219 lines
8.8 KiB
HTML
219 lines
8.8 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
|
|
<HTML>
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="LinuxDoc-Tools 0.9.21">
|
|
<TITLE> Modem-HOWTO: Communications Programs And Utilities</TITLE>
|
|
<LINK HREF="Modem-HOWTO-16.html" REL=next>
|
|
<LINK HREF="Modem-HOWTO-14.html" REL=previous>
|
|
<LINK HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15" REL=contents>
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<BODY>
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-16.html">Next</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-14.html">Previous</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15">Contents</A>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<H2><A NAME="comm_"></A> <A NAME="s15">15.</A> <A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15">Communications Programs And Utilities</A></H2>
|
|
|
|
<P> While PPP is used for Internet access you also need a dialer
|
|
program (or script) that will dial a phone number and then start PPP
|
|
once a connection is made. When the other side answers the phone,
|
|
then three things happen: a modem connection is established (CONNECT),
|
|
PPP is started at both ends, and you get logged in automatically. The
|
|
exact sequence of the last 2 events may vary. Dialer programs for ppp
|
|
include wvdial, chap scripts, kppp, RP3 (front end to wvdial and
|
|
ifup), gnome-ppp, and "modem lights" (Gnome). Linuxconf configures
|
|
some dialers.</P>
|
|
<P>There are also older dialer programs which can dial out (via a modem)
|
|
but don't connect to the Internet. Instead, you get connected to a
|
|
computer somewhere that puts a text image on your screen. This was
|
|
much used in the past to connect to Bulletin Boards. See
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-29.html#bbs_">PCs and BBSs</A> Today, it might be used to connect to
|
|
a remote computer that you may login to (including a PC at home).
|
|
Programs for this are: <CODE>minicom</CODE> (the most popular), <CODE>Seyon</CODE>
|
|
(X-Windows only) and <CODE>Kermit</CODE>. Some people have likely also used
|
|
these programs for dialing out with ppp for the Internet but it's not
|
|
what they were originally designed for.</P>
|
|
|
|
<H2><A NAME="ss15.1">15.1</A> <A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15.1">Minicom vs. Kermit</A>
|
|
</H2>
|
|
|
|
<P> Minicom is only a communications program while Kermit is both a
|
|
communications program and a file transfer protocol. But one may use
|
|
the Kermit protocol from within Minicom (provided one has Kermit
|
|
installed on one's PC). Minicom is menu based while Kermit is
|
|
command line based (interactive at the special Kermit prompt). While
|
|
the Kermit program is free software, the documentation is not all
|
|
free. There is no detailed manual supplied and it is suggested that
|
|
you purchase a book as the manual. However Kermit has interactive
|
|
online help which tells all but lacks tutorial explanations for the
|
|
beginner. Commands may be put in a script file so you don't have to
|
|
type them over again each time. Kermit (as a communications program)
|
|
is more powerful than Minicom.</P>
|
|
<P>Although all Minicom documentation is free, it's not as extensive as
|
|
Kermit's. In my opinion it's easier to set up Minicom, there is less
|
|
to learn, and you can still use kermit from within Minicom. But if
|
|
you want to write a script for automatically doing file transfers,
|
|
etc. Kermit is better.</P>
|
|
<P>g-kermit is a gpled kermit which has no dialout capabilities.</P>
|
|
|
|
<H2><A NAME="ss15.2">15.2</A> <A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15.2">List of Communication Software</A>
|
|
</H2>
|
|
|
|
<P> Here is a list of some communication software you can choose from,
|
|
If they didn't come with your distribution they should be available
|
|
via FTP. I would like comparative comments on the dialout programs.
|
|
Are the least popular ones obsolete?</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Least Popular Dialout</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI><CODE>ecu</CODE> - a communications program</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>pcomm</CODE> - <CODE>procomm</CODE>-like communications program with zmodem</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>xc</CODE> - xcomm communication package</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Most Popular Dialout</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI> PPP dialers for getting on the internet: <CODE>wvdial</CODE>, <CODE>eznet</CODE>,
|
|
<CODE>chat</CODE>, <CODE>pon</CODE> (uses chat),</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>minicom</CODE> - <CODE>telix</CODE>-like communications program. Can work
|
|
with scripts, zmodem, kermit</LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/">C-Kermit</A> -
|
|
portable, scriptable, serial and TCP/IP communications including file
|
|
transfer, character-set translation, and zmodem support</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>seyon</CODE> - X based communication program</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3><A NAME="fax_"></A> Fax </H3>
|
|
|
|
<P> By using a fax program, you may use most modems to send faxes.
