Re: Who is Cturley2 ??

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

pblock writes ...
> 
> "Jorge" <dirty.fly@teleweb.pt> wrote in message
> news:v%k35.35$0M2.848@nreader1.kpnqwest.net...
> > I received a mail from a cturley2, he wants me to give him some ftp
> > access,
> > is he trustworthy ?
> >
> > thanks
> 
> Here the deal, as I have gleened from others here and elsewhere on Charles
> "Dr. Tom" Turley.
> 
> I should note that that these are not my personal experiences, but, rather,
> what I have heard and perhaps a nugget of truth exist herein somewhere.
> 
> cturley2 runs ftp sites for Apple II software.  (runs, not hosts)

     He has an http site. Perhaps, he may expand to an ftp site.)



> Most of it, especially the commercial stuff, is still under copyright law,

     Well, since most of the software on nearly every site is not public
domain, it is "under copyright law". Practically all of the software on Tom's
http site is freeware or shareware.


> but since
> the Apple II is essentially a dead platform

     Apple II user numbers have been growing over the last few years. This
would not be the case for a "dead platform". Nor would there be much point in
fussing with scheduling chats about a "dead platform".


> and most of this stuff has been
> out of print for a decade or two, nobody tends to complain too much.
> (although some may have.  Again, I haven't seen any)

     You're letting common sense get the best of you. There are few vogon
types who routinely complain, threaten, whine, ... about twenty year-old
software being available to users.

 ....

> 
> That's the heresay.

     Really, all of this stuff has been looked into and debunked several
times. Think the most comprehensive squishing of the lies and distortions you
quote was in a series of postings back in late 1997.



> Personally, I've not had any problems, personally with
> the man.

     Me neither, unless you count having to fix the filenames of stuff he's
continually stuffing into each issue of GS WorldView for PC HTML
compatibility. (Tom, alas, is a dedicated Mac user.)

     He was a valuable, reliable writer for II Alive and has always proved
worthy of trust. 



> But many in the A2 on-line community do, for the reasons above.

     Not all that many and not for the "reasons" mentioned. Mainly, Tom is
attacked by a dwindling clique of has-been "developers" and their toadies who
can't seem to do much of anything right. They are jealous because Tom
repeatedly gets the job done for users while they sit on their lazy butts.



> Whether the are real or not.
>

     So far, it's a big "not". Here are a few for the "real" category:

o- originated efforts to contact copyright owners in order to reclassify old
commercial software as freeware or public domain

o- contacted AOL and carried out the project to preserve AOL's huge Apple II
library, along with software descriptions, on Ground 

o- contributed articles, including a classic Woz interview, to II Alive

o- publishes the largest, longest-running free Apple II on-line magazine



> If you give cturley2 ftp space, this is what you'll confront.


     When we accepted and published Tom's interview with Woz in II Alive back
in the mid 1990's, four separate anti-Tom attack/hate letters were received at
Scantron (the publisher). Oddly, not one was addressed to the Editor or
Managing Editor but, instead, all were addressed to the Scantron Products
Manager. He passed them along to me for the purpose of checking out the
numerous charges.

     None of the checkable charges was true-- except, possibly, the horrible
crime of "sector editing ProDOS" (something which is necessary in order to use
ProDOS with some Apple II clones).  The senders were asked to supply some kind
of verification for their charges in writing. Not one responded.

     So, if by "what you'll confront" you mean that your ISP will be harassed
with lying complaints, then, quite possibly, yes. A few self-deluded wrecker
types have nothing better to do with their time.




Rubywand