Reviews of Kermit 95...

Five Cows (highest rating) - Tucows.Com.

WinPlanet
Kermit 95 2.1.3 — Review by A.P. Lawrence, March 2003.

K95 2.1 reviews from c|net:

"Excellent"
"Works out of the box"
"The VT emulation is nearly flawless and
the SSHv2 GSSAPI-Kerberos 5 support simply worked out of the box."

From "When You Say 'Jump,' Kermit Asks, 'How High?'" by Alan Winston, Micro Times, Issue 222, 11 June 2001:

"All this stuff about file transfer and terminal emulation might be irrelevant to you. If you're on the Net, you've probably got telnet and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which pretty well cover this. So why do we care about Kermit now?

"First, because it does a really, really good job at file transfer and terminal emulation. If you're going to telnet into a VMS-based machine, for example, and want to use the editor or a full-screen data-entry application, you need a pretty complete terminal emulator - the telnet that comes with Windows does a lousy job of pretending to be a VT-100 terminal.

"As for a file transfer, if you've got Kermit on both ends, you can transfer file protections even between unlike systems. That is, if you're copying something that the whole world has read access to from a UNIX system, the protection it'll end up with on a VMS system is the same. Kermit is also willing to transfer entire directory trees and keep the hierarchy intact, again, even between unlike systems, which not all FTP clients and servers can do. It doesn't even require that the transfer be over a serial line; Kermit's smart enough to make a connection over TCP/IP and run the same way.

"Second, it does a lot more than file transfer and terminal emulation. There is a very sophisticated, built-in scripting language that combines with the other capabilities to allow you to do a variety of things..."

---

Users are saying...

Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 00:15:07 +0200
From: Steinar Hveberg <Steinar.Hveberg@hiMolde.no>
To: kermit-support@columbia.edu
Subject: Re: Upgrading from K95-1.1 to K95-2.1

(After reporting problems installing the 2.1.3 upgrade...)

Returning to the office in the evening, I switched on the machine and attempted exactly the same installation procedure once more. And now it worked. So I just guess there must have been some problem related to Windows' memory handling. (I may be a little prejudiced against Windows after suffering through several earlier versions.) Now the new version works excellently on my Windows 2000 office machine as well as on my Widows XP laptop. ... Anyway, thanks for a great program! I have been using Kermit since I got my first DEC Rainbow in 1987, and still run many of the old scripts from those days. I really do appreciate its flexibility and backwards compatibility --- just like Don Knuth's TeX.

- Steinar

Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:13:08 +0200
From: "neeme@data.ee" <neeme.takis@data.ee>
To: kermit-support@columbia.edu
Subject: Re: bug report: file transfer and set telnet term type

Yes, you are right. Mapchan it was, used to enter the accented characters from the dumb terminals, which are not in use any more. So it's easy to go around using Kermit translation capabilities. Thank you!

I have been using the Kermit user almost 10 years now, mostly to acccess Unix or Linux applications from MS DOS, OS/2 or Windows. From all the workstation platforms it was possible to use the same scripts to open the terminal sessions. This alone was a big benefit, but there is much more - the same user-friendly file transfer capabilities to import or export data to or from the Unix application on all the workstation platforms would be extremely hard (if not impossible) to replace. As accented characters are used in Estonian, there were different keymaps needed sometimes, depending on the Windows setup. Thanks to the "show key" command, creating a new keymap file never created any problems or took much time.

About the latest developments. Have found no real benefit for me in the GUI version, but the added encryption capabilities were a real blessing. Moving from telnet to ssh was incredibly easy, especially when compared to my former unsuccesful experiments with Putty. Thank you.

Neeme Takis
Data Telecom, Estonia

From: "Bill at Swain" <bill@swainmortgage.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2002 16:24:39 -0500
Subject: Re: OS/2 Kermit upgrade...

I use C-kermit and K-95 on my systems running OS/2, Win2K, Win98, and Linux and have nothing but the best function and success with them! BUT - there's more! The more I use your Kermit(s), the more I use them! I keep learning new things I can do with communications between/among all these systems with Kermit, and I've about gotten to the point that I do everything I can with C-Kermit and/or K95 ..

