SLIP/PPP question (NOT the usual)

[dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Althoff)]

No, this is not the usual "Can I use my IIgs with my SLIP account" question.

Recently, I was looking at the description of exactly what SLIP is.  SLIP
is nothing at all, but a means for packaging data.

I have also looked at descriptions of the SMTP and NNTP protocols.  Like
SLIP, there is very little to them...just commands and data packet
descriptions.

Something tells me that Telnet and FTP are probably similar.

So what is the problem?  Do we not have proper Internet tools for the A][,
simply because (well, with the exception of Seven Hills' SIS) everyone is
thinking in the same box, trying to emulate the structure employed on
other platforms--where a SLIP dialer program runs as a background task and
passes data to independent modules which handle the various protocols?

It seems to me that most people, for practical reasons, do not usually
open simultaneous connections for basic (non-web-browsing) Internet tasks;
so why would an implementation on the ][ have to follow the socket model
used on other platforms?  Since (well, except under GNO) we really don't
have multitasking on the A][, couldn't the basic Internet connectivity
options be bundled into the same program, so that a single program handles
the basic connection, FTP, Telnet, POP, and so on?

It's just a thought; and in fact it sounds like that is what the Spectrum
Internet Suite does.  I don't have the programming skills to even think
about such a project (I still do most of my coding in Applesoft...); but
knowing that there are lots of programming gurus here, I put the question
to you:  Could it be done?  I'm not asking for it (heck, I think I am the
only person at my workplace who is happy that we DON'T have PPP); I just
want to know what the consensus is.

--Dave Althoff, ][.
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