Subject: Re: [netatalk-admins] AppleShare on IP
From: Rob Newberry (rob@eats.com)
Date: Thu Mar 19 1998 - 14:03:02 EST
While I think it might be a useful compile-time option to disable
AppleTalk support, I believe you are quite wrong in your assumptions.
A lot of the client Macintoshes that connect to netatalk servers are
probably in universities. As such, they're probably NOT running OS 8, and
they're probably NOT running an AFP/TCP-capable client.
As to printing, again, most clients probably are NOT using LaserWriter
8.5.1, and probably won't be for a while -- some never will.
Finally, many netatalk users use the printing portion in the reverse
situation -- as a client to print to AppleTalk printers. Lots of folks
have old LaserWriters that only speak AppleTalk on their networks --
netatalk allows a UNIX server to print to those machines which DON'T speak
LPR.
While I'm glad Apple's latest clients are moving towards IP, it will be a
LONG time before the majority of users are capable of using those
services alone.
> Now that the client side of AppleShare on IP has been available from Apple
> for quite some time, supporting MacOS versions from 7.5.3 onwards (if I am
> not mistaken), isn't it time to consider simply scrapping all the AppleTalk
> support in netatalk? I know that this may sound a bit provocative, but I
> would guess that only a very tiny portion of Macs actually connected to
> netatalk servers is unable to run the necessary Appleshare client software.
>
> I am not familiar with the innards of netatalk, but am I right in guessing
> that a sizable part of the complexity of netatalk stems from supporting
> appletalk in various ways, including modifying the various unix kernels.
>
> Using Laserwriter 8.5.1 (which I think can run on MacOS 7.0 and later), we
> can also forego AppleTalk when printing. Isn't support for AppleTalk style
> printing also a respectable chunk of netatalk software?
> So what I asking is: If one would rip out ALL AppleTalk support from
> netatalk and concentrate on AppleShare over IP, wouldn't we get a leaner,
> meaner, better product, without really losing anything?
>
> I don't know enough about netatalk to make this an actual suggestion, but
> isn't it a relevant question?
>
> /Jonas
>
> ---
> Jonas Blomberg (Jonas.Blomberg@Nexus.SE)
> Technology Nexus Secure Open Systems AB, Box 857
> 751 08 Uppsala, SWEDEN, +46-18-171800
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Sat Dec 18 1999 - 16:31:52 EST