Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcmgw!davea
From: davea@hpfcmgw.HP.COM (Dave Arns)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: New Binary Distribution Method
Message-ID: <12240004@hpfcmgw.HP.COM>
Date: 15 Oct 90 20:39:23 GMT
Organization: HP Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 81

This message was originally to Roger Long, who I believe is the moderator for
comp.binaries.mac, but my e-mail attempts apparently didn't get through.
Perhaps it would be better as an open letter, though; more people would be
able to comment on whether or not this is a good idea.

Net.everyone: What do you think?

------------------------- original letter follows ----------------------------
Roger,

My apologies if this is a second copy of this message; apparently my first
didn't get through.

The reason I was requesting your address on Usenet is this: a few weeks ago I
was thinking about the way that Mac binaries are distributed through
comp.binaries.mac, and I had a few questions/comments (by the way, I greatly
appreciate the service that comp.binaries.mac offers!).

My situation is this: I look through the comp.binaries.mac notes group most
weekdays, and check to see if there is anything that would be useful to me.
Some are, some aren't--that's to be expected.  Sometimes though, I realize a
need for a particular program days or weeks after it has been removed from the
postings, or, because of fumblefingers on my part, I get two copies of Part 2
of something, and no copies of Part 3.  When considering these things, I had a
few thoughts; I don't know if they would be possible or practical, but it
might be worth considering.

What do you think of this proposal:

    o Set up an e-mail auto-respond program such that people could just mail
      an electronic request to a particular address; the e-mail messages would
      contain special text strings that identify available programs.  The
      requests might be of a form such as "REQUEST:DELUXECONVERT" (letter case
      not being significant).  The auto-respond mechanism would search (using
      "grep"?) for valid strings such as this, and mail all the parts of a
      multi-part, compressed, binhexed binary to the requestor.
      
    o Every week or so, post a message to comp.sys.mac.misc that gives a list
      of all the binaries that are available, a brief description, and the
      identifier string that will be checked by the script in the auto-
      responder.  New additions could be listed first.

    o If a requestor asked for a non-existent binary (either because of a
      misspelling or because it has already been removed), the auto-responder
      would send a mail message to that effect.  The mail message could also
      include a copy of Usenet posting of the available binaries.  If this is
      included, I can foresee people deliberately requesting a binary named
      "FGXiwekSKGF", knowing that it won't be there, and therefore they
      will get a current copy of the list of what's available.

I don't know whether the above scenario would work or be practical, but I
think it would be very useful for many people.  It would be more of a "random
access" method, as opposed to the "serial access" of comp.binaries.mac.  Once
it was set up, the actual shipping of the binaries would be zero extra work,
and because of the time savings there, maybe more binaries could be offered
(assuming disk space exists...).  Also, people in charge of other archives
might set up a similar distribution method.  This would be handy for people
like me because, working at Hewlett-Packard, our Internet connection is a
closed subnet (for security reasons), so I can't get to any of the apple.com
or sumex archives.  But since e-mail works perfectly well, this would meet the
need of such folks.

If the above proposal is worth pursuing, I would be willing to be a alpha/beta
tester, so as to get the bugs out of the system before being inundated with
requests.

What do you think?  Would it work?


Thanks,

Dave Arns




Usenet:    davea@hpfcmgcf         Post: Hewlett-Packard Company
  (or)     davea@hpfcla.hp.com          Attn: Dave Arns   MS46
HP-Desk:   dave_arns%ux@hp4000          3404 E. Harmony Road
HP Telnet: 1-229-3882                   Fort Collins, CO  80525-9599   USA
AT&T:      1-303-229-3882