Does anybody know anything about PMX/Term from AT&T?

[Leslie Mikesell]

In article <738 at cgh.UUCP> paul at cgh.UUCP (Paul Homchick) writes:
>
>We have a STARLAN network in our office with a 3B1 running as a DOS
>server, and which also allows remote-login via terminal emulator
>(EM-4410 or MSKERMIT) over the STARLAN network....
>...
>I recently purchased a 6386 WGS with Unix/386 which I wish to use to
>provide the same services as the 3B1, i.e: DOS server, and unix logins
>via STARLAN.

First, a question:  do you expect to be able to connect the 3B1 and the
6386 to the same Starlan network?  My impression is that when the 6386
unix starlan driver is released it will use the recently announced OSI
low-level protocol and I have heard nothing about a compatible release
for the 3B1.

>Additionally, I want to be able to send E-mail between the
>DOS workstations, AND unix accounts, AND uucp to the outside world. 

I am looking at the 3b2 version of PMX/STARMAIL, and it will indeed allow
this, although I don't like some of the design choices.  The thing I *do*
like is the fact that the mail is actually handled by the unix mailer
and can be read either by a unix program or the DOS PMX/STARMAIL (which
moves it out of the unix mailbox to a DOS file), depending on how/where
you happen to be connected.  The DOS machine can get visual notification
and beep when new mail arrives, and a pop-up program can be used to
retreive/read/reply.
The things I don't like:
-The DOS notification program doesn't bother to tell you if you have mail
waiting when the DOS client connection is established.
-The package comes with a new unix mail handler (undocumented except for
comments in its data file) that can be used to do routing etc, but
the DOS side will reject any attempt to send mail to anything that is
not found in the /etc/passwd or /usr/lib/uucp/Systems files. The DOS
program allows aliasing but requires the user to prepend a "~" to the
alias and then performs a client link to a database directory to look
up the expansion.  I would prefer to have the unix mailer do all the
lookups and just return anything that it can't deliver. The package can
be run with only a DOS server, but that is hardly an excuse for not
taking advantage of a unix server. 
-When DOS servers are used, they can exchange mail with other DOS servers
or unix machines running a special program, but not ordinary unix uucp.
With a unix server, there is no problem sending to other unix machines.
Both versions will (of course) connect to attmail which can forward
to about anything else.

 Les Mikesell