• Irex and Argue

    From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Charles Stephenson on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 22:28:28
    Does anyone know where to find IRex and Argus for Linux? Google's links for it
    are broken...

    Argus is a Windows mailer. It was never released as a linux binary that I know of. The source is available so that might be doable, I'm not sure.

    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    telnet trmb.ca:2030

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Gaylen Hintz@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 15:51:18
    Alan Ianson wrote to Charles Stephenson <=-

    Does anyone know where to find IRex and Argus for Linux? Google's links for
    it
    are broken...

    Argus is a Windows mailer. It was never released as a linux binary that
    I know of. The source is available so that might be doable, I'm not
    sure.

    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    Hmm, that wold be an interestig challenge. :)


    ... Computer Hacker wanted. Must have own axe.
    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Gaylen Hintz on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 22:42:44
    Argus is a Windows mailer. It was never released as a linux binary that
    I know of. The source is available so that might be doable, I'm not
    sure.

    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    Hmm, that wold be an interestig challenge. :)

    Yep, it would be. I suspect a non starter but you never know til you try.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From RUBEN FIGUEROA@1:124/5013 to GAYLEN HINTZ on Thursday, May 23, 2019 05:50:20
    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    Hmm, that wold be an interestig challenge. :)

    I have Irex 2.29 working for a couple of my bbs's. PcBoard and Wildcat
    (Irex 2.31 for wildcat and 2.29 for my PCBoard)

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
    * Origin: Prison Board BBS Mesquite Tx www.rdfig.net (1:124/5013)
  • From Gaylen Hintz@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Thursday, May 23, 2019 07:27:04
    Alan Ianson wrote to Gaylen Hintz <=-

    Argus is a Windows mailer. It was never released as a Linux binary that
    I know of. The source is available so that might be doable, I'm not
    sure.

    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    Hmm, that wold be an interestig challenge. :)

    Yep, it would be. I suspect a non starter but you never know til you
    try.

    As a non programmer and not at all familiar with linux syntax I would guess that it may be possible but it would almost be easier to create your own mailer
    but that's just a guess on my part. :)



    ... He does the work of 3 Men...Moe, Larry & Curly
    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 06:42:05
    Alan Ianson wrote to Charles Stephenson <=-

    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    Is Charles Cruden even supporting IRex anymore?

    Later,
    Sean


    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Gaylen Hintz on Thursday, May 23, 2019 10:28:42
    Yep, it would be. I suspect a non starter but you never know til you
    try.

    As a non programmer and not at all familiar with linux syntax I would guess that it may be possible but it would almost be easier to create your own mailer but that's just a guess on my part. :)

    I'm not a programmer either but if I have a source package available I'll try anything.. :)

    There's a few things that make me think it won't work on linux.

    1. I don't know if Argus was designed to be cross platform (modems).
    2. On linux, the source would need GTK or QT to create the GUI.
    3. I don't have a pascal compiler available to me (it could be done though).

    I suppose with enough interest by an interested programmer (or group) it could be done.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Sean Dennis on Thursday, May 23, 2019 10:38:20
    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    Is Charles Cruden even supporting IRex anymore?

    I'm not sure. I know Charles is still in Fidonet but I don't know if folks still register Irex or ask for support.

    I registered and used Irex probably 20 years ago and at the time never had any reason to ask Charles for support but he was still releasing updates back then.

    It seems quite today in the Irex realm.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Alan Ianson on Thursday, May 23, 2019 13:57:48
    On 2019 May 23 12:28:42, you wrote to Gaylen Hintz:

    There's a few things that make me think it won't work on linux.

    1. I don't know if Argus was designed to be cross platform (modems).

    Argus, Radius and Taurus are all derived frm the same Delphi source code... Delphi is pascal for the most part...

    modem support has little to do with cross platform capability...

    2. On linux, the source would need GTK or QT to create the GUI.

    they're common enough... with the proper tool, pretty transparent, too...

