Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!tneff
From: tneff@dasys1.UUCP (Tom Neff)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: ZOO/ARC Discussion
Message-ID: <4281@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: 5 May 88 17:51:39 GMT
References: <827@uvm-gen.UUCP> <21371@amdcad.AMD.COM> <1424@iscuva.ISCS.COM> <8405@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Reply-To: tneff@dasys1.UUCP (Tom Neff)
Organization: President's Council on Astrology
Lines: 33
Keywords: Zoo Arc
Summary: both

I don't think there is any need to "anoint" ZOO or ARC as the "approved"
format in comp.binaries.ibm.pc to the exclusion of the other.

We could argue the theoretical merits of the two systems all year (and still
may do so! :-) ) but the fact remains that they're both reasonably popular
and reliable packaging systems, with a substantial flow of software being
distributed in each format.  There is no reason we cannot accept, support
and distribute both.  If someone submits an ARC, distribute it as such;
ditto if someone submits a ZOO.

I see no need to disassemble incoming ARChives and repackage as ZOOs or
vice versa, for two reasons:  (1) a tiny, fast extractor exists for each 
format and should always be available via netmail and/or monthly posting 
in the group -- LOOZ.EXE is only 9k and ARCE.COM only 7k; and (2) it does
violence to the integrity of an author's product to reshuffle or repackage
it without prior permission... something quite a few people are stating
explicitly in their README's these days.  No need for usenet to set a poor
example.

Although portability to other environments happens to be taken care of for
both ARC and ZOO, I don't consider it a factor.  The binaries posted here
are intended to be unpacked and run on PC's, which are ubiquitous.  If
subscribers can only download net news on a Vax at work, for instance, and
need to port the result to a PC afterwards, let them squirt the whole
ARC file over, it should uudecode with full integrity on the VAX even if
the resulting file is opaque; or just as good, port the uuencoded text
stream over to the PC.  A perfectly good PC port of uudecode exists.


-- 
Tom Neff			UUCP: ...!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!tneff
	"None of your toys	CIS: 76556,2536		MCI: TNEFF
	 will function..."	GEnie: TOMNEFF		BIX: are you kidding?