[Coco] CoCo Ethernet for $25-$30...

[Bill Pierce]

Allen,
I think you're missing Aaron's point. First of all, using the "wiznet: ro "RPi" to do the work (IMHO) are the same thing.... using other computers (small, but not part of the coco and work without it) to access the internet. Aaron is trying to tell you, he has alread done this with the RPI.
You have to program these intefaces right? They are not dependant on the Coco right?
(IMHO) Any device no matter how small (DoD Cart) or how big (PC running DW4) is just another device plugged in. Just another interface. The RPi running DW4 stuck inside a Coco3 is much less than a HD controller with an IBM board controlling HDs.
 I remember people "bucking" the "new" disk drives in the early 80s saying "that's not a Coco", then they'd "plug in" their tape recorders. The same with HDs later.
Yes, if I could have a cart to plug into the MPI and give me ethernet access to the net... I would love it. 

What you're missing is that Aaron's not telling you to hook up a PC and run DW4, he's telling you that DW4 is portable enough that it will run on most anything including most project board solutions that will support a Java enviroment, and if not, he can most likely adapt it. if it can run Java, it can run DW4.

There is already software that will controll any unit running DW4 from the Coco. If I had a RPi, I would be looking into a way to do a direct connect in some way that's faster than serial. Something related to the Coco's cart port. If we can get data to the RPi in bytes instead of bits, we're in business. All that's really missing in the chain is a faster connection to the Coco.

Just to give an example, the new NitrOS9 software I'm about to release will (through DW4) connect to the internet, check for updates, prompt for download if updates are available, download the updates, install them, and restart itself. All on the Coco. All the PC is, is my internet connection, just a big modem plugged in. DW4 is the interpreter in the modem. This will work on ANY device that will host DW4 and a internet connection. And this is just the tip of that iceberg.

Bill Pierce
My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
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-----Original Message-----
From: Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com>
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Mon, Apr 8, 2013 11:59 pm
Subject: Re: [Coco] CoCo Ethernet for $25-$30...


On Apr 8, 2013, at 12:45 PM, Aaron Wolfe <aawolfe at gmail.com> wrote:

>> I have ben waiting over a decade for someone to come out with some way to get 
a CoCo on the internet without it just being a PC on the internet with a CoCo 
attached... Still hasn't happened, so I guess one of us will do it then figure 
out a way to standardize the interface so software can be written.
> 
> I don't think this assessment is fair.  The web server, telnet client,
> inetd, smtp client, etc that work with DriveWire 4 all process their
> respective protocols at the TCP layer.

Yes, true, and I understand. But it's just a PC doing something and then the 
CoCo is basically downloading it. If someone hooked up a PC to the CoCo so it 
could print via parallel, it wouldn't feel the same to me as a CoCo parallel 
port adapter. If "let me show you what I can do on my computer" involves another 
computer, I'm just not sure it's quite the same.

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