Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!ncar!boulder!sunybcs!rutgers!iuvax!bobmon
From: bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: ZOO/ARC Discussion
Message-ID: <8405@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Date: 3 May 88 15:57:22 GMT
References: <827@uvm-gen.UUCP> <21371@amdcad.AMD.COM> <1424@iscuva.ISCS.COM>
Reply-To: bobmon@iuvax.UUCP (RAMontante)
Organization: Computer Science Dept., Indiana University
Lines: 36
Keywords: Zoo Arc

carlp@iscuva.ISCS.COM (Carl Paukstis) writes:
>
>Zoo is inherently a better system.  I does indeed handle the directory
>structure, which is a feature taken much too lightly by many who argue for
>ARC.  It also includes comment facilities for the archive and for the
>individual files.

HOW does one add comments to the overall archive?  (Or does it take two?...)
I have version 2.00 zoo, 2.00 zoo documentation, and there's one hint that
v2.0 can add archive comments.  But the switches only seem to add file
comments.  Now, when I have a pom.zoo archive, containing pom.c, pom.h,
pom.doc, and makefile, I can figure out what the files are -- I just need to
remind myself what the heck POM is!

>I tend to think that c.b.ibm.pc should use zoo also, but I seem to be
>outvoted.  Those who object apparently don't have zoo for their favorite
>host system, and want to use ARC to look at files before downloading to
	[...]

So here's what we do.... we post everything in BOTH formats, especially the
multipart stuff, and keep track of which format generates more "Please Repost
foo.bar.part_31" messages.  Then we all spend 6 months arguing whether the
winner is the more popular archiver, or just the one with more problems...
Until someone asks what uudecode is, or the net.gods decide they don't like
posting binaries anyway.

My own favorite compression method guarantees a 50% savings.  You just fill
in all those empty, unused zero bits with one bits from the end of the string.
And error detection during transmission is a snap, too -- just catch anything
that isn't a one and turn it into a one.  Hmmm. there might be room for some
interesting heuristic data analyses here.

(BTW:  I favor zoo too, although it's not a strong feeling -- we don't
have zoo on the host machine here.)

~~~
"I was wondering whether I was stoned tonight."	    - Zonker, Doonesbury