[Proposal] Add latest compiled tcpser to Raspple versions

[thecompu]

One way that people use to Raspple is to call BBSs. tcpser helps to do that. I'd like to have the latest tcpser included in Raspple versions. It's important to use Fozztexx's version as it fixed a long-standing issue with other versions of tcpser which couldn't connect to telnetd servers.

https://github.com/fozztexx/tcpser

[knghtbrd]

Current status on this is that we have two USB-serial devices supported by A2CLOUD: One provides ADTPro/VSDRIVE services to the client, and the other provides a serial terminal connection to give you serial access to the system to use it like a shell Internet connection. Theoretically you could connect to BBSes from there, however those that don't actually work using the telnet protocol (which is no small number of them) work poorly with real telnet as a client. There's ways around that, but there's good reasons why you want to have something in between your computer and the remote one to prevent what used to be called ANSI bombs back in the day, if nothing else. A good terminal program does this, but the UNIX shell environment will not.

I suppose the serial terminal could connect to tcpser if we ran telnetd--just call localhost. But I may want to talk to @FozzTexx about options there. Maybe we can avoid the use of telnet for a local login.

[FozzTexx]

I just run a telnet server that's restricted to only listen on localhost. http://www.insentricity.com/a.cl/260

[thecompu]

Joseph,

It's probably not a bad idea to try it Chris's way. telnetd scoped to allow
connections from localhost, but... it all depends on what the user wants to
do. I am BBS-focused. I want Raspple II to allow me to call BBSs without
much fuss. That's why I'd like tcpser pulled down in Raspple II's setup
scripts. However, someone else may just want to use the Apple II as a
terminal.

I think a good option would be:

1. Put tcpser (Chris's version) in Raspple II all compiled and ready.
2. Create a script that, at the user's choosing, either:
   a) Runs tcpser at a baud rate fed into the script.
   b) Runs tcpser at a baud rate fed into a script and setup telnetd
   scoped to localhost.

That way, if someone wants to run tcpser alone, they run the script. If
they want to run tcpser and telnet to localhost to get a shell prompt,
that's available too.

On the other hand, if they want to dive into tty, that's up to them but it
is available.

On Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 6:39 PM, FozzTexx [email protected] wrote:

I just run a telnet server that's restricted to only listen on localhost.

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[knghtbrd]

I'm not opposed to telnetd on localhost--though that does raise the question of how many servers can an armv6 Raspberry Pi model A (not A+) realistically handle? I haven't got an A, just a later model B with additional memory. Partly one could reasonably ask of anyone still using the original $25 model A why they don't upgrade to the $5 Zero and gain more memory and a smaller footprint to boot, but the Zero requires the soldering.

Keep in mind that we install Raspple II headless and you should theoretically never need to plug in keyboard and monitor to configure anything. We default the serial port to 4800 baud to ensure that even a //c with no hardware flow control should be able to make it work long enough to change what they need. That generally means if we include it, we're using it by default, at least on Raspberry Pi systems.

I have been working to put the base system on a bit of a diet to make life with an armv6 a little better, but ultimately it's just going to be slower. If people want faster, they'll want a newer device. Still, I need to make sure that it still works. Y'know, the thing Apple seems not to do with new iOS upgrades.