$$README FIRST                                           (1 February 1984)


                 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY KERMIT DISTRIBUTION TAPE


This tape includes all the versions of Kermit which were in our possession as
of the time this distribution tape was made, plus some miscellanous files.
The files on the tape have names of the form

	NAME TYPE

Where NAME is the name of file, and TYPE is its type (program source,
documentation, executable core image, etc).  No NAME is more than 9 characters
long (the maximum accepted by VAX/VMS), and every NAME is unique in the first
6 characters (the maximum under TOPS-10).  On TOPS-10 BACKUP/Interchange
tapes, names longer than 6 will be truncated to 6.  No type is longer than 3
characters.


* Prefixed Files:

The file names for files associated with each implementation of KERMIT are
prefixed by a few characters denoting the implementation.  The following are
presently used:

      Prefix    Machine(s)             Operating System      Language

        170     Cyber 170              NOS                   Fortran-77
	20	DECSYSTEM-20           TOPS-20               MACRO-20
        AOS     Data General           AOS                   Ratfor
	CMS	IBM 370 Series         VM/CMS                IBM Assembler
	K10	DECsystem-10           TOPS-10               MACRO-10
        K11     PDP-11                 RSX-11, RSTS/E        MACRO-11
	MTS	IBM 370 Series         MTS                   Assember, Pascal
        MU      Honewyell              MULTICS               PL/I
	RT	PDP-11                 RT-11                 OMSI Pascal
        UN      Univac-1100            EXEC                  Assembler
	UX	VAX, SUN, PDP-11, etc  UNIX                  C
        VF      VAX                    VMS                   Pascal and Fortran
        VMS     VAX                    VMS                   Bliss-32
        VX      VAX                    VMS                   C

        800     Luxor ABC-800          CP/M-80-like          BASIC-II
        86      Rainbow-100, NEC APC   CP/M-86               ASM86
        APP     Apple II 6502          Apple DOS             DEC-10 CROSS
        ATA     Atari Home Computer    DOS                   Action!
	CPM	8080, 8085, or Z80     CP/M-80               ASM
        HP1     HP-150                 MS DOS                HP-150
        HP9     HP-98xx                UCSD p-System         HP Pascal
        MDS     Intel Development System ISIS                PL/M
       	PC	IBM PC or Zenith Z100  PC DOS, MS DOS        MASM
        SEE     Seequa Chameleon       MS DOS, CP/M-86       MASM
        UC      Terak                  UCSD p-System         Pascal, Macro-11
        VIC     Sirius 1/Victor 9000   MS DOS, CP/M-86       MASM, ASM86

(The VAX/VMS C version is based on an old version of UNIX Kermit; the VMS
support has yet to be merged with the current UNIX Kermit.)

(The Victor versions are based on an old version of IBM PC Kermit; the Victor
support has yet to be merged with the current IBM PC (MS/PC DOS) and DEC
Rainbow (CP/M-86) versions.) 

In some cases, binaries (.REL, .EXE, .COM, etc) are not supplied.  For
instance, no binaries come with the UNIX sources, since these can be compiled
to run on many different machines, under different versions of UNIX.  No
binaries come with the VAX/VMS source, since the VMS file attributes cannot be
saved on the DEC-20 tape.  Binaries are provided when it makes sense, however:
DEC-10 and DEC-20 .EXE files are provided on DEC-10 and -20 distribution
tapes, MODULE files for CMS KERMIT on the IBM VM/CMS tape.  In any event, all
necessary files for building each version of Kermit from program source are
included on all tapes.

When working with one of these implementations, you would normally copy them
to a separate area and strip the prefix from the file names, and install the
programs on the appropriate systems without the prefix.  For instance, on the
DEC-20 you would copy 20KERMIT.MAC to KERMIT.MAC, then assemble it, and store
the result as KERMIT.EXE in SYS:.  The VAX/VMS and TOPS-10 versions are
exceptions; in these cases REPLACE the "VMS" or "K10" prefixes with "KER".

The following files for specific CP/M implementations are included:

 CPMBASE M80      The current, working source file for CP/M KERMIT.
 CPMBASE DOC      A list of recent changes to CP/M KERMIT (not in manual yet).
 CPMKERM DOC      An explanation of why there are three source files...