    3. I don't have a pascal compiler available to me (it could be done though).

    freepascal is only a download away as is the lazarus RAD editor/environment... lazarus can even convert some delphi projects to FP/Laz projects... the first job of porting is to get FP/Laz to compile it... then one can work on porting to *nix...

    I suppose with enough interest by an interested programmer (or group)
    it could be done.

    i started porting one of the above three mailers several years ago but RL got in the way... i started off by manually translating the russian comments to english first, one line at the time... i also have, somewhere around here, partially translated taurus help files using the same technique... at that time, babblefish was the translator to use...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... Gross National Product: n. a rooburger with pineapple and beetroot!
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Charles Stephenson@1:226/17 to Alan Ianson on Thursday, May 23, 2019 20:42:09
    Re: Irex and Argue
    By: Alan Ianson to Charles Stephenson on Wed May 22 2019 12:28 am

    Argus is a Windows mailer. It was never released as a linux binary that I know of. The source is available so that might be doable, I'm not sure.

    I have Irex here, at least version 2.29.

    telnet trmb.ca:2030

    Ahh, ok. I'll be over to do some downloading :)

    Thanks! :)
    Regards,
    KrUpTiOn
    --- SBBSecho 3.07-Linux
    * Origin: The New Frontier ][ BBS(frontierbbs.net) - [Ohio] (1:226/17)
  • From Matthew Munson@1:218/109 to Sean Dennis on Saturday, May 25, 2019 13:06:02
    Is Charles Cruden even supporting IRex anymore?

    Later,
    Sean
    I would love to upgrade it to the 1k node edition if he accepts money
    and ships codes within a week.
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
    * Origin: Inland Utopia BBS * Ontario, CA * iutopia.dtdns.net (1:218/109)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Sunday, May 26, 2019 10:21:50
    Alan Ianson wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

    It seems quite today in the Irex realm.

    Charles' system may be in Fidonet but he's not.

    Internet Red, like Telegard, died the minute its author graduated college
    and started making money. However, Charles can be found if needed. Tim Strike, the author of Telegard, actively avoids his BBSing past. A few
    years ago, I tracked down Tim and called him at his work. As soon as I identified myself, Tim hung up on me.

    I have heard a bunch of bullshit excuses from both authors about not
    releasing their code. Charles, at least, had a good reason: the use of commercial libraries (though that code could be rewritten). Tim bleated
    about copyright issues and other trivial things that were, to me, an obvious attempt at pinning the blame on everyone but himself.

    So that's why I dropped both products. At least now, if something breaks, I can fix it.

    Years ago, in the IREX echo when Charles was still active, I was complaining about a lack of support. He angrily replied to me, offering to give me my registration fee back. I informed him the money was not the point. He immediately disappeared into the ether after that.

    I have been supporting my own programs for 21 years now without any issue
    but it's never been about the money for me.

    Charles' and Tim's actions pointed out where their loyalty lies and it's not with their users.

    If I were you, I'd use something else than IRex. Its BinkD and FTP server
    are both buggy as hell.

    Later,
    Sean


    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Matthew Munson on Sunday, May 26, 2019 10:22:38
    Matthew Munson wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

    I would love to upgrade it to the 1k node edition if he accepts money
    and ships codes within a week.

    Both Internet Rex's BinkD and FTP server are buggy as hell. You'd be better off using something else.

    Later,
    Sean


    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Sunday, May 26, 2019 10:27:23
    Alan Ianson wrote to Gaylen Hintz <=-

    2. On linux, the source would need GTK or QT to create the GUI.

    Not unless you used Lazarus (Free Pascal's RAD/GUI environment) to program
    it in. Would run under Linux/Win/OS X just fine.

    Later,
    Sean

    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Sean Dennis on Sunday, May 26, 2019 12:14:20
    Internet Red, like Telegard, died the minute its author graduated college
    and started making money.

    Maximus comes to mind too. Thankfully the source for Maximus was released so anyone interested could move that product forward if they could/wanted to.

    However, Charles can be found if needed. Tim Strike, the author of
    Telegard, actively avoids his BBSing past. A few years ago, I tracked down Tim and called him at his work. As soon as I identified myself, Tim hung up on me.

