Xref: utzoo comp.sources.d:2153 news.admin:2265
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!amdahl!pacbell!att!alberta!ubc-cs!van-bc!sl
From: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d,news.admin
Subject: Re: binaries on the net
Message-ID: <1772@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: 20 May 88 22:57:30 GMT
References: <1574@looking.UUCP> <22099@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <392@pan.UUCP> <508@splut.UUCP> <4577@hoptoad.uucp> <4491@dasys1.UUCP>
Reply-To: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Organization: Public Access Network, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 40

In article <4491@dasys1.UUCP> manes@dasys1.UUCP (Steve Manes) writes:
>In article <4577@hoptoad.uucp> gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore) writes:
>>What good is the last 30 years of progress in software engineering if
>>we never get the sources?
>
>It's always seemed a bit curious to me that folks who balk the loudest at

>At the moment, Shareware authors represent about the only progress in
>certain software areas, notably communications and file archiving tools, so

>>Binaries don't
>>evolve; when they stop working, they go extinct.  Many of the people on


I think it's time to just switch the binaries over to a separate
distribution. There is obviously both a great need for them, both as
freebies and shareware, but it is equally obvious that a large number sites
just don't want to carry them because a) they are binary not source; b) they
tend to be very large and c) they tend to be available elsewhere.

Now we went through this type of discussion last year and the end result was
the alt groups. So how about:

	alt.pc.binaries
	alt.shareware

As per usual the stuff would be carried by uunet and be available fairly
easily to most sites *IF* they want it.

I would venture to say that some other noisy groups might be appropriate for
moving to alt as well. We have to do something to help cut back the
acceleration in the rate of growth. 

Personally I don't subscribe to *all* of the alt groups but do maintain a
link with uunet to get the ones I do want (or are wanted by someone I feed).
I probably would subscribe to alt.pc.binaries.


-- 
{ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!Stuart.Lynne Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532