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278 lines
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Plaintext
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Ä Area: FidoNet Echo: MUFFIN (Max support) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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Msg#: 54 Date: 21 Jun 95 23:07:00
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From: Scott Dudley Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: All Mark:
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Subj: MAXIMUS 3.0 FEATURE LIST
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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@MSGID: 1:249/106.1 2fe8de60
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@PID: GED 2.41+ 670DK3
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95.06.21
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Maximus 3.0 development has now reached a stage where we can
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talk about what will be present in the upcoming release. It
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has been a while since the last major revision of Maximus,
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so I hope that everyone finds it worth the wait.
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There is also a small questionnaire at the bottom of this
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message. This relates to the availability of printed
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documentation for noncommercial users. If you would be
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interested in ordering a printed manual for Maximus without
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having to buy a commercial license, please see the bottom of
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this message for more information.
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Now, without further ado, I present the Maximus 3.0
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specifications and feature list:
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Operating System Support
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========================
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We are committed to supporting the following environments
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for Maximus 3.0:
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16-bit DOS (MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.3+)
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32-bit OS/2 (OS/2 2.0, 2.1, or OS/2 Warp)
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We are also pursuing a Win32 version of Maximus for Windows
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95 and Windows NT. However, we do not guarantee that Win32
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will be part of the official 3.0 release. A public beta
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seems more than likely, but we cannot yet make any firm
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commitments on Win32.
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New Features
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============
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* Added MEX, the Maximus Extension Language. MEX is a true
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programming language that includes features from the
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BASIC, C and Pascal languages. MEX is easy to use, but it
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also supports many advanced language constructs,
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including function calls, block scoping, dynamic strings,
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arrays, structures, pass-by-reference arguments, and
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more.
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MEX is a complement to MECCA, the original Maximus
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scripting language. While MECCA is still fully supported,
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many tasks can be simplified by using MEX scripts. MEX
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programs can access many internal Maximus features and
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functions, including the fields in the user record, the
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message and file area data files, the file tag queue, and
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much more. MEX supports over 100 internal functions that
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allow user-developed programs to interface with an on-
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line user.
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As a testament to the power of MEX, Maximus 3.0 will ship
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with a number of MEX system utilities and applications.
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The release will include the sources for MEXBank, a MEX-
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based time bank, and MEXChat, a split-screen chat
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application. In addition, numerous parts of Maximus
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itself have been converted to MEX, such as many of the
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menu headers and display options.
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* Hierarchical message and file area support. Both message
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and file areas can be grouped into logical subsections.
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Internal commands for area selection now automatically
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recognize these subsections and allow users to move
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easily through the hierarchy.
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* Extensive support for RIP graphics. Maximus 3.0 will:
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automatically detect RIP support, automatically size menu
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output based on the RIP window size, display most
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internal prompts using RIP graphics, allow the SysOp to
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add both RIP and non-RIP strings to the system language
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file, select special .RIP files for display instead of
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.BBS files, and automatically send/display RIP scene and
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icon files to the user.
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Other points of interest related to RIP: the RIP
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sequences are automatically filtered from the local SysOp
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console. Both MECCA and MEX support an interface to the
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RIP file-sending mechanism. The system also comes with a
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complete set of RIP support files.
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* Support for SysOp-defined privilege levels. The old
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system of 12 user privilege levels has been expanded to
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include a flexible set of user "classes" that can be used
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to define the attributes of an arbitrary privilege level.
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Numeric privilege levels are associated with each class,
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so a purely-numeric privilege level system can be used if
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desired. However, the SysOp can also assign synonyms to
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each class (such as "Limited" or "Normal") for backwards
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compatibility.
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* Access Control Strings (ACS) have now replaced privilege
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levels qualifiers. Menu commands can be restricted to
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users with an arbitrary set of privilege levels, keys, or
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other attributes. This differs from the previous "all
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users of level X or greater" method of access control
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used in Maximus 2.x.
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* Support for local file attaches in Squish message areas.
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This allows users to enter messages and upload files to
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be sent to the addressee. Features such as file
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compression and storage can be controlled by the SysOp.
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* Added a "Reply in other area" menu option that allows
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users to reply to a message in a location other than the
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current area.
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* Maximus-OS/2 now uses the Master Control Program (MCP)
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for handling inter-process communications. MCP is a
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multithreaded, 32-bit detached process that handles all
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communications needs for Maximus nodes.
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* Maximus-OS/2 supports "Session Monitor" (SM), a 32-bit
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Presentation Manager LAN administration tool. SM allows
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the SysOp to view, start, and stop remote Maximus tasks
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that are running on a LAN. SM can also be used on a
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local machine to view multiple Maximus sessions on the
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desktop.
