🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <310AA0C2.57F17138@schoneal.com> Miles O'Neal <meo@schoneal.com> writes:

> ...
>While ISDN is ISDN (sort of), everyone uses different compression
>schemes, and occasionally has other extras - none of which
>interoperate.  SO, while any ISDN interface should talk to any
>other (at least in the same country) they will be definitely
>be communicating at teh lowest common denominator.

That is an overstatement.  The three currently most popular PPP
compression schemes are Stac Electronic's LZS, Predictor, and BSD
Compress:

    - LZS is prefered by box vendors because Stac has very good salespeople
	and because Stac makes LZS chips that make it easier to build
	boxes with many ports that compress.  There have been compatibility
	problems among LZS implementations.  There is a new version
	of the LZS CCP draft that many hope will solve those problems.

    - Predictor interoperates, but does not perform very well.  It may
	have patent problems.

    - BSD Compress also interoperats well.  It is in at least one
	popular freeware PPP implementation, I think including the one
	that has been ported to Linux.  BSD Compress has the problem
	of the Unisys LZW patent, but at least freeware is ok with it.
	As far as I know, also UNIX workstation vendors.


> ...
>nothing will communicate nearly as well with an Ascend as
>an Ascend - at least to date.  I'm really hoping Ascend will
>start selling cards, or license the technology to someone to
>do so - soon!

So you want Ascend to license their bugs to someone else?  How much do
you suppose other vendors will pay for them?  Seriously, the only reasons
for such interoperability problems are bugs.  (Everyone has such bugs
at first.)  Eventually, I bet Ascend's LZS will interoperate with everyone
else's.  Of course, unless Stac give away free licenses for the freeware
PPP implementations, or unless Ascend buys an LZW license, they won't
compress when talking to each other.

For the rest of PPP, on what grounds do you say that only Ascend boxes
can talk to Ascend boxes?  As far as I can see, Ascend is no worse than
the other vendors with shipping products that my code talks to.  ("My"
code actually belongs to a UNIX vendor.)


Vernon Schryver    vjs@rhyolite.com