geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) (01/04/90)
Ages ago, I posted a request about alternatives to FTP, for those of us
still living in the dark ages without direct access to the Internet. I
promised a summary of what I found, and, finally, here it is.
The reason that my summary has been so long in coming is that I wanted
to try out the suggestions. However, our mailer was broken for a while,
giving bogus return addresses. This made using the listserver at Rice
(which was the main recommendation, see below) unusable, since the
listserver couldn't mail back to me. However, that problem is now
fixed, and I've tried it out.
Summary
-------
Use the listserver at Rice. It mirrors the archive at Sumex, but is
about a week behind. You can reach it at
LISTSERV@ricevml.rice.edu (or uunet!ricevml.rice.edu!LISTSERV)
(Actually, the address I was given in the e-mailed advice was
uunet!isca.rice.edu!LISTSERV, and that's what I used, but the return
address on the messages from the listserver was
ricevml.rice.edu!LISTSERV)
The message you send should be of the form:
$MACARCH GET {what-you-want-to-get} F=PUNCH
[Note: your message needs to start in column 1. The F= is optional and
describes the format the file should be sent to you in. The options
are:
File formats supported by F=ffmt operand of GET:
F=Netdata IBM NETDATA format (like SENDFILE command)
F=Disk IBM DISK DUMP format
F=Punch 80-byte card images (LSERV-PUNCH if >80 bytes)
F=LPunch 80-byte card image, folded if >80 bytes
F=Card "CARD DUMP" format (widespread user program)
F=UUencode Unix encoding (buggy, not recommended) ]
For example:
$MACARCH GET MACARCH.CONTENTS
will give you a listing of the contents of the Mac archive.
$MACARCH GET VIRUS/DISINFECTANT-15.HQX
will give you a binhex'ed copy of Disinfectant 1.5
$MACARCH HELP
Will give you a help message that may be more confusing than helpful (at
least *I* found it confusing).
There is a limit of 256 Kb/person/day.
The listserver appears to be case insensitive, but the help info and the
listings in MACARCH.CONTENTS give the commands as all uppercase, so I
just use uppercase.
Other suggestions I received:
----------
I realize it isn't telecommunications, but you can always use the BMUG
disk library: $4.00 per disk, $8.00 for the catalog with everything
explained in excruciating detail. Call 415-549-BMUG to order
----------
I don't have the details, but I imagine that 'uunet' is the answer for
you. I think they have Mac stuff. I also think that you have to pay them
to be your friend, so if your site does not already talk to them...
[Our site is a uunet customer, and I checked their index of uucp-able
files. They had essentially no mac files, as far as I could tell.
There were some for Mac-TCP and that was about it. --Geoff]
----------
One last recommendation which I haven't tried is to uucp files from
attctc. Here's the info on this option. [Note: since I haven't tried it
yet, I'm just passing it along with no implied warranty. Include any
necessary disclaimers and all that wonderful stuff laywers have added to
our quality of life :-) ]
[ attctc!/bbsys4/README ] [ 04 Sep 1989, sp ]
NOTE: On July 3, 1989 node "killer" changed to "attctc".
This change is reflected in the following information.
This file describes how to get a veritable plethora of software from
attctc via (more or less) anonymous UUCP. For a list of just what's
available, see the end of this file.
These archives are made available only as a redistribution service to
the UUCP community. Anything found here is only and exactly as it
would be found if obtained from its original source, whether that
source is anonymous Internet FTP or a USENET newsgroup. The management
of attctc takes no responsibility for the contents of any software
obtained from these archives. For further information on the
distribution terms of Free Software Foundation GNU software, see the
file /bbsys4/COPYING.
How to Reach attctc Via UUCP
First, you must modify your system's L.sys or Systems file to tell your
system about attctc. A sample L.sys line follows:
attctc Any ACU 2400 1-214-741-2130 in:--in: uupdsrc word: Public
Modify as necessary to fit local circumstances, of course.
Who to Complain To
If you have any requests, problems, suggestions, or whatever, mail them
one of these addresses:
archive-request@attctc.Dallas.TX.US
or {ames,decwrl,mit-eddie,osu-cis}!attctc!archive-request
or attctc!archive-request@ames.arc.nasa.gov
"archive-request" currently means Steven Parker <sp@attctc>, and
sometimes Bill Wisner <wisner@attctc>. If your mail concerns MacIntosh
software or mailserver operation, please send it directly to sp.
Miscellany
You should retrieve the latest copy of this file before starting any
transfers. It is liable to change without notice. (Historically this
hasn't happened very often, but hey...)
Almost all files are compressed using 16-bit compression. If you are on
a system where compress can only handle 12 bits, send me mail and special
arrangements can be made. Be warned that said arrangements may take a
while; I have been known to take up to two weeks to find the time to do
them. If you are on a PC clone running a version of UNIX such as Microport,
there IS an implementation of 16-bit compress available. Try posting an
article to comp.sources.wanted to find a copy.
Don't use wildcards in requests. For example:
$ uucp attctc!/bbsys4/sources/unix/v11/mush5.7/* ~nuucp
This will cause attctc to attempt to queue a file named "*" which
will always fail. You must request each file separately by exact
file name. In short, wildcards WILL NOT WORK and if you use them
your request will surely fail.
Much software has been posted to one of the USENET source newsgroups
and so is not listed seperately here. It's probably a good idea to
grab the indices for these newsgroups.
What's Available, and Where to Find It
USENET newsgroups:
------------------
[ Info about archives of comp.sources.unix (and mod.sources),
comp.sources.x, comp.sources.misc, comp.sources.games,
comp.binaries.ibm.pc, pubnet.sources, unix-pc.sources, alt.gourmand and
Free Software Foundation products deleted. ]
comp.binaries.mac
Index is /netsrc/archive/macdnld/README
[Then followed the text of /netsrc/archive/macdnld/README, which gave a
list of available files, most of which are in MacBinary format. Can
these be uucp'd to a UNIX machine?]
----------
Thanks to these people for their advice:
uunet!smsdpg!rht (Randy Thompson)
uunet!apple.com!portal!cup.portal.com!drew
uunet!apple.com!well!nilesinc (Avi Rappoport)
uunet!cs.UMD.EDU!mimsy!folta (Wayne Folta)
{uunet|attctc}!digi!jradford (John Radford)
--
Geoff Allen \ WINCO doesn't believe in Macs,
{uunet|bigtex}!pmafire!geoff \ so of course these are my views.
ucdavis!egg-id!pmafire!geoff \