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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!sun!gnu
From: gnu@sun.uucp
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Feature suggestion for netnews -- file enclosure
Message-ID: <1897@sun.uucp>
Date: Mon, 24-Dec-84 21:42:21 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.1897
Posted: Mon Dec 24 21:42:21 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Dec-84 01:57:11 EST
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 21

We've seen a variety of schemes for passing source and object files
around on the Usenet and thru network mail.  I think that an easy hack
in netnews would make it all much simpler.  Provide a standard file
enclosure/encoding/decoding inside netnews itself.  To send source
files, simply put a header line saying "Enclosures: foo.c foo.1".  When
posted, inews would pick up these files and attach them to the
message.  When the message is read, readnews and friends would show the
body of the message, but not the files -- just their names in the
Enclosures: line.  A simple command would extract the enclosures into a
specified (or defaulted) directory.  This would also help the people
who archive source, since they could identify the source files in each
message, index the filenames, etc.

The encoded form could be a stylized shell archive (parseable without
using the shell, but if you feed it to the shell, it works).  It should
deal with any file including binaries; this would simplify the info-mac
peoples' lives, sending fonts, etc.  We have enough working shar
programs and scripts, surely we can automate a working one and make all
our lives easier.