Possibilities - Letter from Phil 12/93

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

LETTER FROM PHIL 12/93
----------------------

*** From December 1993 Possibilities Newsletter ***
*** Copyright 1993 by eSoft, Inc.  All Rights Reserved ***

The fall colors are fading, the first snows have fallen and it's that time 
of year when I realize that 1993 is nearly gone.  As that sinks in, I 
naturally begin to review the year to see how well we have done with TBBS.  
Since I'm always thinking of the next things we will be doing, my first 
reaction is always to feel that I didn't get much done this year.  But more 
thought and the picture starts to change...

A year ago we had just returned from the first ONE BBSCON.  Since then we
have shipped a new version of our TDBS data base option module (which can 
handle a much wider range of applications than the previous version), the 
QSO offline reader support option (allowing QWK offline readers to access 
TBBS message areas), a new version of TIMS that dials out (the entire 
FidoNet backbone has now converted to TBBS/TIMS as a result), and 
InterChange -- the connectivity module that opens so many new paths for TBBS 
solutions that the possibilities have only begun to sink in.

We have also shipped the RIP kit which integrates RIP graphics into TBBS.  
UltraChat, one of the largest projects in eSoft's history, is in final beta 
testing and will ship soon -- providing TBBS with the best online chat 
system available.  And a new SYSOM will ship in the next few months that 
will allow you to edit text files online and do full remote console control 
of your TBBS.

Through it all we have been able to find the time to diagnose and repair 
over a hundred software problems via our UPDATE process so your TBBS 
software has stayed new and reliable.  And we also found the time to create 
and produce a 42 minute TBBS installation video (now included in all TBBS 
systems).  We showed this video in the eSoft hospitality suite at ONE BBSCON 
and it received excellent reviews.  And it has drastically reduced the 
technical support phone calls that new users of TBBS need to make to get 
their software up and running.  This type of customer support is something 
that ONLY TBBS and eSoft provide, and it is an important ingredient in the 
value of TBBS.

But it is one of the vicious truths of software development that a list of 
products and software achievements like this, all of which are less than a 
year old, seem long ago in my mind.  This is because my thoughts are always 
focused on the things which are not yet done.  Those things that will become 
a reality in the months and years ahead.  Things like full Internet IP 
connectivity for TBBS as well as full IPX LAN logon access.  Things like 
10,000 line TBBS systems with unlimited message areas.  New option modules 
that cannot even be started until a new TBBS provides the foundation for 
them.  Such is the relentless world of online software, that when we ship a 
product it is hardly even a relief -- because by the time any ideas we have 
can work their way into reality, we have usually lived with them a couple of 
years or more.

Every so often, however, a totally unexpected technological event takes 
place in the world, and through the quick response that it forces on me, I 
can see things in much better perspective.  In the past two months the V.FC 
modems have provided me with just such an opportunity to see what TBBS has 
really become in the twelve years since I began writing it.

At this year's ONE BBSCON, Dennis Hayes revealed that 28.8kbps modems would 
be shipping before the end of the year.  At the show he personally solicited 
commitments from BBS companies to support these new high speed modems.  I 
had to decide in a 24 hour period whether I could promise to do this in the 
time frame required, because Hayes was preparing a press release which would 
name all of the companies who signed a promise to support the high speeds.

I spent the evening trying to remember the calculations I had done when TBBS 
2.2 was designed to see if I thought it could handle the increased load.  I 
remembered how long I worked on the interrupt handling code -- shaving every 
cycle I could and drawing diagrams to see how things would work under full 
loading -- just to be certain that TBBS could handle 64 lines at 38.4kbps.  
If I made a public promise, I would have to honor it -- even if it meant 
major reworking of TBBS 2.2 and issuing a new release.  Likewise, if TBBS 
couldn't support these new modems we would lose a lot of momentum in the 
marketplace (I didn't want to be in the position of trying to tell a 
prospective TBBS customer they didn't really want to send data that fast!)