Bill Millikin

From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley)
Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 21:20:36 GMT
Subject: Re: Embedded Kermit File-Transfer Protocol
Newsgroups: comp.arch.embedded,comp.protocols.kermit.misc

With the latest kermit having ssh support, I find kermit transfers far and away the most convenient way to get files over a "multi hop" ssh connection (which is very common with data centers often having firewalls you can ssh into only so you can ssh from there to another machine).

From: "Silbaugh, Mark D." <MSilbaugh@ecb.state.wi.us>
Subject: Kermit 95 Feedback
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 12:40:18 -0500

This is to let you know that our engineering staff here at Wisconsin Public Television is pleased with how the Kermit 95 software is working. It is being used for equipment automation to bring our audience Public Television programming, including Sesame Street and, of course Kermit the frog. Thanks again for a great, flexible product.

Mark Silbaugh
Database Specialist
Educational Communications Board
3319 W Beltline Hwy
Madison, WI   53713

From: Jack Patteeuw <jjpatteeuw@peoplepc.com>
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Kermit 95
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 14:55:48 GMT

K95 V2.0 Is WONDERFUL !!! Frank and the boys (and girls) keep up the good work. And a free upgrade from V1.x ... FREE !!!!! When was the last time Bill Inc. gave you anything free (other than a virus).

Kermit has saved my butt so many times. My wildest Kermit story is bootstrapping Kermit to a MicroVAX in Brazil and then downloading many MB's of our corporate apps to the chagrin of those who said it couldn't be done !!

Thanks again for a great program and all the support over all the years.

--
Jack Patteeuw

From: "Ribeiro, Glauber" <glauber.ribeiro@experian.com>
To: "'kermit@columbia.edu'" <kermit@columbia.edu>
Subject: Kermit is still the best
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2002 07:39:29 -0700

The newest incarnation of the Kermit terminal emulation and communications software adds a GUI version for Windows and excellent support for SSH and FTP.

The GUI terminal was a necessity in order to avoid the buggyness of the Windows 9x support for text-mode applications. No more lost cursor, the font support is better, and, at least in my computer, Kermit starts up quicker too.

The support for FTP means that you can now (finally) create fully scripted FTP file transfer applications without having to resort to hacks or to a full-blown programming language. By the way, Kermit supports secure (encrypted) FTP connections by default.

The support for SSH is also a necessity, if you log in over insecure networks or the Internet. Kermit incorporates the OpenSSH code, so you can rest assured that it's complete, follows the standard, and no proprietary extensions will be in your way when you interact with a diversity of SSH hosts.

The traditional commandline/scripting language interface is still there (and with more commands than ever), and you also have new easy access to the GUI Dialer for setting up and making connections, which makes using Kermit easy for everyone.

I have been using Kermit for as long as i have using computers, under DOS, Unix, and now Windows. During all these years, Kermit has always been the most complete, most solid terminal emulator, modem and network communications and file transfer product available for any kind of operating system. This new version keeps the tradition alive. There's no other product I'd rather use.

glauber ribeiro (PGP Key: 0x44CFAA9B)
Glauber.Ribeiro@experian.com - Experian Automotive
http://www.autocheck.com http://www.autocheck.com/es

Opinions stated are my own and not representative of Experian.

The sizing ability is great! The ease at creating a screen size and font that's comfortable is a dramatic improvement. The overall convenience of being able to control everything you need in a GUI world was worth the wait.

I also like the GUI switch from/to command mode. And the scroll bars.

THANK YOU for making K95 2.0 GUI!

We are a not-for-profit mental health provider with several hundred employees spread over 30 locations. Although we don't cover a terribly large geographic area, our data communications problems are much the same as any company with multiple locations interconnected by a WAN.

We use Kermit-95 as a telnet client for accessing our main Unix server. As a telnet client, Kermit-95 is by far the best solution I have found. Terminal emulations are very faithful, better than many programs costing far more than Kermit-95, and far better than any freeware or shareware programs I have found. Kermit-95's stability and its low system requirements are also important benefits to us.

The newest release of Kermit-95 includes SSH support which we are using to securely access our Unix server over the Internet. Our previous attempts at secure internet access have either been expensive or have not worked very well, but Kermit-95 solves all those problems for us.

Thanks to the Kermit team for improving a great product!

Noel Jones
Network Engineer
Volunteer Behavioral Health Care System

I must say that K95 was, for me, the end of a very long and very frustrating search for a Telnet client on Windows that would NOT cause me to tear my hair out with anger. It's one of the few Windows programs I feel I can trust.

I feel intense gratitude to people such as those in the Kermit project, who are the last few around that keep the computer in its place as a TOOL that obeys my commands, rather than a troublesome, smart-aleck cross between a video-game and a TV set! God bless all of you! -- I mean it! I can't tell you how often Kermit (in its various ports) has "saved my life" and rescued data which everybody else, in the army of point-and-click dummies, thought was lost forever.

I could give DETAILS of at least five desperate emergencies I've been in at work for which Kermit (or K95) saved the day -- where everyone else was totally helpless, because they were using the latest and greatest, object-oriented, Java-enabled rubbish, point and click, gooey interfaces -- and I walked in, made them buy the CD, and in ten minutes, saved megabytes and megabytes of data they all gave up on. Whole NETWORKS would go down -- except for MY machines, which, along serial ribbon cables run along corridors, would STILL get stuff through!

From: dn5006@my-dejanews.com
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc,comp.unix.solaris
Subject: Kermit95: Success Story
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 16:46:46 GMT

We have numerous computer systems that locate on five continents. Their system time should match the GMT, but they seldom do.

I had to develop interface programs for each different computer to read the GMT of an external GPS(Global Positioning System) via X25, or to telnet/rlogin to each of these computers and validate their system time. I had to maintain different versions of the same program on different computers. To develop and maintain I/O system program is always terrible, since each computer and its interface channel behaves differently.

A PC with a GPS (Global Positioning System) on board and Kermit95 solves the tedious task. The GPS provides the GMT time, a K95 script takes this time stamp and validates the system time of all other computers.

I schedule this script to run weekly to replace me. Now I maintain only a K95 script instead of zig programs in C, FORTRAN & Assembler, an unmeasurable benefit ratio.

I've just demonstrated another K95 script that visits all our computers and reports their status: cpu usage, disk space, memory usage, etc. . I use the alphanumeric pager script on page 454, 455, 456, it works instantly!!!

Dat Thuc Nguyen

From: dold@45.usenet.us.com
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: K-95 CD-install
Date: 5 Dec 1998 18:53:29 GMT

What a work of art!

I needed another copy of K95 at work, so I hopped online to http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ and ordered the CD-version.

The installation was beautiful. It was a combination of installation "wizard" that is common today, already knowing things about my system, but showed options where there were optional entries.

That was the most informative, intuitive, easy, flexible... installation I've done yet.

Some programs offer "default" or "custom", with no clue what "default" might be... K95 was a little wordy, but it was good.

I think I'll order a few more...

---
Clarence A Dold
dold@network.rahul.net
Pope Valley & Napa CA.

On Fri, 6 Oct 2000 05:25:35, rsteiner@visi.com (Richard Steiner) wrote:

> Here in comp.os.os2.apps, era@eracc.bizland.com (ERA)
> spake unto us, saying:
>
> >Folks, there are not enough developers developing OS/2 software
> >for us to ignore a great product like the current Kermit/2. Buy it!
>
> On the OS/2 box here I already have licensed copies of ...
>
> This is perhaps a harsh question, but what does Kermit/2 provide
> that I should care about that I didn't get 5-10 years ago in one or
> more of those other products?

No, not harsh at all. Determining "what does it do for me" is a very valid question when considering any new purchase.

> Besides a better kermit implementation. :-)

Better terminal emulation that is so close to the real thing you will not be able to tell the difference. A linux console emulation that makes it seem you are sitting at the console even when you are logged in to a system over a dial-up then out through a tcp/ip connection to the linux box (all connections using Kermit of course since there are around 900 platforms supported). An SCOansi emulation that also makes it seem you are sitting at the console of the SCO box.

What do I mean by this? ALL THE KEYS WORK THE WAY YOU EXPECT. Every other term package I have ever used either didn't have the terminal emulation I needed, especially console emulation, OR the emulation is/was buggy. ZOC only advertises the "commonly used emulations (VT52, VT100, VT102, VT220, ANSI, IBM3270)" and claims they are "solid implementations". Fine. Until I need to run a program on my SCO box that needs the SCO console emulation to have the keys work right.

