<s>
Kermit	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Operating_System
file	I-Operating_System
transfer/management	O
protocol	O
and	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
communications	O
software	O
tools	O
primarily	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
years	O
of	O
personal	O
computing	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
a	O
consistent	O
approach	O
to	O
file	B-Protocol
transfer	I-Protocol
,	O
terminal	B-Application
emulation	I-Application
,	O
script	B-Language
programming	O
,	O
and	O
character	B-General_Concept
set	I-General_Concept
conversion	O
across	O
many	O
different	O
computer	B-Architecture
hardware	I-Architecture
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
supports	O
text	B-General_Concept
and	O
binary	O
file	B-Protocol
transfers	I-Protocol
on	O
both	O
full-duplex	O
and	O
half-duplex	O
8-bit	O
and	O
7-bit	O
serial	B-Protocol
connections	O
in	O
a	O
system	O
-	O
and	O
medium-independent	O
fashion	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
implemented	O
on	O
hundreds	O
of	O
different	O
computer	O
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
properly	O
implemented	O
,	O
as	O
in	O
the	O
Columbia	O
University	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
Software	O
collection	O
,	O
its	O
authors	O
claim	O
performance	O
is	O
equal	O
to	O
or	O
better	O
than	O
other	O
protocols	O
such	O
as	O
ZMODEM	B-Device
,	O
YMODEM	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
XMODEM	B-Protocol
,	O
especially	O
on	O
poor	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
connections	O
over	O
RS-232	O
Statistical	B-Algorithm
Multiplexers	I-Algorithm
where	O
some	O
control	O
characters	O
cannot	O
be	O
transmitted	O
,	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
work	O
,	O
unlike	O
protocols	O
like	O
XMODEM	B-Protocol
that	O
require	O
the	O
connection	O
to	O
be	O
transparent	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
Kermit	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
to	O
bootstrap	B-Application
other	O
software	O
,	O
even	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
distribute	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
through	O
non	O
8-bit	O
clean	O
networks	O
Columbia	O
developed	O
.boo	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
binary-to-text	O
encoding	O
system	O
similar	O
to	O
BinHex	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
compatibles	O
and	O
Apple	O
computers	O
with	O
a	O
Compatibility	B-Device
Card	I-Device
installed	O
can	O
connect	O
to	O
otherwise	O
incompatible	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
a	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
to	O
receive	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
Kermit	B-Protocol
in	O
.boo	B-Protocol
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
then	O
type	O
in	O
a	O
"	O
baby	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
"	O
in	O
BASIC	O
on	O
their	O
personal	O
computers	O
that	O
downloads	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
and	O
converts	O
it	O
into	O
binary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
CP/M	B-Application
machines	O
use	O
many	O
different	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
formats	O
,	O
which	O
means	O
that	O
one	O
machine	O
often	O
cannot	O
read	O
disks	O
from	O
another	O
CP/M	B-Application
machine	O
,	O
and	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
is	O
used	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
process	O
to	O
transfer	O
applications	O
and	O
data	O
between	O
CP/M	B-Application
machines	O
and	O
other	O
machines	O
with	O
different	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CP/M	B-Application
file-copy	O
program	O
PIP	B-Application
can	O
usually	O
access	O
a	O
computer	O
's	O
serial	B-Protocol
(	O
RS-232	O
)	O
port	O
,	O
and	O
if	O
configured	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
very	O
low	O
baud	O
rate	O
(	O
because	O
it	O
has	O
no	O
built-in	O
error	O
correction	O
)	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
transfer	O
a	O
small	O
,	O
simple	O
version	O
of	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
from	O
one	O
machine	O
to	O
another	O
over	O
a	O
null	O
modem	O
cable	O
,	O
or	O
failing	O
that	O
,	O
a	O
very	O
simple	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
hand	O
coded	O
in	O
binary	O
in	O
less	O
than	O
2K	O
using	O
DDT	O
,	O
the	O
CP/M	B-Application
Dynamic	O
Debugging	O
Tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
done	O
,	O
the	O
simple	O
version	O
of	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
download	O
a	O
fully	O
functional	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
version	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
transfer	O
any	O
CP/M	B-Application
application	O
or	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Newer	O
versions	O
of	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
included	O
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
and	O
automation	O
of	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
scripting	B-Language
language	I-Language
evolved	O
from	O
its	O
TOPS-20	B-Operating_System
EXEC-inspired	O
command	O
language	O
and	O
was	O
influenced	O
syntactically	O
and	O
semantically	O
by	O
ALGOL	B-Language
60	I-Language
,	O
C	B-Language
,	O
BLISS-10	B-Language
,	O
PL/I	B-Language
,	O
SNOBOL	B-Application
,	O
and	O
LISP	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
correctness	O
of	O
the	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
has	O
been	O
verified	O
with	O
formal	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
,	O
users	O
of	O
Columbia	O
University	O
's	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
had	O
only	O
35	O
kilobytes	O
of	O
storage	O
per	O
person	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kermit	B-Protocol
was	O
developed	O
at	O
the	O
university	O
so	O
students	O
could	O
move	O
files	O
between	O
them	O