Then it hit me!  TBBS 2.2 was designed to conservatively provide that 
performance on a 33MHz 80386!  Since transferring ZIP files on the V.FC 
modems would not really be a lot more stress than 38.4kbps I realized that 
TBBS could surely handle it on a hot 80486 computer.  So I made the 
commitment.  But I still thought it would likely be a very close thing.

We got back from the show and set up the eSoft lab (which is now getting 
pretty impressive) to run some hard, measured, tests (article on page 13).  
Again I was hit with how far things had come.  With an 80486, the code I had 
struggled with two years ago was able to really fly.  It turned out it could 
handle a full 64 V.FC modems very well on relatively modest hardware by 
today's standards.  We were able to quickly produce a high speed upgrade to 
TBBS 2.2 (available free in the mods section of the support BBS) and TBBS 
became the first BBS software to fully support the V.FC modems.

So as I look at the list of products we have released in the past year, I 
can see that TBBS is now capable of solving FAR more online problems than it 
could just one year ago.  And the synergy of TBBS is that with the release 
of our high speed upgrade kit, all of those solutions are immediately able 
to be used simultaneously on up to 64 lines at the highest speeds possible 
with today's modem technology!

If you've read this far, you are probably grudgingly willing to admit it's 
been a pretty good year for TBBS.  But like me, I'm certain that you have 
already accepted the capability that TBBS has today as a baseline and are 
looking forward to what is next.  After all, the power TBBS has already 
given you has let you see many new application areas TBBS could address "if 
it only had..."  More capability!  More connectivity!  I know what you are 
thinking, because I am thinking it too.  Well it's OK.  In fact, I invite 
you to imagine with me for a moment where TBBS will be in another 18 months 
more or less when we have this conversation again...

The Internet IP Adapter that we demonstrated at ONE BBSCON will be a 
released product (likely old and you'll be asking for new features in it by 
then!)  You will be able to easily hook your TBBS up to the Internet (or any 
other TCP/IP network) in a fully integrated way that other BBS software will 
only then be admitting is possible.  As is always the case with TBBS, you 
will do so with a single, integrated, solution instead of a pile of cobbled 
together hardware and software.  So when users Telnet or FTP into your 
system, or call your BBS on a modem and Telnet or FTP out onto the Internet, 
it will work as smoothly as the rest of your TBBS.  And you won't have a 
UNIX system or a complex multi-node LAN TCP/IP plus multiple client/server 
software based solution to live with every day like everyone else!

By then UltraChat will be old and probably we will all have a long list of 
"obvious upgrades" that it needs to support the thousands of new users its 
presence has added to your TBBS.  They are demanding changes, and we have to 
get it updated now!  And you'll need more than 64 lines now that you have 
all those users.  After all, you can't collect their money if they can't log 
on!  So we'll all be thinking that it is a good thing that TBBS can now do 
over 200 lines on just 4 computers.

It's also nice that TBBS now can handle an unlimited number of message bases 
with an unlimited number of messages.  Those bargain 3 gigabyte drives you 
added recently are nearly enough to hold a week's worth of echomail and 
newsgroups.

And the fact that TBBS now allows option modules to use more memory has 
allowed QSO to accept the latest ZIP format and TDBS to allow full 
integration of FoxBase indexes.  TDBS applications now run up to five times 
faster as well, now that they can use all that memory.  Oh yes, the new 
graphics screen design facilities in TDBS make building user friendly 
applications a much quicker process as well.

Yes, it will be fun to talk to each of you at the next ONE BBSCON and hear 
what amazing things you are doing with TBBS (that's my favorite part).  But 
what do you bet that by then all of THESE things will seem old, and we'll 
have a new list to work on?  So as I return from my annual time out 
"thinking about the possibilities" I see that although TBBS is better than 
ever, I have more work than ever to do to make it still better.  It will 
definitely be a good New Year!

PS1293-2
Rev. 12/93

Copyright (C) 1994 eSoft, Inc., All Rights Reserved.  Permission granted
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