Xref: utzoo comp.sources.d:2004 comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d:63
Path: utzoo!yunexus!ists!mike
From: mike@ists (Mike Clarkson)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Standard for file transmission
Message-ID: <195@ists>
Date: 4 May 88 01:46:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: ists.195
Posted: Tue May  3 21:46:48 1988
References: <292@cullsj.UUCP> <696@fig.bbn.com>
Organization: Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science
Lines: 26

In article <696@fig.bbn.com>, rsalz@bbn.com (Rich Salz) writes:
> If you are (sigh) going to post binaries on Usenet, DO NOT compress
> them first.  Many Usenet sites use compress to pack up their news
> batches.  Compressing a compressed file makes it larger.

How about compressing a uuencoded compressed file.  Does that result in
a significantly larger than original file?

I would really like to see a uniform standard, with error checking, and
I think it is something worth the time it takes to do it.  We could
probably evolve the result to take care of another pet peeve of mine:
error correction in the tar format.  One thing I really miss from VMS is
the backup tape archiver, which has tremendous error checking and
correction.  In 7 years I have only ever had (touch wood) 1 tape go on
me, and that was because the oxide was falling off.  Having spent a good
part of today dealing with yet another dead Unix tar tape, I really wish
we could find a better way.




-- 
Mike Clarkson						mike@ists.UUCP
Institute for Space and Terrestrial Science		mike@ists.yorku.ca
York University, North York, Ontario,
CANADA M3J 1P3						(416) 736-5611