rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (04/15/87)
Hey public domain software disk distribution folks! Are there any disks past #3 yet? Just a question, thanks. +--------------------------------------------------------------------^-------+ | Rich Kolker The work goes on... A|W|A | | 8519 White Pine Drive The cause endures... H|T|H | | Manassas Park, VA 22111 The hope still lives... /|||\ | | (703)361-1290 (h) And the dream shall never die. /_|T|_\ | | (703)749-2315 (w) (..seismo!sundc!netxcom!rkolker) " W " | +------------------------------------------------------------------V---V-----+
fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (04/17/87)
In article <432@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes: >Hey public domain software disk distribution folks! > >Are there any disks past #3 yet? Yes, I'm up to disk number 68 now and ... Ooops, you mean this isn't the Amiga newgroup, nevermind... :-) :-) :-) :-) -- = Drug tests; just say *NO*! (Moto just announced new drug testing program) = = Fred Fish Motorola Computer Division, 3013 S 52nd St, Tempe, Az 85282 USA = = seismo!noao!mcdsun!fnf (602) 438-5976 =
store2@ihuxi.ATT.COM (Kit Kimes) (04/20/87)
In article <301@mcdsun.UUCP>, fnf@mcdsun.UUCP writes: > In article <432@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes: > >Hey public domain software disk distribution folks! > > > >Are there any disks past #3 yet? > > Yes, I'm up to disk number 68 now and ... Ooops, you mean this isn't > the Amiga newgroup, nevermind... :-) :-) :-) :-) I'm not sure what disks Rich Kolker is refering to (or why 68 seems like a lot of disks for the Amiga), but Current Notes (the news magazine from WAACE) lists 116 PD disks available in the March issue and have added a few more this month but I don't have it with me, so I don't know who many exactly. The nice thing about their disks is they are only $4 plus a $1 shipping charge for every 6 disks. They also carry ST-Magic disks for use with the Mac Sack (11 so far) and a few CPM disks. Kit Kimes AT&T--Information Systems Labs ...ihnp4!iwvae!kimes "I'm carrying the weight of all the useless junk a modern man accumulates. I'm a statistic in a system that a civil servant dominates." _Running On Ice_ -Billy Joel
gordan@maccs.UUCP (Gordan Palameta) (04/25/87)
In article <1584@ihuxi.ATT.COM> store2@ihuxi.ATT.COM (Kit Kimes) writes: >In article <301@mcdsun.UUCP>, fnf@mcdsun.UUCP writes: >> In article <432@netxcom.UUCP> rkolker@netxcom.UUCP (rich kolker) writes: >> >Hey public domain software disk distribution folks! >> > >> >Are there any disks past #3 yet? >> >> Yes, I'm up to disk number 68 now and ... Ooops, you mean this isn't >> the Amiga newgroup, nevermind... :-) :-) :-) :-) > >I'm not sure what disks Rich Kolker is refering to (or why 68 seems like >a lot of disks for the Amiga), but Current Notes (the news magazine from >WAACE) lists 116 PD disks available in the March issue and have added a >few more this month but I don't have it with me, so I don't know who >many exactly. The nice thing about their disks is they are only $4 plus >a $1 shipping charge for every 6 disks. They also carry ST-Magic disks >for use with the Mac Sack (11 so far) and a few CPM disks. I believe the slackers Rich Kolker is taking to task include yours truly and a couple of other folks. Sorry about the long delay... << insert mumbled excuses about hectic end-of-term at universities >> For those who joined the game in progress, I and a couple of other folks on Usenet got the bright idea of putting together some of the PD software available for the ST onto floppy disks and making same available through the postal system. Reasons for this included difficulties that had been encounted by many in trying to uudecode and unARC files posted to the net, and the possibility that the net.powers.that.be might one day cut off posting of binaries because of the large cost in long distance charges that these incur. The disks announced so far include: 1.1 -- Uniterm 1.7a, ARC, UUDECODE, ETERNAL2 RAM disk, etc. 2.0 -- Moshe Braner's utilities + his MicroEmacs + PROFF + all sources 3.0 -- Bruce Wampler's VIX/TVX (Unix "vi" compatible editor + sources) As of now, there are