wang@math.ufl.edu (04/05/91)
Hi guys! We have been talking about that the PKZIP package for Unix would soon be released. Has it been released yet?
madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (04/05/91)
In article <1991Apr5.020101.12632@math.ufl.edu> wang@math.ufl.edu writes: >We have been talking about that the PKZIP package for Unix would soon be >released. Has it been released yet? Well, it's not PKZIP, just Zip. PK has provided some assistance with bizarre restrictions of explosion in PKUNZIP, but that's about all. It will be free, rather than shareware. (We haven't figured out yet whether to make it public domain, GNUish, X-windowish, or what.) And, ahem, no, it's not released yet. Real Soon Now. It works, but implosion is too slow. It is at 0.7 now. The plan is to get VMS support in for 0.8, faster implosion for 0.9, and then get that all ironed out for the first release as 1.0. As for a time estimate, I'm not doing the implosion, so I can't say. I'm hoping before summer starts. Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu
ergo@netcom.COM (Isaac Rabinovitch) (04/09/91)
In <1991Apr5.085924.15666@nntp-server.caltech.edu> madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) writes: >In article <1991Apr5.020101.12632@math.ufl.edu> wang@math.ufl.edu writes: >>We have been talking about that the PKZIP package for Unix would soon be >>released. Has it been released yet? >And, ahem, no, it's not released yet. Real Soon Now. It works, but >implosion is too slow. It is at 0.7 now. The plan is to get VMS >support in for 0.8, faster implosion for 0.9, and then get that all >ironed out for the first release as 1.0. As for a time estimate, I'm >not doing the implosion, so I can't say. I'm hoping before summer >starts. So why not release it? Taking hours to extract an archive may be painful, but not as painful as not be able to extract it at all. Beside, most Unix users would be people trading files with PC users who don't have ARC -- and all they would have to do is just not use implosion. Does anybody register the irony in this problem? PKZIP caught on because ARC was painfully slow. ARC was painfully slow because that was the only way (or so SEA thought) to keep it portable.... >Mark Adler >madler@pooh.caltech.edu -- ergo@netcom.com Isaac Rabinovitch netcom!ergo@apple.com Silicon Valley, CA {apple,amdahl,claris}!netcom!ergo All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. -- Jack
madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr8.195351.4783@netcom.COM> ergo@netcom.COM (Isaac Rabinovitch) writes: >In <1991Apr5.085924.15666@nntp-server.caltech.edu> madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) writes: >>And, ahem, no, it's not released yet. Real Soon Now. It works, but >>implosion is too slow. It is at 0.7 now. The plan is to get VMS > >So why not release it? Taking hours to extract an archive may be >painful, but not as painful as not be able to extract it at all. I should have pointed out in my posting that UNzip *is* available now. The source for Unzip 4.01 can be found at simtel20.army.mil in the directory pd1:<misc.unix> as unzip401.arc and unzip401.tar-z (the latter would be renamed to unzip401.tar.Z on a Unix system). It works on a very wide range of Unix systems, as well as VMS and MSDOS. Explosion (the opposite of implosion) is quite fast in unzip. Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu
otto@tukki.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) (04/09/91)
In article <1991Apr8.195351.4783@netcom.COM> ergo@netcom.COM (Isaac Rabinovitch) writes:
[re Unix zip]
So why not release it? Taking hours to extract an archive may be
painful, but not as painful as not be able to extract it at all.
Beside, most Unix users would be people trading files with PC users
who don't have ARC -- and all they would have to do is just not use
implosion.
But unzip is available for Unix, what we are talking about here is something
for creating zip files on Unix ! Look for portable unzip at simtel20 and
mirror archives.
Does anybody register the irony in this problem? PKZIP caught on
because ARC was painfully slow. ARC was painfully slow because that
was the only way (or so SEA thought) to keep it portable....
PKZip caught on in the BBS circles because SEA got so obnoxious (or so it
was percieved, at least) about their licencing.
--
/* * * Otto J. Makela <otto@jyu.fi> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
/* Phone: +358 41 613 847, BBS: +358 41 211 562 (USR HST/V.32, 24h/d) */
/* Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE */
/* * * Computers Rule 01001111 01001011 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (04/10/91)
In article <OTTO.91Apr9114557@tukki.jyu.fi> otto@tukki.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) writes: >PKZip caught on in the BBS circles because SEA got so obnoxious (or so it >was percieved, at least) about their licencing. I suspect the fact that PKZIP was much faster and compressed much better than SEA ARC must have had *something* to do with it. Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu
otto@kipuna.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) (04/15/91)
In article <1991Apr9.182235.12575@nntp-server.caltech.edu> madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) writes: In article <OTTO.91Apr9114557@tukki.jyu.fi> otto@tukki.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) writes: >PKZip caught on in the BBS circles because SEA got so obnoxious (or so it >was percieved, at least) about their licencing. I suspect the fact that PKZIP was much faster and compressed much better than SEA ARC must have had *something* to do with it. It wasn't sooo much better to start out with, since one had pkpak (arc files) to compare it against :-) -- /* * * Otto J. Makela <otto@jyu.fi> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */ /* Phone: +358 41 613 847, BBS: +358 41 211 562 (USR HST/V.32, 24h/d) */ /* Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE */ /* * * Computers Rule 01001111 01001011 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
alan@ukpoit.co.uk (Alan Barclay) (04/16/91)
In article <OTTO.91Apr15183603@kipuna.jyu.fi> otto@kipuna.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) writes: >In article <1991Apr9.182235.12575@nntp-server.caltech.edu> madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) writes: > In article <OTTO.91Apr9114557@tukki.jyu.fi> otto@tukki.jyu.fi (Otto J. Makela) writes: > >PKZip caught on in the BBS circles because SEA got so obnoxious (or so it > >was percieved, at least) about their licencing. > > I suspect the fact that PKZIP was much faster and compressed much better > than SEA ARC must have had *something* to do with it. > >It wasn't sooo much better to start out with, since one had pkpak (arc files) >to compare it against :-) Yes but because of the court case Phil coundn't sell pkarc any more, he renamed it to pkpak (3.61) and then released pkzip. A lot of BBS people liked Phil, and he released the file format into the public domain, allowing people to make third party .ZIP tools, (EG unzip for unix), and this 'nice' factor encouraged people to use his tools. -- Alan Barclay iT | E-mail : alan@ukpoit.uucp Barker Lane | BANG-STYLE : .....!ukc!ukpoit!alan CHESTERFIELD S40 1DY | VOICE : +44 246 214241
madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) (04/19/91)
In article <1991Apr16.154104.14449@ukpoit.co.uk> alan@ukpoit.co.uk (Alan Barclay) writes: >people liked Phil, and he released the file format into the public >domain, allowing people to make third party .ZIP tools, (EG unzip for >unix), and this 'nice' factor encouraged people to use his tools. As well as Zip for Unix--in fact, Phil and another person at PKWare helped us identify PKUNZIP oddities so our Zipper would be compatible. (PKUNZIP has some implementation compromises for speed that make for rather odd restrictions in what it will accept, beyond what is documented for the implode format in the APPNOTE.TXT that comes with PKZIP.) It seems that Phil is maintaining this "nice" factor. Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu