There's an awful lot of discussion taking place in Fidonet and elsewhere
concerning compression techniques. It has proven divisive, too.
Various bulletin board system operators have found themselves in
conflict, taking differing stands on which compression techniques will
be used for files stored on their systems. With this in mind, we feel
it necessary to make some kind of statement to just let you know how we
feel about this, as it pertains to BinkleyTerm.
We prefer to use LHARC as our compression utility. It offers us many
features which are of value to us, but not available in other such
utilities. We acknowledge that in certain specific areas, some other
compression utilities may have applicability or even display clear-cut
superiority. But LHARC doesn't have what for lack of better words we'll
call "emotional liabilities" which programs such as ZIP and ARC now seem
to have, like it or not. It also is Freely Available, just like
BinkleyTerm.
At the same time, we acknowledge that we have no right to dictate to any
individual system operator that he or she must have .LZH files on his or
her system(s). This of course leads to a serious conflict: where do
the rights of we, the authors, end, and those of the individual system
operator start?
We feel that we have the right to refer to the .LZH distribution as "THE
distribution". We also feel that Paragraph 1 of the license agreement
(contained in the file LICENSE.250) should hold, specifically the
sentence that begins "You may copy and distribute VERBATIM copies of
BinkleyTerm source and executable code AS YOU RECEIVE IT" (emphasis
ours). However, under the terms of the license agreement, you may
distribute other versions, as long as they are clearly identified as
such.
In the interests of harmony, we will consent to the repackaging of
BinkleyTerm using other compression techniques, as long as this file,
COMPRESS.TXT, remains in the distribution archive. To protect OUR
rights, however, we must state here and now that we will not necessarily
provide support for any version of BinkleyTerm that is so distributed,
and we may respond to individual problem reports by referring the
involved party or parties to the ORIGINAL distribution.
In the case of BinkleyTerm 2.50, the original distribution is in files
BEXE_250.LZH (executable and update doc), BDOC_250.LZH (documentation),
BSML_250.LZH (small-memory executable and update doc), and BSRC_250.LZH
(source code). All are available from Fidonet 1:132/491, and 1:104/501.
We understandably can make no specific guarantees about other systems,
although generally speaking, all systems carrying files with these names
are in fact offering exact copies of the original. CRC's of these files
and their contents will be published on occasion in the Fidonet BINKLEY
echomail conference or can be obtained from the authors.
Please understand our feelings in this matter. If you object to our
position, then please do not distribute BinkleyTerm.
Bit Bucket Software, Co.
Vincent E. Perriello Alan D. Applegate Robert C. Hartman
FidoNet 1:343/491 FidoNet 1:104/501