|
|
In this case you dial out directly and not via ppp and an ISP. You
|
|
also pay any long-distance telephone charges. email is more
|
|
efficient.</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI> <CODE>efax</CODE> is a small fax program</LI>
|
|
<LI> <CODE>hylafax</CODE> is a large fax program based on the client-server
|
|
model.</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>mgetty+fax</CODE> handles fax stuff and login for dial-ins</LI>
|
|
<LI>A fax protocol tutorial
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/vfoip/topic08.html">http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/vfoip/topic08.html</A></LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3><A NAME="voice_sw"></A> Voicemail Software </H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI> vgetty is an extension to mgetty that handles voicemail for
|
|
some modems. It should come with recent releases of mgetty.</LI>
|
|
<LI>
|
|
<A HREF="http://vocp.sourceforge.net/">VOCP</A>is a
|
|
"complete voice messaging" system for Linux.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Dial-in (uses getty)</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI><CODE>mgetty+fax</CODE> is for modems and is well documented (except for
|
|
voicemail as of early 1999). It also handles fax stuff and provides
|
|
an alternative to <CODE>uugetty</CODE>. It's incorporating voicemail (using
|
|
vgetty) features. See
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-12.html#mgetty_">About mgetty</A>
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI> <CODE>uugetty</CODE> is also for modems. It comes as a part of the
|
|
<CODE>ps_getty</CODE> package. See
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-13.html#uugetty_">About getty_ps</A></LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Network Connection</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI><CODE>ser2net</CODE> </LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>sredird</CODE></LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H3>Other</H3>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI><CODE>callback</CODE> is where you dial out to a remote modem and then
|
|
that modem hangs up and calls you back (to save on phone bills).
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>xringd</CODE> listens for rings and detects inter-ring times etc.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>SLiRP</CODE> and <CODE>term</CODE> provide a PPP-like service that you can
|
|
run in user space on a remote computer with a shell account.
|
|
See
|
|
<A HREF="#term+slurp">term and SLiRP</A> for more details
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI><CODE>ZyXEL</CODE> is a control program for ZyXEL U-1496 modems. It
|
|
handles dialin, dialout, dial back security, FAXing, and voice
|
|
mailbox functions.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>SLIP and PPP software can be found at
|
|
<CODE>
|
|
<A HREF="ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/">ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/</A></CODE>.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Other things can be found on
|
|
<CODE>
|
|
<A HREF="ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/serial">ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/serial</A></CODE> and
|
|
<CODE>
|
|
<A HREF="ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/serialcomm">ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/serialcomm</A></CODE> or one of the
|
|
many mirrors. These are the directories where serial programs are kept.</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
<H2><A NAME="term+slurp"></A> <A NAME="ss15.3">15.3</A> <A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15.3">SLiRP and term </A>
|
|
</H2>
|
|
|
|
<P> <CODE>SLiRP</CODE> and <CODE>term</CODE> are programs which are of use if you only
|
|
have a dial-up shell account on a Unix-like machine and want to get
|
|
the equivalent of a PPP account (or the like) without being authorized
|
|
to have it (possibly because you don't want to pay extra for it, etc.).
|
|
<CODE>SLiRP</CODE> is more popular than <CODE>term</CODE> which is almost obsolete.</P>
|
|
<P>To use <CODE>SLiRP</CODE> you install it in your shell account on the remote
|
|
computer. Then you dial up the account and run SLiRP on the remote
|
|
and PPP on your local PC. You now have a PPP connection over which
|
|
you may run a web browser on your local PC such as Netscape, etc.
|
|
There may be some problems as SLiRP is not as good as a real PPP
|
|
account. Some accounts may provide SLiRP since it saves on IP
|
|
addresses (You have no IP address while using SLiRP).</P>
|
|
<P><CODE>term</CODE> is something like SLiRP only you need to run <CODE>term</CODE> on
|
|
both the local and remote computer. There is no PPP on the phone line
|
|
since <CODE>term</CODE> uses its own protocol. To use <CODE>term</CODE> from your PC
|
|
you need to use a term-aware version of ftp to do ftp, etc. Thus it's
|
|
easier to use SLiRP since the ordinary version of ftp works fine with
|
|
SLiRP. There is an unmaintained Term HOWTO.</P>
|
|
|
|
<H2><A NAME="ss15.4">15.4</A> <A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15.4">MS Windows</A>
|
|
</H2>
|
|
|
|
<P> If you want someone who uses MS Windows to dial in to your Linux
|
|
PC then if they use:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI> Windows 3.x: use <CODE>Terminal</CODE></LI>
|
|
<LI> Windows 95/98/2000: use <CODE>HyperTerminal</CODE></LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>Third party dial-out programs include HyperTerminal Private Edition.</P>
|
|
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-16.html">Next</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO-14.html">Previous</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Modem-HOWTO.html#toc15">Contents</A>
|
|
</BODY>
|
|
</HTML>
|