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html#emulations
  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95faithful.html
  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/os2.html

Not only all the above but I can run C-Kermit on every unix implementation I and my clients use and have a consistent set of tools to use for communications and file x-fer. The Kermit scripts I develop on my OS/2 box *also work on the unix boxes*. However, if your needs aren't as demanding as mine then you probably can stay with all that other stuff. :-)

Gene

+=========================-=>Unix & OS/2<=-=========================+
#   Owner and C.E.O. - ERA Computer Consulting - Jackson, TN USA    #
#Providing IBM OS/2 and SCO OpenServer  Business Computing Solutions#
#         visit our www pages at http://eracc.bizland.com/          #
+===================================================================+

Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 17:30:02 -0700
To: kermit-support@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
From: Ben Humphreys <brh@e1040.com>
Subject: Re: Highlight color

(In response to an answer to a question about customizing highlighting colors...)

Kermit is so cool - I love this program. There isn't anything that it can't do.

Best $50 I ever spent.

Ben Humphreys
http://www.e1040.com
Online Income Tax Services

From: Richard Spitz <Richard.spitz@ana.med.uni-muenchen.de>
Newsgroups: de.comp.os.sinix,de.comm.isdn.computer
Subject: 97801-Emulation ueber ISDN
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 08:42:45 +0100
Organization: Dept. of Anesthesiology, University of Munich

Liebe SINIX-Gemeinde,

vor einiger Zeit fragte ich hier nach 97801-Emulationen, die ueber ISDN-Verbindungen arbeiten koennen. Inzwischen habe ich eine Loesung: Kermit95! Das unterstuetzt die TAPI-"Modems", die mir AVM's Fritz!Card mit dem CapiPort-Treiber zur Verfuegung stellt. Das Kermit95-Team war ausserordentlich hilfreich (danke an Frank und Jeff!); so einen prompten und kompetenten Support habe ich noch selten erlebt.

Was ich suchte, war eine Emulation ueber eine direkte Einwaehl-verbindung, nicht ueber PPP oder aehnliches. Die SINIX-TE 2.1C kommt zwar mit einem Modul ISDN-Connect, das ist aber ein NDIS-Treiber, der auf CAPI 1.1 aufsetzt. Da es sich bei dieser Version der SINIX-TE um eine 16-Bit-Applikation handelt, erkennt sie die TAPI-Modems nicht, und mit der virtuellen COM-Schnittstelle, die CapiPort ebenfalls zur Verfuegung stellt, bekam ich nur Abstuerze ("schwerer Ausnahmefehler 0D").

Kermit95 mit seinen umfangreichen Konfigurationsmoeglichkeiten ist jedenfalls rundum zu empfehlen (am Tastaturmapping muss man je nach Geschmack ein wenig drehen, um "richtiges" 97801-Feeling aufkommen zu lassen) und seinen Preis wert.

Gruss, Richard

--
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| Dr. Richard Spitz        | INTERNET: spitz@ana.med.uni-muenchen.de  |
| EDV-Gruppe Anaesthesie   | Tel     : +49-89-....-....               |
| Klinikum Grosshadern     | FAX     : +49-89-....-....               |
| 81366 Munich, Germany    | GSM     : +49-172-.......                |
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+

From: "Dann O. Smith" <NoSpam-dsmit13@tisd.net>
Newsgroups: comp.os.qnx
Subject: Re: Telnet communication from nt4 to qnx
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 22:36:20 -0600

I've been using QNX4.23-Kermit 6.0 and Kermit95 for about six months for dial-up and tcp/ip telnet/rlogin support of several QNX and SunOS base systems. The Kermit95 QNX/QANSI emulation's are perfect, though a little slow. Since being involved with QNX the $54 bucks I spent on Kermit95 (Using C-Kermit + K95 books) is the best investment I've made.

NOT an advertisement !!!

Dann
Systems/E&IC Tech.
CSW Corp.

(and later...)

Thanks for the tip on screen updates, screens are "normal speed" using the fast setting, great for QNX Vedit text editor.

Again, you have a well developed, easy to use, bug free product that's made many of my daily task much easier.

Dann O. Smith
CSW Corp.
Systems/E&IC Tech.

Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 19:10:06 +0200
From: Josef Hinteregger <joehtg@joehtg.co.at>
Subject: Kermit 95's New IBM HFT Emulation

I should say that your HFT emulation is displaying flawlessly an [AIX] application doing a lot of things with colors. Another commercial HFT emulation I know has a lot of problems with that application.

