Editing Kermit (protocol) (section)

==History==
In the late 1970s, users of Columbia University's [[mainframe computer]]s had only 35 kilobytes of storage per person. Kermit was developed at the university so students could move files between them and [[floppy disk]]s at various [[microcomputer]]s around campus,<ref name="kermit198406">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-06/1984_06_BYTE_09-06_Computers_and_Education#page/n251/mode/2up | title=Kermit: A File-Transfer Protocol for Universities / Part 1: Design Considerations and Specifications | work=BYTE | date=June 1984 | access-date=23 October 2013 |author1=da Cruz, Frank |author2=Catchings, Bill | pages=251}}</ref><ref name="kermit198407">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-07/1984_07_BYTE_09-07_Computers_and_Video#page/n141/mode/2up | title=Kermit: A File-Transfer Protocol for Universities / Part 2: States and Transitions, Heuristic Rules, and Examples | work=BYTE | date=July 1984 | access-date=23 October 2013 |author1=da Cruz, Frank |author2=Catchings, Bill | pages=141}}</ref>{{r|ISS}} such as [[IBM]] or [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[DECSYSTEM-20]] mainframes and [[Intertec Superbrain]]s running [[CP/M]]. IBM mainframes used an [[EBCDIC]] character set and CP/M and DEC machines used [[ASCII]], so conversion between the two character sets was one of the early functions built into Kermit. The first file transfer with Kermit occurred in April 1981. The protocol was originally designed in 1981 by [[Frank da Cruz]] and [[Bill Catchings]].<ref name="Bai2004">{{cite book|author=Ying Bai|title=The Windows Serial Port Programming Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iJzje_1tJA4C&pg=PA65|date=19 November 2004|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-203-34196-4|page=65}}</ref><ref name="RawlingsRawlings1986">{{cite book|author1=Christopher J. Rawlings|author2=S. Rawlings|title=Software Directory for Molecular Biology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDNdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20|date=11 November 1986|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-1-349-08234-6|pages=20}}</ref>

Columbia University coordinated development of versions of Kermit for many different computers at the university and elsewhere, and distributed the software for free; Kermit for the new [[IBM Personal Computer]] became especially popular. In 1986 the university founded the Kermit Project, which took over development and started charging fees for commercial use; the project was financially self-sufficient.<ref name="ISS"/> For non-commercial use, Columbia University stated that<ref name="doupnik19880111">{{cite mailing list | url=http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/e/mail.88a | title=Announcing MS-DOS Kermit 2.30 | publisher=Kermit Project, Columbia University | mailing-list=Info-Kermit Digest | date=1988-01-11 | access-date=3 March 2016 |author1=Doupnik, Joe |author2=da Cruz, Frank }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Kermit is for everyone to use and share. Once you get it, feel free to pass it along to your friends and colleagues. Although it is copyrighted and not in the public domain, we only ask that you not attempt to sell it for profit, and that you use it only for peaceful and humane purposes.}}

By 1988 Kermit was available on more than 300 computers and operating systems.<ref name="dacruz19880729">{{cite mailing list | url=http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ftp/e/mail.88b | title=Kermits Needed | publisher=Kermit Project, Columbia University | mailing-list=Info-Kermit Digest | date=1988-07-29 | access-date=3 March 2016 | author=da Cruz, Frank}}</ref> The protocol became a [[de facto]] data communications standard<ref name="good">{{Cite web|url=http://www.masternewmedia.org/2003/12/26/standards_do_we_really_need.htm|title=Standards: Do We Really Need Them?|last=Good|first=Robin|date=23 December 2003|work=masternewmedia.org|access-date=27 April 2009}}</ref> for transferring files between dissimilar computer systems, and by the early 1990s it could convert multilingual [[character encoding]]s. Kermit software has been used in many countries, for tasks ranging from simple student assignments to solving [[Software incompatibility|compatibility]] problems aboard the [[International Space Station]].<ref name="ISS">[http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-03zq.html ''International Space Station Incorporates Kermit''] (December 2003)</ref> It was ported to a wide variety of mainframe, [[minicomputer]] and microcomputer systems down to handhelds and electronic pocket calculators. Most versions had a user interface based on the original TOPS-20 Kermit. Later versions of some Kermit implementations also support network as well as [[serial port|serial]] connections.

