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\hbox to size{\hbox{\vbox{\vfill
 \hbox{\:MColumbia University \:Lin the City of New York}
 \vskip 0.1in
 \hbox{\:NCENTER FOR COMPUTING ACTIVITIES}
 \hbox{612 West 115th Street}
 \hbox{New York, N.Y. 10025}
 \hbox{(212) 280-5126}
}}\hss\vbox{\hbox{\hss\:Xb}\vfill\hbox{\hss\:IMay 5, 1983}}}
\parskip 12pt\vskip .25in
\:R
Dear KERMIT User,

Included on the enclosed tape are all the successful implementations of KERMIT
done or received by us to date.  Some of you have waited over two months for
this shipment; the long delay was necessary for development of new KERMIT
support for systems which many of you requested: the DEC Rainbow 100, DEC
VAX/VMS, and Apple II/DOS.  In addition, the RT-11 Pascal implementation was
completed, several new CP/M systems are now supported by KERMIT-80, and many
improvements were made to the UNIX, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, VM/CMS, and MS/PC DOS
implementations.  The
user manual has been fully updated, the protocol manual redone, and so forth.
All this so that the May shipment could be as complete and consistent as
possible, since it will be going to nearly 100 sites.  Your tape includes
source files and documentation, plus binaries when practical.  Also included is
a file called {\:A00README.TXT}, which describes the contents of the tape in
more detail.  That file is also enclosed, on paper, along with one copy each of
the {\:IKermit Users Guide} and the {\:IKermit Protocol Manual}.  The Users
Guide contains installation instructions for the various implementations.

Kermit is distributed free with the understanding that it will never be sold as
a product.  This is done in the hope that use of Kermit will become widespread
enough to make communications between any two computers a real possibility
rather than a pipedream.  We encourage you to return any new implementations,
bug fixes, or documentation to us so we can pass them along to others.

The popularity of KERMIT has been far greater than we ever expected, and we
have been swamped with requests.  Unfortunately, we are not set up as a
software distribution center; we have neither sufficient staff nor computing
resources for the job.  Therefore, this will be our last free shipment of
Kermit.  Henceforth, we will ask a donation of 100 dollars to cover
the costs of media, postage, labor, and computer resources; in return, we will
provide a tape in the desired format and a complete set of manuals.  This will
allow us to send shipments of higher quality in a more timely fashion.

Meanwhile, we will seek new ways to distribute KERMIT: user groups like SHARE
and DECUS, computer networks like BITNET.  We also encourage you to pass KERMIT
along directly to other sites that ask you about it, rather than referring them
back to us.  We only ask that profit not be your goal, credit be given where it
is due, and that new material be sent back to us so that we can maintain a
definitive and comprehensive set of KERMIT implementations.

\par\vskip 20pt
\hbox to size{{\hskip 3.5in}Sincerely,}
\vskip 30pt
\hbox to size{{\hskip 3.5in}Frank da Cruz\hss}
\hbox to size{{\hskip 3.5in}Manager of DEC Systems\hss}
\par\vskip 10pt
{\:ISpecial note to security and military installations or contractors:}\ \ It
is hoped that you will use KERMIT only for peaceful and benevolent purposes.
\par\vfill
\end