Title: faxpax Version: 1 Submitted: Mar 13 1991 Author: klaus u schallhorn Submittor: klaus u schallhorn Description: Email fax-sending package This is faxpak [Copyright (C) 1991 klaus schallhorn, klaus@cnix.uucp] faxpak currently runs on Suns only - not because it uses any spe- cial SunOs features, but because I don't have access to anything else. I developed faxpak mainly on a 4/60, then moved it to a 3/60 that does all our spooling. Apart from [temporary] hardware and typeface restrictions [see below] faxpak is quite flexible. It allows faxes to be sent from any networked machine. It allows aliases and distribution lists. Entries in such lists needing a special "for the attention of" string are forked out as separate jobs. If you have more than 1 fax modem, faxpak automatically shares the load between these modems. This includes splitting of batches to distribution lists into several queues. faxpak enforces permissions. You can set faxpak up to send local faxes any time, long distance ones and international ones to be sent at cheap rates only. You can enforce the sending of faxes to any given phone number at fixed times. And you can permit some users to override these time restrictions. faxpak was created when the post office increased our contract postage rates to an almost insane level. We therefore decided [as a small publishing house] to deliver our newsletter by other means. We now deliver by mail(1) to subscribers' mailboxes at various online and video text systems, we allow direct modem con- nection to mbox [our 3/60] and we fax our newsletter. faxpak is used for oneoff faxes [and only if I can't email], and has been used three times [we publish every other week] for batches of ~150 faxes @ five pages each to our subscriber list. Batches of this size take a good two nights to send out, although the pure transmission time is just under 12 hours [the rest is engaged phone lines, repeats because transmission errors, logins sneaking in on the faxmodems, etc]. faxpak currently supports touchbase's 2496 fax modem and others that use or emulate the sierra type fax chipset, such as zoom's mx 2400s. Early december I found someone willing and supposedly able to ship a beta class2 modem. Unfortunately it seems to have been sent by bicycle. It's supposed to be here "real soon now". For this reason faxpak does [not yet] support other modems, nor does it allow incoming faxes.