[comp.sys.acorn] Posting binaries

denis@gec-rl-hrc.co.uk (Denis Howe (G13) x2220) (12/05/90)

I have used quite a few of the binaries posted here and have no objection to
this continuing but I can appreciate the concern of those who don't want to
pay to receive large files they don't want. One obvious alternative is to
post only a description of the programs to the group and for people to
request the stuff from the author if they want it.

Perhaps our friend Albert in Newcastle could comment on how up to date and
complete the archive there is?

On the subject of if/when to scrap eunet.micro.acorn, is there no established
usenet practice in such cases?

cloader@kean.ucs.mun.ca (12/08/90)

In article <1990Dec5.123825.500@gec-rl-hrc.co.uk>, denis@gec-rl-hrc.co.uk (Denis Howe (G13) x2220) writes:
> I have used quite a few of the binaries posted here and have no objection to

 Perhaps our friend Albert in Newcastle could comment on how up to date and
> complete the archive there is?
> 
> On the subject of if/when to scrap eunet.micro.acorn, is there no established
> usenet practice in such cases?

I have attempted to get files from Newcastle but never got anywhere 
other than three help files.  Does the server work to the ouside
world? I.e. beyond the UK?

Charles


#! rnews 686
Path: leif!

gtoal@tharr.UUCP (Graham Toal) (12/15/90)

In article <167303@kean.ucs.mun.ca> cloader@kean.ucs.mun.ca writes:
>> On the subject of if/when to scrap eunet.micro.acorn, is there no established
>> usenet practice in such cases?

May I suggest that we keep eunet.micro.acorn as a sneaky binaries/sources
group, and restrict conversational postings to comp.sys.arm; I doubt the
rest of the world wants our sources, and it would save an awful hassle in
setting up new groups.

G
-- 
(* Posted from tharr.uucp - Public Access Unix - +44 (234) 261804 *)

dhmyrdal@solan.unit.no (Dag H}kon Myrdal) (12/17/90)

In article <1504@tharr.UUCP>, gtoal@tharr.UUCP (Graham Toal) writes:

|> May I suggest that we keep eunet.micro.acorn as a sneaky binaries/sources
|> group, and restrict conversational postings to comp.sys.arm; I doubt the
|> rest of the world wants our sources, and it would save an awful hassle in
|> setting up new groups.

This sounds like a BAD idea.... Remember, there ARE people using the
Archimedes elsewhere in the world! (I thought that was the reason why 
comp.sys.acorn was created)

And to Philip Colmer:
It is quite possible to access files from a FTP server *without* having
ftp-access.... So I cannot see *any* reason why we shouldn`t have an
archive stored that way....
One way to access FTP-sites via mail is to mail "BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET":

The recommended syntax is:
FTP hostname
USER username password          e.g., USER anonymous guest
<other FTP subcommands>
For further help, mail a "HELP" command to "BITFTP@PUCC".


--
Dag Haakon Myrdal, student of electronics
--
email:   dhmyrdal@solan.unit.no         (-SUN  internet, Trondheim)
snail:   DH Myrdal, Moholt Alle 2-01, N-7035 Trondheim, Norway
phone:   +47 7 588244
--
About MS-DOS: 
	    "... an OS originally designed for a microprocessor that modern
            kitchen appliances would sneer at...."
		   - Dave Trowbridge, _Computer Technology Review_, Aug 90

ra2@doc.ic.ac.uk (Roger Attrill) (12/18/90)

Conrad - see below

mathew@mantis.UUCP (mathew) writes:
>> >Some of us are on UUCP sites. Some of us have to pay to download news.
>> 
>> Sure, you have said that before.
>> 
>> Currently the number binary postings in comp.sys.acorn is close to zero
>> articles per day (in fact: one binary since comp.sys.acorn was newgrouped).

Yes, mine!

>> Kinda strange to start a new group with an expected traffic volume of zero
>> articles a day, right?

True, binaries have never exactly flooded eunet.micro,acorn, but what there
is, is usually fairly good quality.

>
> Perhaps they are being polite and not posting binaries to a discussion group?

Absolutely right, I don't intend to post any more binaries, until this is
all sorted out. I mean, *where* would I post them. I got my wrist slapped
when I posted !Mandy. (Hi Mathew!). OK! It was a pretty poor prototype
of a program, but that wasn't why! 

