Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!rpi!pawl!kudla From: kudla@pawl.rpi.edu (Robert J. Kudla) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: PKZip Amiga arrives Message-ID: <{#RTS*@rpi.edu> Date: 16 Jan 90 07:57:17 GMT References: <1990Jan11.062433.27699@i-core.UUCP> <2373@cpsc6a.att.com> Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Lines: 63 In <2373@cpsc6a.att.com> crs@cpsc6a.att.com (Chris (I'm a programmer, not a Doctor!!) Seaman) writes: -> slow in implode mode, though still faster than LHArc (with -> comparable compression), but it is quite fast (faster than Zoo) in -> Shrink mode, but still gives compression as good as Zoo. It SHOULD Why can't the PK people use real names for their compression schemes, like "Lemple-Ziv" and "Huffman"? Even the Mac users' Stuffit does that... all these "Imploding" and "Squashing" things make me think of all the various pirate cruncher programs written by twelve-year-olds to sound totally rad ] be getting a lot of novice attention, since that was the main -> reason for providing an intuition interface. My brother couldn't -> remember the Zoo syntax to save his life, but I guarantee he will -> know how to use PKAZip. I admit the lack of CLI support is a -> problem, but it should appear in the next version. Your brother should try one of the umpteen CLIWizard clones out there that supports Zoo, LHArc, etc. My objection is not simply that it has an intuition interface, but also that it tries to be a mega-directory utility as well. Archivers should be small, simple programs. At least he could have saved a little space by bagging the custom screen and hideous "NeXT" look. Oh yeah, and the problem with novices giving it lots of attention is that many of the people who make the rules on the BBSes around here are novice users (you know, the kind who rejoice when they figure out the DIR command) and they're on the verge of requiring everyone to upload in ZIP format. Extra bad. -> There are a lot of Amiga users out there who don't know (or want to know) -> about the CLI, and I think it's about time a good archiver was made -> available to them. See what I said above regarding the directory utilities. -> PKAZip has a simple interface (what could be simpler than Intuition?), -> decent compression (at least as good as Zoo in shrink mode), and is -> 30-40% faster than Zoo in shrink mode. What more could you want? :-) What could be simpler than intuition? Well, MacOS, for one. :) By "simple", I mean compact, fast, uncluttered, and available for use in script files. I don't mean "OK boys and girls, we're going to pick up our mousies now and point at the 'Lets Put Together some Files' gadget". And what more could I ask for? Indeed. Unix compatibility, a smaller executable, my own preferences if they must include a hideous graphic interface, not eating 200k while simply idling and nearly 300k when compressing, not crashing because I tried to run dterm (which eats about 50k and the serial port) at the same time, and if possible, to be compiled pure. Save the last one, Zoo is what I could ask for. Or a command line ONLY (no huge executable, please!) version. My solution now is to unzip everything I get and if I put it elsewhere it gets LHArced or Zooed. Simple. -- Robert Jude Kudla "Famous? I'm not famous. People come up to me after a show and say 'Hey, Steve!'" -Jon Anderson