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From: johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Don't post stuff using stuffit
Message-ID: <40184@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 29 Dec 90 02:42:08 GMT
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In article <VTURNER.90Dec28185049@wilma.nmsu.EDU>, vturner@nmsu.EDU (Vaughan Turner) writes...
>So, post what you want (preferably StuffIt Old), but don't post things
>that self extract!

I agree with the rest of Mr. Turner's comments ... but with respect to this
particular point doubly so.  Self-extracting archives are convenient for 
other purposes, when one can be reasonably convinced that the recipient
can handle them appropriately, but there are some drawbacks.  

First, the "Self-Extracting Archive" puts the user at the mercy of viri
present in the dearchived file.  Even if virus checking was incorporated
in the 'self-extracting' or 'auto-unstuffing' portion of the archive,
it can only be as 'up-to-date' as is virus knowledge at the time the
archive is created.

StuffIt Classic, (and Deluxe), on the other hand, include virus checking 
during dearchiving that can be updated with new versions of the software.  
If a self-extracting archive contains a virus unknown at the time of 
archiving, it creates an on-going pain in the ass.

It is not my intention to fan the Compactor vs. StuffIt flames -- I think
that self-unstuffers created by StuffIt are equally inappropriate for 
net distribution.  I like to have complete control over the dearchiving
process -- .cpt archives do this as well as .sit archives.  Moreover, 
Bill Goodman can (and probably should) include virus checking in a new
release of Compactor.

The same topic has gotten alot of net.air.play in the ibm-pc groups,
in which many posters have warned that self-extracting-archives make
for particularly rapid and unwitting spread of viri.

My $0.02 ...

Bill (johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu)