Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!acns.nwu.edu!jln From: jln@acns.nwu.edu (John Norstad) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps Subject: Re: Hilarious Disinfectant 2.0 Message-ID: <9754@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 16 Jul 90 04:53:37 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: Northwestern University Lines: 47 References:<9751@accuvax.nwu.edu> <1990Jul16.032446.15840@swbatl.sbc.com> In article <1990Jul16.032446.15840@swbatl.sbc.com> george@swbatl.sbc.com (George D. Nincehelser) writes: > Yeesh! I don't like the direction this is going. John wrote a > wonderful and useful program and is giving it away free for the > benefit off all, yet some folks are bitching about a measly 20K > of disk space! Just because my program is free doesn't mean it's beyond criticism. The large size of version 2.0 is one of its drawbacks, and the person who complained had a valid point. I was concerned about this problem during development, and I wish there was something reasonable I could do about it. I pity the poor folks who must download it from CompuServe or AppleLink or wherever using 2400 baud modems - it takes half an hour! (As opposed to 28 seconds to get it via anonymous FTP from sumex-aim to my Mac IIci desktop using SU-Mac/IP. Hey, when's the rest of the world going to get networked anyway? Isn't it about time?) Version 2.0 will fit on an 800K startup "Virus Tools" floppy along with stock System and Finder files from Apple's System Software 6.0.5 System Tools disk, with 44K to spare. This isn't much room left, but it's enough for a bootable emergency floppy. People with floppy-only systems who want to be able to print have to build a special startup disk without the Finder file to make room for a printer driver and the Imagewriter spool file (see the manual for details). 2.0 is usable on a single-floppy system with no hard drive, but I'm the first to admit that it's a bit painful. It would be possible for me to start releasing Disinfectant in pieces - a minimal application on one file, the help text on a second file, the INIT on a third file, the About window resources on a fourth file, etc., etc. The reason I don't want to do this is that people will inevitably begin losing pieces, using pieces from different releases, posting only some of the pieces to bulletin boards, etc. For electronically distributed free software like mine there's a big advantage to having the entire package in a single file. After careful consideration I decided that this advantage is more important than the disadvantages mentioned above. One possibility which we considered but have not yet implemented is compressing the resources which contain the text for the manual. This would save perhaps 50K on disk, although it wouldn't help the size of the Stuffed version which people have to download. Maybe this will make it into some future version. John Norstad Academic Computing and Network Services Northwestern University jln@acns.nwu.edu