Date: Sat, 22 Feb 97 05:11:00 UT
From: "Scott Sampson" <S_Sampson@msn.com>
Subject: Kermit 95

For years I have been looking for a terminal emulator that works correctly. I stayed away from Kermit because of negative rumors I heard about it, and because it wasn't a "commercial" product. Now that I have it I am delighted, and my search is over.

Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
From: Tom Harrington <tomh@lvccld.lib.nv.us>
Subject: Re: How is K95 doing?
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997 08:06:10 -0800
Organization: Las Vegas-Clark County Library District

In a time when Compaq wants $35.00 just to talk to you, Novell wants $200 and priority tech support numbers often cost more than many 1-900-Hot-Love numbers (don't ask, I just made it up, I don't call...), Kermit support is an amazing change from the 'new' norm. I can send an e-mail request and often receive a response within 15 minutes. Compare this to my latest e-mail question for Netscape News Server that took 1 month to get answered. Often the people you talk to at support numbers know less than you, not so at Kermit. I have been impressed to no end with their support and dedication to their product. If something does not work, they fix it. Bugs tend to be passing events, not everyday common occurrences.

Kermit is ultra configurable. Most of my users are public patrons that have little/no computer experience. Our kermit scripts log them in and configure the keyboard for 2 different proprietary applications. Kermit also allows us to 'lock' our users into that one site. Kermit provides a level of security not found in any other program I've seen. For us, there is no other option.

I'm just personally impressed with this product and the design team. Some products I feel are a waste of money, this product is not. This is money well spent.

Tom Harrington
tomh@lvccld.lib.nv.us
(The opinions expressed are not necessary the views of my employer. This is a personal opinion.)

From: ray@asci.com (Ray Tripamer)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.apps.comm
Subject: Re: How is K95 doing?
Date: 31 Jan 1997 04:34:46 GMT
Organization: UNLV College of Engineering

I think that Kermit-95 is by far the best comm. program available for Windows-95. Their support of K95 is really the *best* of any software company I have ever dealt with. They actually answer their e-mail. They answer phone calls. They solve your problems. They really do help people. Clearly, this is the best $54 we've spent for software.

Kermit has by far the best terminal emulation on the market. Their VT emulation is likely the best around (probably even better than DEC :-) Is there a wierd emulator you need that kermit doesn't have? Probably not, but just in case, you can ask them to provide, say, Gorzub emulation, and they will probably add it in the next release (I mean they have Volker Craig emulation in there for cryin' out lout!!) And they keep improving their product, and providing *free* updates and *free* support - try that with anyone else.

Good work to all the folks who support Kermit for a job well done.
--
Ray Tripamer
ray@asci.com

Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
From: wpns@world.std.com (William Smith)
Subject: Re: How is K95 doing?
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 01:54:05 GMT

I'm sitting here right now with my home machine connected to the Internet via a PPP link to my ISP using the Telnet feature of Kermit to do shell stuff (elm, trn, ftp, etc) on my ISP.

This is _extremely_ useful, as I can fire up a WWWebBrowser over the same PPP link if I see an interesting url, without losing access to my shell tools. I no longer remember how I did without K95!

> Is there any feel for how much of the demand for K95 is for file transfer
> only, how much includes significant use of the terminal emulator for telnet?
>
Most of my K95 use is telnet! I've tried a couple of other telnets at work, but they worked so poorly (and emulated a VT100 barely if at all) that I bought VT510 terminals and scattered them about the lab. I suspect that I'll be buying a dozen copies of K95 when we get the lab PCs upgraded to Win95.

If you had a Telnet that emulated a VT100 as well as K95, did telnet, file transfer, and serial communications and serial connection debug as well as K95 for the same price with the same friendly problem resolution and developer access I'd _still_ buy K95!
--
Willie Smith wpns@world.std.com N1JBJ@amsat.org
#define NII Information SuperCollider

[ Of Windows 95 Telnet clients . . . ] Kermit 95 has the best features and performance by far. Perfect emulation of most VT terminals, and workarounds for common bugs in TERMCAP entries. Kermit also supports non-SLIP/PPP dialup, which can be really handy.

