Re: GNO Question

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <2sfjts$1pl@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu>,
Yueh Z Lee <ray_lee@athena.mit.edu> wrote:
> I have a few quick questions which I can't seem to find in the GNO faq...
> and nobody on comp.sys.apple2.gno seems to want to answer.

Probably because there is no answer at this stage.

> 	Is it possible to connect my beloved GS to a network of some type?
> (besides appletalk) I want to know if there is a network card that is
> made for the gs...

None.  Apple was rumoured to be making an EtherTalk card for the IIe
and IIgs, but were rumoured to have cancelled the project immediately
before it was to be released.  There seems to be enough evidence to
believe these rumours.  :-(

LocalTalk is the only networking system suppoted by the IIgs at
present (unless you count old card-based parallel networks like Nestar
and Corvus, which aren't supported by GS/OS).

> or if you can use the SCSI port for that. I know MAC's have a
> networking type thing that uses the SCSI port. Is it possible to do 
> a similar thing with the GS?

It might be, but from the messages I've seen over the last few months,
it appears that various people have tried contacting many of the
manufacturers of SCSI to Ethernet converters, none of whom are prepared
to release enough information on their devices so that someone could
write a driver.  Nor are they willing to write drivers themselves.

> 	And, if it is possible, what is the availability of the mail,
> readnews, telnet, and ftp softwares?

These are more likely to be available, but are dependent on a TCP/IP
implementation, either using SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) or
TCP/IP packets routed through a LocalTalk network.

Someone is working on this (for GNO, at least).


Another possibility is mail and news software using UUCP to
communicate with other computers.  I thought someone was working on
this a while ago, but I haven't heard much about it recently.
-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand