[comp.sys.ibm.pc] nearly-public-domain zoo

dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) (10/17/88)

(I'm breaking my own moratorium to make this announcement.  Please send
email if you have questions or comments, and I will summarize and
respond to all in a few weeks.)

Because of all the constant doubts expressed about not knowing which
versions of zoo are free/public domain/etc., I have decided to do the
following.

I will make a version of zoo available in almost-public-domain form,
complete with source code for UNIX, VAX/VMS, and MS-DOS.  This will be
called "FreeZoo", or "fz" for short.  There will be no restrictions on
what you may do with it with the following exceptions:

1.   My copyright notice must be preserved.  (You will, however, be
     welcome to add your own copyright notice to any derivative works
     that you may create.)

2.   No derivative work may be created, either deliberately or through
     negligence, that creates zoo archives that violate the
     compatibility goals described in the zoo reference manual.

I will incorporate any bug fixes into FreeZoo that may have been made
in versions of zoo currently in circulation, so you will have a
supported and reliable product.  With the exception of handling
multiple generations of files (a rather arcane feature suitable mostly
for technically-knowledgeable users) FreeZoo will do everything that
zoo 2.x does.

The above policy should adequately meet the needs of those looking for
a public domain archiving format and source code to implement it.  If
you find the requirements 1 and 2 listed above to be unreasonable,
please send email.  (Note that requirement 2 is for your protection,
and requirement 1 is necessary if I am to effectively ensure that
requirement 2 is followed.)

(Slinking back into moratorium.  To get answers to questions, send them
by email instead of posting.  I will post a question-answer summary in
a few weeks.)
-- 
Rahul Dhesi         UUCP:  <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi

pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) (10/18/88)

In article <4357@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
...I will make a version of zoo available in almost-public-domain form,
...complete with source code for UNIX, VAX/VMS, and MS-DOS.  This will be
...called "FreeZoo", or "fz" for short.  There will be no restrictions on
...what you may do with it with the following exceptions:
God Bless You!


-- 
Pete Holsberg                   UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
Mercer College			CompuServe: 70240,334
1200 Old Trenton Road           GEnie: PJHOLSBERG
Trenton, NJ 08690               Voice: 1-609-586-4800

mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman) (11/03/88)

In <4357@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
>Because of all the constant doubts expressed about not knowing which
>versions of zoo are free/public domain/etc., I have decided to do the
>following.
>
>I will make a version of zoo available in almost-public-domain form,
>complete with source code for UNIX, VAX/VMS, and MS-DOS.  This will be
>called "FreeZoo", or "fz" for short.
>
>I will incorporate any bug fixes into FreeZoo that may have been made
>in versions of zoo currently in circulation, so you will have a
>supported and reliable product.  With the exception of handling
>multiple generations of files (a rather arcane feature suitable mostly
>for technically-knowledgeable users) FreeZoo will do everything that
>zoo 2.x does.

I would like to take this opportunity to applaud Rahul for this
announcement.  I think this goes a long way toward removing the
confusion and ambiguity previously surrounding zoo and it's status with
regard to distribution, use, and modification.

Once I get my hands on it and see that it really is as advertised,
maybe I can lobby hard enough to get some of the CompuServe FORUMS to
use zoo format instead of ARC.  I'm pretty sure I can excise SEA ARC
from being used internally at least.

Disclaimer:  My opinions do not reflect CompuServe policy.  In fact,
they often don't even influence company policy.  But, there's always
hope.

-- 
Mark D. Freeman						  (614) 262-1418
Applications Programmer, CompuServe	      mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
[70003,4277]			      ...!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mdf
Columbus, OH		      Guest account at The Ohio State University