beausol@milton.u.washington.edu (Raymond Beausoleil) (02/24/91)
I have been asked by Bob Jopson of Bell Labs to write a short article on the rudiments of "ftp'ing" for "Optics and Photonics News," the monthly magazine for members of the Optical Society of America. He certainly didn't ask *me* because I am an expert; rather, I'm a fairly typical user who knows just enough Unix to ftp, read mail, etc. In order to make the article more useful, I'd like to be able to discuss the ftp process in a way that doesn't ignore the interests of either first-time users or IBM PC users. So, if someone could answer the following questions, I would be very grateful. 1. The need for a BinHex decoder can be frustrating for the first-time user. How does someone decode the very first BinHex file? Is there a Unix utility that can do the decoding *before* downloading? (I must assume that the user can download binaries!) What is the recommended source of shareware for those without ftp access (other than CI$ or America Online)? Do they offer a decoder (such as Stuffit Classic)? 2. I am quite familiar with the huge Mac software archive info-mac at sumex-aim.stanford.edu. Once you know the ins and outs, it is quite easy to use: ftp the *.hqx files as ASCII, download, decode BinHex, and then UnStuff or Expand. Is there a similar archive for IBM PC (and compatible) users? Does it require some unusual procedure to log on? Are the data stored in some format other than BinHex? A walk-through of the full procedure (or, better yet, a screen capture) would be extremely helpful. Please E-Mail any response directly to me at the address below. If there is any interest, I can post the entire article (about 800 words) when I finish it next week. If you are particularly helpful, I would be happy to acknowledge you in the article. Thank you in advance, Ray Beausoleil beausol@u.washington.edu