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From: tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu (Anthony Rich)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Mac Software database.
Keywords: Ambitious!
Message-ID: <10862@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
Date: 19 Jul 90 21:19:11 GMT
References: <10469@odin.corp.sgi.com>
Sender: news@spool.cs.wisc.edu
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
Lines: 65

> How about a newsgroup that has a list of _all_ mac programs.
> Included will be the program title, author, what it is, and the
> current version number.

I like the idea, but it may be a tough one to implement.  I've taken it upon
myself to try to maintain a list of Mac *freeware* since this spring, and
I've found that it's a LOT of work.  Here are some of the problems:

--  New stuff comes out daily; it's hard to keep up.

--  Quite a few (free) programs don't even have version numbers.

--  Defining "program" isn't easy; is a set of cursors for cursor animation
    a "program"?   What about a set of resources that one installs into
    ResEdit to allow it to edit some new resource type?  If resources are
    "programs," what about fonts, graphics, sounds?  Ugh.

--  Describing programs isn't easy.  Some programs don't have good docs.
    Sometimes it isn't possible to *try* a program to determine what it does
    because it only works with unavailable hardware or software (i.e.,
    a network utility when one isn't on a net.)  Or it may be so special-
    purpose it addresses a problem that's in a subject or at a technical
    level one doesn't understand.

--  How to describe bugs and compatibility problems?  Sometimes the newest
    version of a program doesn't work as well as older versions.  Some crash
    for reasons that aren't easy to pinpoint, sometimes only in combination
    with other programs, INITs, memory limitations, etc.  Since any crash
    is potentially a disaster for someone, a software list should say
    SOMETHING about reliability, but it's difficult to describe the
    unreliability of some programs accurately.  But it's probably still worth
    trying to do.

--  How to organize such a list?  People who use the list would often
    approach it with questions like "I need something that converts a PICT
    file to TIFF." or "Is there anything that lets me hook up a Foo brand
    printer to my Mac?"  The organization of the list should make answering
    such questions easy, and should put similar programs close together.

    For that, an alphabetical list wouldn't be very useful.  Sumex uses
    file type (app, DA, CDEV, INIT, etc), which makes it hard to find 
    something if you don't know what form it exists in.  Software ads use
    general categories (business, hyperware, educational, etc)...that's not
    too bad.  The organization I personally find most useful is a sort of
    object-oriented one, characterizing programs by the main "object" they
    manipulate:  text utilities (editors, word processors), file utilities
    (Stuffit, BinHex, etc), disk utilities (SUM II, Floppy Fixer, Fast
    Formatter), etc.  But ANY attempt to categorize software inevitably runs
    into exceptions that don't fit any category (what object does a game
    program manipulate? :^) or that fit several categories (Microsoft Works).

I'm not sure I understand how this list would be a "newsgroup", unless that
means people would post additions and corrections to an archived list via the
newsgroup.  Having a lot of eye
balls proofreading the list would certainly
help keep it accurate; that would be good.  Changes to the list itself would
have to be approved and made only by one or two people, of course, to prevent
it from degenerating into chaos.  The list would definitely be useful...and
VERY long!

  -- Tony
--
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| EMAIL:  tonyrich@titanic.cs.wisc.edu  | 
| Disclaimer:  I speak only for myself. |
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