[comp.sys.ibm.pc] ZOO vs ARC for comp.binaries.ibm.pc

fulton@navion.dec.com (03/26/88)

Tim Iverson writes:

>In article <23699@clyde.ATT.COM> feg@clyde.ATT.COM (Forrest Gehrke) writes:
>>
>>I vote for Rahul for moderator of BINARIES.
>>
>>I vote against his ZOO as the archiving program for two reasons,however.  
>>
>>1) The SEA and PK versions of ARC are used by nearly every{BBS and 
>>most other nets in the country. 2) I, as many others, have dozens of 
>>floppies devoted to archives using SEA and PK ARC.
> 
>Frankly, I don't see how this bears on the issue at hand: the choosing of an
>archiver to be used as a standard in comp.binaries.ibm.pc.  The fact is that
>the great majority of people read news on machines for which zoo would be
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     
        What statistics  do  you  have to back this up?  Remember, we're
        talking about comp.binaries.ibm.pc, not all newsgroups.

>vastly superior to any form of arc.  We are not talking about forming a
>standard for BBS's (whom we don't care about anyway), we are talking about
                          ^^

        You must be  using  the  royal  "we,"  because  I  subscribe  to
        comp.binaries.ibm.pc AND I care a LOT about BBS's!  Exactly what
        is it about BBS's that disgusts you????

>forming a standard for *this* newsgroup.
> 
>>ZOO is a fine idea, but unfortunately it is not a widespread standard.
> 
>Again, so what?  Were not talking about everywhere, just here.  I see no
>reason to allow people to whom this means nothing influence my decision on
>this issue.
> 
>>I understand that SEA's ARC has been ported to Unix and PK's ARC can
>>turn off "squashing", so why not use ARC?
> 
>You say it all in the next line:
> 
>>Futhermore, there are probably many people on this net who don't 
>>even operate under Unix.
> 
>Yes.  Zoo is much, much more portable than arc.  This is the reason
>it should be the standard we choose.
> 
>>Besides, the moderator should include in the posting a description 
>>of the program, what it is used for, and any special requirements 
>>(EGA, VGA, MS windows, utility to 123, etc.)  With this information we 
>>can decide whether to download.
> 
>Really?  I almost invariably read the man page and readme files of
>a posting to comp.sources.unix before grabbing the goods.  Rich Salz
>does a good job, but no moderator has the time to describe a package
>in as great a detail as the author.  The same would be the case here.
> 
>>Forrest Gehrke
> 
> 
>- Tim Iverson
>  iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU
>  ucbvax!cory!iverson

        I work in an environment with the following OS's:   MS-DOS, VMS,
        BSD Unix, and sys5 Unix.  I know of nobody who  uses  ZOO on any
        of these systems.  On MS-DOS, ARC (several different flavors) is
        used.  On  Unix  and VMS (for compressed files that are targeted
        for MS-DOS machines) a utility is used that deARCs ARC files.  I
        would think that MS-DOS, VMS,  and  Unix cover the vast majority
        of OS's that receive comp.binaries.ibm.pc (no,  I don't have any
        stats, but I am hard pressed to  imagine  what  other OS's would
        receive a significant portion of the usenet).
        
        I also happen to know that ARC runs  on  other machines as well:
        Amiga and Atari ST for two.
        
        So what's the reason behind the big push for ZOO?

	uucp: ...decwrl!comet.dec.com!fulton
	ARPA: fulton@comet.dec.com

mgardi@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (M.Gardi - ICR) (03/30/88)

I think one of the best things about Zoo is that it can be used
by anyone (no charge).

PKArc and Arc both involve a registration fee or is everyone ignoring
it?  

Bruce Wilson
....watmath!watdcsu!mgardi 

adonis@tahoe.unr.edu (Derrick Hamner) (04/05/88)

In article <4585@watdcsu.waterloo.edu> mgardi@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (M.Gardi - ICR) writes:
>I think one of the best things about Zoo is that it can be used
>by anyone (no charge).
>
>PKArc and Arc both involve a registration fee or is everyone ignoring
>it?  
>
>Bruce Wilson
>....watmath!watdcsu!mgardi 

	This isn't quite true.  I have directly copied part of a page from
the PKarc documentation.

---START QUOTE--- 
PKARC  FAST!  Archive Create/Update Utility  Version 3.5  04-27-87   Page 19



License
-------

Copyright (c) 1986,1987 PKWARE, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

You are free to use, copy and distribute PKARC for noncommercial use IF:

	NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR USE, COPYING OR DISTRIBUTION.

		IT IS NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY.
---END QUOTE---

	Therefore, no fee is required to use this package.  However, the
author does _request_ a contribution.

---START QUOTE---
If you find PKARC fast, easy, and convenient to use, a contribution
of $20 would be appreciated.  With each contribution of $45 or more
you will be registered to receive a diskette with the next  version
of  PKARC  and  PKXARC  when  available.   Please state the current
versions of PKARC and PKXARC that you have.  Send contributions to:

PKWARE, Inc.
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Glendale, WI 53209
---END QUOTE---
-- 

   A computer program does what you tell it to do,  |   Derrick Hamner      
   not what you want it to do.                      |   adonis@tahoe.unr.edu