Implementations that are presently supported include '''[[C (programming language)|C]]-Kermit''' (for [[Unix]] and [[OpenVMS]]) and '''Kermit 95''' (for versions of [[Microsoft Windows]] from [[Windows 95]] onwards and [[OS/2]]), but other versions remain available as well.

As of 1 July 2011, Columbia University ceased to host this project and released it as [[open source]]. In June 2011, the Kermit Project released a beta version of C-Kermit v9.0 under the [[BSD licenses#3-clause license ("BSD License 2.0", "Revised BSD License", "New BSD License", or "Modified BSD License")|Revised 3-Clause BSD License]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/ck90.html | publisher=Columbia University's Kermit Project | title=C-Kermit 9.0 Beta Test |date=21 June 2011 | access-date=22 June 2011}}</ref>

As well as the implementations developed and/or distributed by Columbia University, the Kermit protocol was implemented in a number of third-party communications software packages, among others [[ProComm]] and [[ProComm Plus]].<ref name="Woggon1995">{{cite book|author=Michele Woggon|title=Telecommunications Using ProComm & ProComm Plus Made Easy|date=1 January 1995|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=978-0-13-148412-2|pages=30–31}}</ref><ref name="BruceElliott1991">{{cite book|author1=Walter R. Bruce|author2=Alan C. Elliott|title=Using Procomm Plus|date=1 April 1991|publisher=Que Corp.|isbn=978-0-88022-704-9|pages=139–143}}</ref><ref name="Krause1991">{{cite book|author=Joanne Krause|title=ProComm Plus 2.0 at Work|year=1991|publisher=Addison-Wesley Longman, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-201-57789-1|pages=109, 205}}</ref><ref name="Wang1994">{{cite book|author=Wally Wang|title=ProComm plus 2 for Windows for dummies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdLmJONA9goC|year=1994|publisher=IDG Books|page=127|isbn=9781568842196}}</ref><ref name="CallahanAnis1990">{{cite book|author1=Mike Callahan|author2=Nick Anis|title=Dr. File Finder's Guide to Shareware|year=1990|publisher=Osborne McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-881646-8|page=386}}</ref> The term "SuperKermit" was coined by third-party vendors to refer to higher speed Kermit implementations offering features such as full duplex operation,<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Computer and Internet Words: An A to Z Guide to Hardware, Software, and Cyberspace|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp00bost|url-access=registration|year=2001|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=0-618-10137-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcomp00bost/page/150 150]}}</ref> sliding windows,<ref name="Johnston1986">{{cite journal|last=Johnston|first=Christopher|date=28 October 1986|title=Kermit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MK_-L8Mr1u4C&pg=PA132|journal=PC Magazine|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|volume=5|issue=18|page=132|issn=0888-8507}}</ref><ref name="CallahanAnis1990b">{{citation|author1=Mike Callahan|author2=Nick Anis|title=Dr. File Finder's Guide to Shareware|year=1990|publisher=Osborne McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-881646-8|page=235}}</ref><ref name="Fist2012">{{citation|author=S.A. Fist|title=The Informatics Handbook: A guide to multimedia communications and broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0_xBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA372|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4615-2093-1|page=372}}</ref><ref name="BlankenhornMaxwell1992">{{citation|author1=Dana Blankenhorn|author2=Kimberly Maxwell|title=Technology edge: a guide to field computing|year=1992|publisher=New Riders Publishing|isbn=978-1-56205-091-7|page=286}}</ref><ref name="Becker1991">{{cite book|author=Philip L. Becker|title=Introduction to PC communications|date=September 1991|publisher=Que|isbn=978-0-88022-747-6|page=69}}</ref><ref name="Glossbrenner1993">{{cite book|author=Alfred Glossbrenner|title=Power DOS!: learn to run your PC like a master|date=31 March 1993|publisher=Random House Information Group|isbn=978-0-679-73924-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/powerdoslearntor0000glos/page/368 368]|url=https://archive.org/details/powerdoslearntor0000glos/page/368}}</ref> and long packets; however, that term was deprecated by the original Kermit team at Columbia University, who saw these as simply features of the core Kermit protocol.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/faq-c-sup.html|title=Kermit FAQ - What Is SuperKermit?|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=2019-08-16}}</ref>