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1.1 root 1: Welcome to the mwcbbs! Revision date of this file is December 06, 1991
2:
3:
4: This file is divided into the following sections:
5: Introduction
6: The mwcbbs interface
7: News Bulletins
8: Downloadable software and COHERENT updates
9: Uploads
10: Mail
11: Caveats
12: Technical Suppport via mwcbbs
13: Connecting to uunet
14:
15: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16: INTRODUCTION:
17:
18: Mark Williams Company has set up a COHERENT UUCP node for dial-up use by our
19: customers. Its purpose is to provide the following services:
20:
21: 1. As a remote site for customers to test their UUCP configurations by
22: calling in to the node.
23: 2. As a source of news, bug fixes, and public domain software for download by
24: all customers. In addition, the system provides a listing of "third party"
25: software and hardware which works with COHERENT.
26: 3. As a mail drop for customers who request an account, where correspondence
27: (electronic mail) from MWC and other customers can be picked up.
28:
29:
30: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
31: The MWCBBS interface:
32:
33: As a user of mwcbbs, you must download the following file to
34: allow continued access to mwcbbs for other downloadable files:
35:
36: /usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/mwcbbs.tar.Z
37:
38: Once this file has been received, it must be uncompressed and untarred.
39: To uncompress the file, use the following command:
40:
41: uncompress mwcbbs.tar
42:
43: To untar the file to extract its contents, use the following command:
44:
45: tar xvf mwcbbs.tar
46:
47:
48: The following files are included in mwcbbs.tar.Z:
49:
50: mwcbbs the mwcbbs interface
51: mwcbbs.man man page for the interface
52: Contents.down data file for public domain downloads
53: Contents.hints data file for misc. COHERENT information
54: Contents.news data file for MWC and mwcbbs news
55: Contents.UPD data file for MWC updates to COHERENT
56: Maillist data file of mail accounts on mwcbbs
57: Net_Maps.CAN uunet maps of Canadian uucp sites
58: Net_Maps.USA uunet maps of U.S. uucp sites
59: Net_Maps.WORLD uunet maps of other, non-U.S. sites
60:
61: The mwcbbs interface, together with its data files, provide a
62: screen driven interface for downloading the available files
63: posted on mwcbbs. Please read the file mwcbbs.man for details
64: on how to use the interface.
65:
66: The mwcbbs interface will display lists of files which can be selected
67: for downloading. Information about the file, including the size,
68: brief description and other required/recommended files will be displayed.
69: The interface will generate the necessary uucp commands to download the
70: file(s) from mwcbbs.
71:
72: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
73: NEWS BULLETINS:
74:
75: The directory:
76: /usr/spool/uucppublic/mwcnews/
77:
78: contains news bulletins from MWC. It will always contain at least four
79: files:
80:
81: howto.start - the file you are reading now
82: Maillist - a list of id's and aliases to which you can send
83: mail on mwcbbs
84: news - latest news from MWC
85: Contents.news - an annotated listing of all news bulletins available
86:
87: The contents of "news" are updated on a weekly basis. To read the latest
88: news bulletin, use the mwcbbs interface and select the Contents.news file
89: when prompted to select a file. Highlite the 'news' item on the selection
90: screen and press <return>. Follow the instructions on the following data
91: screens to download the file.
92:
93: Each month, a new news file is kept for that month's news. For a listing
94: of past news posted to mwcbbs, download the file 'history' which is also
95: listed in the data file Contents.news.
96:
97: The directory:
98:
99: /usr/spool/uucpublic/mwcnews/hints
100:
101: is an extension of the mwcnews directory in the respect that it contains
102: news regarding COHERENT. Most noteably, postings from the uunet newsgroup
103: comp.os.coherent can be found here. Select the Contents.hints file when
104: prompted for a file by the interface program for a listing of news files
105: available in this directory.
106:
107: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
108: DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE AND COHERENT UPDATES:
109:
110: The directory:
111:
112: /usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads
113:
114: contains all available public domain software and shareware packages which
115: have been ported to COHERENT that have been obtained by the Mark Williams
116: Company or otherwise uploaded to mwcbbs by other COHERENT users. To access
117: these files via the mwcbbs interface, select the Contents.down file when
118: prompted to select a file.
119:
120: The directory:
121:
122: /usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates
123:
124: contains updates to the COHERENT OS posted by the Mark Williams Company.
125: Updates posted by MWC are copywritten postings and can not be distributed.
126: To access these updatesvia the mwcbbs interface, select the Contents.UPD
127: file when prompted to select a file.
128:
129: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
130:
131: HOW DOWNLOADABLE FILES ARE PACKED:
132:
133: If a file is larger than 50000 bytes, it will generally be split into
134: several files of no greater than 50000 bytes. In case of a file transfer
135: becoming somehow corrupted or a transmission interrupted, it will be
136: much easier to download a single 50000 byte file (if a corruption can
137: be narrowed down to one file) than a 500000 byte file and less expensive.
138:
139: If a file is more than 50000 bytes in size, the mwcbbs interface will
140: generate the commands to download all of the smaller, split files that
141: the larger file was divided into.
142:
143: In most cases, downloads consist of several files which must be compiled
144: to build an executable command/utility. The files which are used to build
145: an executable are stored in a tar archive and compressed. When a file is
146: downloaded, it must first be uncompressed (if the filename ends with a '.Z')
147: with the uncompress command and then untarred.