> I suggest that all readers of comp.sys.acorn who WOULD post binaries instead
> post a message saying "I would have posted <program name> in the binaries
> group". That way we'll quickly get an idea as to whether the demand's there.

 The demand is here. I WOULD have posted version 2.00 of !Mandy. Speeded up
by a factor of six or so, with low zoom value images drawn in as little as
3 seconds. Now run from desktop, it is a fully multitasking program, with a
much nicer feel than rotten old version 1.00. Now also includes fractal
landscapes. Julia Sets are now done in the same vein as Brots (Not Animated).
Images are now drawn by a nifty stack-based edge-detecting method.

 There's also one or two other bits and pieces I WOULD have posted such
as routines to replace OS_Heap commands, which speed up block allocation
by a factor of two or so. I've not done proper benchmarks on them yet. They
*double* the speed of my ray-tracer, I know that much.

 Maybe a uuencoded version of !sparkplug ought to be posted as well for our
new readers who haven't got !spark. (!sparkplug is PD isn't it?). David
Pillings' software isn't as popular overseas as it is in Europe. (Excuse
me while I laugh!)

 What we don't want though, is people unloading their harddisks into a binaries
newsgroup just in order to make the traffic.

> If it turns out that there isn't enough demand, how about keeping
> eunet.micro.acorn for binaries, and leaving comp.sys.acorn for discussions?

 No way! c.s.a was created to make the readership world wide. Why should only
europeans be so privileged as to get the binaries. OK! maybe privileged isn't
quite the right word, but you get the drift.

 If there are people out there who WOULD post post binaries then let's here
from you. (rkl,rw,jk,as,ps,cs et al.)

Theres my 2 cents worth. Some response WOULD be nice, WOULD'nt it?

For those of you who have't got access to eunet.micro.acorn, you're not
missing anything. It hasn't got binaries either !!!

       Merry Christmas Everyone,

              Roger.

> mathew.
> --
> Mantis Consultants, Unit 56, St. John's Innovation Centre, Cambridge. CB4 4WS.
> mathew@mantis.co.uk \\ "CP/M is to metric as cockroaches are to a Timex watch"

'Rolex' surely!!

> ukc!ibmpcug!mantis!mathew -------------------\\ - booter@catnip.berkeley.ca.us



MESSAGE FOR CONRAD HUGHES

 That should get them going!
 Unfortunately I couldn't un!spark your stuff. I tried half a dozen different
variants of uudecoders, but none resulted in a valid !sparkive. Meanwhile,
I've made massive improvements to !Mandy (which I WOULD have posted. Ha! Ha!).
I'm still interested though, - is it asking too much to send them again?

You know !RGB_Spr is mine don't you? Yes, I'm interested in anything to speed
it up. Remember, !RGB_Spr is reading byte by byte from disk. Maybe some
benchmarking is necessary here.

Have I seen Rayshade???  It *IS* Rayshade. A machine code re-write to be
precise and *far* better than the PD version. Seeing as I can't mail
you (sysadmin unwavering and heartless here), perhaps you'd like to send
me a couple of disks and your address. You could put the brot stuff on there.

I've got Knuths'  'Seminumerical methods' as well, but his MIX code is
awesome to fathom out. You're better off going by the algorithms. Good luck.

  Merry Xmas,
     Rog.


Roger C. Attrill
29 Humbolt Road
Fulham
London
W6 8HQ

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|   Roger C. Attrill   | I don't always think therefore I'm not necessarily. |
|   ra2@doc.ic.ac.uk   |                                                     |
|   Imperial College   |          and other variations on a theme.           |
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disclaimer: All opinions are codswallop.

adam@ste.dyn.bae.co.uk (Adam Curtin) (12/19/90)

In article <1990Dec17.134221.27584@ugle.unit.no> dhmyrdal@solan.unit.no (Dag H}kon Myrdal) writes:
>It is quite possible to access files from a FTP server *without* having
>ftp-access.... So I cannot see *any* reason why we shouldn`t have an
>archive stored that way....
>One way to access FTP-sites via mail is to mail "BITFTP@PUCC.BITNET":

This doesn't work work for everyone (as it says in the HELP file): somewhere
between here and there is an IBM machine, and the few files I retrieved were
garbled by ASCII/EBCDIC conversion.

Adam
-- 
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