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From: mpdillon@halcyon.com (Michael Dillon)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux,comp.graphics
Subject: Re: MGR NAPLPS & GUI BBS Frontends
Date: 26 Apr 1993 23:43:30 -0700
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>Hi all,
>I am looking into methods I can use to turn my Linux based BBS into a full color
>Graphical BBS that supports PC, Mac, Linux, and Amiga callers. 
>Originally I was inspired by the NAPLPS graphics standard (a summary of 
>which hit this group about 2 weeks ago). 

I posted that document (forgot part 1/6 etc) but it was more than a summary,
it was a complete technical description of the protocol. It can be ftped
from simtel or from wuarchive.wustl.edu in mirrors/msdos/naplps

>Following up on software availability of NAPLPS supporting software I find
>that most terminal programs are commercial the only resonable shareware one being
>PP3 which runs soley on MSDOS machines leaving Mac and Amiga users to buy full
>commercial software if they want to try out the BBS (I know I wouldn't)
>
>Next most interesting possibility is to port MGR to PC, Mac, Amiga. I

Why not write a NAPLPS decoder for your choice of platform and release the
code to the net? Then other willing souls can help port it to other platforms.
NAPLPS was designed for this type of online interactive graphics much the
same as X, but while X is intended for high-bandwidth network connections,
NAPLPS was optimized for low bandwidth modem connections.
>
>Is there a color version of MGR for Linux? 
>
>Does anyone have any other suggestions for a Linux based GUI BBS ?

I'm sure you will receive other suggestions but look at it this way. If you
wanted to provide a full network connection to Linux over a modem would you
use SLIP/PPP or would you invent some new way? Most people would say that
SLIP/PPP exist and are reasonably well designed protocols, so lets just
implement them. I see it the same way with NAPLPS. It is an existing, well
thought out, extensible protocol for online graphics, so why not implement
it.

If you need any advice on implementation, just e-mail me. I am currently
getting a beta version of my CorelDraw to NAPLPS converter working well
enough to release it by May 15. If you or someone else does not get going
on a freely available NAPLPS decoder, then I intend to do it after I get
a my conversion program out of beta, and get a couple of other things done.

-- 
Michael Dillon                 Internet: mpdillon@halcyon.halcyon.com
C-4 Powerhouse                  Fidonet: 1:353/350
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