    Tim did what he did with Telegard freely. He never asked anyone for anything. I
    think he did awesome things with Telegard and gave it to anyone who wanted to use it.

    I have heard a bunch of bullshit excuses from both authors about not releasing their code. Charles, at least, had a good reason: the use of commercial libraries (though that code could be rewritten). Tim bleated about copyright issues and other trivial things that were, to me, an obvious attempt at pinning the blame on everyone but himself.

    Those were not trivial issues to Tim. Telegard was a full system when Tim started work on it, it was full of code that was not his and he didn't have the
    right or permission to release it.

    I don't think the source for Internet Rex or Telegard was ever on the table. It
    would be nice if it was but not all software is open source.

    So that's why I dropped both products. At least now, if something breaks, I can fix it.

    You are in a different boat than I am. I am not a programmer so if I have a problem with software I can only report it. If the software is to be upgraded further it needs to be done by the author of the software whether the source is
    available or not.

    Years ago, in the IREX echo when Charles was still active, I was complaining about a lack of support. He angrily replied to me, offering to give me my registration fee back. I informed him the money was not the point. He immediately disappeared into the ether after that.

    I don't think those who write and support BBS software can ever make enough $$$
    from it to make their living supporting it.

    In every case of active authors of BBS related software today they do it because they love it. I have and do support authors of shareware and opensource
    software.

    I have been supporting my own programs for 21 years now without any issue
    but it's never been about the money for me.

    That is great, it really is. There are few BBS software authors active today so
    I encourage you to continue.

    Charles' and Tim's actions pointed out where their loyalty lies and it's not with their users.

    I hold Charles and Tim in high regard and I think both of them did the best they could.

    Also Scott Dudley. I think he was a master of what he was doing. I've hoped over the years that he would find free time to continue to update Maximus and Squish but it never happened.

    If I were you, I'd use something else than IRex. Its BinkD and FTP server are both buggy as hell.

    I don't use IRex anymore but there are two links here who still use it so I guess it works for them.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Alan Ianson@1:153/757 to Sean Dennis on Sunday, May 26, 2019 12:15:34
    2. On linux, the source would need GTK or QT to create the GUI.

    Not unless you used Lazarus (Free Pascal's RAD/GUI environment) to program
    it in. Would run under Linux/Win/OS X just fine.

    That's cool. I've never heard of RAD/GUI. If that's the case then we can scratch point number 2.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-4
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Matthew Munson@1:218/109 to Sean Dennis on Sunday, May 26, 2019 12:29:52
    On 5/26/2019 12:26 PM, Sean Dennis wrote to Matthew Munson:

    I would love to upgrade it to the 1k node edition if he accepts money and ships codes within a week.

    Both Internet Rex's BinkD and FTP server are buggy as hell. You'd be better off using something else.

    Sadly It works well with my bbs software. Im trying to bribe Hector by saying i'll upgrade
    my node increase if he made a binkp server for PX.

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v7.0
    * Origin: Inland Utopia BBS * Ontario, CA * iutopia.dtdns.net (1:218/109)
  • From Gaylen Hintz@1:19/33 to Alan Ianson on Monday, May 27, 2019 12:34:00
    Alan Ianson spoke thus to Sean Dennis <=-


    If I were you, I'd use something else than IRex. Its BinkD and FTP server are both buggy as hell.

    I don't use IRex anymore but there are two links here who still use it
    so I guess it works for them.

    FWIW, I used Irex for many years with my ProBoard setup and never had any real issues with it for most of my links. I have to admit that some of my linux downlinks though did have problems with it occasionally. I don't know why it was just the linux systems but it was. :(


    ...  BORG! UHH! GOOD GOD! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? 
    === MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    --- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32
    * Origin: FIDONet: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)
  • From Gaylen Hintz@1:19/33 to Matthew Munson on Monday, May 27, 2019 12:37:00
    Matthew Munson spoke thus to Sean Dennis <=-

    -> Both Internet Rex's BinkD and FTP server are buggy as hell. You'd be better
    off using something else.

