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Concept
Kermit (protocol)
Summary
Kermit is a transfer and management protocol and a set of communications software tools primarily used in the early years of personal computing in the 1980s. It provides a consistent approach to file transfer, terminal emulation, script programming, and character set conversion across many different computer hardware and operating system platforms.
The Kermit protocol supports and transfers on both full-duplex and half-duplex 8-bit and 7-bit serial connections in a system- and medium-independent fashion, and is implemented on hundreds of different computer and operating system platforms. On full-duplex connections, a sliding window protocol is used with selective retransmission which provides excellent performance and error recovery characteristics. On 7-bit connections, locking shifts provide efficient transfer of 8-bit data. When properly implemented, as in the Columbia University Kermit Software collection, its authors claim performance is equal to or better than other protocols such as ZMODEM, YMODEM, and XMODEM, especially on poor connections. On connections over RS-232 Statistical Multiplexers where some control characters cannot be transmitted, Kermit can be configured to work, unlike protocols like XMODEM that require the connection to be transparent (i.e. all 256 possible values of a byte to be transferable).
Kermit can be used as a means to bootstrap other software, even itself. To distribute Kermit through non 8-bit clean networks Columbia developed .boo, a binary-to-text encoding system similar to BinHex. For instance, IBM PC compatibles and Apple computers with a Compatibility Card installed can connect to otherwise incompatible systems such as a mainframe computer to receive MS-DOS Kermit in .boo format. Users can then type in a "baby Kermit" in BASIC on their personal computers that downloads Kermit and converts it into binary.
Similarly, CP/M machines use many different floppy disk formats, which means that one machine often cannot read disks from another CP/M machine, and Kermit is used as part of a process to transfer applications and data between CP/M machines and other machines with different operating systems.
Official source
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