Ah, but I want to connect this to the Ruby BBS program that I wrote, so that
users on the other end of a telnet connection can use it to edit their
messages…
No idea how to even think about going about that…
Mark
[---------]
“I must hurry back to my comic book store, where I dispense the insults
rather than absorb them.”
[---------]
On Wed, Sep 11, 2002 at 10:21:18PM +0900, Firestone, Mark - Technical Support wrote:
Has anyone written a ansi full screen console text editor in Ruby? Please
say you have. I hate editors. The thought of having to write a full
screen
editor makes me feel vaguely sick.
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If the main requirement is exchanging text over telnet, then shouldn’t
you be looking for an editor that will interact with telnet? Many
common editors (including, certainly, the Emacs and VI families) can be
used in that way.
If you really think the editor needs to be written in Ruby, perhaps
you should explain your thinking in a bit more detail.
···
On Thu, Sep 12, 2002 at 01:07:00AM +0900, Firestone, Mark - Technical Support wrote:
Ah, but I want to connect this to the Ruby BBS program that I wrote, so that
users on the other end of a telnet connection can use it to edit their
messages…
I'd be happy to write one for you in my spare time, if you're not in a
big rush.
Email me off-list if you're interested. (Yes, I'd want co-sysop access
to the BBS, of course.)
Ah, the memories of 1987 come rushing back in split seconds ...
-- Dossy
1@2104
···
On 2002.09.12, Firestone, Mark - Technical Support <mark.firestone@gossgraphic.co.uk> wrote:
Ah, but I want to connect this to the Ruby BBS program that I wrote, so that
users on the other end of a telnet connection can use it to edit their
messages...
No idea how to even think about going about that...
--
Dossy Shiobara mail: dossy@panoptic.com
Panoptic Computer Network web: http://www.panoptic.com/
"He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own
folly -- then you can let go and quickly move on." (p. 70)
Uh, scratch that. I wasn’t thinking clearly. But I think I see what you
mean now: people log into the BBS server through Telnet, and will need
to use an editor that runs in the Telnet window, right?
I still don’t think you need to limit yourself to an editor written in
Ruby. First of all, I would guess there isn’t one. But even if there is,
it’s unlikely to be as good as Emacs, VI, Pico, etc. That’s not meant to
disparage Ruby, but writing a good text editor is a lot of work, and
Emacs has been under development for at least 15 years, VI even longer.
So why don’t you give your BBS program a generic interface
(socket-based, shell-based, I don’t know, but probably one of the two)
so that people can use any of several editors to interface with it? That
way, your users get a good text editor, and you don’t have to create it.
···
On Thu, Sep 12, 2002 at 02:32:23AM +0900, Matt Gushee wrote:
On Thu, Sep 12, 2002 at 01:07:00AM +0900, Firestone, Mark - Technical Support wrote:
Ah, but I want to connect this to the Ruby BBS program that I wrote, so that
users on the other end of a telnet connection can use it to edit their
messages…
No idea how to even think about going about that…
If the main requirement is exchanging text over telnet, then shouldn’t
you be looking for an editor that will interact with telnet? Many
I’m guessing here, but I think he wants/needs some sort of editor-ish
functionality for a BBS; so it has to be server based, not a client
using an editor.
On Thu, Sep 12, 2002 at 01:07:00AM +0900, Firestone, Mark - > Technical Support wrote:
Ah, but I want to connect this to the Ruby BBS program that I
wrote, so that
users on the other end of a telnet connection can use it to edit
their
messages…
No idea how to even think about going about that…
If the main requirement is exchanging text over telnet, then
shouldn’t
you be looking for an editor that will interact with telnet? Many
common editors (including, certainly, the Emacs and VI families)
can be
used in that way.
If you really think the editor needs to be written in Ruby,
perhaps
you should explain your thinking in a bit more detail.
The issue is security. To shackle down something as powerful as emacs
or vim to be restricted enough to offer it as an editor to BBS users is
a lot more work than writing one from scratch.
However, there may be an approach that Mark hasn’t explored yet but is
only available (AFAIK) if the BBS is running under some variant of Unix
– run the editor in a chroot jail.
In all honesty, the potential security risk isn’t worth it when an
editor suitable for a BBS can be implemented – absolutely serious –
inside 20 hours.
Or at least, that’s how long it took me the /first/ time back when I
was just learning how to program.
I still don’t think you need to limit yourself to an editor written in
Ruby.
–
Dossy Shiobara mail: dossy@panoptic.com
Panoptic Computer Network web: http://www.panoptic.com/
“He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own
folly – then you can let go and quickly move on.” (p. 70)
