mms@sordid.Sun.COM (Michael Silverstein) (03/18/89)
In article <37583@think.UUCP> ejb@godot.think.com.UUCP (Erik Bailey) writes: *> ............................. No, PKZIP is *not* .ARC compatible. *> It cannot be. By the agreement signed by PKWARE and SEA, PKWARE had *> to stop producing *all* .ARC-compatible software by Dec. 31, 1989. *> So, therefore, PKZIP cannot write nor read .ARC files. *> ... *> ... *> I *love* ZIP. It's far and away betetr than .ARC. I thought the whole *> SEA-PKWARE thing was rediculous. But this is a clear case of a better *> product. I think it will do to .ARC what .ARC did to .LBR/.LQR -- slowly *> phase it out. *ESPECIALLY* when the VMS, Unix, and Amiga versions are *> released. Well, when will the VMS, Unix, and Amiga versions be released, and in what form? The legal dispute between SEA and PK is not of direct concern to us in choosing a standard for posted files. But the commercial nature of these products does impose some limitations. Right now, we have ARC (5.21) available on Unix in source form, apparently with the OK of the authors. It is directly makeable on BSD, and with slight effort, should be portable to Sys V, etc. It has been modified to support squashing, so it is compatible with PAK. If we do make a change, it seems to me that ZOO is the only program which guarantees at least this level of universality. At the same time, there's enough new functionality in ZOO to make the switch worthwhile. With ZIP or other commercial products we will always be dependent on the sellers to provide versions for this or that machine/operating system. And, as we have seen, they are willing to go to court to defend their interests. Rahul has been very careful not to use his position as moderator in promotion of his own program. His offer strikes me as both generous and fair. I vote for taking advantage of it. *-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=* | /\/\ike Silverstein | This can't be deja vu. Things are more like | | sun!mms -or- mms@sun.com | they are now, than they've ever been before! | *-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=*