Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!CORY.BERKELEY.EDU!dillon
From: dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: comp.binaries.amiga (was Re: Picture swap)
Message-ID: <8806161902.AA16559@cory.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 16 Jun 88 19:02:19 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Lines: 53


>In article <4456@killer.UUCP>, woodsb@killer.UUCP (Brent L. Woods) writes:
>>      Tell me, what are the people who don't have compilers or programming
>> expertise supposed to do?  Download all that fun source and just look at it
>> like it was high art?  Contrary to what I've seen implied elsewhere, most
>> of the Amiga owners in the universe *aren't* programmers or developers.
>
>     The important question is how do the costs of keeping the binaries
>group compare with the benefits?  If the majority of Usenet readers aren't
>programmers it makes sense to devote the bandwidth to binaries for their
>benefit.  But my impression is that Usenet readers are generally able to
>compile programs.  True, there are lots of Amiga owners who aren't
>programmers, but if they don't have access to Usenet anyway it's hard to
>justify the bandwidth for binaries.

	I would definately disagree with your opinion.  Very few USENET
readers have compilers on their Amigas.  It's just that those who do are 
usually the most active people on the net.

	And as far as devoting bandwidth to binaries for the benefit of
non-programmers, you must realize that nobody is *paying* us to send our
software to the moderators... comp.binaries.amiga gets whatever we give it,
and we give it whatever is in our interest to write, NOT what would be
beneficial solely to a certain select sub-group.  

	But if you want to start paying me ...

>     People who don't have Usenet access get programs from those who do,
>through user groups, dealer libraries, and the Fish libraries.  The
>suggestion to stop distributing binaries over the net deserves some
>research into the usefulness of binaries to Usenet readers.

	Huh? "People who don't have Usenet access get programs from those
who do"??? So if we cut off binaries where does that leave "those who do"???
As far as user groups, dealer libraries, and the fish disks (also realize
here that Fred does that for his own pleasure, with no funding whatsoever),
there are major disadvantages to the relatively long lag time, lack of
a response path (I'd get more mail through the USENET than via USMail), and
a very small distribution.

	The USENET acts as the backbone of distribution ... Hell, I've logged
into BBS's in Nevada and seen the stuff I posted to the USENET.  The USENET
extends into Europe, Australia, and other places around the world.  I've
gotten correspondence from Finland, West Germany, the UK, etc...  Talk about
distribution!

>--Fabbian Dufoe
>  350 Ling-A-Mor Terrace South
>  St. Petersburg, Florida  33705
>  813-823-2350
>
>UUCP: ...gatech!codas!usfvax2!jc3b21!fgd3 

					-Matt