On Mar 26, 2026 09:31am, NIGHTFOX wrote to MORTAR:

No, it can connect to, say, a BBS to download a QWK

packet. As a BBS

user, you can often download a QWK packet from a BBS to

use it with an

offline reader; SlyMail allows you to do that from

within SlyMail - It

can connect to a remote system via FTP or SSH, and that

system would

usually be a BBS, and it lets you select a QWK packet to

download, and

then read.

Therein lies the rub. Some systems (like mine) do not offer
a qwk/rep via ftp capability, so to some of us it would be a
worthless tool. Now if you could add in telnet with zmodem
ability that'd be best.

Just my $0.02 worth.
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■ wcQWK 10.0 ≈ Over The Brink ª Grand Island, NY USA | brinkbbs.org

Re: RE: New offline QWK mail
By: Robert Wolfe to NIGHTFOX on Thu Mar 26 2026 02:35 pm

Therein lies the rub. Some systems (like mine) do not offer a qwk/rep via ftp capability, so to some of us it would be a worthless tool. Now if you could add in telnet with zmodem ability that'd be best.

Adding a built-in telnet client to SlyMail, with the ability to download files, seems like it could be a big task. I don't think SlyMail would be a worthless tool, as you could still use SlyMail for its offline QWK reader capabilities - That's what it is first, and I figured the built-in functionality to download via FTP/SSH would be an added convenience.

Nightfox

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■ Synchronet ■ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Hey Robert!

On Thu, 26 Mar 2026 14:35:00 +0000, you wrote:

Therein lies the rub. Some systems (like mine) do not offer
a qwk/rep via ftp capability, so to some of us it would be a
worthless tool. Now if you could add in telnet with zmodem
ability that'd be best.

Can Multimail use telnet with zmodem? How about Bluewave?

It's just a "feature" of SlyMail since I believe FTP is the most common way to upload/download QWK/REP packets, it does not need to be used. You can download the QWK packet via telnet with zmodem yourself, and open the QWK packet with SlyMail once you have it, just like you would with Multimail or Bluewave (or probably any other offline QWK readers.

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (723:1/1)
þ Synchronet þ _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin)

Re: RE: New offline QWK mail
By: Robert Wolfe to NIGHTFOX on Thu Mar 26 2026 02:35 pm
Adding a built-in telnet client to SlyMail, with the ability to download files, seems like it could be a big task. I don't think SlyMail would be a worthless tool, as you could still use SlyMail for its offline QWK reader capabilities - That's what it is first, and I figured the built-in functionality to download via FTP/SSH would be an added convenience.

I'm replying to this with SlyMail. not sure what the above quote will look like, as it doesn't wrap on screen.

Couple suggestions:

an option to only show areas with new mail. and/or possibly highlight areas that have mail in the area list.

There's definitely some cursor wonkyness related to the wordwrap line above. If I put my cursor on the end of the
line (it cuts off at "big tas") the cursor shows up in the bottom right of the window. if I try to edit though,
the line splits.


I also saw a blank message from you in this area from earlier today. SlyMail showed it as a reply to some other
message, but when I tried to turn on headers, it showed most everything was blank. There was no "to" or "subject"
listed either. I wish I would have screenshotted it, but apparently I overwrote the qwk packet when I downloaded
the one containing the message I'm replying to now.

Also, that's something MM does, maybe when downloading a qwk packet, it can rename the older one (or the newer
one)?

Not sure if I'm being helpful or not :) None of these are complaints, just things I noticed. So far, it's pretty
kick-ass. I love the theming!


...When I die, I'm leaving my body to science fiction.

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

One more thing - the ability to download a qwk packet via ftp is great. But the ability to upload a rep packet
would be great too :) (I didn't see an option for upload)

...What's the speed of dark?

---
■ Synchronet ■ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

Re: Re: RE: New offline QWK m
By: DaiTengu to Nightfox on Thu Mar 26 2026 07:09 pm

Thanks for the reply. What version of SlyMail were you using? I released a version 0.52 this afternoon (March 26).

Nightfox

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■ Synchronet ■ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Re: RE: New offline QWK m
By: DaiTengu to Nightfox on Thu Mar 26 2026 07:10 pm

One more thing - the ability to download a qwk packet via ftp is great. But the ability to upload a rep packet
would be great too :) (I didn't see an option for upload)

I added that in version 0.52, which was released today.

It sounds like you were using version 0.51 or 0.50? If so, that may explain some of the wrapping, quoting, and cursor wonkyness you mentioned. I'd recommend updating to the latest version and trying that out.

Nightfox

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■ Synchronet ■ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Re: RE: New offline QWK m
By: DaiTengu to Nightfox on Thu Mar 26 2026 07:10 pm

One more thing - the ability to download a qwk packet via ftp is great. But the ability to upload a rep packet
would be great too :) (I didn't see an option for upload)

Also, SlyMail version 0.52 (which I released earlier today) has an option to upload a REP packet. :)

Nightfox

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■ Synchronet ■ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Hi Accession,
In a message to Robert Wolfe you wrote:

It's just a "feature" of SlyMail since I believe FTP is the most
common way to upload/download QWK/REP packets, it does not need to be
used. You can download the QWK packet via telnet with zmodem yourself,
and open the QWK packet with SlyMail once you have it, just like you
would with Multimail or Bluewave (or probably any other offline QWK readers.

I use that feature on your BBS every day. I wrote a program that:

1) Polls Fidonet and tosses those packets.
2) connects to your FTP site and downloads a QWK
3) Imports QWK into squish base.

When I close the offline reader it then:

4) Scans for any messages I wrote and if it finds them creates a REP
for those networks, or runs HPT scan etc for fidonet.
5) Sends fidonet mail if any.
6) Connects via FTP to your BBS and uploads a REP if it exists.

All done automatically so for me it's great since in the summer I operate
on limited bandwith when I'm in the woods.

So IMO if anyone wants to use offline mail a Synchronet BBS that's
configured to allow FTP is the perfect solution.

... Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.


* SeM. 2.26 * paranoia: believing this tagline is about you.
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■ Synchronet ■ _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin)

Looks fantastic, well done. Exciting to see more offline mail readers and BBS server packages enter the scene!
---

The one I am waiting for is the one that looks like its discord and
titan mail had a baby.

***wcTaglines: Go Indians! And take the Browns with you.
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■ wcQWK 10.0 ≈ Inland Utopia * iutopia.duckdns.org:2323

Re: RE: New offline QWK mail
By: Robert Wolfe to NIGHTFOX on Thu Mar 26 2026 02:35 pm

Therein lies the rub. Some systems (like mine) do not offer
a qwk/rep via ftp capability, so to some of us it would be a
worthless tool. Now if you could add in telnet with zmodem
ability that'd be best.

MultiMail doesn't have telnet/zmodem either, that means MultiMail is worthless? --
digital man (rob)

Sling Blade quote #19:
Doyle: I can't so much as drink a damn glass of water around a midget
Norco, CA WX: 64.9°F, 74.0% humidity, 0 mph NNW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
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