Single Talk 1.1

File	single-talk-11.hqx
Size	11.0 KB
Version	1.1
Category	Communication
Mac OS	System 7

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About

SingleTalk is an AppleTalk device driver ('adev') that allows you to keep AppleTalk turned on without actually needing any real physical network interface. There are a number of reasons that you might want to do this. Peter Lewis's FTPd communicates with the file system by using the Apple Filing Protocol, as provided by AppleShare and by System 7's Personal File Sharing. The file server that FTPd communicates with can be anywhere on the AppleTalk network, but most people run FTPd and Personal File Sharing on the same Mac. If you turn the AppleTalk software off in the Chooser just because your (Internet-connected) Mac is not connected to any AppleTalk network, then Personal File Sharing and FTPd won't be able to work -- they won't be able to communicate with each other. If you turn AppleTalk on in the Chooser, then the Mac requires you to have LocalTalk (or some other physical interface) active. There are a number of reasons that requiring LocalTalk is a bad idea. For a start, it ties up the Printer port on your Mac. A lot of new Macs (like Duos and the 500 series PowerBooks) only have one serial port, making this especially undesirable. If your Internet connection is through a modem (using SLIP or PPP), then turning on LocalTalk on the Printer port leaves you nowhere to plug in your modem. Also, on PowerBooks, powering the LocalTalk hardware consumes battery power, which is pointless if you not actually connected to anyone else. Another program that uses AppleTalk for communication is Bolo. You can run two copies of Bolo on the same Mac to play against a "Brain", but you need AppleTalk on. Instead of a switch in the Chooser to turn the network software on and off, Apple should have made the AppleTalk software always on, and provided controls to turn each network interface on and off. That's the idea behind SingleTalk. It allows you to keep AppleTalk turned on without needing to have your LocalTalk interface (or any other physical interface) active.