Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc:13259 comp.binaries.ibm.pc:589
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!hqda-ai!merlin
From: merlin@hqda-ai.UUCP (David S. Hayes)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.binaries.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Standard format for ARCed files
Message-ID: <1111@hqda-ai.UUCP>
Date: 15 Mar 88 17:45:39 GMT
References: <5439@swan.ulowell.edu> <551@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> <21480@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA>
Distribution: na
Organization: Army AI Center, Pentagon
Lines: 19
Summary: Good reason not to use self-extracting archives


     We should not use a self-extracting format.  These formats
necessarily require the a copy of the extraction code be passed
with EVERY article.  This would dramatically increase the volume
of the news to be transmitted and stored.

     With no apology to Russel, this may be a PC group, but most
of us do not connect our PC directly to the Usenet.  The code must
come in to our Unix computers, and then it gets downloaded to the
PC.  Download may mean a direct ethernet connection, or it may
mean a 1200-baud modem.  I'm not willing to run a download for a
few hours, only to find that the archive has no documentation.

     Why not use a format that everyone can read?  ARC is fine, but
PKARC causes many of us problems.

-- 
David S. Hayes, The Merlin of Avalon	PhoneNet:  (202) 694-6900
UUCP:  *!uunet!cos!hqda-ai!merlin	ARPA:  ai01@hios-pent.arpa