From: pfarrell@cs.gmu.edu (Pat Farrell)
With NUpop and Eudora, SLIP is optional. The NUpop docs say that SLIP slows down the transfer, and recommends simple ASCII async connection using a reliable modem (MNP or V42/V.42bis)
I don't understand how the authors of this document can do so. Modern compressed-header SLIP implementations will compress the TCP/IP/SLIP headers down to 5 or 6 'bytes' (octets), on the average. In theory, I suppose its true, but in practice, it makes little difference. Even without header compression, and assuming minimal-sized datagrams, you end up with an overhead of 41/576. 93% of your bandwidth is still yours. A simple ASCII async connection using MNP or V.42 still violates the end-to-end argument. Serial ports can, and do loose characters. Leaving your encrypted message, or even your key, to the whims of a cheap modem, (you'll never know what the other guy has), or back serial drivers seems a bad idea to me. Jim