Date   : Thu, 16 Sep 1999 11:12:54 +0200
From   : "Mark Usher" <marku@...>
Subject: BBC IP, Babel (WAS: ELite)

AD>If anyone has a partial BBC SLIP implementation, I'd be interested in
AD>looking at it. I'm curious about whether I can get my Beebs running a
AD>rudimentary IP (for fun, I don't think there is any serious purpose to
AD>this apart from learning more about the internals of IP).
Read on...

RS>Mark (Usher), weren't you working on a TCP/IP stack?  Could you please
RS>make sure to leave enough room for Elite?  With Internet support?
Yes and no. Philip Blundel has an implementation of IP for the BBC, and I am
working on something along PC/econet lines...

I think now would be a time to mention on this list Project Babel. This is
my latest project. http://members.magnet.at/marku/babel/home.htm

This is a project to connect PC's to econet. This is not for the faint
hearted and really does require a ground knowledge in
electronics/networking/PC and BBC network programming. When the project is
finsihed there will be simplified details published for all to follow, along
with software and drivers.

It has stemmed from the Acorn Ecolink card which was a PC ISA card to
connect to the econet. Unfortunately this seems to be rather a rare item,
and also the drivers are only fully compatible with DOS 3.3. There is some
albeit limited interest in modernising this card and writing software and
drivers, and from this Project Babel has been born. There is a web site as
detailed above with progress information, and there is also a mail list set
up for the discussion of the difficulties involved, rather like the
bbc-emulator list when several people were developing emulators in the
earlier 90's. The archive is also on-line and details are also available at
the web site.

If anyone would like to get involved and contribute with the rest of us then
please feel free to join.

RS>And guys, let's keep the jolly mood in this list!  :-)
Definately. I'm not against providing help at all but somtimes RTFM does
spring to mind or RTFA(archives). I know myself what it is like to need
help, I am often involved in projects where at the start I find myself in
deep water. All to often it is too easy to just write a mail and wait for
the answer. Many times if you keep at the problem yourself the answer will
more often than not be found, and more is learnt.

Mark