malpass@VLSI.LL.MIT.EDU (Don Malpass) (07/24/89)
Gern,
PLEASE don't ZIP the pd-lib. Leave the stuff in whatever form
it is already. It'd be extra work for you, and because it would force
those of us who detested the arc wars to joust with more of PK's code,
it would be unpleasant work for us too. It aint broke, so don't "fix"
it. I, for one, will resist zip for as long as I can, and until
a unix-supported format is used, anyone using it will be doing the
computer community a great disservice!
---
Don Malpass [malpass@LL-vlsi.arpa], [malpass@gandalf.ll.mit.edu]
Here are the results of the Radon tests for your house. The good
news is that you won't have to sweat the termite inspection. 7/89GUBBINS@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Gern) (07/26/89)
Personally, I think the name ZIP is dumb, ARC is the extension for the purpose. I think what SEA pulled is total slime and I will support any ban against them, their ways, their kind, etc. including support for a new, better, free-er, standard. However, realistically: I refuse to use a program that has a version number less than 1.0 (PKZIP is 0.9x or something). I will support what ever the policy of PD software on SIMTEL20 is and the INFO-HZ100 PD LIB directory there and the disk set distribution will convert accordingly. At this time, I use and support only PKARC. SIMTEL20 is waiting for a TOPS20 version of PKZIP (or whatever) and I guess will completely convert over to it as soon as available. I assume a UNIX version will also be available. At that time, I assume the INFO-HZ100 PD LIB there will be auto- matically converted if I make no attempts to stop it. I hope that by this time PKZIP will be in version 1.x, I will find the time to redo/clean/enhance the PD LIB and ZIP it all, then put the enhanced PD LIB on SIMTEL20. The only reason Greg Elder's Z-100 GIF program is available on PITA in ZIP format is because that is the way he submitted it. Cheers, Gern -------
malpass@VLSI.LL.MIT.EDU (Don Malpass) (07/26/89)
> I think what SEA pulled is total slime and I will support any ban > against them, their ways, their kind, etc. including support for a > new, better, free-er, standard. Gern, Let's BOTH not restart the arc wars by continued editorializing. I submit that there are as many of us who blame PK as blame ARC for what has certainly pissed away several man-decades of blurb warfare on the subject. I'm happy to hear that a Tops20 version may be in the cards, only because it may ultimately lead to a unix version (without which it ain't viable!). My position isn't going to change, and neither is yours, although I find it refreshing that yours is more pragmatic than some PK supporters. don
WANCHO@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL ("Frank J. Wancho") (07/27/89)
Once a version of PKZIP is available with sources in C for 4.xbsd and SYS V R2/R3 versions of Unix and proven reliable, I will undertake the conversion to a TOPS20 version as I did with ARC. Once that version is proven reliable, we will see about undertaking the task of converting our collections. We will probably not convert the PC/BLUE collection but continue to carry it as-is. If ZIP files appear in new releases, they will be carried as-is without conversion to ARC format. We will not convert the CP/M collections until a CP/M version of at least an UNZIP is available. We will not convert the Macintosh collection. We will not convert the Ada collection, which will be left in ASCII format so that we can continue to make tape copies in ANSI standard label format which does not support 8-bit data. Finally, the mail archives will not be converted. They are presently stored in monthly TOPS20 mail files with the previous years' files compressed. --Frank
ADMINA07@CLVM.CLARKSON.EDU (Laurel Goolden) (07/27/89)
You may wish to investigate the latest and probably most neutral program for file compression: LHARC. It's totally free from the SEA/PK contro- versy (not to mention that it's TOTALLY FREE) and appears to be superior to both PKZIP and ARC. -Laurel