Re: Utility to write DOS 3.3 disks under GS/OS?

[dalloff@gcfn.org (Dave Althoff Jr)]

Michael J. Mahon (mjmahon@aol.com) wrote:

: On a separate, but related, topic...

: <flame>
: Non-techie family members regularly forward emails to me
: that contain JPG-encoded pictures that they "cannot open"
: on their Macs or PCs (yes, they use both).

: The source of the problem is almost always the automatic
: invocation of a system-specific archiving or encoding format
: for an email attachment.

: This is nonsense.

: Email is intended to be a universal medium, not a balkanized
: medium of Mac-email users and PC-email users.  Base64 encoding
: was adopted as a _generic_ encoding for binary information, and
: it is very annoying to find Mac-sent email with BinHex encoded files.
: Of course, there are programs for every platform which can handle
: BinHex--but non-technical _users_ can't!

AMEN!!  Base64 exists for a reason, let's use it!  Particularly since
virtually any mail program on virtually any platform can handle it
correctly.  There are reasons for using BinHex encoding, but not for a
platform-independent file!

: Archiving is another worthless distinction between the two camps.
: Stuffit is a fine archiver, though is doesn't pack most files as well
: as many Zip archivers.  Why can't we start a campaign to move to
: a generic archiver?  I realize that it will take 5-10 years to get it
: "mostly" done, for all practical purposes, but we need to get started.

: I'm sure that Mac users will say that a new, "neutral" format must
: be chosen so as not to favor the PC platform, but, let's face it,
: with over 90% of the user base on PCs, it really does make more
: sense for the minority platform to move into conformance with
: the _de facto_ standards in use by the vast majority.


Here I am going to disagree with you.

For platform independent files, you're right...just use ZIP or GZIP and be
done with it.  But there is a distinct advantage to using platform
dependent archiving formats:  it makes no sense at all to unpack a
Macintosh binary application on a PC, and likewise it is useless to unpack
a Windows executable on MacOS or ProDOS.  This is why we have Shrinkit for
ProDOS, Stuffit for MacOS, and PKZip for Windows.  You can look at the
archive type and know what kind of a machine it is probably supposed to
work on.  I have, for instance, a CD that contains QuickTime movie files,
HTML files, and two archives:  one is a Stuffit archive (.SEA), the other
is a ZIP archive (.EXE) (yes, they are both self-extracting).  I can look
at the filename and know which machine the archive is for, which is useful
as the wrong archive won't even work.  The archive, of course, contains
the installer for the QuickTime codec needed for the video files.

: This would have the effect of making email with attachments almost
: as easy as plain email, finally.

: Not only would I stop getting most "I can't open this attachment"
: pleas for help, but, more importantly, people who have given up
: on sending pictures, etc., through email would slowly regain their
: trust in it as a communication medium.
:  </flame>
: -michael

Well, people won't regain trust in email as a communications medium so
long as 90% of incoming email is SPAM.......

--Dave Althoff, ][.
-- 
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