Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!ucsd!ucsdhub!jack!sdeggo!drew
From: drew@sdeggo.UUCP (Drew Dean)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: binaries on the net
Summary: Aren't all the comp.binaries.* moderated ??
Message-ID: <207@sdeggo.UUCP>
Date: 23 May 88 00:18:23 GMT
References: <1574@looking.UUCP> <22099@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <392@pan.UUCP> <1772@van-bc.UUCP>
Organization: Lazy Programmer's Society of San Diego
Lines: 51

In article <1772@van-bc.UUCP>, sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne) writes:
> 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?
> >
> 
> >At the moment, Shareware authors represent about the only progress in
> >certain software areas, notably communications and file archiving tools, so
> 
> 
> 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 probably would subscribe to alt.pc.binaries.
> 
> {ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision,uunet}!van-bc!Stuart.Lynne Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532
As a Mac owner, I only read (past tense, my old net feed went down, and my
new feed doesn't have enough disk space yet for a complete net feed), but
comp.binaries.mac was always moderated, preventing the 300k demo syndrome.
If a demo is actually useful AS IS eg. like the Ball&Stick program, a
molecular modeler that limited you to 40 atoms instead of 2000 or something
in the real program, then the demo has postive value.  If it's like the
shareware MaxWrite program, a Mac wordprocessor who's demo edition has the
save command disabled, then please don't post it, no matter what sze it is,
as it's useless.
I do support binary postings however, because of the useful software that
comes over that I may have the wrong compiler for, even if the source is
available.  Sometimes I just need that program, and don't want to convert
the C source provided into Pascal (no language flames PLEASE, as I submit
it's a matter of personal taste.  Anyways, I'm really a poor Modula-2 fan
who can't afford a decent compiler...)
Size limits run into major problems, as many good programs are 200+K these
days.  If I want to release PD software that size, why should the net
discourage me from doing so.  I'm not on Compu$erve or Genie or etc., the
net is my connection to the world.  If good software can't be posted, then
many of us won't be able to get it.  I also prefer downloading from the
moderated net in this age of viruses instead of who knows who's copy sitting
on a local BBS.
In summary-- Please keep comp.binaries.*, don't limit posting sizes, and do
moderate all the binary groups, and moderators (sp?) BE RESPONSIBLE !

Drew Dean
drew@sdeggo.UUCP
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