pho@dilow.esd.sgi.com (Paul Ho) (07/18/90)
OK guys and girls, how about this for an idea. How about a news group that has a list of _all_ mac programs. Included will be the program title, author, what it is, and the current version number. There won't be any reviews of products (hopefully no flame wars about which program is better). I think it would be great to have such a list. It would be great for checking current version numbers, what is available, etc. We should keep the list free of personal comments; leave any discussion to this group. It would just be an unbiased list. Well, what do you think? Too much? Already tried? Already done? Dumb idea? Get back to work? Paul Shields up! Ready for your response!
tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu (Anthony Rich) (07/20/90)
> How about a newsgroup that has a list of _all_ mac programs. > Included will be the program title, author, what it is, and the > current version number. I like the idea, but it may be a tough one to implement. I've taken it upon myself to try to maintain a list of Mac *freeware* since this spring, and I've found that it's a LOT of work. Here are some of the problems: -- New stuff comes out daily; it's hard to keep up. -- Quite a few (free) programs don't even have version numbers. -- Defining "program" isn't easy; is a set of cursors for cursor animation a "program"? What about a set of resources that one installs into ResEdit to allow it to edit some new resource type? If resources are "programs," what about fonts, graphics, sounds? Ugh. -- Describing programs isn't easy. Some programs don't have good docs. Sometimes it isn't possible to *try* a program to determine what it does because it only works with unavailable hardware or software (i.e., a network utility when one isn't on a net.) Or it may be so special- purpose it addresses a problem that's in a subject or at a technical level one doesn't understand. -- How to describe bugs and compatibility problems? Sometimes the newest version of a program doesn't work as well as older versions. Some crash for reasons that aren't easy to pinpoint, sometimes only in combination with other programs, INITs, memory limitations, etc. Since any crash is potentially a disaster for someone, a software list should say SOMETHING about reliability, but it's difficult to describe the unreliability of some programs accurately. But it's probably still worth trying to do. -- How to organize such a list? People who use the list would often approach it with questions like "I need something that converts a PICT file to TIFF." or "Is there anything that lets me hook up a Foo brand printer to my Mac?" The organization of the list should make answering such questions easy, and should put similar programs close together. For that, an alphabetical list wouldn't be very useful. Sumex uses file type (app, DA, CDEV, INIT, etc), which makes it hard to find something if you don't know what form it exists in. Software ads use general categories (business, hyperware, educational, etc)...that's not too bad. The organization I personally find most useful is a sort of object-oriented one, characterizing programs by the main "object" they manipulate: text utilities (editors, word processors), file utilities (Stuffit, BinHex, etc), disk utilities (SUM II, Floppy Fixer, Fast Formatter), etc. But ANY attempt to categorize software inevitably runs into exceptions that don't fit any category (what object does a game program manipulate? :^) or that fit several categories (Microsoft Works). I'm not sure I understand how this list would be a "newsgroup", unless that means people would post additions and corrections to an archived list via the newsgroup. Having a lot of eye balls proofreading the list would certainly help keep it accurate; that would be good. Changes to the list itself would have to be approved and made only by one or two people, of course, to prevent it from degenerating into chaos. The list would definitely be useful...and VERY long! -- Tony -- ----------------------------------------- | EMAIL: tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu | | Disclaimer: I speak only for myself. | -----------------------------------------
forbes@sp11.csrd.uiuc.edu (Michael Scott Forbes) (07/20/90)
In article <10469@odin.corp.sgi.com> pho@dilow.esd.sgi.com writes: > > OK guys and girls, how about this for an idea. How about a news group that >has a list of _all_ mac programs. Included will be the program title, author, >what it is, and the current version number. If you *really* want to get ambitious, why not develop something similar to the Dewey Decimal System and apply it to computer software? Maybe get the Library of Congress involved, set up a national software archive... :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Forbes University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign forbes@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu Center for Supercomputing Research & Development Encourage recycling! Use the disclaimer from the previous poster's message
APPLEREP@MTUS5.BITNET (07/20/90)
On AppleLink, we have a large software reference library on-line. It is called the "Redgate Buyer's Guide." I do not know if it covers EVERYTHING, but it has served me well for the searches I have had to make. I don't know who or where "Redgate" is (is it a publishing company??), but they may be able to provide this valuable service to people without access to AppleLink. Just my $.02 worth... Tom Amberg Apple Student Rep Michigan Technological University (Way up in the great white north) Note: Do I speak for Apple? Surely you jest....... Signature? I just started using the net; I don't even know how to make one!
pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (07/20/90)
This is the sort of thing that TidBITS 2.0 will be good for because it will be able to import text files, map them out, (hopefully) index on several different keys, and provide a clean reading/archiving environment. The current version of the TidBITS stack is too simple (intentionally, I may add) to handle huge amounts of information easily. Adam In article <10862@spool.cs.wisc.edu>, tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu (Anthony Rich) writes: >> How about a newsgroup that has a list of _all_ mac programs. >> Included will be the program title, author, what it is, and the >> current version number. > > I like the idea, but it may be a tough one to implement. I've taken it upon > myself to try to maintain a list of Mac *freeware* since this spring, and > I've found that it's a LOT of work. Here are some of the problems... > -- Tony > -- > ----------------------------------------- > | EMAIL: tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu | > | Disclaimer: I speak only for myself. | > ----------------------------------------- -- Adam C. Engst pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "I ain't worried and I ain't scurried and I'm having a good time" -Paul Simon
pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (07/21/90)
Redgate is a publishing company and they publish the Macintosh Buyers Guide and Product Registry, which is what I assume you are seeing on AppleLink since the Registry is on disk. It's a good magazine (I only have one issue) but it only does commercial stuff (at least in the issue I have).... Adam In article <90201.004138APPLEREP@MTUS5.BITNET>, APPLEREP@MTUS5.BITNET writes: > On AppleLink, we have a large software reference library on-line. It is > called the "Redgate Buyer's Guide." I do not know if it covers EVERYTHING, > but it has served me well for the searches I have had to make. I don't know > who or where "Redgate" is (is it a publishing company??), but they may be able > to provide this valuable service to people without access to AppleLink. > > Just my $.02 worth... > > Tom Amberg > Apple Student Rep > Michigan Technological University (Way up in the great white north) > > Note: Do I speak for Apple? Surely you jest....... > > Signature? I just started using the net; I don't even know how to make one! -- Adam C. Engst pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "I ain't worried and I ain't scurried and I'm having a good time" -Paul Simon