Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: alt.sources.d Subject: Re: Beyond shar (Re: shars and security concerns.) Message-ID: <3S93.K5ggpc2@ficc.uu.net> Date: 6 May 90 22:12:42 GMT References: <662@n4hgf.uucp> <1152@chinacat.Unicom.COM> <518@cpsolv.CPS.COM> <1203@chinacat.Unicom.COM> <2641.263ea7ac@mccall.com> <18275@rpp386.cactus.org> <682@n4hgf.uucp> <--830L1ggpc2@ficc.uu.net> <15462@bfmny0.UU.NET> Reply-To: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Lines: 41 In article <15462@bfmny0.UU.NET> tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) writes: > With proper standardization it should not be necessary for an unshar > program to handle all kinds of weird shars. I think that optimistic. Consider all the companies maintaining backwards compatible bugs in their software because people ignored *enforcable* standards! [ I said... why not Software Tools format? ] > Because it doesn't self extract. Neither does a shar on anything but UNIX, nor a DCL-shar on anything but VMS, etc... > Also, my memory may be faulty but the last time I looked at ST it seemed > to me there was no provision for recording modes or ownership. Modes? You mean like Read, Write, Extend, Delete, Execute, Set-User-ID, Set-Group-ID, etc...? Or do you mean like Stream-LF vs Fortran Cariage Control vs Fixed Record versus Card Image etc...? Ownership? What's that? Or does that relate to ACLs...? Things like that are inherently O/S specific, and if they're important include a shell script or DCL command file to set them. That can also be automatically generated. How about making everything not between a -h- and -t- a comment, and make the file look like this: sed -e 1d -e s/^X// > file << '-t- file' -h- file Sun May 6 17:09:59 CDT 1990 ./file Xstuff Xand more stuff -t- file etcetera... As for coded comments... I much prefer having an automatically-generated shar-mode.sh file appended to the archive, like the MANIFEST is in some sharchives right now. -- `-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. 'U` Have you hugged your wolf today? @FIN Commercial solicitation *is* accepted by email to this address.