Red Ryder (software)

Last updated
Red Ryder
Original author(s) Wat Buchanon, Scott Watson
Developer(s) The FreeSoft Company
Initial release1984;39 years ago (1984)
Final release
10.3
Written inBASIC, C
Operating system Classic Mac OS
Type Terminal emulation, BBS
License Proprietary software; shareware distribution (up to 9.4), commercial distribution (since version 10.0)

Red Ryder is a communications and terminal emulation software program released for the Apple Macintosh in 1984. Initially distributed as a shareware, the application offered rich features and configuration settings. Red Ryder was discontinued in 1989 and replaced by White Knight.

Contents

History

First released in 1984 for Macintosh computers, [1] : 65  early versions of Red Ryder were written by Wat Buchanon as a Microsoft BASIC program with documentation included on the disk filled with humor aimed at Apple and programmers. [2] : 152  After Wat Buchanon died, his friend Scott Watson entirely rewrote Red Ryder keeping the manual in a similar humorous style. [3] : 71  Watson's releases were a standalone Macintosh applications [2] : 152  programmed in C and the new author expanded features taking into account requests from Red Ryder users. [4] The application was distributed as a shareware until version 9.4, starting with release 10.0 in 1987 Red Ryder became a commercial program. [2] : 154  Red Ryder was discontinued in 1989 (10.3 being the last release) and replaced by White Knight (starting in version 11). [5] : 106 

Features

Red Ryder was the first Mac telecommunication application to support big screens and choice of fonts. [4] The program emulates several terminals (ASCII TTY (teletype), VT52 and VT100) and supports many file transfer protocols (uploading/downloading using XMODEM, YMODEM or Kermit; downloading using the CompuServe B protocol) with MacBinary file format. The application includes a procedure language and can be controlled by user defined macros. [2] : 154  Registered users could set up their own Bulletin board system using Red Ryder Host. [3] : 71  Highly flexible settings allow to use nearly any modem and Red Ryder also offers phone books for often used phone numbers and services. [2] : 156 

Reception

Both Macintosh and general computing magazines rated Red Ryder highly. [2] [1] Commended were its inexpensive price, [6] : 92  rich settings and features and excellent support (answering user questions by phone). [2] : 156  However, documentation included only few examples and with so many configuration options Red Ryder was somewhat hard to learn. Commercial release 10 was also not compatible with version 9.x procedures. [2] : 158  Despite powerful features and popularity among home users, Red Ryder was never successful in the business market, which preferred MacTerminal by Apple or Smartcom II by Hayes. [2] : 154  By words of an InfoWorld review, Red Ryder "tries to be too many things at once" and "it's not practical for a typical business user". [7] : S11 

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References

  1. 1 2 Wortman, Leon A. (November 26, 1984). "Macack, Mactep, Red Ryder". InfoWorld. Vol. 6, no. 48. IDG. pp. 63–66. ISSN   0199-6649.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Wiggins, Robert R.; Bobker, Steven (December 1987). "A Perfect 10". MacUser. Vol. 3, no. 12. Ziff-Davis Publishing. pp. 152, 154, 156, 158. ISSN   0884-0997.
  3. 1 2 Wiggins, Robert R. (July 1986). "3-Ring Circuits". MacUser. Vol. 1, no. 10. MacUser Publications. pp. 68–72, 138. ISSN   0884-0997.
  4. 1 2 Bobker, Steven (January 1988). "Fixing What Ain't Broke". MacUser. Vol. 4, no. 1. Ziff-Davis Publishing. p. 15. ISSN   0884-0997.
  5. ↑ Wiggins, Robert R. (May 1990). "White Knight". MacUser. Vol. 6, no. 5. Ziff-Davis Publishing. pp. 106, 110. ISSN   0884-0997.
  6. ↑ Heid, Jim (December 1985). "No Static At All". Macworld. Vol. 2, no. 13. PC World Communications. pp. 86–94. ISSN   0741-8647.
  7. ↑ Arnett, Nick (March 20, 1989). "Open Lines of Communication". InfoWorld. Vol. 11, no. 12. IDG. pp. S1, S2, S4–S8, S10–S11. ISSN   0199-6649.
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