<s>
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
standard	O
protocol	O
for	O
allowing	O
serial	B-Protocol
communication	I-Protocol
for	O
telecommunications	O
programs	O
under	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
is	O
an	O
acronym	O
for	O
Fido	B-Protocol
Opus	I-Protocol
SEAdog	I-Protocol
Standard	I-Protocol
Interface	I-Protocol
Layer	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fido	O
refers	O
to	O
FidoBBS	O
,	O
Opus	O
refers	O
to	O
Opus-CBCS	B-Protocol
BBS	O
,	O
and	O
SEAdog	O
refers	O
to	O
a	O
Fidonet	O
compatible	O
mailer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standards	O
document	O
that	O
defines	O
the	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
protocol	O
is	O
maintained	O
by	O
the	O
Fidonet	O
Technical	O
Standards	O
Committee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
"	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
driver	O
"	O
is	O
simply	O
a	O
communications	O
device	B-Application
driver	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
specification	O
was	O
born	O
in	O
1986	O
so	O
as	O
to	O
provide	O
this	O
uniform	O
method	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
using	O
the	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
standard	O
could	O
communicate	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
interrupt	O
functions	O
no	O
matter	O
what	O
hardware	O
it	O
was	O
running	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
drivers	O
are	O
specific	O
to	O
the	O
hardware	O
they	O
operate	O
on	O
because	O
each	O
is	O
written	O
to	O
fit	O
specifically	O
to	O
the	O
serial	O
interface	O
hardware	O
of	O
that	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
drivers	O
became	O
more	O
well	O
known	O
with	O
the	O
spread	O
of	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatible	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
machines	O
ran	O
some	O
form	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
(	O
Disk	O
Operating	B-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
)	O
and	O
their	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
provided	O
very	O
poor	O
support	O
for	O
serial	B-Protocol
communications	I-Protocol
—	O
so	O
poor	O
that	O
it	O
fell	O
far	O
short	O
of	O
the	O
needs	O
of	O
any	O
non-trivial	O
communications	O
task	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
PC	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
became	O
the	O
prevalent	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
and	O
PC	O
compatible	O
hardware	O
became	O
predominant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
popular	O
DOS	B-Device
based	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
drivers	O
were	O
X00	B-Protocol
and	O
BNU	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
popular	O
Windows	B-Application
based	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
driver	O
is	O
NetFoss	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
is	O
freeware	B-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
SIO	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
popular	O
OS/2	B-Application
-based	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
driver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
drivers	O
have	O
also	O
been	O
implemented	O
to	O
support	O
other	O
communications	O
hardware	O
by	O
making	O
it	O
"	O
look	O
like	O
a	O
modem	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internal	O
ISDN	O
cards	O
(	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
use	O
serial	O
ports	O
at	O
all	O
)	O
often	O
came	O
with	O
FOSSIL	B-Protocol
drivers	O
to	O
make	O
them	O
work	O
with	O
software	O
that	O
was	O
originally	O
intended	O
for	O
modem	O
operation	O
only	O
.	O
</s>
