00READMEFIRST.TXT                                            (4 February 1983)


                 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.
All files have been named to be unique in the first 6 characters, and contain
only letters and digits in their names, so they should mesh with most file
systems.  If you have received an IBM or TOPS-10 tape, some of the trailing
characters of some of the filenames will have been truncated, but the
filenames should still all be unique.  Most filetypes (extensions) are all 3
characters or less, so no known operating system will truncate them.


* 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:

	20	DEC-20, running TOPS-20, written in Macro
	10	DEC-10, TOPS-10, Macro
	CPM	8080 or Z80, CPM, Asm
	PC	IBM PC, PC DOS, Assembler
	UNIX	Berkeley Unix, C (Columbia Version)
	CORN	Berkeley Unix, C (Cornell Version)
	CMS	IBM 370 series, VM/CMS, Assembler
	RT	PDP-11, RT-11, OMSI Pascal with Software Tools.

In some cases, binaries (.REL, .EXE, .COM, .HEX, 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.  The Z80
version can be assembled for many different micros, so too much confusion
would result from trying to maintain up-to-date hex files for each.  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 on the IBM VM/CMS
tape.  All necessary files are included for building each version of Kermit
from program source.

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, you
would copy 20KERMIT.MAC to KERMIT.MAC, then assemble it, and store the result
as KERMIT.EXE in SYS:.

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.
	.LPT	Line Printer format (overstriking, underscore, etc).
	.DOC	No special effects, suitable for reading on line.

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 or other multifont laser
printers or photocomposers.  As of this writing, Scribe is not entirely
bug-free; you will notice some problems with the footnotes in the .DOC and
.LPT files.  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 .LPT files.

The user's guide is intended for users of Kermit (including those who want to
install it on a new system), 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).

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.

OLD*.MSS is the (obsolete) 2nd edition of the Kermit manual.


* Other Files:

00READMEFIRST.TXT is this file, which should appear at the top of any
directory listing.

The files SYMBOL.* comprise a cross assembler for the 8080 written in SAIL for
the DEC-20 (and possibly with minor modifications) on the DEC-10.

TTLINK.* is a terminal linking program for the DEC-20, allowing you to log in
to another system over a TTY line (e.g. over an autodialer).  KERMIT-20 runs
TTLINK to execute the CONNECT command.

EZFIX.* is a utility for converting EasyWriter files sent to the DEC-20 from
the IBM PC into ordinary text form.


* 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

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