Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: neilg@fraser.sfu.ca (Neil K. Guy)
Subject: Re: Policy for code postings (was: TADS Source for Continuous Substa
Message-ID: <neilg.735834224@sfu.ca>
Sender: news@sfu.ca
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
References: <1993Apr23.100729.18501@nomina.lu.se> <g6qL3B1w165w@tfsquad.mn.org> <1993Apr26.121335.23881@nomina.lu.se>) <1rgmjfINNdje@life.ai.mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 14:23:44 GMT
Lines: 30

dmb@case.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) asks:

>Is there an "unshar" for the Macinstosh? [...]

 For the record, there is. Its interface is awful and it isn't the
paragon of reliability, but someone has ported shar to the Mac and it
more or less works. At least the port I've seen.

>And don't forget that TADS is running on more machines every day.  Is
>the Apple IIgs likely to have shar?  Is the Amiga?  While you pointed
>out in your last message that the whole world is NOT Unix, it seems to
>me that you're now recommending the archiver that is the most
>Unix-dependent.

 I tend to agree. I remember the first time I had the joy of getting
intimate with a shar file. I didn't know what to do, and wasted a lot
of time cruising the net looking for an unshar program. I've seen shar
files so rarely that I suspect it's a pretty obscure file format.

 Frankly, I think the best way of posting source code samples to the
net is in the lowest common denominator - plain text. I think a
compression scheme should only be used if, for some reason, you're
going to post a whole game or something.

 Incidentally, all this talk about source code postings reminds me
that I've been thinking about getting a TADS source code library
initiative going for a while now. Anyone out there interested?
Please mail me.

 - Neil K. (n_k_guy@sfu.ca)