    Sadly It works well with my bbs software. Im trying to bribe Hector by saying i'll upgrade
    my node increase if he made a binkp server for PX.

    I haven't run a board now for over a year but I have to agree with you. Irex worked
    fine on my system and as a mail hub I did have a number of nodes to deal with
    )


    ... Conservatives a problem? Try the Liberal fix. Throw money at us.
    === MultiMail/Win32 v0.49
    --- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32
    * Origin: FIDONet: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)
  • From mark lewis@1:3634/12.73 to Gaylen Hintz on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 08:36:48
    On 2019 May 27 14:34:00, you wrote to Alan Ianson:

    FWIW, I used Irex for many years with my ProBoard setup and never had
    any real issues with it for most of my links. I have to admit that
    some of my linux downlinks though did have problems with it
    occasionally. I don't know why it was just the linux systems but it
    was. :(

    the main thing on linux systems was that DNS lookup stuff changed and IREX did not come out with an update to fix that... as a result, IREX on *nix cannot perform DNS lookups on today's *nix systems... that made it a lot harder for operators because they had to manually look up a node's domain in the DNS and put the IP number in the IREX record for that node... when the IP changes, they
    have to dance that dance again...

    )\/(ark

    Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
    Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
    ... My God lets me eat what I want.
    ---
    * Origin: (1:3634/12.73)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 13:44:43
    Alan Ianson wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

    Maximus comes to mind too. Thankfully the source for Maximus was
    released so anyone interested could move that product forward if they could/wanted to.

    Yes and for that Scott is to be lauded. Max was and is a great BBS software
    (I might have some bias in that statement).

    Tim did what he did with Telegard freely. He never asked anyone for anything.
    think he did awesome things with Telegard and gave it to anyone who wanted to use it.

    He did give TG a lot of work but there were a lot of things that needed to
    be fixed but he refused to fix them. That's why I dropped TG and moved to Maximus.

    Those were not trivial issues to Tim. Telegard was a full system when
    Tim started work on it, it was full of code that was not his and he
    didn't have the right or permission to release it.

    If he'd opened the source, a lot of issues could have been fixed
    and code could have been rewritten. It was a single person that was complaining about copyright and I think that person is no longer alive.

    I don't think the source for Internet Rex or Telegard was ever on the table. It would be nice if it was but not all software is open source.

    I agree but it'd be nice if they can fix buggy code. It says something
    about one's personal views and standards when they release known buggy code
    and then refuse to fix it.

    You are in a different boat than I am. I am not a programmer so if I
    have a problem with software I can only report it.

    I'm not really a programmer when it comes to C. I'm more of a hacker in the traditional sense.

    AI >If the software is
    to be upgraded further it needs to be done by the author of the
    software whether the source is available or not.

    Thank you for agreeing with me. :)

    I don't think those who write and support BBS software can ever make enough $$$ from it to make their living supporting it.

    Yes but when you charge people a fee to use your software they expect a
    modicum of service to include bugfixing. I don't charge for my software but
    I will immediately fix any bugs if they're found.

    In every case of active authors of BBS related software today they do
    it because they love it. I have and do support authors of shareware and opensource software.
    I have been supporting my own programs for 21 years now without any issue but it's never been about the money for me.
    That is great, it really is. There are few BBS software authors active today so I encourage you to continue.

    I tend to rattle the bushes sometimes and suddenly a BBS software author
    shows back up in the scene...

    I hold Charles and Tim in high regard and I think both of them did the best they could.

    I did however after private conversations with them, I can't say the same.

    Also Scott Dudley. I think he was a master of what he was doing. I've hoped over the years that he would find free time to continue to update Maximus and Squish but it never happened.

    I do believe Scott works with Rob Swindell as a device driver developer at Broadcom. I remember Rob saying something about this years (like 20!) ago
    but I don't know if it's true anymore.

    I don't use IRex anymore but there are two links here who still use it
    so I guess it works for them.

