Possibilities - Letter From Phil 5/91

Contact:   eSoft, Inc. (Makers of TBBS)
           15200 E. Girard Ave., Suite 3000
           Aurora, CO  80014
           (303) 699-6565      Voice
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           (303) 699-8222      BBS
           support@esoft.com   E-Mail

LETTER FROM PHIL 5/91
---------------------

*** From May 1991 Possibilities Newsletter ***
*** Copyright 1991 by eSoft, Inc.  All Rights Reserved ***

Letter From Phil
by Phil Becker

I have some exciting news for you this month, your software investment with 
eSoft just got more solid.  I am pleased to announce that Adam Hudson, the 
author of the QuickBBS shareware program has joined the eSoft team.  Adam has 
been away from the BBS software arena working as a consultant in the computer 
industry for the last two years.  In a chance discussion with him some months
ago I discovered he might be available.  Further negotiations followed and 
last month he moved from Phoenix, AZ back to Denver to join eSoft. With the 
addition of Adam, eSoft now has the most recognized and experienced BBS 
software talent of any company in the industry. 

I am building the eSoft team with innovators -- people who in each case 
developed landmark software in the BBS field.  Bob Hartman, who joined eSoft 
last year, co-authored (with Vince Perriello) the popular FidoNet mailer 
BinkleyTerm.  Bob also worked on the early development of the Opus BBS 
software and developed CONFMAIL which was the first echomail processor capable 
of high volume mail handling.  Bob is also well known in the computer industry 
in general having developed AT&T's MS-DOS as well as the communications 
routines used by Microsoft among other projects. 

Now with the addition of Adam Hudson, I have another BBS designer of 
substantial reputation who has decided that TBBS is the software he wants to 
be part of.  Software authors have large egos, and for one who has made his 
mark to decide to work on a product other than the one he designed is quite a 
statement.  Now we have two major software designers who have chosen TBBS over 
their own designs.  Its true they know more about the future of the product 
line than is common public knowledge, but you should feel good that they think 
you have the best there is. 

I am personally gratified that people of this caliber would choose to join me 
in the development of my software.  It is a compliment that not many will ever 
receive.  I will try to stay humble about it (hold down the laughter 
please)... 

By now most of you have noticed that this is the May issue of the newsletter 
and that you didn't get an April issue.  The reason is that for the last year 
we have been slipping about two days per month in preparing and shipping out 
the newsletter.  This meant that the March issue was shipped on March 28th 
which made it April by the time many of you received it.  So I decided to 
suspend the April issue, regroup, and get things back on track with this 
issue. 

This issue will only count as a single issue on your subscription, so you 
won't lose any issues.  The number (Vol 2, No. 4) is the guide to counting how 
many issues you have received, not the cover date. 

Because this issue was delayed it is a bonus "extra large" issue.  We have 
included three user profiles which show a wide range of TBBS applications.  
You consistently indicate that the user profiles are your favorite part of the 
newsletter, so it seemed to me that an enlarged issue should have extra 
profiles. 

These profiles cover everything from TBBS on the battlefield, to TBBS in Real 
Estate, to the entrepreneurial use of TBBS to create a business.  I hope there 
is something for each of you here both in interesting stories and ideas you 
can use for your system (though I doubt many of you are using encrypted mobile 
microwave transmission links for your TBBS). 

Also in this issue you will find a review of three third party add-on programs 
which are available for downloading from the support BBS.  I get requests for 
such reviews frequently, and it has been tough to find space for them.  Since 
this is an extra large issue it provides the opportunity to print some of them 
and so I commissioned Alan Bechtold to do this review.. 

You will also find an article in this issue by Alan Bryant which addresses the 
many questions caused by the announcement that TBBS 2.2 will move to a two 
line multi-user low end system instead of the current single line.  Those of 
you who have single line now will have to decide if you want to upgrade to 
TBBS 2.2S or TBBS 2.2M[2] and many have indicated concerns about that 
decision.  I hope this article addresses most of your questions about what is 
involved in moving from single line to multi-line TBBS. 

For those who missed the announcement, TBBS 2.1S users will have the option to 
upgrade to either a two line multi-user TBBS 2.2 or a single line TBBS 2.2 for 
the same price.  If you elect to upgrade to the two line system, we will also 
upgrade any single line TDBS or TIMS software you currently have to a two line 
version for no charge! 

The reason for this is that with the release of TBBS 2.2, the single line 
product will no longer be sold to new users.  It will only be available to 
current single line users as a upgrade option.  The TBBS 2.2M[2] will become 
the starter system at the same $299.95 price. 

This announcement has caused quite a stir.  Most are excited about the 
prospect of a low cost two user TBBS, but others have voiced a lot of concern.  
Most of this concern is due to a lack of a full understanding either of the 
upgrade offer or of the multi-line product capabilities.  Others are concerned 
that I am abandoning the "little guy" in a greedy pursuit of the almighty 
dollar. 

What I am trying to do is continue to build the strongest possible company so 
that you will continue to have the best BBS software available anywhere.  This 
means changes, but  I have always tried to make following the upgrade path of 
TBBS as painless as possible as users who have been with me for many years can 
attest. 

Since nothing causes as much anxiety as a lack of information or understanding 
of what is happening, the least I can do is be sure that you understand all of 
the options and their impact on you, and I hope this article helps in that 
regard. 

With regard to TBBS 2.2, and the inevitable "when will it be released" 
question, I can say that it looks a lot more like July than June at this time, 
and I am still not prepared to announce a firm date.  I am writing a book 
which will be published this fall and the deadlines are overlapping TBBS 
development and have had an impact. 

The book (by the way) will be titled "The Que Guide to PC Communications" and 
will be in all major bookstores this fall.  It will published by Que Books and 
will cover all aspects of asynchronous serial communications from the beginner 
level to the very advanced.  There will be something everyone can learn from 
the book. 

I have worked very hard to make this book answer the questions "how come this 
is like it is" and "how does this stuff work anyway" in many areas of both 
hardware and software.  You will find not only the technical information but 
the human information behind serial communications.  You will learn such 
things as what did Baudot do to get the Baud named after him?  Who invented 
MNP and why?  How does Internet and the Domain Name Addressing system allow 
you to send electronic mail anywhere in the world for free?  What are all of 
those tones about when you call a V.32 modem? 

The book touches every aspect of PC communications from the basic theory, to 
BBS software, terminal program software, commercial online services, and even 
how to program communications drivers for the IBM PC.  It will show you how to 
troubleshoot modem installations, and also explain how modems work in more 
detail than you thought you wanted to know.  Want to know which file transfer 
protocol to select for a particular application and why?  This book will tell 
you. 

I am currently negotiating with Que to have eSoft make a bulk purchase of the 
book and I expect we will be able to sell it to you at a substantial discount 
from the bookstore price.  More on that as developments occur... 

Well the book deadlines have been met and the newsletter is back on schedule.  
Now I need to get back to work so I can say the same about the TBBS 2.2 
project.  I'll let you know how I did next time... 

- END -
PS0591-1
Rev. 5/91

Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
to distribute this file in its entirety, without modification, to any
interested party.  Any other use requires the written permission of
eSoft, Inc.

IMPORTANT:  The information herein is subject to change without notice.
Please call or write to confirm factual information of importance to you
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