TC Wilson is The Captain who made MACOS (the hack of Acos). While it says METAL was $95... I honestly have no memory of buying it... Tho I was on the FutureNet. I don't know if I got it for free because I did coding on FutureVision maybe... too many high school parties to remember. I remember working on lots of systems to barter for free versions of things. I cleaned up SuperTAC which was a upload / download app like an FTP site. I cleaned up some of Blastervision for my friend insanitor@insanitor.com ------------------------- .... Newsgroups: alt.bbs.metal From: chl@aho.cba.csuohio.edu (Chuck Liggett) Subject: METAL Frequently Asked Questions Non-Automated Posting Message-ID: <1993May27.024126.17056@news.csuohio.edu> Summary: preliminary faq for METAL Sender: news@news.csuohio.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio Date: Thu, 27 May 1993 02:41:26 GMT Lines: 149 1. What is METAL? METAL is an Apple II based Telecommunications language that is one of a kind. It is extremely powerful and flexible, yet VERY easy to use. It's primary purpose is to operate a bulletin board system, however, other applications have been developed for it. Some of these include Terminal programs, Internet offline mail readers and data base type applications. 2. Who wrote METAL? METAL was designed, written and developed by TC Wilson, from Columbus, Ohio with support from Joshua Thompson of Detroit, Michigan. 3. Is METAL freeware? Freeware might not be the appropriate word for it. METAL used to be a commercial product, available directly from the author for $95. The author, TC Wilson, has decided to move into the Macintosh platform and has authorized the free distribution of METAL. Support has been handed over to Joshua Thompson who will continue to bug fix and develop the program. TC Wilson still retains all rights to the source code and has asked that the source code not be made publically available. 4. Where can I get METAL? METAL is available in three major ways. The first, and recommended way, is by calling Virtual Space Industries (313)-842-6739 (V.32 BIS) and downloading the program and all assocated file archives. This is the 'recommended' way because by doing this, it is easier for us to keep track of who has it, PLUS you will get your own personal serial number information 'burned' into the program. This isn't neccessary to run the program, but there is something nice about seeing your own name on the startup screen. The second way, and least expensive for Internet users is to FTP the files and archives from our METAL support site. The address is... babbage.cba.csuohio.edu directory /pub/metal/packed By doing this, you will get a generic NON personalized METAL.SYSTEM file, but in all other respects, the software will be identical to that found on Virtual Space Industries. The final way to acquire METAL is to call one of the other METAL support systems and get a copy. At this time, it is unknown whether the personalized serial number stamping will be available at these sites or not. Damage Incorporated (V.32 BIS/HST 14,400) - (216)-328-0374 The Atomic Playground (16.8K Dual Standard) - (614)-297-7031 5. What does METAL offer over existing Apple II BBS languages? o 24-bit integer math (-/+ 8meg range). o An upper limit of 8 megabytes on any compiled program. o Variable memory that takes advantage of your computer - 37k for an Aple //e or //c, and 64k or 128k for the Apple //GS. o Full 2-dimensional array support. o Massive command set - Allocate, Memstring, Do/While/Long If, Abort, fer, Fcopy, Edit, and more! o 31-character labels, 4-character variables, along with full support for hex, binary, and of course, decimal. o Easy-to-use and modify configuration file. o Fully customizable printer, clock, modem, and modem port interface drivers. o The local video driver (standard Apple PTSE) can automaticly translat PTSE control codes to other emulations - your users can even switch emulations online, and most PTSE commands (include the MouseText character set) will be translated to what the emulation expects! Totaly transparent to both you and your users - simply write everything in PTSE, and let the system o the work for you! o Documentation on the language supplied in AppleWorks 3.0 AWP file format, covering the language and commands in extreme depth. o Over 200 external ML routines for your ML programs to use. o Sysop creatable "External Package" programs that METAL can use as art of its own system. o Three types of externals: Packages, External Files, and Shell Commands Shell Commands can be used from the Reset Options locally to do things like editing a file, cataloging, viewing, and deleting files, even deleting entire directories! o Ability to change the size of up to 126 memory areas for your BBS to use. o Up to 40 "Data Areas" for your BBS to use, ranging from bit-level to three-byte-long data values. o Built-In file transfer commands, with protocol support for Xmodem, XmodemCRC, XmodemBatch, Xmodem1k, Xmodem4k, Ymodem, Ymodem4k, Ymodem-G, and Zmodem - all industry standard protocols. o Hide and Unhide variables directly in memory, without any disk access. o Local labels, extra-long lines (can actually go up to the entire file), including of common source files, chaning of multiple files into one objec runtime program, definable macro strings. o Procedures with local variables and input/output variable passing. o Much more than can be listed here! o Runs under ProDOS-8, with many features for the GS computers. o A really kick ass name and acronym. That's just the language - the BBS program that comes with Metal, called Futue Vision, is a state-of-the art "everything for everyone" BBS program, supporting TTY, DM1500, PTSE, MouseLink, ANSI, VT52, and VT100, with built-in netwoking, private user files area, system "staff" managers for almost everywhere, "timed events" that can allow your system to, say, back itself up every week (or once a month or once a day, for that matter), Networking, and a lot more! 6. What BBS programs are available for METAL? By far, the most common BBS program that is run under the METAL environment is FutureVision. This was written and designed by Joshua Thompson and is freeware. It is available via the standard support locations. (IE vi VSI, FTP and the other sites). It is networking software and at the time of this writing, we have approximately 45 members internationally. With the widespread availablitiy of METAL, this is expected to make a drastic and dramatic increase. Other authors have been designing BBS systems for METAL. One of tese is TunaNet METAL by Benjamin Doherty. He would appreciate any interested programmers for the project, so if anyone is interested, please post a message here saying so and I am sure he will get in touch with you. Third party developers have been beta testing and working with Jshua Thompson on the next version of FutureVision, version 5.0. This version will contain full Internet mail and Usenet support when it is released, similar n fashion to what Pro-Line by Morgan Davis offers. Unlike Pro-Line, FutureVision 5.0 is free and so is all the code to manage the UNIX <-> METAL gateways. Daonations are always accepted and welcomed, but not required. 7. What is the purpose of this newsgroup? One of the primary aims of this newsgroup is to support the METAL community and create a forum for discussion surrounding any and all facets of the language. This is not a "flame" group, and excessive flamings will be severly rebuked. Plus, we will hunt you down, tie you to a tree and make you listen to King Diamond CD's at extremely high volumes. So, if you have something legitimate to talk about, say it, otherwise, go post it on alt.lluce.sucks.sucks.sucks. Well, for now, that should do it. If you have any more questions that you would like to see in this FAQ, then please mail me at.... fnet@babbage.cba.csuohio.edu with the questions and I will add them in with the answers. :) Sincerely, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Damin - Sysop of Damage Incorporated, Cleveland's Fastest Apple II System #1@#6 (216)-328-0374 / HST & V.32 BIS up to 14,400 "Spring Break 1993 in Waco, Texas! 14 days of fun and guns! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------