We might even have a version for ready for your
    system when you call to tell us that you are about to begin
    your port.
	
	[You should probably use an older, non-host-specific version of
	 uupc as a starting point, rather than trying to port the Mac
	 version of uupc 3.0 to a new host... there's a great deal of
	 Mac-specific code in the latter, and you'd have to spend a good
	 deal of time ripping it out.]

14. Who/what is the "UUPC Development Team"?

	The original software (dcp) was done by Richard H. Lamb.
	Modified to run on the Mac by Stuart Lynne.
	Atari ST by Lawrence Harris.
	Amiga by Jeff Lydiatt.
	IBM PC by Samual Lam
	VMS (not available yet) Lawrence Harris
	
	The Macintosh uupc 3.0 software release was coordinated by
	Dave Platt.  Code included in this release was written by a
	large number of individuals, including Dave Platt, Gary Morris,
	Drew Derbyshire, Sak Wathanasin, and probably others I've
	forgotten to mention (apologies!).
	
15. What is the copyright status and distribution policy of uupc?

	The dcp portions of uupc are Copyright (c) Richard H. Lamb.
	Modifications Copyright (c) Stuart Lynne
	Mail, PCMail Copyright (c) Stuart Lynne
	Mac software Copyright (c) Stuart Lynne.  3.0 changes Copyright
	  (c) Dave Platt, Gary Morris, Drew Derbyshire, Sak Wathanasin
	Amiga software Copyright (c) Jeff Lydiatt
	Atari software Copyright (c) Lawrence Harris
	IBM software Copyright (c) Sam Lam

In general we are promoting the use of this software on a "freeware" 
basis. You can use for your own use, and can give copies of the source
code to anyone, provided you provide this information to them.  Don't
use uupc 3.0 as the basis for a commercial product, though... to do
so legally you'd have to get the agreement of everybody who has
written the code you'd be using, and it's extremely unlikely that
you would succeed.
    

16. If I have more questions, comments, or suggestions about
    uupc, where should I send them?

    Please send them all to us at uupc Development at one of the
    e-mail addresses listed below.  We also welcome any bug fixes
    and improved/new code for uupc that you might want to share.


uupc Development can be reached at the following e-mail address:

	uupc@van-bc.UUCP

This is routed to the uupc mailing list and a local news group for 
discussion of uupc software.

To join the mailing list send a request to:

	uupc-request@van-bvc.uucp

For information on uupc 3.0 for the Macintosh, contact the release
coordinator Dave Platt (dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us).



17. Can I get Binary Versions of uupc mailed to me.

Yes and no. 

No we cannot email binaries to you at this time.

Yes, if you send a self addressed / stamped (international coupon) mailer
with appropriate diskettes (2) we will attempt to return them to you with
the appropriate version of the software.

We plan to make a binary posting to the appropriate Usenet comp.binary
newsgroups in the late fall, or early next year when the software is 
a bit more functional, better documented and easier to install and
operate without the source.

Mail your disks to:

	UUPC Request
	C/O Stuart Lynne
	225B Evergreen Drive
	Port Moody, BC,
	Canada, V3H 1S1

[uupc 3.0 for the Mac is not available from Stuart at this time.
 uupc 3.0 is being posted to the comp.binaries.mac newsgroup, and
 sent to the archives at SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.Edu (look in /info-mac)
 and mac.archive.umich.edu, and will probably be uploaded to a number
 of bulletin-board systems as well]



18. Does uupc support USENET news?

Yes and no.

uupc can accept incoming file transfers, and recognizes the "rnews"
command in uucp work-files.  The "rnews" command simply spools the
incoming data to a file in the user's spooling directory.  The file
is not translated in any way.  No software is provided with uupc to
decompress newsbatches, separate out the articles, store them on disk,
expire them after a set length of time, or view them.  In summary,
uupc is "compatible with USENET news" (it doesn't bounce the "rnews"
command into oblivion) but it does not "support USENET news."

There's a clear need for someone to sit down and write a netnews
backend processor, which would accept the newsbatch files resulting from
the "rnews" command and do something reasonable with them.  If anyone
is willing to write a real news-management package and a newsreader for
uupc, it could certainly be added to the uupc distribution.

uupc can support a limited newsfeed, if the articles are sent as email
messages rather than as "rnews" files.  Both B News (2.11) and C News,
running on Unix, are capable of transmitting articles in this fashion.
You may find this sufficient if you simply wish to receive a small amount
of netnews.


19.  Does uupc support the Macintosh Communications Toolbox, or MacTCP?

No.  Extra serial ports on a Macintosh can be accessed, if their vendor
has provided a "shadow" serial driver for them.  Communications Toolbox
connection tools cannot be used, nor can the MacTCP driver.  None of the
network-oriented uucp protocols such as "e", "x", or "t" are supported.

Support for these features may be added in a future release, if there is
sufficient interest.



-- originally written by
{ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!Stuart.Lynne Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532

-- updated by
dplatt@snulbug.mtview.ca.us