and	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
at	O
various	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
around	O
campus	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
IBM	O
or	O
DEC	O
DECSYSTEM-20	B-Device
mainframes	B-Architecture
and	O
Intertec	B-Operating_System
Superbrains	I-Operating_System
running	O
CP/M	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
used	O
an	O
EBCDIC	B-Language
character	B-General_Concept
set	I-General_Concept
and	O
CP/M	B-Application
and	O
DEC	O
machines	O
used	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
,	O
so	O
conversion	O
between	O
the	O
two	O
character	B-General_Concept
sets	I-General_Concept
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
early	O
functions	O
built	O
into	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
file	B-Protocol
transfer	I-Protocol
with	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
occurred	O
in	O
April	O
1981	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Columbia	O
University	O
coordinated	O
development	O
of	O
versions	O
of	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
for	O
many	O
different	O
computers	O
at	O
the	O
university	O
and	O
elsewhere	O
,	O
and	O
distributed	O
the	O
software	O
for	O
free	O
;	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
for	O
the	O
new	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
became	O
especially	O
popular	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1986	O
the	O
university	O
founded	O
the	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
Project	O
,	O
which	O
took	O
over	O
development	O
and	O
started	O
charging	O
fees	O
for	O
commercial	O
use	O
;	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
financially	O
self-sufficient	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1988	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
was	O
available	O
on	O
more	O
than	O
300	O
computers	O
and	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
protocol	O
became	O
a	O
de	O
facto	O
data	O
communications	O
standard	O
for	O
transferring	O
files	O
between	O
dissimilar	O
computer	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
it	O
could	O
convert	O
multilingual	O
character	B-General_Concept
encodings	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kermit	B-Protocol
software	O
has	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
many	O
countries	O
,	O
for	O
tasks	O
ranging	O
from	O
simple	O
student	O
assignments	O
to	O
solving	O
compatibility	B-Application
problems	O
aboard	O
the	O
International	O
Space	O
Station	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
,	O
minicomputer	B-Architecture
and	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
systems	O
down	O
to	O
handhelds	O
and	O
electronic	O
pocket	O
calculators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
versions	O
had	O
a	O
user	O
interface	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
TOPS-20	B-Operating_System
Kermit	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
versions	O
of	O
some	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
implementations	O
also	O
support	O
network	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
serial	B-Protocol
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Implementations	O
that	O
are	O
presently	O
supported	O
include	O
C-Kermit	B-Protocol
(	O
for	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
)	O
and	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
95	I-Protocol
(	O
for	O
versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
from	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
onwards	O
and	O
OS/2	B-Application
)	O
,	O
but	O
other	O
versions	O
remain	O
available	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
1	O
July	O
2011	O
,	O
Columbia	O
University	O
ceased	O
to	O
host	O
this	O
project	O
and	O
released	O
it	O
to	O
open	B-License
source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
Project	O
released	O
a	O
beta	O
version	O
of	O
C-Kermit	B-Protocol
v9.0	O
under	O
an	O
Open	B-License
Source	I-License
Revised	O
3-Clause	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
License	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
implementations	O
developed	O
and/or	O
distributed	O
by	O
Columbia	O
University	O
,	O
the	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
was	O
implemented	O
in	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
third-party	O
communications	O
software	O
packages	O
,	O
among	O
others	O
ProComm	B-Protocol
and	O
ProComm	B-Protocol
Plus	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
SuperKermit	O
"	O
was	O
coined	O
by	O
third-party	O
vendors	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
higher	O
speed	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
implementations	O
offering	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
full	O
duplex	O
operation	O
,	O
sliding	O
windows	O
,	O
and	O
long	O
packets	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
that	O
term	O
was	O
deprecated	O
by	O
the	O
original	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
team	O
at	O
Columbia	O
University	O
,	O
who	O
saw	O
these	O
as	O
simply	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
core	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kermit	B-Protocol
was	O
named	O
after	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
the	O
Frog	O
from	O
The	O
Muppets	O
,	O
with	O
permission	O
from	O
Henson	O
Associates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
's	O
icon	O
in	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
version	O
was	O
a	O
depiction	O
of	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
the	O
Frog	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kermit	B-Protocol
is	O
an	O
open	O
protocol	O
—	O
anybody	O
can	O
base	O
their	O
own	O
program	O
on	O
it	O
,	O
but	O
some	O
Kermit	B-Protocol
software	O
and	O
source	O
code	O
is	O
copyright	O
by	O
Columbia	O
University	O
.	O
</s>