    MBSE has a special switch in the mail node configuration that will allow me
    to force BinkP/1.0 on a node. I do this with Internet Rex and Mystic
    systems and it seems to alleviate the issue for me.

    One thing that IRex did do quite well was its email server setup for email packet delivery. I haven't use that for years as I prefer to use FTP if a
    node can't use BinkP (though MBSE supports ifcico also).

    On a side note, you made me think about working on a few new BBS-related programs I've been thinking about. I need to install the Linux subsystem in W10 and install Debian into it. Just finding time to get all of the stuff
    done I want...

    Later,
    Sean


    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Alan Ianson on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 13:46:57
    Alan Ianson wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

    Not unless you used Lazarus (Free Pascal's RAD/GUI environment) to program it in. Would run under Linux/Win/OS X just fine.

    That's cool. I've never heard of RAD/GUI. If that's the case then we
    can scratch point number 2.

    RAD: Rapid Application Deployment
    GUI: Graphical User Interface

    I don't use Lazarus that much because a lot of the software I write I port
    to DOS and OS/2 (on which Lazarus can't run) so I've not used it much but there's a lot of good software that uses Lazarus.

    Fun fact: Skype was originally written in Delphi (object-oriented Pascal for Windows, like Lazarus/Free Pascal). Microsoft's since ported it to C# after purchasing Skype.

    Later,
    Sean

    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to Matthew Munson on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 13:47:49
    Matthew Munson wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

    Sadly It works well with my bbs software. Im trying to bribe Hector by saying i'll upgrade my node increase if he made a binkp server for PX.

    It shouldn't be too hard for him to do since the original BinkD is open
    source.

    Later,
    Sean


    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Sean Dennis@1:18/200 to mark lewis on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 13:59:57
    mark lewis wrote to Gaylen Hintz <=-

    the main thing on linux systems was that DNS lookup stuff changed and
    IREX did not come out with an update to fix that... as a result, IREX
    on *nix cannot perform DNS lookups on today's *nix systems... that made
    it a lot harder for operators because they had to manually look up a node's domain in the DNS and put the IP number in the IREX record for
    that node... when the IP changes, they have to dance that dance
    again...

    I remember that issue now.

    You could also get around that using resolv.conf too.

    Later,
    Sean


    --- MultiMail/Win
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Rob Swindell@1:103/705 to Sean Dennis on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 11:50:53
    Re: Re: Irex and Argue
    By: Sean Dennis to Alan Ianson on Wed May 29 2019 03:44 pm

    I do believe Scott works with Rob Swindell as a device driver developer at Broadcom. I remember Rob saying something about this years (like 20!) ago but I don't know if it's true anymore.

    Neither of us work at Broadcom any more (to my knowledge). Scott wasn't there very long after I met him back in 2001 (?).

    digital man

    Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #30:
    FTP = File Transfer Protocol
    Norco, CA WX: 79.0øF, 44.0% humidity, 8 mph ENE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.07-Linux
    * Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)
  • From Gaylen Hintz@1:18/200 to mark lewis on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 15:25:32
    mark lewis spoke thus to Gaylen Hintz <=-

    the main thing on linux systems was that DNS lookup stuff changed and
    IREX did not come out with an update to fix that... as a result, IREX

    ah yes, that would create problems for Irex users and connections with those linux systems.

    on *nix cannot perform DNS lookups on today's *nix systems... that made
    it a lot harder for operators because they had to manually look up a node's domain in the DNS and put the IP number in the IREX record for
    that node... when the IP changes, they have to dance that dance
    again...

    bummer! Maybe I got out at the right time. :) Well to be honest I was running Mystic the last year of two that I actually had a board.


    ... A woman drove me to drink, and I never had the courtesy to thank her.
    --- MultiMail/Win32
    * Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
  • From Charles Stephenson@1:226/17 to All on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 20:32:45
    Does anyone know where to find IRex and Argus for Linux? Google's links for it are broken...
    Regards,
    KrUpTiOn
    --- SBBSecho 3.07-Linux
    * Origin: The New Frontier ][ BBS(frontierbbs.net) - [Ohio] (1:226/17)