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From: rhialto@cs.kun.nl (Olaf Seibert)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Old AmigaLibDisk material
Message-ID: <2469@wn1.sci.kun.nl>
Date: 21 Nov 90 19:49:55 GMT
References: <9654@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <35991@cup.portal.com> <14089@mcdphx.phx.mcd.mot.com>
Sender: root@sci.kun.nl
Organization: University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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In article <14089@mcdphx.phx.mcd.mot.com> fnf@riscokid.UUCP (Fred Fish) writes:
>I have been tempted to start a new policy of only including material for
>which source is either distributed with the material, or available from the
>author, and that such source has to be provided (even if not distributed)
>with any submissions.  This would probably noticably cut down on the number
>of future disks, but I think the overall quality would be higher.
>Comments pro and con are invited...

I am strongly in favour of such a policy. One of the great things of
programs that include source is that if they don't work, you can fix
it yourself. (Assuming you know how to program, of course.) Many times
there are also small details that you would like to change. And if you
changed something to suit your particular need you can reasonably
say: "I wrote it, so it's better.". [Note btw that I use my own
modified version of English punctuation rules here. I wrote them, so
they are better. ;-)]

Of course this will reduce volume, but I think that quality is more
important than quantity. We don't need 20 different binary-only
programs to do X; we are far better off with 5 different programs
which include source.

Another reason to encourage including source is that if I can choose
between two similar programs, only one of which includes source, I
will use the one with source. I think many other people would do
the same.

There may sometimes be valid reasons not to release source, but in
such a case the author must establish them "beyond reasonable doubt".

>-Fred
--
Olaf 'Rhialto' Seibert                               rhialto@cs.kun.nl
How can you be so stupid if you're identical to me? -Robert Silverberg