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coherent

Welcome to the mwcbbs! Revision date of this file is December 06, 1991


This file is divided into the following sections:
	Introduction
	The mwcbbs interface
	News Bulletins
	Downloadable software and COHERENT updates
	Uploads
	Mail
	Caveats
	Technical Suppport via mwcbbs
	Connecting to uunet

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTRODUCTION:

Mark Williams Company has set up a COHERENT UUCP node for dial-up use by our
customers.  Its purpose is to provide the following services:

1.  As a remote site for customers to test their UUCP configurations by
    calling in to the node.
2.  As a source of news, bug fixes, and public domain software for download by
    all customers.  In addition, the system provides a listing of "third party"
    software and hardware which works with COHERENT.
3.  As a mail drop for customers who request an account, where correspondence
    (electronic mail) from MWC and other customers can be picked up.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The MWCBBS interface:

As a user of mwcbbs, you must download the following file to
allow continued access to mwcbbs for other downloadable files:

/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/mwcbbs.tar.Z

Once this file has been received, it must be uncompressed and untarred.
To uncompress the file, use the following command:

		uncompress mwcbbs.tar

To untar the file to extract its contents, use the following command:

		tar xvf mwcbbs.tar


The following files are included in mwcbbs.tar.Z:

	mwcbbs		the mwcbbs interface
	mwcbbs.man	man page for the interface
	Contents.down	data file for public domain downloads
	Contents.hints	data file for misc. COHERENT information
	Contents.news	data file for MWC and mwcbbs news
	Contents.UPD	data file for MWC updates to COHERENT
	Maillist	data file of mail accounts on mwcbbs
	Net_Maps.CAN	uunet maps of Canadian uucp sites
	Net_Maps.USA	uunet maps of U.S. uucp sites
	Net_Maps.WORLD	uunet maps of other, non-U.S. sites

The mwcbbs interface, together with its data files, provide a
screen driven interface for downloading the available files
posted on mwcbbs. Please read the file mwcbbs.man for details
on how to use the interface.

The mwcbbs interface will display lists of files which can be selected
for downloading. Information about the file, including the size,
brief description and other required/recommended files will be displayed.
The interface will generate the necessary uucp commands to download the 
file(s) from mwcbbs. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS BULLETINS:

The directory:
	/usr/spool/uucppublic/mwcnews/

contains news bulletins from MWC. It will always contain at least four
files:

	howto.start	- the file you are reading now
	Maillist	- a list of id's and aliases to which you can send
			  mail on mwcbbs
	news		- latest news from MWC
	Contents.news	- an annotated listing of all news bulletins available

The contents of "news" are updated on a weekly basis.  To read the latest
news bulletin, use the mwcbbs interface and select the Contents.news file
when prompted to select a file. Highlite the 'news' item on the selection
screen and press <return>. Follow the instructions on the following data
screens to download the file.

Each month, a new news file is kept for that month's news. For a listing
of past news posted to mwcbbs, download the file 'history' which is also
listed in the data file Contents.news.

The directory:

	/usr/spool/uucpublic/mwcnews/hints

is an extension of the mwcnews directory in the respect that it contains
news regarding COHERENT. Most noteably, postings from the uunet newsgroup
comp.os.coherent can be found here. Select the Contents.hints file when
prompted for a file by the interface program for a listing of news files
available in this directory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE AND COHERENT UPDATES:

The directory:

	/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads

contains all available public domain software and shareware packages which
have been ported to COHERENT that have been obtained by the Mark Williams
Company or otherwise uploaded to mwcbbs by other COHERENT users. To access
these files via the mwcbbs interface, select the Contents.down file when
prompted to select a file.

The directory:

	/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates

contains updates to the COHERENT OS posted by the Mark Williams Company.
Updates posted by MWC are copywritten postings and can not be distributed.
To access these updatesvia the mwcbbs interface, select the Contents.UPD
file when prompted to select a file.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOW DOWNLOADABLE FILES ARE PACKED:

If a file is larger than 50000 bytes, it will generally be split into
several files of no greater than 50000 bytes. In case of a file transfer
becoming somehow corrupted or a transmission interrupted, it will be 
much easier to download a single 50000 byte file (if a corruption can 
be narrowed down to one file) than a 500000 byte file and less expensive.

If a file is more than 50000 bytes in size, the mwcbbs interface will
generate the commands to download all of the smaller, split files that
the larger file was divided into.

In most cases, downloads consist of several files which must be compiled
to build an executable command/utility. The files which are used to build
an executable are stored in a tar archive and compressed. When a file is
downloaded, it must first be uncompressed (if the filename ends with a '.Z')
with the uncompress command and then untarred.

