Sad to say, the success of TFUSR in windows may be the kiss of death for telefinder at my school.
TFWIN and most all other WIN95 network apps work just fine with MS Proxy Server. In additioon, there are several Mac aps wich support SOCKS--Fetch 3.03 is one of them--and so we can FTP thru the server. Though it is unclear if there is a telnet app hich supports Proxies, my guess is thgat there is. And of course Browsers are all comatible with Microsoft Proxy Server.
So what this means is that I am isolated with what is increasingly perceived as a "Mac Problem" and a problem with an idiosyncratic piece of software (telefinder). ANd I must say, looking at the evidence objectively, there is an element of truth to this. SOCKS is not some proprietary standard, is it? And it appears that shareware products for the mac support it. But not my 750 buck copy of telefinder.
Having recently purchased my third copy of tfserver, it is very difficult to justify the lack of support for network proxy servers when shareware titles in fact support SOCKS. Having successfully defended TF against other candidates (inclusing NT boxes, W*, and specialized teaching programs, on the basis, among other things, of its flexibilitu and adherence to open standards, it is a difficult position to be in to defend it now because it does not adhere to a common standard (SOCKS), and because it as a result not flexible enough to operate behind a proxy server.
So where this leaves me is in a position defending an unpopular platform (NAC) and a program which appears to some to be less effective and versatile in its ability to operate in a corporate environment that shareware programs. This is not a place I like to be, and, while I am happy to rail against our admins for putting this proxy nonesense in place to begin with without finding out what would happen first, I still dont see why this program that I have now spent probably in excess of $2500 to utilize, cannot fo this thing which is by all acounts that I read an increasingly common requirement in companies where they actually do real work.
Right now people with PCs can chat, start conferences, and upload papers to their teachers' drop boxes. People with macs can browse the web but cannot utilize the BBS from within our network. Telefinder should allow its users to connect to proxy servers. This appears to be a feature implemented in commonly available internet programs like anarchie and fetch.
I am of course willing to hear arguments to the contrrary, but I would be particularly receptive to arguments which actually showed me what I need to solve my problem. Because my probblem is there--and it is enormous--it is an objective fact which no amount of talking can get around. As far as this distance learning site which I have taken two years + to build up is concerned, macs are second-class citizens and the inadequacies of the telefinder user client seem to be responsible for it.
