[Coco] Internet/BBS connectivity via Coco1

[Aaron Wolfe]

On Sun, Dec 29, 2013 at 7:44 PM, Chris Oliver <chris.w.oliver at me.com> wrote:
> All,
>
> I am new to this list, and am very glad and humbled to be able to interact with such a storied group of Coco enthusiasts. The 4K Coco1 was my first computer -- back in 1983 when I was 11 years old.

I think I was 8 or 9, and it was a couple years later, but my first
computer was also a Coco 1.  I think my father had upgraded it to 16
or 64k and extended basic before I ever got to play with it.  There
are several more of us who grew up with the CoCo on the list.  Welcome
:)

> My question is about Internet and BBS connectivity options for the Coco.  It sure would be neat to be able run a Lynx-like browser on the Coco -- but also be able to connect to real or simulated BBS's that might still be out there on the Internet today.  And it would be *especially* neat to be able to do this using as much original hardware/software as possible.

So far there are no coco web browsers that I've heard of.  Even one
limited to text display would require an awful lot of resources.
Given that most modern web pages exceed the capacity of the CoCo's
RAM, I'm not sure that there would be much practicality to one anyway.

On the other hand, we do have a web *server* for the CoCo that is
quite useful for getting files from an OS9 system to (anything else),
or even serving up a small bit of content.  CoCo HTTPD runs on OS9 and
requires DriveWire 4.  It sounds like you have or will have everything
you need to play with that.

We also have a telnet client and server, so you can access telnet
based BBSes (or run one of your own) without too much trouble.  There
are still quite a few BBSes running today and accessible via telnet.
In addition to the telnet client, you can also use DW4's Hayes modem
emulation along with any OS9 terminal program to access telnet BBSes.

I realize this isn't making use of your modem and other telecom gear..
 unfortunately I don't think there is much you can do with that unless
you create/coordinate both ends of the connection yourself.  There may
be some dialup BBSes still alive, but finding one that will connect at
300bps without some special arrangement would be rare.

You could connect a serial port to your Mac and have the mac spawn a
tty for the coco, and from there run lynx etc, but then you're using
even less of the CoCo than with DW4.  That can be quite useful, but it
isn't a "pure" CoCo experience :)

I guess things boil down to what you want to do.. if it's a practical
kind of thing where you want to access remote data with the coco or
transfer data between coco and the outside world, you can do a lot
with DW or via a serial shell to the mac.  If its a nostalgia thing..
you might need to find someone else with a similar setup and
coordinate.

Good luck and welcome again
-Aaron