In 1997 I wrote UcsLink.Fusion for the College of Geneva. We had a whole lot of PCs throughout town, Solar and Home windows NT servers, and Home windows 95 and Linux workstations. Getting a consumer’s software program and settings onto whichever PC they sat down at was a job for login scripts. I wrote a Delphi 2.0 software to do it as an alternative.
UCS stood for Common Copy System. Fusion learn a script that mapped community drives, copied shared software program, created shortcuts, related printers, set setting variables and synchronized the clock. It might embody different scripts, take a look at situations and clear up recordsdata left by a earlier run. The surviving configuration maps a private drive, a software program drive and a bunch drive, then chooses printers primarily based on the workstation’s location.
A consumer might disable optionally available software program fairly than look ahead to it to repeat at each login, or set up it later by double-clicking its icon. Directors might make duties necessary and defend particular person choices. A tree confirmed the duties and their settings; a second listing confirmed what would run. Person selections went into a private profile, separate from the shared script.
When Fusion began at login, it displayed the little progress window under, exhibiting the duties because it configured the workstation.
Fusion might scan a shared software program listing and robotically add every software it discovered to the listing of accessible software program. Every software might include its personal script describing learn how to set up and configure it. Duties usually ran one after one other, however a indifferent choice let copies or banners run concurrently. Later, server-generated “digital” scripts grouped purposes into one file to keep away from dozens of sluggish community accesses.
Fusion was launched as public-domain software program. It was additionally used at ITIC, the Instituto de Tecnologia da Informação e da Comunicação (Institute of Info and Communication Expertise) at Universidade Santa Úrsula in Rio de Janeiro. Its archived historical past web page says the institute was established on March 30, 1995, initially providing Pc Engineering. It later added an info know-how diploma and Library Science, with an emphasis on info administration. Its mission included supporting the college’s personal info and communication know-how wants. The illustration under says Fusion would configure the Home windows 95 packages obtainable to ITIC college students.
Geneva was additionally serving to Santa Úrsula with its campus community. An archived College of Geneva web page says that in April 1997, Chancellor Madre Maria de Fâtima Maron Ramos requested an impartial evaluation of the community set up. A primary go to passed off April 18–27, 1997, with Ethernet and Quick Ethernet deliberate for the campus and a fiber-optic spine connecting buildings on reverse sides of a road. The web page doesn’t point out ITIC or clarify how Fusion reached it.
The final supply code backup is from September 29, 1997. There’s a entire administrator reference, a scholar information and a C++Builder Home windows Management Panel extension that launched the configuration browser. An software’s script might outline the title, icon and choices proven to customers within the configuration browser.
I haven’t reconnected it to the college’s previous servers. A neighborhood demonstration creates a workspace, copies a welcome doc and makes a Notepad shortcut, all in its personal Wine prefix. The configuration browser works once more; the community operations and separate Management Panel extension stay unverified.
The unique supply and documentation, the port, and the construct scripts are on GitHub.