148:
149: Ie... After downloading unzip.tar.Z, follow these sequences of commands
150: to uncompress and untar the files necessary to build the unzip command:
151:
152: uncompress unzip.tar
153: tar xvf unzip.tar
154: - or -
155:
156: zcat unzip.tar | tar xvf -
157:
158: Either method will uncompress and untar the files needed to build the
159: unizp command. Look at any 'readme' or 'notes' files for special
160: instructions associated with any tarred archive.
161:
162:
163: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
164: UPLOADS:
165:
166: If you wish to post public domain software to the BBS, you can upload files
167: to the directory:
168: /usr/spool/uucppublic/uploads/
169:
170: For example, to send a file named "foo" to mwcbbs, you can use:
171:
172: uucp foo mwcbbs!/usr/spool/uucppublic/uploads/
173:
174: Files uploaded to the BBS will not be made available to other users of the
175: board until they have been checked by Mark Williams Co. staff. Any files
176: uploaded to the BBS which are not public domain will not be made available
177: to other users of the BBS. Shareware software may be posted, but these
178: decisions will be made on a package by package basis.
179:
180: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
181: MAIL:
182:
183: You may establish a mail account on mwcbbs by mailing a request to
184: mwcbbs!admin. A separate uucp account for your system will be created.
185:
186: Mail your account request, including your sitename, your local login name
187: at your site, state (or country if not in the United States) and city your
188: site is located in to mwcbbs!admin. Also include a daytime phone number
189: (just in case).
190:
191: Allow about 5 days for the account to be created and then download a copy
192: of 'Maillist' using the interface program. Select the data file Contents.news
193: to download 'Maillist'. When you see that your site is listed, change the
194: MYNAME= statement in your /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions entry for mwcbbs
195: from 'bbsuser' to your sitename. In many cases, the MYNAME statement may
196: be removed from the mwcbbs entry.
197:
198: If you do not see that your sitename has appeared in the maillist, contact
199: us and we'll get the ball rolling again.
200:
201: After your account has been created, you will be able to send files or
202: mail messages to anyone on the list via the bbs.
203:
204: For a listing of active mail accounts on mwcbbs, select the Maillist
205: file when prompted to select a file by the interface program. The interface
206: will display a listing of to 50 U.S. states plus two other options. These
207: other options will show lists of mail accounts outside of the U.S. and
208: those accounts for which the state or country of a site is not known.
209:
210: For example:
211:
212: if "Maillist" says that user "luthor" is on system "llsys", you could send
213: mail to him from your local system via the path mwcbbs!llsys!luthor. The
214: mail for luthor will be sent to mwcbbs the next time your local system polls
215: mwcbbs; luthor will get the mail the next time he polls mwcbbs after that.
216:
217:
218: Use of individual accounts will be monitored by the BBS administrator.
219: Accounts which are inactive for a month or more will be removed.
220:
221: If you intend to use mwcbbs as a means of obtaining technical support,
222: a mail account for your system MUST be established. Always include a
223: phone number that we can reach you at when corresponding electronically
224: with MWC via mwcbbs in case there is difficulty in mailing a return message.
225:
226: Note that mwcbbs is not physically connected to any remote systems, nor
227: does it have the ability to call other systems; therefore you should not
228: expect to be able to reach uunet through mwcbbs. If and when this service
229: is provided, the users of mwcbbs with individual accounts will be notified.
230:
231: Information regarding system downtime and other administrative matters will
232: be posted to
233:
234: /usr/spool/uucppublic/mwcnews/news
235:
236: You may wish to download this file each time you poll mwcbbs.
237:
238: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
239: CAVEATS:
240:
241: The Mark Williams Company offers no guarantee of any software made available
242: on mwcbbs. The system will be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week,
243: except for occasional maintenance.
244:
245: The Mark Williams Co. offers no support or other technical assistance for
246: software posted on mwcbbs, with the exception of software which the Mark
247: Williams Co. itself posts for the purposes of enhancing Coherent.
248:
249:
250: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
251: TECHNICAL SUPPORT VIA MWCBBS:
252:
253: If you have any technical questions regarding Coherent, you may mail them to
254: mwcbbs!support. Please remember to include your name, serial number and a
255: phone number so that we may respond to your inquiry. If you do not include
256: your serial number, we will not respond to your messages.
257:
258: If you experience any problems using mwcbbs, please contact our tech.
259: support department at (708)-291-6700 (voice), or (708)-291-6750 (fax).
260:
261: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
262: CONNECTING TO UUNET:
263:
264: In the directory /usr/spool/uucppublic/mwcnews you can download a file
265: named howto.uunet.Z. This file contains information on downloading network
266: maps and information on how to use these maps to access uunet.
267:
268: Mwcbbs has a library of net maps. The mwcbbs interface program will allow
269: to access them by selecting the 'Net Maps' option when prompted to select
270: a file from the opening menu. You will be further provided with the options
271: to select U.S. net maps (arranged by area code), Canadian net maps (also
272: arranged by area code) or net maps of the world (organized by country or
273: state).
274:
275: After choosing one of these 3 options, a screen of net maps organized
276: by area code, country or state (depending upon which net map option
277: was selected) will be displayed. A map can be downloaded by highliting
278: it on the screen and pressing <return>.
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