Date   : Tue, 26 Jun 1984 09:01:51 EDT
From   : Rick Conn <rconn@Brl-Mis.ARPA>
Subject: ZCPR3 and Echelon

You are right about the Ampro Little Board -- it is running ZCPR3.
The same ZCPR3 is available to be licensed commercially and from SIG/M.
The release to SIG/M, however, is not to the public domain, but rather to
the ZCPR3 User Community - if I release it to the pd, I lose all rights to
it.  You will not find any reference to the pd in any of the ZCPR3 files
or documentation - it is not in the pd, and I have a copyright pending on
it with the US Gov't.  However, you can acquire it thru the regular sources -
SIG/M, BBSes, etc - and it is fine with me if you use it.

If you are a commercial user who wants to include it in your product,
obtaining a license from Echelon is preferred.  The money made from this
(the cost of a license is very low) is used to support Echelon and its
activities, such as the ZCPR3 BBS, and a percentage of the profit goes back
to me (in support of my further activities).  I don't plan to make much
money from this - I mainly hope that Echelon makes enough to continue its
activities with ZCPR3.

If you are a non-commercial user, Echelon offers you an option thru which
to acquire ZCPR3.  You can get ZCPR3 thru Echelon, SIG/M, a BBS, etc.
All are alternatives for you.  What I like about Echelon which the others
do/may not offer is:

       1. Echelon has a phone number, thru which you can place orders
       2. Echelon will be providing technical support (probably for a minor
fee) if you have questions and/or problems installing ZCPR3 et al
       3. Echelon will be supporting a BBS which you can use for bug reports
and to obtain support/answers to questions; I am tied into Echelon and this BBS
       4. Echelon has promised a FAST turnaround on orders; they have
contracted with a professional disk copying service and have set up things
so they can respond quickly to the users
       5. I am relieved of the burdon of support and questions from each
user individually - this is a huge time sink - but I am still in contact with
the users, et al, if problems come up with the system
       6. Echelon has some excellent people behind it - Frank Gaude (who
wrote DISK7 and COMM7) and Joe Wright (who is known for his expertise in
writing BIOSes, such as the Ampro BIOS) - who can provide good technical
support
       7. Echelon has a staff to handle details and answer the phone;
they are not technically-oriented, but they can take orders and do other
things
       8. Echelon has facilities to handle distribution of the ZCPR3
book (they will be the first to have it when it comes out).  Computer
clubs and other organizations, such as bookstores, are also welcome to
negotiate with Zoetrope for sales rights, so the book will also not be
exclusive to Echelon.

These services provided by Echelon are available to commercial and non-
commercial users.  I like Echelon, but am not directly related and cannot
be held responsible for their actions (so if you have a problem with something
they did, such as send you some disks, contact them and not me).  If they
respond like they say they will, I think we can all benefit from them.
I view this as an experiment at this time (support like this has not been
available to the users before), and am interested in seeing how it works out.


       I will post info on how to access Echelon and Zoetrope in
a day or so.

       Rick