Richard Graves
Stanford University
Author, Windows 95 Networking FAQ

We have been using KEAterm for the past few years and are generally happy with it. When we began upgrading our PC systems to Windows 95 we decided to give Kermit 95 a try. We have been VERY pleased with Kermit 95 both in terms of performance and features. Given the far lower cost for Kermit 95, the price/performance ratio favors Kermit 95 very much.

The only two features in KEA that we currently miss in Kermit 95 are true underline display and a graphic keyboard display for mapping keys. Kermit 95 has a very powerful way to map keys so the loss of the graphic keyboard map is not all that painful for us. I believe the folks at Columbia will have underline support in the next release.

My personal favorite feature in Kermit 95 is the ability to have screen sizes larger than 24 by 80 characters. Having 49 lines on the PC screen is really nice for reading text. I am not aware that either of the more expensive products provide this feature.

Kermit 95 supports virtually all the file transfer protocols such as XMODEM, YMODEM, YMODEM-G, ZMODEM and, of course, KERMIT.

Kermit 95 provides very nice screen rollback facility. Navigation in the rollback is easy. Use of the PC mouse is very natural and easy.

We are most pleased with Kermit 95.

Just a satisfied customer,

Don Vickers
vickers@eisner.decus.org

(And on the same newsgroup a few days later...)

A couple of people have been mentioned support from Columbia. I have seen one positive and one negative comment. I had a few questions and comments on the Kermit 95 when we purchased it a few months ago. I sent mail to the support address and received a reply the next day with very good technical pointers. This resulted in a few exchanges of mail clarifying some of the points. I received mail from two or three folks at Columbia and each one seemed most knowledgeable and capable.

The level of support we received on our questions and issues was MOST professional, fast and effective. The small experience we had with them could not have been improved and, sadly, is not found in most 'support' organizations today. I suspect the difference is that Columbia may be taking the old fashioned approach which is coming back into practice (via BPR) of having the developers actually involved with the customers.

As a personal note, I was not happy when Columbia changed their business model on Kermit 95. Kermit was supposed to be free. It has always been free. This "increase" in price is what caused us to not buy it immediately. However, when comparing the Kermit 95 price being significantly less than the commercial packages we decided to actually pay for it.

My evaluation is that Kermit 95 is a bargain. Kermit 95 is FAR superior to previous versions and, in my humble opinion, better than the commercial packages and costing far less.

Don Vickers
vickers@eisner.decus.org

I am a regular reader of and contributor to the newsgroups alt.winsock, devoted to dial-up networking (SLIP, PPP) on the various Microsoft Windows platforms, and comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc, devoted to the Windows95 operating system. On these groups there regularly appear articles with titles such as "Telnet with file transfer?". Well, it's here, and in spades.

Kermit95 is Kermit, yes, Kermit, the communication software used worldwide and on hundreds, if not thousands, of machine/OS combinations. Kermit95 offers reliable file transfer under the worst of conditions as well as the best of performance (equal to zmodem) under good conditions. In addition, Kermit95 has the most robust scripting language, terminal emulation, and keyboard mapping available in any communications software. And Kermit95's graphical user interface makes it easier than ever to configure, make, and manage connections.

Of course, you don't have to be a dial-up networker to take advantage of Kermit95; it's equally at home on any TCP/IP network connection as well as a dialed (BBS, for example) connection.

As for the Kermit effort, at Columbia University, ... it never stops. Kermit software just keeps getting better.

Vincent E. Fatica, Ph.D.
Syracuse University Mathematics

I've used MS-DOS kermit for years because it has always had the most reliable terminal emulation and file transfer around, and now that I am running Windows NT, I am overjoyed to have Kermit 95 running under it as a native 32-bit application.

As someone who frequently uses the EMACS editor over a dialup line, I have always wanted as much control as possible over my keyboard, and kermit has always given me far more control over reprogramming individual keys than any other terminal emulator I have seen, either freeware or commercial.

Tom Horsley
Harris Computers
Fort Lauderdale FL

I have used various flavors of Kermit on many platforms since 1984. I bought Kermit-95 because it is superior to PCPlus for Windows, in lieu of a Windows 95 product from them. I have tried some of the shareware emulators in the past, and didn't like any of them under Windows 3.11.

Kermit-95 allows me to telnet to either a serial connection or via PPP, something I can't get PCPlus to do, even if I manually made the PPP connection. PCPlus always wants to open the previously used comm device, which causes bad things to happen when alternating between a serial connection and a PPP connection driven on the same port.