Ie... After downloading unzip.tar.Z, follow these sequences of commands
to uncompress and untar the files necessary to build the unzip command:

	uncompress unzip.tar
	tar xvf unzip.tar
- or -

	zcat unzip.tar | tar xvf -

Either method will uncompress and untar the files needed to build the
unizp command. Look at any 'readme' or 'notes' files for special
instructions associated with any tarred archive.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPLOADS:

If you wish to post public domain software to the BBS, you can upload files
to the directory:
	/usr/spool/uucppublic/uploads/

For example, to send a file named "foo" to mwcbbs, you can use:

	uucp foo mwcbbs!/usr/spool/uucppublic/uploads/

Files uploaded to the BBS will not be made available to other users of the
board until they have been checked by Mark Williams Co. staff.  Any files
uploaded to the BBS which are not public domain will not be made available
to other users of the BBS. Shareware software may be posted, but these
decisions will be made on a package by package basis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAIL:

You may establish a mail account on mwcbbs by mailing a request to
mwcbbs!admin.  A separate uucp account for your system will be created. 

Mail your account request, including your sitename, your local login name
at your site, state (or country if not in the United States) and city your 
site is located in to mwcbbs!admin. Also include a daytime phone number
(just in case).

Allow about 5 days for the account to be created and then download a copy
of 'Maillist' using the interface program. Select the data file Contents.news
to download 'Maillist'. When you see that your site is listed, change the 
MYNAME= statement in your /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions entry for mwcbbs 
from 'bbsuser' to your sitename. In many cases, the MYNAME statement may 
be removed from the mwcbbs entry.

If you do not see that your sitename has appeared in the maillist, contact
us and we'll get the ball rolling again.

After your account has been created, you will be able to send files or
mail messages to anyone on the list via the bbs.

For a listing of active mail accounts on mwcbbs, select the Maillist
file when prompted to select a file by the interface program. The interface
will display a listing of to 50 U.S. states plus two other options. These
other options will show lists of mail accounts outside of the U.S. and 
those accounts for which the state or country of a site is not known.

For example:

   if "Maillist" says that user "luthor" is on system "llsys", you could send
   mail to him from your local system via the path mwcbbs!llsys!luthor.  The
   mail for luthor will be sent to mwcbbs the next time your local system polls
   mwcbbs;  luthor will get the mail the next time he polls mwcbbs after that.


Use of individual accounts will be monitored by the BBS administrator.
Accounts which are inactive for a month or more will be removed.

If you intend to use mwcbbs as a means of obtaining technical support,
a mail account for your system MUST be established. Always include a
phone number that we can reach you at when corresponding electronically
with MWC via mwcbbs in case there is difficulty in mailing a return message.

Note that mwcbbs is not physically connected to any remote systems, nor
does it have the ability to call other systems;  therefore you should not
expect to be able to reach uunet through mwcbbs.  If and when this service
is provided, the users of mwcbbs with individual accounts will be notified.

Information regarding system downtime and other administrative matters will
be posted to

	/usr/spool/uucppublic/mwcnews/news

You may wish to download this file each time you poll mwcbbs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAVEATS:

The Mark Williams Company offers no guarantee of any software made available
on mwcbbs. The system will be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week,
except for occasional maintenance.

The Mark Williams Co. offers no support or other technical assistance for
software posted on mwcbbs, with the exception of software which the Mark
Williams Co. itself posts for the purposes of enhancing Coherent.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TECHNICAL SUPPORT VIA MWCBBS:

If you have any technical questions regarding Coherent, you may mail them to
mwcbbs!support.  Please remember to include your name, serial number and a
phone number so that we may respond to your inquiry.  If you do not include
your serial number, we will not respond to your messages.

If you experience any problems using mwcbbs, please contact our tech.
support department at (708)-291-6700 (voice), or (708)-291-6750 (fax).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONNECTING TO UUNET:

In the directory /usr/spool/uucppublic/mwcnews you can download a file
named howto.uunet.Z. This file contains information on downloading network
maps and information on how to use these maps to access uunet.

Mwcbbs has a library of net maps. The mwcbbs interface program will allow
to access them by selecting the 'Net Maps' option when prompted to select
a file from the opening menu. You will be further provided with the options
to select U.S. net maps (arranged by area code), Canadian net maps (also
arranged by area code) or net maps of the world (organized by country or
state).

After choosing one of these 3 options, a screen of net maps organized
by area code, country or state (depending upon which net map option
was selected) will be displayed. A map can be downloaded by highliting
it on the screen and pressing <return>.

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