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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!pyrnj!mirror!rs
From: rs@mirror.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: quantitative comparision of arc versus compress
Message-ID: <3301@mirror.TMC.COM>
Date: Wed, 22-Apr-87 12:36:34 EST
Article-I.D.: mirror.3301
Posted: Wed Apr 22 12:36:34 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 24-Apr-87 03:15:52 EST
References: <865@xanth.UUCP>
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Mirror Systems, Cambridge MA
Lines: 32
Summary: Arc is bad for Usenet

Most sites on Usenet use the COMPRESS program to cut down their
transmission costs.  Compressing an ARC'd file results in something
bigger than the original.

As a courtesy, then, to those sites who pay big money to ship articles
around, the nicest way to post binary files is to use UUENCODE.
The C sources to UUENCODE have been posted to mod.sources; a portable
shar/unshar package was posted in net.sources.  Contact your nearest
mod.sources archive site for the former, me for the either.

Also, people have written that "well, it's easiest for ME to do things
this way."  In an internetworked electronic conferencing system of
several thousand sites, the ruling theme should be the greatest good
for the greatest number.  Rise above selfishness, and go out of your
way a bit to help the net that helps you:  conventional wisdom and
empiricism have shown that posting UUENCODE'd binaries work best,
given that COMPRESS is usually in the transport mechanism.

As lesser arguments, assuming appeals to your "better side" don't
work:  ARC is shareware, which goes against the grain of the so-called
free Usenet, don't you think?  The maintainers and developers of ARC
refuse to support Unix ports.  Think about the implications of those
two sentences...

Comments to me, and I'll summarize.
	/Rich $alz,
	Moderator of mod.sources (soon to be comp.sources.unix)
-- 
--
Rich $alz					"Drug tests p**s me off"
Mirror Systems, Cambridge Massachusetts		rs@mirror.TMC.COM
{cbosgd, cca.cca.com, harvard!wjh12, ihnp4, mit-eddie, seismo}!mirror!rs