Kermit 95 2.0 Announcements

• Public Announcement
• Kermit Newsgroup Announcement

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Public Announcement

From: fdc@columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Announce: Kermit 95 2.0 Windows-to-Linux Client
Date: 21 Jun 2002 15:35:10 -0400
Organization: Columbia University

This is to announce Kermit 95 2.0: network and serial communications for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html

for making connections from Windows to Linux and other platforms, featuring:

• 40 different terminal emulations, including Linux Console (colors, key map, the works);
• Consistent operation on TCP/IP, serial-port, and modem connections;
• SSH v1/v2 terminal sessions and port forwarding;
• Kerberos 4/5, SSL/TLS (PKI), and SRP security;
• Secure as well as clear-text Telnet, Rlogin, FTP, and HTTP clients;
• URL hot spots in the Terminal session -- click and visit;
• Kermit and XYZMODEM protocols for in-session file transfer;
• Extensive automation capabilities through its built-in script language, which is compatible with that of C-Kermit on Linux, *BSD, and other Unix platforms (CLICK HERE to visit the script library);
• Conversion among many character sets -- corporate, national, and international, including Unicode;
• RFC 2217 Telnet Com Port Control for dialing remote modems;
• Numeric and alpha (TAP/IXO) paging.
• A new well-populated monospace Unicode font for terminal emulation.

Version 2.0 of K95 is the first version to run in a GUI window, and therefore allows font selection, Unicode terminal sessions, resizing with the mouse, and so on. See the website for sample screens, including terminal screens with many languages:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95gui.htm

K95 2.0 compares as follows with other SSH clients:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/winsshclients.html

Kermit 95 is appropriate for people who need:

• Its particular terminal emulations (Linux, SCO, Wyse, DEC, HP, ANSI, Televideo, Hazeltine, SNI, ...);
• A high degree of customizability;
• High-performing in-band and/or secure file transfer;
• Key maps and procedures that are consistent across Com-port, modem, SSH, Telnet, Rlogin, and other kinds of connections.
• The ability to write automated communications procedures, possibly involving file transfer, especially when they need to be portable across communication methods, protocols, and/or OS/hardware platforms;
• Character-set conversion across the communication connection;
• Responsive technical support.

And for:

• Universities and government agencies that require secure clients (government discounts and low-cost academic site licenses available);
• Systems integrators and consultants who wish to provide canned communications procedures to their customers;
• Insurance claims clearinghouses that need a reliable tool for their clients to submit claims over a variety of transports.
• Secure website maintenance from offsite (via authenticated FTP or HTTP).
• A variety of network management functions, including automated dialogs with routers, hubs, and terminal servers, as well as automated testing of modem pools and paging of network staff.

The built-in FTP client, aside from allowing secure connections and being fully scriptable, includes a horde of features lacking from most others:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftpclient.html

In Windows NT, 2000, and XP, K95 2.0 can be installed as an RFC-2839 / 2840 service on your PC allowing secure, authenticated remote text-mode access on the Internet for file transfer and management. For details, see:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/wiksd.html

As an SFTP replacement, the Kermit 95 client and C-Kermit server (installed as an SSH subsystem) give the same security and performance as SFTP/SFTPD but a great deal more flexibility and features:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/skermit.html

Kermit 95 is a product of the Kermit Project at Columbia University, one of the few remaining university-based nonprofit software R&D projects (going strong 21 years and counting!), whose work includes not just writing software but also active participation in the standards process:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/standards.html

To try K95 2.0, simply download a full-featured 21-day trial version by following the DOWNLOAD link on the website. Pricing and licensing options are here:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95pricing.html

Send business inquiries to kermit@columbia.edu.
Send technical questions to kermit-support@columbia.edu.

Frank da Cruz
The Kermit Project
Columbia University
612 West 115th Street
New York NY 10025-7799
USA
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/

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Kermit Newsgroup Announcement

Kermit 95 2.0 is released:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html

(Be sure to clear out your Web-browser cache before looking at the updated website -- many pages have been replaced.) The most noteworthy new feature of the new release is that:

• It runs in a GUI window rather than a Console window.

