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Xref: sserve comp.publish.cdrom.software:84 comp.os.386bsd.misc:646 comp.os.linux:50534 Newsgroups: comp.publish.cdrom.software,comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.linux,comp.os.msdos Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!news.isi.edu!gremlin!nrtc.northrop.com!jpl From: jpl@nrtc.northrop.com (Jeff P. Lankford) Subject: Why pack sources on CD-ROM? Message-ID: <CAxv0M.M4F@gremlin.nrtc.northrop.com> Followup-To: comp.publish.cdrom.software Sender: news@gremlin.nrtc.northrop.com (Usenet News Manager) Organization: Northrop Research and Technology Center Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1993 18:21:57 GMT Lines: 16 I have observed that public domain and shareware archive CD-ROM manufacturers invariably distribute them in packed format, usually mirroring the archive site format. Compiling such sources requires unpacking onto disk, which is inconvenient when massive sources are involved. A preferable approach is to distribute sources in unpacked form, eliminating temporary source copies. Moreover, source patches can be easily handled using Unix symbolic links to "mirror" CD-ROM. I believe the current approach reflects accomodation to historical DOS weaknesses (though judicious JOIN/SUBST might work) and manufacture, rather than user, convenience. Anyone else out there inconvenienced by the current practice? Have I overlooked any vendors who distribute source archives, such as SIMTEL, 386BSD, Linux, X11, and so on, in unpacked format? Anyone think there's a market niche here and want to form a venture? jpl