204 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
204 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
<HTML
|
|
><HEAD
|
|
><TITLE
|
|
>Communications Software
|
|
for Modem Links</TITLE
|
|
><META
|
|
NAME="GENERATOR"
|
|
CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.57"><LINK
|
|
REL="HOME"
|
|
TITLE="Linux Network Administrators Guide"
|
|
HREF="index.html"><LINK
|
|
REL="UP"
|
|
TITLE="Configuring the Serial Hardware"
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.html"><LINK
|
|
REL="PREVIOUS"
|
|
TITLE="Configuring the Serial Hardware"
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.html"><LINK
|
|
REL="NEXT"
|
|
TITLE="Introduction to Serial Devices"
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.ttys.html"></HEAD
|
|
><BODY
|
|
CLASS="SECT1"
|
|
BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
|
|
TEXT="#000000"
|
|
LINK="#0000FF"
|
|
VLINK="#840084"
|
|
ALINK="#0000FF"
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="NAVHEADER"
|
|
><TABLE
|
|
WIDTH="100%"
|
|
BORDER="0"
|
|
CELLPADDING="0"
|
|
CELLSPACING="0"
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TH
|
|
COLSPAN="3"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
>Linux Network Administrators Guide</TH
|
|
></TR
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="10%"
|
|
ALIGN="left"
|
|
VALIGN="bottom"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.html"
|
|
>Prev</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="80%"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
VALIGN="bottom"
|
|
>Chapter 4. Configuring the Serial Hardware</TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="10%"
|
|
ALIGN="right"
|
|
VALIGN="bottom"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.ttys.html"
|
|
>Next</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
></TR
|
|
></TABLE
|
|
><HR
|
|
ALIGN="LEFT"
|
|
WIDTH="100%"></DIV
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="SECT1"
|
|
><H1
|
|
CLASS="SECT1"
|
|
><A
|
|
NAME="X-087-2-SERIAL.SOFTWARE"
|
|
>4.1. Communications Software
|
|
for Modem Links</A
|
|
></H1
|
|
><P
|
|
>There are a number of communications packages available for
|
|
Linux. Many of these packages are <I
|
|
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
|
|
>terminal
|
|
programs</I
|
|
>, which allow a user to dial in to another computer
|
|
as if she were sitting in front of a simple terminal. The traditional
|
|
terminal program for Unix-like environments is
|
|
<B
|
|
CLASS="COMMAND"
|
|
>kermit</B
|
|
>. It is, however, fairly ancient now, and
|
|
would probably be considered difficult to use. There are more
|
|
comfortable programs available that support features, like
|
|
telephone-dialing dictionaries, script languages to automate dialing
|
|
and logging in to remote computer systems, and a variety of file
|
|
exchange protocols. One of these programs is <B
|
|
CLASS="COMMAND"
|
|
>minicom</B
|
|
>,
|
|
which was modeled after some of the most popular DOS terminal
|
|
programs. X11 users are accommodated, too. <B
|
|
CLASS="COMMAND"
|
|
>seyon</B
|
|
> is
|
|
a fully featured X11-based communications program.</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>Terminal programs aren't the only type of serial communication
|
|
programs available. Other programs let you connect to a host and
|
|
download news and email in a single bundle, to read and reply later at
|
|
your leisure. This can save a lot of time, and is especially useful if
|
|
you are unfortunate enough to live in an area where your local calls
|
|
are time-charged. All of the reading and replying time can be spent
|
|
offline, and when you are ready, you can redial and upload your
|
|
responses in a single bundle. This all consumes a bit more hard disk
|
|
because all of the messages have to be stored to your disk before you
|
|
can read them, but this could be a reasonable trade-off at today's
|
|
hard drive prices.</P
|
|
><P
|
|
> UUCP epitomizes this
|
|
communication software style. It is a program suite that copies files
|
|
from one host to another and executes programs on a remote host. It is
|
|
frequently used to transport mail or news in private networks. Ian
|
|
Taylor's UUCP package, which also runs under Linux, is described in
|
|
detail in <A
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-uucp.html"
|
|
>Chapter 16</A
|
|
>. Other noninteractive
|
|
communications software is used throughout networks such as
|
|
Fidonet. Fidonet application ports like <B
|
|
CLASS="COMMAND"
|
|
>ifmail</B
|
|
> are
|
|
also available, although we expect that not many people still use
|
|
them.</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>
|
|
|
|
|
|
PPP and SLIP are in between, allowing both interactive and
|
|
noninteractive use. Many people use PPP or SLIP to dial in to their
|
|
campus network or other Internet Service Provider to run FTP and read
|
|
web pages. PPP and SLIP are also, however, commonly used over
|
|
permanent or semipermanent connections for LAN-to-LAN coupling,
|
|
although this is really only interesting with ISDN or other high-speed
|
|
network connections.</P
|
|
></DIV
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
|
|
><HR
|
|
ALIGN="LEFT"
|
|
WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
|
|
WIDTH="100%"
|
|
BORDER="0"
|
|
CELLPADDING="0"
|
|
CELLSPACING="0"
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="left"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.html"
|
|
>Prev</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="34%"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="index.html"
|
|
>Home</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="right"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.ttys.html"
|
|
>Next</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
></TR
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="left"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
>Configuring the Serial Hardware</TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="34%"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="x-087-2-serial.html"
|
|
>Up</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="right"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
>Introduction to Serial Devices</TD
|
|
></TR
|
|
></TABLE
|
|
></DIV
|
|
></BODY
|
|
></HTML
|
|
> |