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* Maximus-OS/2 supports a new REXX API for accessing the
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Maximus user file.
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* A message-tracking system for use in technical support
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environments. Maximus can keep an audit trail of all
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messages in certain areas, assign "ownership" of messages
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to individuals, and produce detailed reports regarding
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the status of various messages.
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* Full support for CD-ROMs and other slow filesystems.
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Maximus will copy files to a staging area before a
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transfer and it will only access the drive when
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absolutely necessary. Areas can also be specifically
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excluded from new files searches.
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* The internal user editor has been redesigned. The screen
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layout is much more user-friendly, and all of the new
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fields can be edited with only a few keystrokes.
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* Support for nested menus. The Link_Menu and Return menu
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commands can be used to create a multilevel menu
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hierarchy, rather than the flat menu structure of Maximus
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2.x.
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* Optional support for user password encryption. This
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feature uses the RSA Data Security "MD5" algorithm as a
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one-way hash for storing passwords in the user file.
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* A new menu option allows users to limit QWK message
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downloads by message date.
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* Added SoundBlaster support for Maximus-OS/2. Maximus can
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now play your TUNES.BBS tunes on any SoundBlaster-
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compatible card.
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* A new "UMSGID" option that ensures that messages within
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Squish-format areas always maintain the same message
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numbers over the area's lifetime.
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* Support for an unlimited number of tagged message areas.
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* Menu commands can now be assigned to function keys and
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cursor keys. Users must be run a terminal program that
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supports "DoorWay mode" to use this feature.
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* Browse now supports wildcard and group-based area
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selection.
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* Added the following fields to the user file: number of
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files downloaded (total), number of files downloaded
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(today), number of files uploaded, number of messages
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read, number of messages posted, date of first call, date
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of last newfiles scan, date of last password change, date
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of birth, and more.
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* Maximus now supports file descriptions up to 1024 bytes
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in size.
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* Automatic/manual file date support is now configurable
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for each individual file area. FB will now automatically
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parse dates and sizes that are embedded directly in the
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file listing. Also added limited support for PCBoard-
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style "line continuation characters" in file listings.
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* Remote users can now optionally use the "local" external
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message editor.
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* Users can now tag message areas directly from the "More"
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prompt within the message tag command.
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Pricing Pricing Pricing
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The price schedule and license agreement for Maximus 3.0
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will remain unchanged. This means that:
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- Maximus 3.0 will be freely available to noncommercial
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users.
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- Commercial licensing starts at US$99 for a two-line
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version of Maximus (media only)
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Commercial users who purchased Maximus 1.x must pay a
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nominal upgrade fee to use Maximus 3.0.
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** All Maximus 2.x users are automatically entitled to a
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free electronic upgrade to Maximus 3.0. **
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Documentation
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=============
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We are putting together a set of printed documentation for
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Maximus 3.0, consisting of a ~450 page perfect-bound manual.
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This manual will contain the contents of the current
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operations and reference manuals, in addition to a
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completely new 170 page section on the MEX language.
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Printed documentation will be made available to commercial
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users at a nominal charge. We have not yet set a policy on
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printed documentation for noncommercial users. See below for
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more information.
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Availability
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============
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Maximus 3.0 should be available within the next two months.
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Questionnaire
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=============
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This section applies to noncommercial users only.
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At present, we are only planning to make the printed Maximus
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documentation available to commercial users. If there is
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enough support from the noncommercial user base, we will
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consider making the documentation available separately.
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For a documentation-only "license," we would need to charge
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somewhere around US$25 (CAD$30) for the system
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documentation. This would include the full perfect-bound
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manual that comes with the commercial version, as described
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above. It does not include a copy of the software or a
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commercial license, but it does act as a handy reference for
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noncommercial users.
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However, we can only do this if enough noncommercial people
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are interested in buying such a product.
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IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN PAYING THIS AMOUNT FOR A
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PRINTED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENTATION, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM
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YOU!
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If you are interested, please send a _very_ short message
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indicating such to either:
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docs@lanius.com (Internet)
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or
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Docs at 1:249/106 (FidoNet)
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The responses to this survey will be used to make our
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decision on noncommercial documentation.
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-!-
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! Origin: Fowl Weather Bureaucropost (1:249/106.1)
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SEEN-BY: 12/12 163/99 202/111 203 701 777 1206 1207 1601 240/99 241/99 243/2
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SEEN-BY: 254/1 396/1 649/312 3402/1 3615/50 51
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@PATH: 249/106 99 12/12 3615/50 202/777 1207
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