four more: 4.0 -- AIM image processing system from the University of Delft 5.0 -- Miscellaneous utilities 6.0 -- MicroGnuEmacs 1b, STEDT (EDT-like editor), STWRITER 1.70 word processor 7.0 -- LARN (rogue-like game), ADVENTURE, STARTREK, BATLSHIP, etc. plus disk 1 will have the latest version of Uniterm (1.7b 016). Obviously we're not as industrious as Fred Fish with his Amiga disks (it's certainly not for lack of PD software for the ST). On the other hand, there are obviously many clubs and user groups with far more resources that are doing a much better job than our poor efforts. If anyone has information on what's available through the postal system from various user groups, it should certainly be posted here. Don't forget that only a fraction of ST owners are active on BBSs or the commercial information services; some don't even have modems. Also while ARPANET and BITNET users are well served by fileservers like UHUPVM1 with archived ST software, there are far more people on Usenet without such access (and the nature of Usenet -- where sites have to pay real money for long distance charges -- tends to prohibit setting up such archives)... so postal distribution of PD software does fill a real need among Usenet users. On the other hand, many user groups and BBS users don't know about Usenet (I try to help this by posting digests of Usenet stuff to bulletin boards in Toronto and Hamilton). So perhaps it would help for some Usenet users who belong to major North American user groups that already make disks available by mail to whisper some words in the right ears and get them to publicize their wares on Usenet. Finally, now that uuslave is available for the ST, it's certainly conceivable that archives of ST software could be set up for Usenet access on STs themselves (sort of UUCP BBSs). Anything that might bridge the gap between Usenet and the larger world of BBSs and user groups would be beneficial. In the meantime, I guess we'll continue with the SnailMail disks. The next posting will contain more details about what's on the latest batch and how to get them... -- UUCP: ... !mnetor!lsuc!maccs!gordan BITNET: GP@TANDEM Gordan Palameta "Nevidimy, soshol s uma" -- alleged computer translation of ("invisible, insane") "out of sight, out of mind" into Russian
gordan@maccs.UUCP (Gordan Palameta) (04/25/87)
This is a followup to the previous message concerning availability of
new Snail Mail disks of public domain ST software.
Note:
All disks are single-sided. Disks are available for $3 (or $4 Canadian),
for requests within North America. This includes the cost of a single-sided
disk, postage, and handling.
To pack as much software on each disk as possible, all files are stored in
standard ARCed form, except for an archive extracter program.
You can get disks from the following people:
Jim Turner Rob DeMillo
c/o Imagen Corp. 120 S. Angell #4
2650 San Tomas Expressway Providence, RI
Santa Clara, CA 02906
95052-8101
Gordan Palameta Joel Plutchak
1001 Main St W #104 2929 Monroe St
Hamilton, ON Madison, WI
Canada L8S 1A9 53711
*****
Disk 4
*****
This disk contains the AIM image processing programs (from the University
of Delft (?) in the Netherlands)... works in low or high rez. Note the
ARC file is fairly large, so to unARC it, it's best to have a DS disk drive
(or 1M of memory, with a 512 k RAM disk). I believe help files are included,
and possibly some sample images.
Note this has just been posted to comp.binaries.atari.st (in several dozen
fragments) so you can get it from there as well if you don't mind
reassembling and uudecoding.
*****
Disk 5
*****
BICLOCK.ARC
Easy date and time setter, suitable for AUTO folder.
BINHEX.ARC (version of 860613)
Simple utilities for converting binary files to hex dump and vice
versa, with C source code.
DCOPY17.ARC
Multipurpose utility program (copy/erase/format/display/directory/
rename/diskcopy/ARC functions) all in a very small size.
DISASMBL.ARC
Disassembles executable files.
DISKLABL.ARC
Prints labels on standard (Epson-compatible) printers, which can
then be cut out and pasted on floppy disks.
FKEYLAB.ARC
Prints a strip of labels on standard (Epson-compatible) printers,
for placement above the ST function keys.
