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From: jeanne@reed.UUCP (Jeanne DeVoto)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: Don't use PackitIII
Message-ID: <4097@reed.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 14-Sep-86 04:08:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: reed.4097
Posted: Sun Sep 14 04:08:08 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Sep-86 21:39:30 EDT
References: <932@tekig4.UUCP>
Reply-To: jeanne@reed.UUCP (Jeanne DeVoto)
Organization: Reed's Fine College, Portland, OR
Lines: 33
Keywords: packit binhex compression shareware

In article <932@tekig4.UUCP> bradn@tekig4.UUCP (Bradford Needham) writes:
>Please don't post stuff in packitIII format.  The existing BinHex protocol
>is sufficient for sending Mac binaries.
>BinHex is free and has become the de facto standard for encoding Mac binary
>files.  Packit, on the other hand, is $15 shareware and is used by only a
>handful of people on the net.

A clarification seems in order:
1) PackIt in its original form was not a hex/binary encoder/decoder like
   BinHex.  What it is, is a way of combining multiple files into a single
   file.  This is quite convenient for postings of applications which
   require support files, documentation files, etc...You only have to type
   "macput" once, for instance. PackIt and BinHex have nothing to do with
   each other and are not mutually exclusive.
2) PackIt II, in addition to the file combine/uncombine above, added a
   compression feature.  PackIt III has, in addition, encryption available.
3) PackIt II/III is, as Bradford notes, $15 shareware, and hence it is not
   suitable to post things that require versions II or III to uncode.
   In fact, in the "About..." box, the author warns against posting files
   using encryption/compression to public access systems.  However, PackIt I
   is *free* and will uncombine files combined using any version (as long as
   encrytion and compression were not used).

To sum up: if you wanna post binaries,
	1) BinHex them, and then
	2) If your application needs several files, run them through PackIt
	   *without* compression or encryption for your convenience in
	   uploading and the convenience of others in downloading.
-- 
jeanne a. e. devoto           |    "The mind is an infinite resource...but
...!tektronix!reed!jeanne     |     only if you don't squander it.  Doesn't
USsnail: 5353 SE 28th #38     |     that make an interesting paradox?"
         Portland, OR 97202   |          James Hogan, "Voyage From Yesteryear"