On 31 December 1996 (Tuesday), BITNET will pass into history after 15 years of service. For most Miami computing clients, this passage will occur unnoticed, as dependence for network connectivity and communication (specifically, electronic mail and file transfer capability) has gradually shifted from BITNET to the Internet. There are, however, some changes that may affect users of the centrally managed, multi-user systems, MiamiU (IBM VM/CMS) and MiaVX1 (Digital OpenVMS) and other BITNET-connected systems (including MiaVX3 on the Middletown campus): * electronic mail All e-mail will need to be addressed to Internet host.domain names (i.e., MiamiU.MUOhio.Edu) rather than BITNET node names (i.e., MiamiU). MCIS Technical Support has developed two local tools to help: (1) the command BITLOOK (on both MiamiU and MiaVX1) allows users to look up the Internet host.domain equivalent of a BITNET node. (2) the command BITCNVRT (on both MiamiU and MiaVX1) allows users to automatically convert entries in their e-mail addressbooks on either system from BITNET nodes to Internet host.domains. The mail systems on both MiamiU and MiaVX1 can perform on-the- fly BITNET-to-Internet address conversions for most outbound BITNET-addressed e-mail, *or* those systems can automatocally route BITNET-addressed e-mail to an Internet-BITNET gateway for as long as other institutions maintain such gateways. * interactive communication Interactive communication between users of MiamiU or MiaVX1 and other BITNET-connected systems using the TELL and SEND commands, respectively, will no longer be available, and will be replaced by use of e-mail messages. * file transfers File transfers using the SENDFILE on MiamiU or SEND/FILE on MiaVX1 to send to other BITNET-connected systems will no longer be available, and will be replaced by use of e-mail messages and/or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) services. For more information, please visit the BITNET Demise website at URL: http://www.muohio.edu/bitnetdemise/ or send questions or comments to [log in to unmask] John -- Miami University John B Harlan Campus Wide Information Systems (CWIS) Coordinator Miami Computing & Information Services (MCIS) Client Services 137 Hoyt Hall Oxford, Ohio 45056-1618 (513) 529-5330 voice (513) 529-5058 fax [log in to unmask] http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~harlanjb/