 CPMAPPLE HEX     Apple II with Z80 Softcard & DC Hayes Micromodem
 CPMAPPLE SSC     Notes for using above with Super Serial Card
 CPMBRAIN HEX     Intertec SuperBrain
 CPMDMII HEX      DECmate II with CP/M
 CPMGENERI HEX    "Generic" CP/M Kermit.
 CPMHEATH HEX     Heath/Zenith 89
 CPMKAYPRO HEX    Kaypro-II
 CPMOSBORN HEX    Osborne 1
 CPMOSI HEX       Ohio Scientific
 CPMPLUS HEX      For any system running CP/M-Plus (3.0)
 CPMRAINBO HEX    DEC Rainbow-100
 CPMROBIN HEX     DEC VT180 "Robin"
 CPMTELCON HEX    Telcon Zorba
 CPMTRS80 HEX     TRS-80 II with Lifeboat CP/M 2.25
 CPMVECTOR HEX    Vector Graphics
 CPMZ100 HEX      Heath/Zenith Z100 with CP/M-85

The EXE file for the IBM PC is included on the tape in a printable
format.  The file is called PCKERMIT FIX.  Note that the file should
be saved on the mainframe with Recfm = F, Lrecl = 62.

The Kermit Users Guide contains instructions for installing or bootstrapping
the various versions of Kermit.

* Manuals:

There are two Kermit manuals: USER and PROTO, a user's guide and a protocol
manual, respectively.  Three versions of these files are provided:

	.MSS	Scribe (UNILOGIC Ltd text formatter) source.
	.DOC	No special effects, suitable for reading on line.
	.FOR    Line printer format with Fortran-style carriage control.

If you have Scribe and the appropriate Scribe device drivers, you can run the
.MSS files through it to produce output suitable for printing on any device
supported at your site, including the Xerox-9700, Imagen Imprint-10, or
other multifont laser printers or photocomposers.  As of this writing,
Scribe is not entirely bug-free; you may notice some problems with the
footnotes in the DOC file.  Note that some parts of the user manual rely
on underlining to clarify examples; the underlines are missing from the
DOC files, but will be found in the FOR files.

The user's guide is intended for users of Kermit (including those who want to
install it), the protocol manual is for those who would like to write a new
implementation (i.e. a Kermit program for a new machine or operating system).

IMPORTANT: The Users Guide is always out of date.  New implementations of
KERMIT, and new versions of old ones, arrive in a steady stream.  It's
impossible to keep the manual up to date.  The general description of KERMIT
operation remains valid, but detailed descriptions of the various versions are
better obtained from the accompanying help (.HLP), documentation (.DOC), memo
(.MEM), or manual (.MAN) files.  Look to these files for information missing
from the user manual.

ASCII MSS is the ASCII/EBCDIC character table, which is included as an
appendix in both manuals.

MANUAL HYP is a hyphenation dictionary for building the manual with Scribe.


* Other Files:

$$README FIRST is this file, which should appear at the top of any alphabetical
directory listing, and is the first file on the tape.

FLYER DOC is a short KERMIT "brochure", explaining the distribution policy.

TTLINK is a terminal linking program for the DEC-20, allowing you to log in
to another system over a TTY line (e.g. using an autodialer).  KERMIT-20 runs
TTLINK to execute the CONNECT command.  (NTTLINK is a new, experimental version
that can send a BREAK).

EZFIX is a utility for converting EasyWriter files sent to the DEC-20 from
the IBM PC into ordinary text form.  Strip is a program for stripping away
the 8th bit.

KERMIT WHO is a list of all the sites Columbia has sent KERMIT tapes to.

VERSIONS.DOC is a list of all known versions of KERMIT, even those that aren't
being distributed yet, showing their status, who's working on them, etc.

* Finally...

If you make any modifications to Kermit, fix any bugs, or write any new
implementations or documentation, please send them back to us on magnetic tape
so we can distribute them to other Kermit users:

	KERMIT Distribution
	Columbia University
	Center for Computing Activities
	612 West 115th Street
	7th Floor
	New York NY 10025

or via network mail notify

	CC.DAPHNE@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA
	SY.DAPHNE@CU20B.BITNET
        DFTCU@CUVMB.BITNET

We'll return your tape to you with the latest Kermit distribution.


