Hi,

'Contiki 2.5.rc1 binary release for Retrocomputing' has just been made available on
http://contiki.cbm8bit.com/
and
http://a2retrosystems.com/contiki.html

It's a straight compile of the unmodified Contiki 2.5.rc1 sources avialable on
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/contiki/Contiki/Contiki%202.5-rc1/contiki-2.5.rc1.zip
using cc65 2.13.2

The major changes are:

- Support of the Atari 8-bit machines with the cart described on
http://www.atari8ethernet.com/

- FTP client app (only download although UI suggests upload too)

- Twitter client with OAuth workaround (using SuperTweet.net)

- New high contrast color scheme for Contiki UI apps on the C64

I hope that this release helps to foster further interest in creating new internetworked retrocomputing applications based on Contiki - or improving/extending the existing ones. Just a few examples that come into my mind:

- Add upload capabilities to the FTP client
- Add IMAP capabilities to the SMTP client
- Create an RSS feed reader

Contiki for Retrocomputing is meant to be a community project!

Regards,
Oliver

Hi,

Above I wrote that Contiki for Retrocomputing is meant to be a community project.

From that perspective I'm really happy to announce that there's now is a step-by-step guide to building the 'Contiki for Retrocomputing' applications from the source code on Windows:
http://cbm8bit.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=88

The guide starts with downloading the source code and all necessary tools. There's no need to install any software - it's just placing files in a single directory.

Thanks to Shane Wood for making the guide possible.

Regards,
Oliver

Oliver. Thanks so much for posting that. BTW, is the GEOS like interface from version 1.0 no longer gone to happen? I know it took up valuable ram but was just curious.

Hi mistermsk,

You're welcome

Regarding the GUI - As pointed out Contiki for Retrocomputing tries to lower the entry barrier for others to join active participation. And from that perspective the GUI is counterproductive:

- The GUI was running in graphics mode but actually character-based. The only benefit from the graphics mode were the icons and the window decoration. Having several windows and icons makes only sense with several programs integrated into one Contiki system. But if Contiki programs are created by different authors there's no means for integration.

- The GUI was taking so much RAM that it wasn't possible to run mone than more "real" program at any time anyway. But the window decoration still took away screen estate with no benefit at all.

- The actual UI of the current programs is identical to the GUI counterparts, so there's no degrade in usability. Actually usability is now much higher as there's now enough RAM to activate the Contiki mouse support.

- The GUI required quite some hacks/tricks/... to build programs.

I personally could most likely with some effort create a GUI-based integrated Contiki from the current code base - but I don't see a point in doing so. It would be more or less identical to Contiki 1.x. I want something new - I want other's to join in creating somwthing new. And here the GUI is rather a roadblock. See the Breadbox64 Twitter client - it doesn't even use the Contiki UI framework...

Regards,
Oliver

After the completion of this How Too by Oliver, i grabbed my little netbook and followed the instruction's carefully.
First time a successful compile! along with a bug discovered and fixed same day.

Number one on the lists of must do for contiki for 8bit's is keeping up with the current build's.
Thanks Oliver for keeping contiki for 8bits up to date.

Shane.

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I'm a big fan of networking programs on the C64. These new versions of Contiki programs are great. I especially appreciate the nice added touch of using a black screen which looks very nice.

Hi CadorBolin,

Thanks for the positive feedback regarding the new color scheme - I was in fact quite unsure what people like...

Regards,
Oliver

Agreed. Don't get me wrong the blue was nice but it kind of is easier on the eyes with the black background. BTW, I tried the 128 version and it could not resolve dns for some odd reason. When I tried the 64 version, it worked great.

I venture a really cool step would be somehow making it work with Geos. That way it could use the REU if you had one to store more data.

Hi mistermsk,

I don't understand what "work with GEOS" means. The existing Contiki programs have their own UI and don't make use of the GEOS libraries. Of course one could try to combine GEOS and TCP/IP - maybe using Contiki. If anybody wants to try that and has Contiki-related question he is welcome to contact me.

Contiki is by the way built with cc65 - and cc65 comes with a C-binding to the GEOS libraries and a GEOS resource compiler:
http://www.cc65.org/doc/geos.html

I don't understand how GEOS enables or facilitates the use of REU. However cc65 comes with a REU driver:
http://www.cc65.org/doc/c64-5.html#ss5.2

Regards,
Oliver

Don't worry about it. Just seeing if there was an thought about GEOS. That is all. The product is one of the best communications programs I have seen for the little 64. A quick question, though. Was there a telnet server that was in Contiki at one time? I don't want to build a BBS from it (someone else is doing that). I was just looking on building a game such as Circle MUD. If it had a telnet server to start, it would make things a lot simpler.

Again, nice job.

Hi mistermsk,

A Telnet server needs some "shell" the Telnet clients connect "into". I had problems getting something reasonable up and running, therefore I omitted the Telnet server.

The Telnet server code itself however should not be hard to get working - probably apart from a missing PETSCII-ASCII conversion here and there...

Regards,
Oliver

If you need any resources for your telnet game give me a yell.
I have a c64 i can place online 24/7 on a static ip on the 8bit.ws domain at home for testing or
would a C128 be a better platform ? Anyways always here to help.

Look forward to hearing more.

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