Very Computer

What's the best dialer for Linux?  I'm using Trumpet for Windows right
now, and I'm in the process of switching over my applications to
Linux.  I've got Netscape running fine now.  

Also, what's the best news reader?  One that works like Free Agent.
And is there a version of Pegasus Mail for Linux?

Thanks!

Sebastien Joanis
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        Best dialer?  I'm not sure I understand what a "dialer" is.  You
mean something that dials the number of your ISP for you?  Depends.  I just
use the telecommunications program Minicom and log in manually.  Then I exit
Minicom without resetting the modem, then run the PPP daemon.  It's not as
bad as it sounds.  I like full control over everything anyway ... plus doing
it this way gives me the option of either going to my shell account or
activate my PPP account (i.e. this method offers more flexibility).

        The PPP package for Linux comes with a "dialer" called chat that
will dial your ISP and log in for you using it's built-in scripting
language.  'Tho you don't have to use chat ... you can use anything you want
to make the connection.

        SLIP comes with DIP which does the same thing, 'tho I believe DIP is
a lot more robust that PPP's chat.  I don't know for sure because I don't
use SLIP.

Quote:>Also, what's the best news reader?  One that works like Free Agent.

        Best news reader?  Hmm ... I'd have to say, hands down, slrn.  Works
great over slow SLIP/PPP connections because it was designed specifically
for use over slow connections.  Other excellent newsreaders for UNIX like
TIN suck over slow connections.  slrn is it.  You can get it from, I
believe, ftp://space.mit.edu/pub/davis/slrn.  To compile it, be sure to get
the slang package that's also at that site in the /pub/davis/slang
directory.

Quote:>And is there a version of Pegasus Mail for Linux?

        I dunno about this.  At the time of this writing, I'm still
struggling to get email working on my Linux box.  

--
==============================================================================
Arcadio Alivio Sincero, Jr.
Sophmore, Computer Science Major at the University of Maryland at College Park

www:   <not available yet>

"Save the whales .... collect the whole set!"
==============================================================================

|> >What's the best dialer for Linux?  I'm using Trumpet for Windows right
|> >now, and I'm in the process of switching over my applications to
|> >Linux.  I've got Netscape running fine now.  
|>
|>
|>   SLIP comes with DIP which does the same thing, 'tho I believe DIP is
|> a lot more robust that PPP's chat.  I don't know for sure because I don't
|> use SLIP.
|>

FYI, I am using dip with PPP. It works much better than chat.
You just need to change ppp.c in dip a little bit to make it
work right.

H.J.

: |> >What's the best dialer for Linux?  I'm using Trumpet for Windows right
: |> >now, and I'm in the process of switching over my applications to
: |> >Linux.  I've got Netscape running fine now.  
: |>
: |>
: |>         SLIP comes with DIP which does the same thing, 'tho I believe DIP is
: |> a lot more robust that PPP's chat.  I don't know for sure because I don't
: |> use SLIP.
: |>

: FYI, I am using dip with PPP. It works much better than chat.
: You just need to change ppp.c in dip a little bit to make it
: work right.

I'm using dip with PPP. It works for me without any change of ppp.c. Very
easy to setup. The command I type to dial is:

dip -t script

script is where you put login and password information. You may also need to
setup /etc/ppp/options. You may take the template from ppp installation and
use it with minimum modification such as whether you need debugging information.

James Tsay

: : |> >What's the best dialer for Linux?  I'm using Trumpet for Windows right
: : |> >now, and I'm in the process of switching over my applications to
: : |> >Linux.  I've got Netscape running fine now.  
: : |>
: : |>
: : |>       SLIP comes with DIP which does the same thing, 'tho I believe DIP is
: : |> a lot more robust that PPP's chat.  I don't know for sure because I don't
: : |> use SLIP.
: : |>

: : FYI, I am using dip with PPP. It works much better than chat.
: : You just need to change ppp.c in dip a little bit to make it
: : work right.

: I'm using dip with PPP. It works for me without any change of ppp.c. Very
: easy to setup. The command I type to dial is:

: dip -t script

: script is where you put login and password information. You may also need to
: setup /etc/ppp/options. You may take the template from ppp installation and
: use it with minimum modification such as whether you need debugging information.

: James Tsay

Hmmmm, I haven't quite figured out dip yet (maybe to-morrow) but I'm
dialing in using Seyon in an X session. Very impressive. No more
weird characters appearing on the screen, very fast response, no more
'shit, I'll reboot'.

Probably the best response from my ISP I've ever seen. Throw
Windows from one...

A new (and happy) linux user...

Mark.

    I don't know if anybody is interested or not ... but I made me a little
patch to Minicom v.1.71 that takes the place of 'chat' and makes it into
"SuperDIP" :-).  All the patch does is allow you to specify a command-line
switch that tells Minicom to exit without resetting the modem when it
connects.  This patch is meant to be used in conjunction with Minicom's "-d"
switch which tells Minicom to automatically dial an entry from the dialing
directory.  This entry should then have a auto-login script linked to it.
The script being written, of course, in Minicom's own RunScript scripting
language. The script will log in to your ISP for you, then Minicom will exit
without resetting the modem.  My patch also has Minicom return a "1" to the
environment if a connection was made or "0" if not.  I find that this setup
works great as it handles "demon-dialing" of my ISP flawlessly.  And I found
Minicom's RunScript scripting language a little more flexible to use.

    If anybody is interested, be sure to email me and I'll email you a diff
of my patch for the Minicom v.1.71 sources.  Of course, this diff is rather
trivial so if you have any kind of C language skills at all you can probably
do it yourself.  I also got rid of that stupid "max redial count".  I don't
know if it works correctly or not as I always have my max redial count set
to "999" and I haven't reached that count yet.

--
===============================================================================
Arcadio Alivio Sincero, Jr.
Sophomore, Computer Science Major at the University of Maryland at College Park

"Q: Why do mountain climbers rope themselves together?"
"A: To prevent the sensible ones from going home."