Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!iuvax!bsu-cs!mdlawler
From: mdlawler@bsu-cs.bsu.edu (Mike Lawler)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: ZOO
Summary: Just because something is used by a lot of people and software
	 writers doesn't mean that its the best.
Message-ID: <7525@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>
Date: 1 Jun 89 02:05:17 GMT
References: <999@cbnewsh.ATT.COM> <120800003@silver>
Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, IN, USA
Lines: 40

In article <120800003@silver>, torchins@silver.bacs.indiana.edu writes:
> 
> I think you're right. When a friend of mine recieved a computer, and all
> the programs he needed, they were in .ARC format. Also, the well known Pc-Tools
> supports are as well as other programs that cost more than a 10-year comatose
> hippo.


This doesn't prove that arc is the best thing to use.  I really don't
understand why the human race is so relucant to change.  People
usually look at new products like this:  I don't care if the new
product is better because I'm used to what I'm using.  If we always
used this sort of absurd logic then progress, as we know it, would
not exist.  Arc doesn't have the features that zoo has.  Arc is older
and more widely distributed than zoo so of course its going to be 
used more, but that in no way means that it is the best program for
the job.  Arc is not as portable as zoo.  It also isn't supported
by an author that is willing to distribute the source code and make
suggested changes sent to him by users.  If we used the logic
"use arc because the majority of people do" then we would still be
using typewriters and calculators and as a blind person I can
personally say that using these machines compared to computers is
very frustrating.  Also just because c.b.i.p uses zoo doesn't mean
that you are going to be forced to delete your copy of arc.  You can keep it
around to extract files in the .arc format.  Also people on this net
should remember that arc had to get its start somewhere.
Finally for the people that complain that zoo is too slow if your
so worried about it then write highly optimized assembler routines
for your prefered machine and send them to Rahul.  He would
probably consider putting them into zoo.  Look at the source code
for MS-DOS zoo and you'll find that it has assembler routines in it
for speed.  rahul has provided the world with a portable package
and people are still complaining about it being slow, but most of them
aren't optimizing the source code that he freely distributes and
sending the optimized code to him so they don't need to complain.
This type of complaining is analogious to someone that complains
about the government all of the time, but never votes.
-- 
Mike Lawler         UUCP:  <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!mdlawler
                    ARPA:  mdlawler@bsu-cs.bsu.edu