PJORGENS%COLGATEU.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu (06/15/89)
Greetings:
There are many, many fine XCMDs and XFCNs on various nets and developer stacks,
and I compliment all of the "hackers" who have spent hours putting them
together.
The problem is, there seems to be noone who is taking/accepting responsiblity
for the registration/assignment of names for these things. This results in two
problems:
1) Several similar Xcode resources have been "published" by different
authors who have choosen identical names for their work. I spent
much time trying recently to get COPYFILE to work, only to discover
that the syntax I was using, and being told to use, was for the
COPYFILE _XFCN_ and I was using the COPYFILE _XCMD_! I also have two
different DELETEFILE xcode resources, etc.
2) X-code authors are not receive their due credits because it is so easy
to lose track of where a particular x-code came from.
I propose, if it doesn't already exist, a central registry of x-code. I know
about various depositories (sumex@aim for example) and I am NOT proposing to
duplicate that function. Only the function of registering names, authors,
versions, and sources for these things.
I would be happy to serve as the moderator, although my BITNET only connection
might be limiting (?).
What I envision is a simple list of these things with the other information as
deemed appropriate in a stack that would be available for downloading over the
net. A "New XCode" bulletin would be issued whenever a new resource is
registered. Every month or so the new resources would be incorporated into the
stack. Again, This stack would not contain any code resources, just the
information about them.
So, whaddayasay?
If it sounds good, let's do it... or has someone already?
Peter Jorgensen
Microcomputer specialist
Colgate University - Hamilton, NY 13346
AppleLink - U0523
BITNET - PJORGENSEN@COLGATEU
tel - 315-824-1000 ext 742