GEMSOFT.ARC
Includes AUTO folder program GEMBOOT, which appears to be a genuine
40-folder bug fix. Also includes some utility programs for peeking
at internal GEMDOS memory structures.
HDSCAN12.ARC (version 1.21)
Useful multi-purpose utility, especially for hard disks. User
interface is something of a cross between a shell and the desktop.
LESS.ARC
File displayer, like Unix "more" with added capabilities. Scrolls
forward or backward, search capability, built-in help.
MEMTEST.ARC
Memory tester diagnostic program, checks for bad RAM.
MISCUTIL.ARC
Miscellaneous small utilities (a few K each):
CLICKOFF - turns off keyboard click
COLDBOOT - does a cold boot (reboots and removes accessories)
DRFLOPPY - Dr Flop E. Disk sector editor
DVORAK - reconfigures keyboard to Dvorak layout
GCLOCK - displays time in upper right-hand corner of screen
HI25/HI50 - set screen lines to 25 or 50 (monochrome only)
KEYTEST - prints out ASCII code and scan code for any keyboard key
MUSHROOM - prints out marginally useful information after a crash
NOBLINK - turns off cursor blink in VT52 mode
QFORMAT - "fast" format utility (small size makes it convenient)
STARTGEM - enables GEM programs to be used in AUTO (not tested yet)
VEROFFON - turns floppy disk write verify on or off
VOLUME - lets you read or modify floppy disk volume label
SEEKTEST.ARC
Floppy disk diagnostic program, checks drive's seek capability.
SPEED.ARC
Floppy disk diagnostic program, measures drive's rotation speed.
TURTLE.ARC (version 2.8)
Hard disk backup utility, one of the most reliable and extremely
fast (uses a built-in RAM disk). Needs at least 1M of memory.
*****
Disk 6
*****
MG1BBIN.ARC
MG1BSRC.ARC
Micro Gnu Emacs version 1b. This version incorporates bug fixes,
and provides bindable function keys and numeric keypad keys.
Executable programs and source code included.
STEDT.ARC (version 4.2)
An editor which emulates EDT (the standard VAX/VMS editor). Also
includes some EMACS features like multiple buffers and windows.
STWRITER.ARC (version 1.70)
A public domain word processor program. Non-GEM, non-WYSIWYG
(what you see is what you get), but quite fast.
*****
Disk 7
*****
This disk consists mainly of game programs. However, they are not modern
games with sophisticated graphics and sound; rather almost all of them are
of the CRT-based ASCII graphics variety. A number of them are ports of
mainframe games (like Rogue, Startrek, Adventure) to the ST, and will appeal
mainly to those who misspent countless hours playing them on mainframes (and
maybe to a younger generation as well).
BATLSHIP.ARC
A version of the classic Battleship game.
ELIZA.ARC
This is a version of the classic Eliza computer psychiatrist
program originally written by Joseph Weizenbaum in the 1960s
(hailed at the time as an example of "artificial intelligence"!).
Unfortunately, this version is not very sophisticated, but...
LARN.ARC
A variation on the classic Unix "rogue" game.
OGRE.ARC
The game of OGRE. Defeat the ogre before it destroys your
command post.
ORGADV.ARC
The classic original Adventure game ("Colossal Cave"). Based on
the original Fortran source code (ported to C), this is an
exceptionally faithful port that plays just like the mainframe
version. From the Austin Atari Computer Enthusiasts (AACE).
SPACEW31.ARC
A version of the Spacewar game (two orbiting ships fight it out).
The original version of Spacewar ran on a PDP-1; this version is
not directly based on it.
STSPEECH.ARC
This program makes the Atari ST sound chip talk English sentences
(perfectly intelligible but weird). Includes a program that lets
it read a script from a file.
*****
*****
--
UUCP: ... !mnetor!lsuc!maccs!gordan BITNET: GP@TANDEM
Gordan Palameta
"Nevidimy, soshol s uma" -- alleged computer translation of
("invisible, insane") "out of sight, out of mind" into Russian