Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site wcom.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!vax135!wcom!news
From: news@wcom.UUCP (News Administrator)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: net.sources.mac
Message-ID: <943@wcom.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 16-Nov-85 21:43:42 EST
Article-I.D.: wcom.943
Posted: Sat Nov 16 21:43:42 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 24-Nov-85 04:41:17 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Warner Computer Systems, Inc., Saddle Brook, NJ
Lines: 33


	Let's get rid of net.sources.mac. It has never been used to 
distribute _sources_, instead it's used to distribute various pieces of
ascii-encoded binary programs, most of which are the so-called 'shareware'.
This does not benefit the net as a whole, nor does it accomplish anything
other than giving free programs, possibly buggy, or even harmful, to
Macintosh owners.

	The value of sources posted in other places, such as net.sources,
mod.sources, etc., are two-fold; first, the user of a program from the
sources newsgroups gets something that does a useful function, without
having to pay alot of money to get it. Second, the user learns from the
source of the program the algorithms used, and maybe even some programming
style in the language the source was written in. In many cases, the second
is more useful than the first -- after all, how many people learned how
Unix works, how operating systems, and utilities work, all from the Unix
sources?

	Also, the sources enable improvements. Look at how Ward Chrisitiensens
modem program went from a minimal communications program to a full featured
system that rivals commercial products in the CP/M world.

	Finally -- look at what happenend on wcom a month or so ago...a 
program, which is very useful to us, proved to have a major bug in it,
that brought so many flames down on me that my display is still smoking.
I was able to look at the source, find the bug, and repost the fixed 
version. Without the source, I would be stuck with an unusable version
of a program I use daily.

	If the Mac users are unable to post sources because they don't
all have machines that are capable of running compilers, then that is
what local users' groups are for. Shareware and binaries belong in
users' groups, and local bulletin boards, not cluttering up the net.