Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bgsuvax!denbeste
From: denbeste@bgsuvax.UUCP (William C. DenBesten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Public Archive Format Issues
Message-ID: <6282@bgsuvax.UUCP>
Date: 20 Sep 90 17:31:09 GMT
References: <2267@runxtsa.runx.oz.au>
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
Lines: 36

In article <6050@spt.entity.com> mdc@spt.entity.com (Marty Connor) writes:
>Proposal for the Macintosh:
>Stick with Stuffit 1.5.1 format for now.  If a better format becomes
>public knowledge, then wait for a 1.5.1 -> Better-Public-Format
>program to appear.

From article <2267@runxtsa.runx.oz.au>, by clubmac@runxtsa.runx.oz.au (Australia's Largest Mac Users Group):
> How many people seriously want to unstuff files on a Unix host?

Well, I for one, unbinhex and unstuff on my unix host.  I am aware of
maybe 20 other people at my site that do likewise. Your method
(stuffit on mac) may be most common, but it is by no means universal.

I even wrote a small shell script so that I can unpack and download a
series of files.  It is a little slower, but the computers deal with
it while I am at lunch.  I come back and it is done.  It makes
downloading very easy for me.

> There is only one reason for not adopting Stuffit Deluxe archives, is that
> the format is not available to the infinitesimal group who want to unstuff on
> a machine other than a Macintosh.

IMHO, the fact that compactor and stuffit deluxe are actively
competing tells me that there is no concensus.  They both
have their advantages and are both viable choices (although I can't
really say, since I have not seen compactor).  This more than anything
else tells me that we should wait for a winner to change.

I could see using macbinary|compress|btoa but, coupled with the fact
that the tools are not available on a mac (without a/ux) means that it
really isn't a viable solution. Compress is a (9 to) 16 bit L-Z compactor,
and btoa causes only ~25% growth (binhex and uuencode are ~33%).

BTW, Before Jason accuses me, I paid for both stuffit & stuffit deluxe.
-- 
William C. DenBesten is denbeste@bgsu.edu or denbesten@bgsuopie.bitnet