Context at the time
Handheld graphing calculator HP 48 series - Wikipedia, produced between 1990 and 2003, include infrared and serial communication ports to send and receive data and programs between each other and computers using the Kermit protocol (first S/SX model), and also Xmodem (later G/GX model).
At the time :
- common computers were PCs
- virtually all had a serial port (DB9 or DB25 connector)
- HP transfer cable were easy to buy, or make from any cable that has a DB-9 end (e.g. salvaged from a broken serial mouse)
- they were overwhelmingly running DOS or Windows
- Kermit-capable programs were available (some free-as-in-beer).
Kermit is a "implemented on hundreds of different computer and operating system platforms", I remember transferring files between my HP48 and an Amiga computer around 2000.
The original Kermit file transfer protocol implementation "C-Kermit" has existed on Linux for ages, yet not open-source.
Current context
Now it is 2020:
- PCs are still common
- most (especially laptops) don't have DB9/DB25 serial ports.
- HP48 cable are available on e.g. ebay (wow, $25-$100 I consider that very expensive)
- alternatives to Windows are available (may I even say "common"?)
- it is somewhat accepted that open-source software tend to rot not as fast as closed-source software distributed as binary only.
Question: how to transfer files in practice?
Is there an easy solution to transfer files with currently common hardware and open-source software? Assuming a modern Linux and open-source software may have the benefit of not restricting the solution to x86/AMD64 (a.k.a. Intel architecture) machines.