DOS Networking Software
IRCjr (new!)
- A small and fast IRC client for DOS machines
This is a very new program that I'm looking to test and improve on.
Want to help? Download a copy and run it!
Requirements: To make things short, if you have a DOS PC and an
Ethernet card with a packet driver this will probably work.
I've
run it on a 386-40 clone with VGA and an NE2000, an IBM PC XT with CGA
and a 3Com 3C503, and a PCjr with a Xircom parallel-port to Ethernet
adapter.
The formal web page with all of the details and downloads is here: IRCjr (http://www.brutman.com/Dos_Networking/IRCjr.html
I am hanging out on Gimp (irc.us.gimp.net) channel #vc while I am
testing. You will find some other vintage computer users there too.
Please send comments and suggestions to me at mbbrutman@yahoo.com.
Whether it works or not, I want to hear about it!
Netcat (nc) for DOS - Like a network version of 'copy'
Netcat (nc) is a utility that can send and receive data using a TCP/IP
socket. It has the ability to open a connection to another machine or
to listen for incoming connections. Input can be entered interactively
through the keyboard or redirected in from a file. Output can appear on
the screen or redirected to a file. Netcat can be used to send large
files or short messages, and it can be called from within batch files
too.
Here is the web page that describes it in detail: http://www.brutman.com/Dos_Networking/mTCP_Netcat.html
NCSA Telnet
NCSA is a great Telnet program for DOS. Features include:
- VT100 emulation
- Multiple sessions to different computers at the same time
- FTP server
Stated requirements are DOS 2.0 and a 286 or better CPU,
although it runs fine on 8088 class machines.
NCSA Telnet has it's own TCP/IP software built in to the application,
so a separate TCP/IP stack such as Trumpet is not necessary. NCSA
Telnet can use a packet driver, or it can talk directly to several
different Ethernet cards without the need for a packet driver. (They
switched to a packet driver interface when the variety of Ethernet
cards mushroomed.) And one of the great things about NCSA Telnet is
that the source code is readily available for download - with the
correct build environment, you can modify it!
The NCSA Telnet home page is gone, but the files can still be
downloaded using ftp at ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Telnet/DOS/
.
Trumpet for DOS
Trumpet is a DOS TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) that adds TCP/IP
functions to your system. On one side it talks to a packet driver to
move data in and out of your Ethernet card, while on the other side it
provides TCP/IP functions to your application. Applications wishing to
use Trumpet communicate with it using a software interrupt, in much the
same way that Trumpet or other TCP/IP stacks talk to a packet driver.
Trumpet came with some sample applications including an FTP client, IRC
client, and a finger client. Other applications were written to use it
too. Trumpet published the programming interface to their TCP/IP stack,
but the source code is not available. So you can use it, but you'll
have to live with any bugs and limitations.
Unfortunately the web pages for Trumpet are gone now. Search for
tcp201.zip to find an archive of it on the Internet.
WATTCP
WATTCP is a TCP library that is linked with specific applications.
There is a 16 bit real mode version for use on the older
machines, and a 32 bit protected mode version. The 32 bit
versions compile under a variety of C compilers.
WATTCP is one of the oldest DOS TCP/IP implementations, and one of the
most widely used. I don't have a lot of experience
with WATTCP (yet) because I got sidetracked with writing my own TCP/IP.
I had a fairly long email conversation with Erick Engelke
about my TCP/IP implemention and the lessons he learned, and it was
suprising how much of his work I duplicated. :-)
WATTCP can be found at its new home:
Created August
13th 2007
last updated June 1st, 2008
(C)opyright
Michael B.
Brutman, mbbrutman@yahoo.com