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Date: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 09:41:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug White <dwhite@gdi.uoregon.edu>
Reply-To: Doug White <dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu>
To: "Eric J. Schwertfeger" <ejs@bfd.com>
cc: Alex Weeks <Alex_Weeks@capitalland.com>,
        "'freebsd-questions@freebsd.org'" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject: Re: Best Checkups (UPS)
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.95.971017102253.378A-100000@harlie.bfd.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.971020093811.2370E-100000@gdi.uoregon.edu>
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On Fri, 17 Oct 1997, Eric J. Schwertfeger wrote:

> > > Anyone using Best's Fortress UPS and Checkups software with FreeBSD?
> > 
> > Make sure you're trying to build for a BSD environment.  We may need to
> > port this; is the code publicly available?
> 
> The fortress comes with three versions of the software.  Basic for SVR5,
> Advanced for SVR4, and Basic for BSD.  The Basic software does little more
> than shut down the computer, and the advanced version has options for
> monitoring battery condition, etc.
> 
> The basic version for BSD (checkups.bsd) once renamed to checkups.c,
> compiles with one warning with the command "cc checkups.c -lcompat" on my
> 2.2.2 system, though I haven't actually tried running it yet.  The
> comments say that it works for SunOS/Solaris.

Is there any copyright in the file?

> And unfortunately, the program is considered proprietary, so I don't think
> we could roll a port.

If the code is OK to distribute then we shouldn't have a problem.

I don't know why UPS manufacturers are so touchy about their control
protocol.  Anyone with a line monitor and the software can hack the
protocol in a matter of minutes.  If they got together and defined a
standard protocol, it'd take a lot of the mystery out of UPS control.  

These people have something to learn from Connectix regarding
``proprietary'' systems.  

Doug White                              | University of Oregon  
Internet:  dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu    | Residence Networking Assistant
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dwhite    | Computer Science Major