(A console version is available too for those who prefer it.) The GUI version of K95 includes a menu bar, tool bar, scroll bar, status bar: a selection of essential dialogs and popups. The tool bar includes Combo boxes for selection of font, font size, and character set. The K95 window can be resized by stretching, maximized, and restored. Unicode UTF-8 terminal sessions are supported in all Windows versions, allowing mixtures of Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and other scripts to appear simultaneously on the same screen.

The primary benefit of the GUI version of K95 is freedom from the booby-trapped Microsoft console window environment with all its bugs and limitations, especially in Windows 95/98/ME: inability to choose fonts or use scroll bars, cursors disappearing, Caps Lock with a mind of its own, the "incredible shrinking window", extraneous or out-of-order characters on screen, inability to use Input Method Editors, ghost images on the screen, and on and on and on.

Other new features of K95 2.0 include:

• InstallShield installation.
• HTTP Proxy support for SSH connections.
• FTP TLS support added to Dialer, along with a sample template.
• A new font, Everson Mono Terminal, is included.

These are in addition to the new features of version 1.1.21, which was announced just 8 weeks ago:

• An integrated SSH v1/v2 client
• Integrated FTP and HTTP clients
• Automatic highlighting of URL hotspots
• A new Windows-based Internet Kermit Service (Windows NT, 2000, and XP only)

The Everson Mono Terminal font is licensed from Everson Typography in Ireland for inclusion with Kermit 95 to give you access to scripts you would not be able to see with standard Windows monospace Unicode fonts such as Courier and Lucida Console. It includes Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, Runes, Ogham, Canadian Syllabics, Cherokee, Katakana, Hiragana, Tibetan, Math, Symbols, Line and Box Drawing, Dingbats, and APL. This is not a free font; it comes with Kermit 95 2.0 but may not be further redistributed.

The new InstallShield installer allows us to offer a new (fee-based) service: production of custom installers for academic site and bulk licensees. The details and pricing have yet to be worked out, but the possibilities are interesting: custom-tailored option selection or directory layout, preconfigured Dialer entries, site-specific Kerberos, PKI, or public keys; custom keyboard maps, site-wide initialization files, special banners or text, etc. If you're interested, send inquiries to kermit-support@columbia.edu.

A more complete description of version 2.0 can be found here:

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95gui.htm

Kermit 95 2.0 is available as an upgrade to all earlier versions:

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95upgrade.html

Kermit 95 2.0 is not yet available for OS/2. We hope it will be soon, but can make no promises. If it is released for OS/2, it will be only in Console form (because GUI code is not portable) and will not include SSH (because OpenSSH libraries are not available that are compatible with the OS/2 K95 development tools).

All new bulk right-to-copy, omnibus, and academic site license orders will be fulfilled with the new version, but the retail shrinkwrapped package still contains the 1.1.20 CDROM; those who order shrinkwrapped copies can, of course, upgrade to version 2.0 after they install 1.1.20.

Our US Department of Commerce export license application is still pending, which will allow us to ship the secure version outside the USA and Canada. Until the license is obtained, orders from outside the USA and Canada will be fulfilled by a non-secure version, as with past releases. Version 2.0 will be available in shrinkwrapped retail form once the export license is granted, and non-secure versions will be upgradeable to secure ones in whatever countries are covered by the export license.

Export permission was granted for most countries effective 16 July 2002. CLICK HERE for details.

As announced here earlier, Kermit 95's price will rise as soon as we are able to get version 2.0 into our distribution channels; details to be determined but the increase will most likely range between 20 and 100 percent, depending on the license. New pricing will be announced shortly. Until then you can order it at the current prices:

http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html#order

Jeffrey Altman	Christine Gianone
Max Evarts	Frank da Cruz

The Kermit Project - Columbia University
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/