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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!down!honey
From: honey@down.FUN (code 101)
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: Improved Connoisseur's Shar
Message-ID: <412@down.FUN>
Date: Wed, 9-Jan-85 23:26:33 EST
Article-I.D.: down.412
Posted: Wed Jan  9 23:26:33 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Jan-85 23:21:06 EST
References: <43600012@hpfcla.UUCP> <1@wanginst.UUCP>
Organization: Princeton University, EECS
Lines: 24

in re: shell archives in net.sources (see Ref's line articles).

this whole circus drives me crazy!  shell archives were first
popularized in '82 or so, in the form of 6 line scripts, e.g.,

	echo '# To unbundle, sh this file'
	for i in $*; do
		echo "cat >$i <<'//GO.SYSIN DD *'"
		cat $i
		echo "//GO.SYSIN DD *"
	done

some people added echo on extraction, others added a prefix character
to protect against >From, others added basename.  this turned a simple
6 line script into a simple 8 line script.

but wait!  here's a 2000+ line c program that runs several times
slower, does not protect against >From, requires the recipient to edit
the archive before extracting it, and has a host of other ills.

punch line:  by all appearances, the authors are proud of their work.
amazing.

-- peter