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From: pitaro@savax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: Software Obsolescence
Message-ID: <527@savax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-Apr-87 15:48:46 EST
Article-I.D.: savax.527
Posted: Thu Apr  2 15:48:46 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Apr-87 18:07:59 EST
Organization: Sanders Associates Inc., Nashua, NH
Lines: 48

>   From: amos@instable.UUCP (Amos Shapir)
>
>   Actually, you don't have to keep all the patch files; it's perfectly
>   ok to throw them away and only keep the latest .orig files as created
>   by 'patch'. There are sites that archive all sources and would be happy
>   to supply them in case of need.

I'm amazed at all the responses like this that get posted.  (Nothing
personal Amos.)  They usually are of the form

	"Yeah, <insert software name> is available.  I have a copy but
	I don't want to distribute it."

Almost always there is no detail on exactly where and how it was
acquired so that the original requester can get ahold of it.  The
typical pointer is something like

	"There are sites that archive all the sources."

Of course there is no mention of who they are, how to access them
(by uucp), or even if you do find them whether they really will send
you sources.  Sometimes to save face the poster will say something like

	"I won't send <insert software name> through the net because
	it's too large."

My beef is why bother the net with these types of postings at all.  The
requester's doesn't give a d*mn whether you have the software or not,
only if you're willing to redistribute it or give a concrete pointer
on where to get it.  I've done my part in volunteering to redistribute
MicroEmacs 3.8b through the US mail in the past and I got about 30
requests.  I'm willing to spend 10 minutes a day out of "my" busy
schedule to help someone else why aren't more net readers doing the
same.  The archives at simtel used to irritate me because I didn't
have ARPA access but since they installed that request server which is
accessible via uucp I've not minded seeing all the responses like
	"Oh yeah, that's available on simtel."
as long as they give a directory and filename.  Note that this is not
to be considered a flame on Amos personally, it's just that I've seen
too many of these postings lately.  Especially with regards to patch,
empire, <insert software name>, etc.

	Michael Pitaro

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