[Xastir] ax.25

[Jason KG4WSV]

On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 3:10 PM, Jim <jim at k4gvo.com> wrote:
> I often see instructions that mention two different options to perform
> various tasks.  One involves ax.25.

If it's in a linux/xastir context, this frequently refers to the ax.25
kernel support available in linux.  Since the ax.25 protocol _is_
networking, some linux hams hacked out a network interface driver and
added it to the kernel, where all network interfaces belong.  The
result is that you can hit the network stack on a single interface
(i.e. radio/TNC) from multiple applications and the kernel will handle
things so that the applications don't step on each other.

The other way to interface is the same way windows and macs do - the
kernel provides a serial interface (RS232) to the TNC, and the
application implements the entire ax.25 stack.  This makes it
difficult to impossible to share a TNC among multiple applications.

-Jason
kg4wsv