As I'm hacking scripts to automate some work at my telephone company, I realize the disparate systems that I am using, ranging from a 286-running MSDOS 3.3/MSK-3.14, acting as a 1/2" tape reader/kermit server, through Win-95/K-95; UnixWare, ESIX, an Octel Voice Mail system, DEX-600 and Stromberg Telephone switches.

I have tried other comm programs, but!!!

I can prototype and "program" scripts anywhere. I run awk against data sets on the UNIX boxes to create .tak files that can then be run from either of the UNIX platforms, or one of the techs can run them from home under MS-DOS Kermit without modification.

ZMODEM, FTP, Kermit transfers, mappable keys, cut and paste... It's all there in Kermit 95. $54.

Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net
Pope Valley & Napa CA

I have been using your product since 1983, with a couple of different employers. It provided a common user interface for file transfer and terminal emulation on multiple operating system platforms that I needed desperately. From DG AOS/VS, DG RDOS, SCO UNIX, DEC VMS, DEC Ultrix, DEC OSF/1, and most importantly MS-DOS. One thing I have always been able to count on is a consistent VT100 emulation. There are lots of emulators out there, but they have their quirks.

These are the things that I like most about Kermit 95:

1. For the most part, the scripting language is consistent with prior releases, therefore, we did not have to overhaul the numerous scripts that we provide to our users for file transfers and daily operations management.
2. The scripting language is very powerful. By being creative with Unix shell scripting in conjunction with the K95 scripting we can make a workstation do just about anything.
3. K95.EXE (the back-end) uses very little memory, this allows us more flexibility with our APSCN Graphical User Interface (front-end) and multi-session capabilities.
4. Virtually no user training is required to allow a new user to begin using our product.
5. Installation is straightforward and simple.
6. K-95 uses the Windows 95 Winsock, a big advantage over previous versions of Kermit that reduces setup time.
7. Licensing flexibility. The Right-to-Copy license fits us perfectly, since we provide all the support to our end users and we can purchase in bulk to take advantage of quantity discounts.

All of the above items are very important to us, our current plans are to purchase over the next two years [big-number] licenses for limited distribution to the districts. The districts may then purchase additional licenses over their allocated quantity directly from us. This additional quantity could easily run an additional [another-big-number] units.

John Davis
Arkansas Public School Computer Net

I'd like to compliment everyone working on the Kermit Project. Kermit was the first communications software I used back on my first PDP-11/20 (I used it to communicate with a PDP-8). I still rely on Kermit for system support to various computers. Kermit 95 is a much needed piece of software. In addition to the features I've always relied on Kermit to provide (scripting, unlimited configuration capabilities, etc.) now I also have true VT220/VT320 terminal emulation via Telnet. I've already deleted all the other Telnet programs I had on my system.

I'm happy you started charging for it. The price is very reasonable considering Kermit 95's capabilities.

Jim Jacobus
Computing Engineers Incorporated

From Chapter 2 of Firewalls Complete by Marcus Goncalves, McGraw Hill (1997), ISBN 0-07-024645-9.

Columbia University's KERMIT: a Secure and Reliable TELNET Server

"Information Systems and Technology has come a long way, but many of the main operating systems (OS) do not provide TELNET features that would make its use and security implementations more reliable or at least available. Windows NT 4.0 does have a TELNET interface, as show on figure 2.3, which does a great job, but ever since Windows 95 came out, the comp.os.ms-windows.win95.* newsgroups have been flooded with requests for a "TELNET server" or "TELNET daemon" for Windows 95.

"Why? There is a great document at Columbia University's Web site, at URL http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95host.html that discuss this issue and introduce a great product, KERMIT, that does a great job fulfilling the Windows 95/NT user community.

"... you can give K-95 the information it needs to place your calls correctly, no matter where you are. You don't have to use any of these features if you always make your calls from the same place, but if you travel around with a laptop, you'll be amazed at the convenience. Just tell Kermit 95 (or Windows 95) your new location, and all the numbers in the dialing directory will "just work".

"Another great feature of K95 is that, unlike many computers or TELNET services that require different codes for backspacing (many times you have to assign the appropriate code to your PC's backspace), Kermit 95 allows you to assign for each computer or host in your directory their own key settings, specified on the Keyboard tab of its settings notebook..."

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